Part one
"Stop this, I can take care of you. Isn't that what a daughter is supposed to do for her father?"
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I hissed and wrapped my fists tight around the steering wheel when I saw the blue and red lights flicker behind my vehicle when I drove down a quiet rode a little too quickly. When I had checked for my wallet, a small instinct, it was gone. "Dammit, Jaclyn. You left my wallet at the restaurant!"
"What?" Jaclyn spoke with confusion until the realization of what I just told her came. "I totally did."
"You're going to get me arrested now," I shouted at her. "All I asked was for you to hold my purse as I went to the restroom while you went to the car, Jac."
"Well, I'm sorry, Ria. I was-"
"Flirting with that guy I know what you were doing," I sighed and with no choice I had to pull over. The thought of pressing the gas did came to mind but then I would definitely go to jail. After I pulled the car to a stop on the side of the road and turned off the engine I looked forward and muttered loud enough to be heard. "Do not say a word."
She zipped her mouth closed with an invisible key and threw it.
The police officer did the usual routine and parking behind my car and I couldn't help myself but watch from the rearview mirror as the officer stepped out of the vehicle and towards ours. My night was getting better and better... I had thought sarcastically to myself. First my friend forgets my purse at a bar and now I'm getting pulled over. I shouldn't even of let her hold my purse in the first place now that I thought clearly.
This wasn't my car really. It was Jaclyn's and she had two kids. So as a result the backseat had a many kids meal toys and other toddler things.
The man walked up to the window with a flashlight and seeing us he shined it in our faces. I winced and he cut the bright ass light off to look at me.
"Oh!" He quickly recognized me and it brought me to attention that I knew this guy. Well... I didn't know him, but my husband Clyde did.
My husband was the chief of police and so the police officer that stopped me was confused when he saw me. His Chief's wife. And him the new guy who hasn't even been an officer for more than a week.
"Sorry ma'am," he quickly said. I think he sounded a bit nervous. "I didn't recognize this vehicle, I didn't know you would be here. Or this late."
"I'm trying to take my wasted friend home, I'm sorry I was going over the speed limit. She was getting rowdy and annoying and I just want to take her back to her bed," The lie easily rolled off my tongue. I smiled kindly at him. "She just went through a divorce and I wanted to help her out of it. I'm sorry for going over the speed limit, it will not happen again. I would just like to not die tonight."
The divorce or the children part wasn't a lie, or maybe the drunk part too... maybe she was a bit tipsy.
"Um..." He didn't know what to do if he arrested the chief of police's wife. "Alright, ma'am. I guess I'll let this slide. Just slow down a bit, okay? You never know what might run across the road at this time."
"Thank you," I gave him another gentle smile. "I will be slower, have a nice night officer."
"You too, ma'am."
With that he returned to his vehicle, and turning mine on, I drove off slowly. This time I remained the current speed limit. I was still slightly mad and Jaclyn for leaving my damn wallet but I would cut her some slack because it was my fault as well. She still felt sorry though.
"I'm so sorry, I'll get it back. I promise."
"How? I can't drive back down that road and you can't drive because you're too drunk."
"That man I was talking to was the owner, I can give him a call and ask him to hold onto it until I can go to get it back. I promise you'll get it back, Ria. I'm sorry."
I took in a long deep breath, held it, then let it out. Jaclyn is a very nice woman. We were also both the same age of twenty-three but recently she had just got out of a divorce with a man she married when she was eighteen and had two kids with.
He cheated, they had gotten a divorce, and he's going to go get married with the woman whose named after a spice he cheated on her with and left her with two children. A sad story, one that I hate that she was the main character of and didn't deserve. She is kind. Too kind. She didn't deserve that.
I married Clyde when I was twenty and we've been married for three years. Our marriage hasn't had much of a spark as I would have thought. He did at the beginning but it faded quickly. Although I would try to set the mood he just didn't seem to be into it. I wondered if our marriage was going downhill because of it?
I shook the thought out of my head, Clyde cared about me I knew that for a fact. I cared about him too. Our relationship has just been drifting apart lately and I had tried many things to try to get it back on track.
I spotted Jaclyn's house and I eased her car into her driveway next to her babysitter's car. Jaclyn got out without falling over and she told me goodnight and a small drunk sentence then walked inside. I got out of her vehicle and shut the door but not before I had grabbed my things. I only lived a couple houses down which isn't that long of a walk. I would leave her car here for her to take her children to school in the morning. And plus me taking it would be stealing.
