Anniversary

I did as I was told and grabbed a towel off the fridge door handle. Soaked it with cold water from the tap and rushed it back to Tom. He took it and folded it a couple of times and then laid it across her forehead.

"Silly old bird, you'd think she'd be tougher raising four kids and putting up with me all these years." Such tenderness from Tom, you didn't see that too often. He continued to rub her hands in his and spoke softly to her. She was probably out less than a minute. But it was scary nonetheless; she was in her eighties after all.

She opened her eyes and looked up at Tom hovering over her. She smiled at him and then tried to sit up.

"Lie still for a bit more honey, you gave me an awful scare." I felt even more guilty bringing my news to two such lovely people. And to witness such tenderness between them, I felt like I'd intruded on a sacred place.

But sit up she did and then, "Oh Tom, my little girl!" She cried into the front of Tom's shirt and he wrapped his arms around her. Again I felt like an outsider standing over them with my wet hands.

She came out of it with tears staining her cheeks, "Help me up, and Tom go get some of that hooch you keep in your desk drawer. I think I'm going to need some of that to fortify my coffee."

Tom motioned me to go get the 'hooch' as he was helping Janice back into her chair. I knew where Tom kept it; I'd had a sip or two with him over the years. Mostly celebratory, like when each of the kids was born, or a promotion I got. Or when my dad had died. That bottle was so old I suspected he'd gotten it from his father. I noticed there were still a couple of inches at the bottom as I plunked it down on the kitchen table.

As Tom anointed each of our coffee cups, "Ok Gary. Start at the beginning and don't leave anything out."...

Driving away from my in-laws a couple of hours later my heart was heavy. The numbness I'd been feeling had cracked at seeing Tom and Janice's reaction. I left them hurt and confused. I got them to promise not to say anything to Marie until the weekend. I told them she'd probably need to come to stay with them for a bit. Janice made me promise not to be cruel to Marie, and Tom asked me not to cut them out of my life. I felt like shit the whole way home; and I hadn't done anything wrong.

Mom:

I signed into the front desk at my mom's assisted living complex. She'd wanted to come here after she settled Dad's affairs. He'd left her pretty well off, and with the sale of their home she was able to buy into this place. They took pretty good care of the residents. And they had a memory care wing that she could move into if it ever came to that.

She ushered me out on to her little patio, she'd been reading a magazine out there. Then she went back inside and a few minutes later came out with some tea and cookies. It wasn't quite dinner time so it was a welcome snack.

"It's nice to have you drop in Gary; you've been kinda scarce these past couple of weeks. I think you've only been by twice all month."

"Yeah ma. I've had a lot of things going on that needed my undivided attention. But all that's behind me now, I'm gonna take a long holiday. Which is why I came by today. I'm going on an extended vacation down to Mexico. I'll be staying with a work colleague who works remotely from down there half the year. I'm probably going to be gone a few months."

She had paused only briefly in pouring me a cup. After she sat back and took a sip from hers. "You said 'I' and not 'We'. You didn't think I would miss that did you?"

"No ma, I didn't set out to fool you. I said 'I'. Marie won't be coming with me. As a matter of fact, I'm going to divorce Marie. She's been carrying on an affair with her boss for the last three years. I just found out recently."

'Oh no Gary. That's horrible; I didn't think she was that kind of woman. You must have been devastated when you found out. Here, tell me all about it. How did you discover all this?"

So I related the whole story from the beginning. I left out the more pornographic details. But she got everything else. Including about the in-person visits. Ma was the last one of those.

"Todd and Janice must be very sad indeed. They must feel somehow responsible; they didn't raise her to be like that. Oh Gary, this is all too much." My heart broke to see my mother cry. Luckily she had a hankie at the ready.

"When your father passed, I thought my whole world had come to an end. But at least that was natural, he was taken from us but we had a lot of good years together. I'm comforted that he loved me until he took his last breath. You were there, you heard him. The last thing he ever said was that he loved me." This got us both crying, I guess I still had a lot of pent up emotion bottled up. That little scene on ma's patio helped cleanse me in a way.

