“Alicia...this was a mistake.  This thing should never have started and I take personal responsibility for it.  I love my wife.  This has to end.”

Saul was almost in a panic.  How did he get here?  How was this his life?  Well, he knew the answer to both those questions; he was an idiot who let his penis do his thinking for him.  

He’d had a severe lapse in judgment and had sex with his co-worker, Alicia Staley.  She’d been relentless in her pursuit of him, even though she knew he was married.  He’d rebuffed her advances time and again, but each time, she’d redouble her efforts.  It was clear that she’d never been turned down before.  And with her looks, Saul could understand why she felt that way.  She WAS exceptionally pretty, but not drop dead gorgeous.  Her pecan colored skin was flawless and she had great caramel colored hair.  Her features were pleasant...she was easy on the eyes.  But it wasn’t her looks that garnered all the attention she got.  She was, simply put, sex on legs.  She wore sex like people wore clothes and she used her sex appeal to her advantage every chance she got.  

Saul wasn’t the first co-worker she’d slept with.  She’d screwed her way into the department manager position she currently held.  Saul was perplexed by her interest in him.  They were on the same level within the company; there was no gain to be derived in sleeping with him.  He’d said as much to her.

One day she was coming on especially strong.  They were working on a project together and she found every opportunity to stand too close, to bend over so that he’d get a face full of ass or an eyeful of her ample cleavage.  He’d almost found it amusing.

“Alicia, why me?  Why make a play for me?  You know I’m happily married, and there is absolutely NOTHING for you to gain from me professionally.  What exactly is it you hope to gain from all this?”

“I just want YOU, Saul.  I’m attracted to you to the point of distraction.  I think you are smart, funny and sexy and from what I can tell”, Alicia said while looking lasciviously at his crotch, “You’ve been blessed below the belt.”

He gave in one night when they were at a work conference in California.  Their group had dinner together and dinner led to drinks and lowered inhibitions.  Alicia asked Saul to walk her to her room.  She said she was too tipsy to walk to her room by herself.  “Anything could happen to a woman who’d imbibed a little too much and was wandering around a hotel by herself.” She said.

So Saul, being the gentleman he was, walked her to her room.  Idiot fly, meet spider’s web.  She asked him in to her room, against his slightly impeded judgement, and before he knew it, he was fucking her up against the door of her room.

He’d felt so guilty he had called his wife, Lynne at an ungodly hour telling her he missed her and wanted to hear her voice.  It was true, of course, but he’d also felt that talking to her after he’d betrayed her trust in the most unforgivable way that he’d somehow feel better.  It was flawed logic because if anything, he felt worse.

That feeling should have stopped him from continuing to sleep with Alicia, but it didn’t.  He’d mistakenly let his cock take the lead on this endeavor, to disastrous results.  So here he was now, three weeks after the start of this...thing that should never have happened that went on for entirely too long, trying to end it.  Only Alicia wasn’t ready to let go, and she’d use her ace in the hole in order to keep Saul right where he was.  

“You want to leave me, Saul?  You want to end things because you ‘love your wife’, huh?”  She said, sarcastically, while pacing back and forth in front of his desk. “Tell me, how much did you love her when I had your dick down my throat and you were begging me not to stop?  How much did you love her when you had me bent over your desk pounding my pussy like you were never gonna get pussy again, hm?”  

“That was ALL a mistake!  Every bit of it. I should never have gotten involved with you  It’s a decision I will regret for the rest of my life.  I love my wife, and I’ve betrayed her.  She and my kids mean everything to me.  There’s no way in HELL I’d trade them for great sex.  This. Is. OVER.”

Saul walked over to his office door and held it open for her.  Alicia walked out calm and stone faced.  That should have been Saul’s first clue that a shitstorm was brewing.

When the phone rang Lynne almost didn’t answer it.  She didn’t recognize the phone number and she really wasn’t in the mood for telemarketers.  Something made her pick up anyway.

