Exposing Life's Cruel Irony Ch. 02

This is a continuation of the "Cruel Irony" series.

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That evening, while his wife was in the master bathroom, Royce, dressed only in dark green boxers, saw a corner of a large unsealed red envelope sticking out from under his wife's pillow. Extracting it he noticed his wife's handwriting, "For Royce, my dear husband and lover." Along the bottom was penned "Merry Christmas. As I love you more than words can express."

Opening the card he read, "I hope that you will love the included items. They are merely hints of the depth of the love held within my heart for you. I want to you to know that I would do anything, anything, to express my love and to be all that you desire from me. I love and appreciate you far more than these feeble words could ever express. Forever yours, your lover, Doris."

Five and half weeks before, Royce joined Jeff on a weekend fishing trip. It was during that trip that he learned what he had started to suspect. His wife was having an affair. Still the first words shook and cut him. He dropped down upon the bank. Though his ears heard the words, his mind seemed to shut down. He did not comprehend the remainder of what his son was telling him. His eyes just stared blankly at the far shore for a long time.

When Royce collected his thoughts he told his son that his suspicions were aroused the prior August when Doris had two significant bruises and a fainter one. One bruise with a small cut was on her left breast. There was a rather large distinct bruise on her rear end. The faint bruise was on her cheek just below her left ear. She claimed that she have fallen in the school stairwell while carrying supplies to her classroom. Yet, the bruises did not seem to match the explanation.

Coming home early one Friday afternoon in mid September he caught the tail end of his wife yelling at someone over the phone saying, that "Enough is enough" and that "It will not work anymore. It ends now. If they knew you would be at as great a risk as me. Maybe I should tell them all and get it over with!" After a pause she seemed to be pleading with someone. When she noticed him she said that she was in a fight with the union. She finished with her caller by saying, "I will talk with you when I am not angry. Goodbye!!" Though her explanation seemed plausible, it did not sound like a union matter. Before he had a chance to investigate and to know more before confronting her, he had a heart attack mid afternoon at work.

He awoke late the next morning to find her holding his hand, crying and muttering, "Please don't leave me my love. I do not know what I would do without you."

He remembered having heard earlier that night, in a drug-induced cloud, her crying and pleading, "If you are there God, let him stay with me. My life would be empty without him. I am sorry for not being the wife he deserves. I have only been trying to protect him and the children from my shame. Instead I ended up heaping shame upon shame. If you need to take anyone, take me, not him. I deserve to be struck down. I deserve it. Please spare him."

Even in a drug induced groggy state he knew something was wrong, but he could not find energy to respond. In the days following his mind started to become more active. Overhearing her private cries helped him to put the call she overheard more into context. Though he had pieces, the medication kept his mind from having enough time to reason clearly. Yet, he knew something was not right and he needed to know more.

Yet, he reminded himself not want to jump to conclusions. He learned that lesson in his teens. The time spent recovering allowed him to watch his wife carefully. It also provided ample time to thinking about their relationship and marriage.

Jeff listened to his father say that when he returned home he started to ask, what would be his reaction if he discovered his wife was having an affair? If she was, he knew he would want to know why. He spent hours just thinking about his wife and searching his heart. He would through her out and divorce her. At least that was his initial thought until he recalled Barry and Mandy, neighbors of his family when he was in his teens.

Barry was a teacher at his high school. One Friday evening in June Barry was visiting the husband of one of his colleagues when the phone range. His friend Zack answered the call, then asked Barry to speak to the caller. Shortly after he hung up the phone he took off. Less than fifteen minutes later Mandy called from the movie house to tell him that the movie just let out but that she and her two female friends were stopping at the local A