I grabbed a napkin and blew my nose, "Gary you honk just like your dad!" that broke the ice and we had a good laugh after that.

"Ma why don't you change into something else. Let's go out to dinner and have a good time." And that's exactly what we did.

When I got home I felt even better than I believed possible. My visit to Ma capped off a day of emotionally charged visits. But she helped diffuse the tension. I slept like a log.

Moving day:

Wednesday morning I was up early as I had told the delivery guy to be here promptly at 8am. My local café was only too happy to supply a couple dozen donuts and a big box'o'coffee for the movers. They were to arrive at 9, and they kept their promise. They arrived with two crews of three and two separate moving pods. Both pods were dropped in the driveway and I opened the garage door to give them plenty of access.

I brought them into the kitchen for the coffee and donuts. They were all younger guys, so most of the donuts disappeared pretty fast. They were a happy bunch, joking amongst themselves as you would expect of young guys.

I gave instructions to the first crew about the contents of my garage. They had brought lots of plastic totes, and dolly's to move the table saw other heavy stuff. My tool boxes were on wheels, and they wrapped those with heavy duty plastic wrap before wheeling them into the pod and securing them to the walls. That was all going really well so I turned to the second crew.

I ushered them into the master bedroom and gave them instructions about getting all my clothes into apparel boxes. They didn't need too much supervision at all. In fact they left just one guy to do that and the other two suggested they could get started on my other possessions.

So I worked with them on the most time consuming area - my bookcases. I had four 7 foot tall bookcases in the family room full of books. But some of them were not mine, some were Marie's books - those would get left behind. I had to stand there and verify which ones were mine so they could be loaded into boxes. That actually took about an hour, and seventeen boxes.

I told them that I had pizza coming at 1pm, so I was hoping we'd be mostly done by then. That spurred them on a bit and I went back out to the garage to supervise some more. I had left the two who had helped me with the books dismantling my office. The young man who had been working on my bedroom started bringing down all the stuff he'd boxed up and staging it next to the pods.

By noon almost everything that was going into storage had been packed up. Their strategy was to pack everything, stage, and then finally load the pods. I guess their method ensured that all the heavy stuff ended up on the bottom and they could fit everything else in like a three dimensional Tetris.

Throughout all this activity I was very focused on what they were doing and answering questions running back and forth between the house and garage. There was a whirlwind of activity with six pairs of hands packing and moving boxes etc. The point being that during all that activity I didn't have any time to really think about what I was doing; moving out. Before I knew it the pizza guy was pulling up at the curb with the pies and soft drinks. So I set up a folding table out in the nearly empty garage and everybody grabbed paper plates. I had called it perfectly; all that pizza was just the motivation these guys needed. It turned just another packing/moving job into a lark.

After the lunch it only took another hour and a half to get the pods loaded. The lead guy called for the pickup to come back and I finally had a moment to breathe. They got all their gear loaded into the van they arrived in, and were saying their goodbye's and thanking me for treating them to the goodies.

Just then Kate arrived, dressed in that cute way only twenty year olds can. Which had the effect of slowing the guys exit as they took in the view.

"Hi Daddy, I came to take one last look around and pick up an item or two. Looks like the moving crew is all done with your stuff. I guess mom will have to deal with all of hers after she gets back from Chicago."

"Uh, yeah. That's the plan, I'll be on my way by then and she can deal with the remains." I thanked the guys and got them moving, they'd had a good look and now it was time for them to go.

"Kate, let's go inside and you can grab the items you want. The pod pickup guy won't need us, so there's no need for us to stand outside."

We went into the kitchen and Kate grabbed a donut leftover from this morning. I had sent the last few pieces of pizza off with the crew.

"You really know how to motivate a group of guys. Looks like you fed them this morning and then at lunch. Hah, no wonder they're all done so fast, you fueled them up with carbs."

"They were a good bunch of guys, they did a great job of getting all my stuff packed and loaded. What did you want to take with you sweetie?"

"I really didn't come over for that, I thought you'd need some moral support."