“Hello?”

“Yes, may I speak with Lynne Dixon?”

“Speaking.”  Dammit, it WAS a telemarketer.

“Good.  Here’s a bit of information I feel you should know.  Your husband’s been cheating on you.  I know this because he’s been cheating with me.”

Lynne’s heart started to race.  “Who is this?”  

“Who I am isn’t important, boo-boo.  What IS important is that your husband has had me in any and every way imaginable for almost a month now.”

Lynne felt sick.  She thought she and Saul were solid.  They were best friends and lovers and they had been since their senior year in high school.  How could he do this to her?  To their family?

“He is SO good at giving pleasure, but I’m sure you already know that.  He eats pussy like a CHAMP!  And he is hu-”

“Let me stop you right there.  I assume you’re calling to force his hand, am I correct?  Nevermind, don’t answer that, that’s how women like you operate.  Let me make this perfectly clear to you, if it hasn’t already.  Saul isn’t going anywhere.  If this is true, he and I will deal with it.  But YOU, friend are history.  I hope you didn’t call me from your personal cell, because you can be tracked down pretty easily that way.  And if you call here again, your ass WILL get tracked down, AND checked.  Okay, boo-boo?”

The line went dead with not another word from the woman on the other end.  Lynne dropped the phone, ran to the bathroom, and vomited up the contents of her stomach.

Saul got home at 8pm and was surprised that Lynne wasn’t puttering around the kitchen or in the living room watching t.v.  She usually stayed downstairs because she wanted to be the first face he saw when he got home.  He really loved that woman.

He walked up the stairs calling her name.  She didn’t answer, so he walked into the bathroom to answer the call of nature then walked into the bedroom.  Lynne was sitting on the side of the bed.  It looked like she’d been crying.  

“Baby, what’s wrong?”  He asked.

She held up her phone and said, “Do you know this number?”  Saul looked at her phone.  Yeah, he knew that number.  Oh shit.

Lynne could tell by the look on his face that not only did he know the number, but he knew the woman the number belonged to.  That’s when Lynne lost it.  She began to slap and punch him relentlessly while unleashing on him verbally.  All Saul could do was cover his head with his hands while she pummeled him.

“You son of a BITCH!!  How could you do this to me!!!  We made a life together...a family and you throw it away for cheap PUSSY???  Who is she, Saul??  Who is this woman you’ve been fucking for...what’d she say?  Oh yeah, she said it was almost a month!  You fucking PRICK!!”  The more Lynne looked him trying to protect himself from the barrage of punches, the angrier she got.  

“You better get out of here, Saul.  Get out before I KILL you!  Go to your whore since she wants you so bad.  Get the fuck out!”

Just as Lynne was trying to push Saul towards the door, occasionally punching any part of his body she could reach, they both looked up and saw their sixteen year old son, Malachi.  He immediately ran and grabbed his mom’s wrists and pulled her to him in order to stop her from hitting his dad.

“Mom, stop!  Just calm down, okay.  Just calm down.”  Malachi put his arms around his mother and looked at his dad.

“What happened, dad?”  Malachi asked.

“Tell him Saul.  Tell him how you’ve destroyed our family because you can’t keep it in your pants!!!  TELL HIM!!!”

Lynne began to sob uncontrollably.  Malachi sat his mom on her bed and sat next to her.  He put his arms around her and held her while she cried.

“Lynne, I’m so sorry.  I’m so so sorry.”  Saul said softly.

“Just go, Saul.  Get out.”

“Lynne-”

“She said GO”, Malachi said loudly.

Saul grabbed a few things and left.  He’d stay in a hotel until Lynne calmed down enough to talk so he could try to explain.  So he could try to make right what he’d done wrong.

After about 10 minutes, Lynne was momentarily all cried out, but she had a terrible headache.  She asked Malachi for some ibuprofen and a glass of water.  He brought her what she asked for, then asked his mother if she needed anything else.