I put her key in a hidden spot next to her door and walked down the sidewalk.
The night was quiet and the only things that broke the silence was the crickets. I found their chirping very calming rather than annoying like other people did, and the rain. I loved the rain. That too was also calming to me.
Tomorrow I need to take my own car to work. I owned a small bookstore in town. It wasn't the most thrilling job in the world but I liked to own one. I had bought it from the previous owner when I married Clyde and got the money to do so and I kept it ever since.
I looked up to see my home. See? it didn't take that long.
The house was a little bigger than the other homes around but not by much. I could see my car in the garage and Clyde's. I also saw ones of Clyde's friend's cars, what was his name? Robert? He played cars with him every Wednesday. Today wasn't Wednesday...
I walked up to the door and put my key into the lock to unlock it. Once opened I eased the door inward and stepper in. I hung my coat on the hanger and pulled my shoes off and placed them to the side.
I took my hair bow around my wrist and pulled my red hair out of my face to get it out of my way. Damn hair. It needed to be washed.
I froze when I heard odd noises coming from upstairs. I looked up in confusion. What the hell...?
Curiosity was what led me to go upstairs quietly. I was wondering what that noise was and a lot of things was going through my mind. Was there someone robbing the house while talking to each other? Why would they make that kind of weird noises while robbing this place?
I stepped onto the second floor and I grabbed a hair dryer from the bathroom counter and held it in like a mace. I placed my hand on the doorknob to one of the nearby bedrooms and quickly opened it and barged in to catch the robbers off guard.
When I walked in I stopped. Not by a sound but by a sight that took my break many moments to register.
It was my husband Clyde embracing his friend Roger from behind. Naked.
I was so shocked I dropped the hairdryer with my mouth open wide enough to form a perfect O. "Holy shit!"
The two of them stopped and Clyde stood there completely bare. He stared at me and the room was in complete silent. Stares, silence, and many different words going through each of our minds to figure out what to even say.
There were no words, no way, for this to be wiped cleaned.
He decided to finally speak, "It's not..."
"I swear if you say 'It's not what it looks like' there is no words to explain what I might do," I held my hand up to him.
I didn't know how I was still processing this. "Oh why couldn't I be one of those normal wives who walks in to their husband with another woman. Dammit, Clyde. Some things you can't unsee."
I saw the two men fumbling to get their pants on. Roger continued to put on his clothes.
"I'll just go then..." Roger spoke awkwardly and slid by me and out of the room.
"I'm so sorry, Ria..." Clyde massaged the back of his neck awkwardly. "I wanted to tell you, I really did."
"You should have!" I pounded my foot once of the ground furiously."We could have worked something out!" I kicked the hairdryer on the ground and it slid over the hardwood and hit a nearby wall. "Dammit, Clyde."
"Wait... when you came in here... did you actually bring a hair dryer in here to fight a criminal?" he tilted his head and stared at the hairdryer I just kicked.
"Don't change the subject Clyde," I bit my lip and shook my head, "You should have told me. We could have worked something out. Damn, I sleep in that bed... well, I use too."
"You won't say anything about this, will you, Ria? This would ruin me."
I could see the shame on his face. I covered my own face with my hands in hope to hide myself from the situation. Also to keep from looking at him. It didn't work. I wasn't hidden well enough. Damn. "Whatever, I want a divorce. I'm not sober enough to deal with this tonight and I am not going to stay with a man who would rather be with men than with me."
"You won't tell I was with Roger, right?"
"I won't say anything about you and Roger but you don't get a free pass with cheating on me."
"You are still going to say I cheated? That is still adultery," He didn't sound pleased.
I dropped my hands down and pointed to the bed, "You just cheated on me, with a man! That's two sins in one night according to the Bible! I think leaving it at you just cheating is the best you got."
He opened his mouth to object but when he couldn't he shut it again. Then he let out a heavy sigh, "I will get the divorce papers ready. I'm so sorry, Ria. Truly."
"Alright," I sighed sadly and shook my head. A headache was beginning to form. "I'm going to go stay with Jaclyn. I'll get my things another time."
"I'm so sorry, Ria," He reached out to grab my shoulder but I stopped him with a raise of my hand. I was hurt. Mostly because I wasn't told about this and we've been stuck in this kind of relationship for months where he always avoided me. Now I had to come home to this when I just wanted to lay in bed and sleep.
Yes, I was hurt, but because I was lied to. Not because of who he was with.