"I think I'm actually kinda numb to all of this. I made my plans about how I was going to react to the discovery of your mom's 'activities' and now I'm just putting one foot in front of the other. All these actions today were planned out well in advance. But I will let you take me out to dinner a bit later; I still have a couple of things to do around here. What do you say we meet at Murphy's at 6:30?"

"That's a great plan. I can work on you a bit more to tell me where you're going. You've made such a big secret out of what happens next that I'm very curious."

I had segregated enough clothes to last me a couple of weeks in the guest room so they wouldn't go into the pods. I packed all that into a large soft bag and then turned my attention to my bathroom kit. Finally I went into the laundry room to get the cooler; I'd need it to provide sustenance on the drive. Satisfied that I was ready on that front I headed out the door, I still needed to gas up the Cherokee and make sure the fluids were topped off.

I made short work of gassing up; I even remembered to fill the red five gallon can. Can't have a cool trail Jeep without that red can hanging off the bumper. While I was out I stopped by the auto parts store and picked up a spare fan belt. I was going to be driving for several days, and I did not want to be stranded somewhere because of that.

When I got home the pods were gone so the driveway was clear and I pulled in. I stowed the fan belt in the tool box, filled the spare water jug and just generally looked over the Jeep to make sure she was ready to go in the morning. I know I was distracting myself with the final details; we had had 25 good years in this house. I didn't want to let myself get too caught up in feeling sorry for losing the house; my mind was made up.

I grabbed a quick shower and came out of the hot water fairly relaxed. So I decided to treat myself to a nap, I had a couple hours to kill before I was meeting Kate at Murphy's. And that's just what I did.

I reveled in the dinner with Kate; I don't even remember what I ate. I knew I was not going to be seeing my little girl for several months and that put a bit of a damper on my mood. But I didn't budge; I didn't tell her where I was going. I did extract a promise for her to visit her Grammy every week until I got back.

A long drive:

Thursday dawned clear and bright, not a cloud in the sky. There was a slight breeze blowing, I guess the season was changing. I got a pot of coffee going and went to get a shower. Some leftover donuts from the movers yesterday and a cup of strong coffee fortified me.

I took one more look around, checked that my bags and travel gear were properly stowed in the Jeep (for the tenth time). I moved the Cherokee onto the street and then came back into the garage and closed the overhead door. I opened the garage window and propped open the door into the house. Then I went to each and every room and opened all the windows, I wanted the house to be well ventilated. I even slid the big patio door open.

Finally, back into the garage where I got the garden sprayer and filled it with gasoline from the five gallon can. Then I went into each room and thoroughly soaked everything in each. Marie's sewing room, the guest room, the master bedroom. I paid special attention to Marie's closet, all her clothes got well soaked. I had to go back and refill the sprayer twice before I was finished with the upstairs.

Then downstairs, the living room, family room, kitchen, and my office. All of them got a good soaking of gasoline. I'd sprayed the walls and all the contents of every room in the house.

I got my BurnzOmatic torch, the one with the trigger start out from under the sink. I chuckled remembering using it to caramelize Marie's famous crème brulee. I started on the second floor at the rear of the house and worked my way forward working quickly. I spent just enough time in each room ensuring the fire had caught properly. Then I came downstairs and repeated the process, working from the back of the house to the front.

I exited the house via the side door of the garage, which I propped open with a brick. Yup, the house was now a giant BBQ, all the kindling was lit and the vents were fully open; it was going to ensure everything burned intensely. By the time somebody noticed and called the fire department the whole house would be fully engulfed.

I stowed the gas can in its holder on the back bumper of the Jeep; and off I went. It was a day's driving to the border, and then another six to Oaxaca. I sipped my coffee from the travel mug and reached for another donut as I tooled on down the highway.

Welcome Home:

Marie and Steve came through the double doors of the baggage claim area on Saturday mid-afternoon, thinking they'd each just grab a cab to their respective homes. They looked up and saw two people holding sign boards, one for each of them. There were festive balloons attached to the signs, and streamers attached at the bottom; they looked very inviting. And so thinking they had a pleasant surprise waiting for them they each went up to the person hold their sign.

"I'm Marie Carson, what did I win?"