“No honey.  I’m just going to take these and go to bed.  Come give me a hug.”

Malachi went over to his mother and hugged her and rested his head on top of hers.  After a few minutes, he let her go and left her room.

Malachi pulled out his phone and called his sister, Cameron.  When she answered, he started to cry.

“Come home, Cammie.  Just please come home.”

Cammie was shaking as she threw on some sweats and her sneakers.  She’d never heard Malachi like that.  He rarely ever cried so when she got his call and he was practically sobbing, she was scared.

“Mal what’s wrong?  Sweetie take a deep breath and tell me what happened.  Did something happen to Mom or Dad?  Are they hurt?”

Malachi took a few deep breaths before he answered.  “Dad’s been screwing around on Mom”, he said, his voice breaking.  

“What??  How do you know that?  What happened?”  Cameron fought to stay calm.  She didn’t want to set Malachi off again.

“The woman he was messing around with called Mom and she kicked him out.  She was SO upset, Cam.  I’ve never seen Mom like that.’

Cameron had never heard her brother sound so...young.  He was always so mature and self possessed.  This was killing him.  She could only imagine what Mom was going through.

“I’m on my way, Mal.  Just sit tight.”

*******************

Cameron made the 20 minute drive to the house from her dorm at the university in about 10.  She let herself inside and found Malachi sitting on the couch, his head in his hands.  He looked up at her when she walked in and her heart broke.  His eyes were red rimmed and he looked so dejected.  Cammie walked over to Mal and pulled him up into a hug.  After a minute or two, she pulled back and looked at her baby brother.

“Is mom okay?  Where is she?”  

“She went to bed.  She had a headache so I gave her ibuprofen and she went to bed.”

Cameron cupped Malachi’s face in her hands and kissed him the cheeks before she walked up the stairs to her mother’s room.

As she neared her mother’s door, she could hear her crying softly.  When she walked inside, her mother looked up.

“Cammie…” she said as she started to weep.

“Oh Mommy. Don’t cry.”  Cameron said as she walked over to her mother’s bed.  She climbed in behind her mother and wrapped her arms around her.  Her mom was the strongest woman she knew and it broke her heart to see her like this.

“Can’t believe he did this to us, Cameron.  I don’t understand why.”

“I know...I know.  How did you find out?  Did he tell you?”

“The woman called me.  She told me it had been going on for almost a month.”

Cameron would never have thought her father could stoop so low.  She got a knot in her stomach just thinking about it.

“Well who is she?  Did dad tell you?  I mean, what would she have to gain by calling you?”

“She called to do damage.  I should call her back and tell her she was successful in her endeavor.”

“Give me your phone...I’ll call the bitch back.”

“No, Cameron, this situation is already horrible enough.”  Lynne began to cry again.

“Mom…”  Cameron stroked her mother’s hair and held her until she fell asleep.

Cameron went to her room and took out her phone.  As she scrolled through the numbers her eyes fell on her father’s.  She wanted to call him and give him a piece of her mind, but she knew she was too angry for that.  She knew she’d say things to him that she’d never be able to take back and although she was disgusted with her father right now, she still loved him.

Cameron walked down the stairs to talk to Malachi, but he had fallen asleep on the couch.

“Mal...Mal, wake up”, she said as she shook his shoulder.  Malachi shot up to a sitting position and Cameron pulled him up and guided him up to his bedroom.  He walked over to his bed and threw himself down, face first.  He was probably back to sleep before his head hit his pillow.

She removed his shoes, turned out his light and headed to her room.  Cameron’s limbs felt like they were made of lead as she dress for bed.  It wasn’t until she’d turned out her bedside lamp and curled up under her covers that she’d let the tears that had been burning her eyes finally flow.

**************

Cameron woke from a fitful sleep at around 6am.  She didn’t give herself any time to dwell on the events of last night; she had work to do.  She grabbed her phone from the nightstand and dialed her Nana’s number.