"You should be," I gave him my final words and turned to walk out of the room and and gathering a few of my things that I could carry I left the house.
I was on my way for Jaclyn's house. And dammit, tears were running down my cheeks. I guess I was hurt more than I let on.
Well one thing was for sure. This night fucking sucked.
🗝️
I made it to Jaclyn's house standing at the front of her door and knocking on it to get her attention. It seemed that she was in deep sleep because I sat outside for a while since I had nowhere else to go. Well... I could go to my father's place, but he's too... crazy.
This moment gave me some time to think about him too.
My father was the only person I knew that didn't live in town. I haven't seen him in years after I married. My mother, now passed away, left him with me when I was thirteen because he was going on and on about breaking time and stuff. He became this lunatic with it and my mother took me and left. I've only seen him rarely and it was never outside of his home.
So heeding my mother's advice I never contacted him. I was told that he was a brilliant man before, a professor in collage for history and his name was Professor William Shay. I had gotten his name Ria Shay. Oh I remember how brilliant he was. He was smart on so many languages, he graduated high school when he was thirteen. Thirteen. The same age my mom took me.
Too bad he ended up being so... Well, crazy.
I fell asleep next to her door and I wasn't woken up until the birds started chirping for morning. Around six she finally woke up to take out the trash. she was dressed in leggings and a pink shirt with her hair was in a total mess. When she saw me she gasped and dropped the full bag can on the ground. Instantly forgetting about it, "Ria! Oh my god! Why are you out here?"
"About time you answered," I huffed angrily but it soon slipped away. I sighed. "I'm sorry, I didn't know where else to go. I knocked forever."
"You should have knocked louder!" She picked me up from the ground with her voice full of worry. I expected as much since she was a very caring person. "Why are you out here? Get inside! It's cold out here!"
She pushed me inside of the warm of the home and shut the door with her foot behind her. Inside I could see inside of the kitchen easily and there her two children sat eating cereal, a boy and a girl. The oldest girl, Olivia, had her little back pack on and was ready for school. Dillan was still too young to go so he just sat at the table and ate.
"Now tell me what happened?" She pulled me to the side and away from the kitchen, her face still holding her worried expression. "I don't see any bruises. You weren't beaten..."
"What?" I shook my head quickly. "I wouldn't be here if I did. No, I didn't kill him... Jaclyn..." I found this a bit hard to say. "He cheated on me..."
She stood there perplexed at the suddenness of my words, her eyes eclectic. She tried to speak but no words escaped her mouth, she even stuttered, and finally she spoke. "With who?"
"It doesn't matter," I spoke truthfully. "But we agreed to have a divorce, and everything was settled calmly. But I left at the end."
"You caught him in the act?"
"Ohhhh yeahhh," I nodded slowly, refusing the urge to wince at the memory of the sight. "I am just glad it's over. I'm sorry, Jaclyn. I had nowhere to go and you were the closest place."
"It's fine!" She gave a small hug. "You can stay as long as you need."
"Mommy!" Olivia ran out of the kitchen with her things. "We're gonna be late for school!"
"Oh!" She let me go and walked over to her daughter. "Can you watch Dillon while I'm gone? It will only take a moment."
"I know," I smiled kindly at her. "Don't forget my wallet."
"Make it more than a moment," She walked out of the front door with Olivia, and once I heard her vehicle drive off I sat on the couch. I felt my heart ache at the thought of him cheating, it didn't hurt that he turned out to be gay. He must have been confused throughout the whole time but I should have known.
Or maybe I did... after all I slept with the guy, and now that I thought about it, I was so stupid not to realize it. When I did sleep with him it would be quick and he didn't seem that into it. I just attempted to come up with ways to keep him interested.
I had thought the whole time that I wasn't that attractive to him anymore. I was hurt for so long thinking that way, turned out he was unattracted to me. Because I didn't have the parts he liked.
Still....
How can someone process this? I found myself tearing up again at the bad thoughts. I wished that he would have told me and I would have taken this a lot better. I would probably have patted his back and we would have gotten a divorce so he could do his own thing and I could do my own. It didn't have to end up as that. Like this.
Dillon walked into the living room in curiosity, and seeing my crying he walked up and hugged me. "It's okay, Auntie Ria." A child's innocence...
I placed my hand in his thick curls, smiling sadly, "Thank you, Dillon."
He put his head in my lap and I hugged him, at least I had one boy who I could count on. Even if he was four.