"Hi, I'm Steve Saunders, what's this all about?"

Out came two identical white binders, and clipped to each were legal papers. "Marie Carson, you have been served divorce paperwork for carrying on an adulterous affair with Steve Saunders!"

"Steve Saunders, you have been served for alienation of affection for adultery with the married Marie Carson!"

The two process servers handed a very surprised Marie and Steve their respective binders and stood aside as the videographer stepped forward to get a good shot of each. They had been paid handsomely to play their roles to the hilt. Of course they'd been given pictures of each so that they'd be sure to accost them.

"Oh, no. Gary found out! He's going to divorce me; he's going to divorce me! Oh my god, what am I gonna do now? Steve, we gotta do something." Marie slumped to her knees and covered her face with her hands and began to weep.

Steve meanwhile had snapped out of his shock and was looking at the tabs in the binder, "Crap, this documentation is for all of last month. They've got tabs with dates of every time we got together. Oh no! There a tab for our texts and another marked phone calls."

"Steve Saunders? You have been served divorce papers due to your carrying on a three year adulterous affair with Marie Carson." The young lady thrust a manila envelope into Steve's hands. The videographer just kept on filming.

Steve dropped the white binder and took the manila envelope. He tore it open and started reading the top sheet, "Claire is suing me for divorce, and citing the evidence collected by some private investigative outfit. Crap, crap! She mentions my copy of the 'white binder'. Man, I am screwed."

"Marie, let's get a cab and get going. We can review the paperwork on the way to your house, and make some plans. We'll drop you off and then I'll take the cab to my house. We've got some serious damage control to do."

Once in the cab they both settled in the back seat with their paperwork.

"Looks like Gary is trying to be fair. He's proposing a 50/50 split of our assets. But I don't want a divorce! I don't want a divorce!" Marie began crying again.

"Crap, crap. There's a restraining order keeping me 200 feet way from my house, the boy's school, and advising me that any and all communication must be through her lawyers. Crap!" Steve slumped back in his seat and stared forlornly out the window.

Twenty minutes later they pulled up to Marie's address, "Hey lady, are you sure this is where you wanted to go?"

It was a scene of utter desolation, what had once been a beautiful two story home was now a pile of smoldering rubble. Marie got out of the cab and ran up the front lawn, but instead of the front door at the top of the brick steps there was a debris field. The house had literally burned to the ground. There were puddles of water here and there from the fire hoses that had tried to control the blaze.

"Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. My beautiful house, what happened to my beautiful house?" She was white as a ghost, eyes wide with horror and what she was seeing. Then Steve came up next to her and put a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"Come on Marie, we better get to a hotel. Neither one of has a home to go to now." He helped Marie back into the cab, "Driver, please take us to the Radisson over on Chesapeake."

Marie started crying again, "Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. My beautiful house, my beautiful house is all burned up." She was speaking softly, almost to herself, but she was slightly slurring her words and Steve became concerned that she might be about to pass out. Instead she sat back in the seat and stared straight ahead, a weird unblinking stare.

Steve got them checked in and asked for somebody to help them get their bags up to their room. He was then able to focus on getting Marie putting one foot in front of the other. Once in the room he tipped the man and went into the bathroom, going straight to the shower he got the water heating up. When he turned back to the room Marie was sitting on the bed still with that unblinking stare.

"Marie, Marie! Come on babe, let me help you out of those clothes and get you into the shower. We need to get cleaned up and comfortable. We can talk when we've cleaned up about what we're going to do next."

After Marie had finished it was Steve's turn. He didn't dawdle, but did a quick job. He came out with a towel wrapped around his waist to find Marie at the room's table thumbing through her white binder. She was wearing the fluffy robe that all high end hotels provide, and her wet hair was hanging straight down.

"They did a very thorough job of bugging us last month. Every single time we got together is fully documented; everything we said, everything we did. There's even transcripts of all our other conversations, pictures of us coming and going at the corporate apartment on Tuesday's. They must have bugged our cars and both our offices too. They have recordings of us, and even of me talking to Sandra about covering for me on Saturdays."