“Now why is my Sugarbump calling me so early in the morning?”  Cameron’s grandmother Della asked, her voice brimming with amusement.

“Nana, can you come up?  Mom needs you.  She found out Daddy’s been cheating on her.”  Cameron could almost hear her grandmother pursing her lips.  She did that every time she was upset or disappointed about something.

“Lord a’mighty no!  I always thought Saul was better than that.”  she said, more to herself that to Cameron.  “How is your Mama?”

“Not good, Nana.  I think you should come up for a few days.  That might be good for her.”

“Well...okay. Imma have ya cousin make me a flight.  I love you, Sugarbump.”

“Love you, too Nana”.

Della’s sister, Ernestine was sitting in the kitchen listening to Della’s half of the conversation.

“What’s going on Dell?”  You thought Saul was better than what?”

“He been cattin’ round on Lynnie.”

Ernestine smacked her hand on the kitchen table and sucked her teeth.  “What is WRONG with some a these men?  Got a good thing at home, but wanna go looking for strange.”  She shook her head in disgust.

“Men gon’ do what they do, Ernie.  You wanna keep ya marriage ya learn ta accept that.”  Della said sadly.  “Lynnie love her husband enough, she’ll do what she gotta do to keep her family together.”

“No. Ya DON’T have to accept that!  I don’t know what’s wrong with you, Dell.  You mighta been okay turnin’ blind eye all them times Ray shook his tallywacker at some other woman.  That don’t mean Lynnie is willing to do that.”  Ernestine said vehemently.

“Ernie, if a man know he got a good thing at home, he gon’ come home no matter who he ‘shakin’ his tallywacker at.”

“Dell, I knew you was touched in the head, but I didn’t know you was plum stupid, too.  Let Henry step out on me.  He’ll be going home alright.  Right into Jesus’ arms”.

Lynne rolled over and unconsciously slid her hand over to the left side of the bed.  Saul’s side.  When her hand didn’t meet the warmth of his body, last night came flooding back.  She rolled back over and curled into the fetal position.  

Cameron entered the room carrying a tray carrying breakfast.  

“Mom, I brought you toast, a poached egg and tea”, her daughter said.

“Oh, Cammie.  I don’t think I could eat right now.  I just don’t have the stomach for it.”

“You have to have something, Mom.  I know you don’t feel up to it, but you haven’t eaten anything since last night.”

“Cammie-”

“Just have the tea and toast then.  Mom...please.”

“Alright, honey.  Thank you, I love you.”

Lynne sat up and began nibbling on the toast.  This wasn’t how her life was supposed to be.  She was never one to see any problem as insurmountable.  She’d look at the big picture, devise a plan, and conquer the obstacle head on.  She had no idea how to conquer this one; her heart was broken into a million pieces.  Lynne didn’t know if she could divorce her husband, she loved him.  She didn’t know if she could take him back either.  That just seemed like silent acceptance.  She couldn’t do that, she was NOT her mother.  Lynne had watched her mother turn a blind eye to her dad’s cheating and she swore she would never, COULD never be that woman.  What was worse was that she knew that each time her mother found out that her father had strayed, it destroyed a piece of her mother.  She’d sometimes hear her crying in the bathroom.  Part of her had hated her father for the pain he caused her mother.  If she was honest with herself she had to admit that part of her still harbored some animosity towards her father, even though he’d passed away several years ago.  

She loved her mother, but she didn’t want to put herself through that kind of pain.  There was just no going back now that her trust in Saul was gone.

******************

Cameron went looking for Malachi.  He had withdrawn to his room and became non-communicative.  When she went to his room, he wasn’t there.  She went to the only other place he could possibly be.

Malachi asked for his first guitar when he was four years old.  Their uncle Todd, their mother’s brother, was a musician and Malachi would watch him play his guitar with rapt attention.  By the age of six he was proficient.  By the time he was nine, Uncle Todd was inviting him to jam sessions with his band.  Eventually, he learned to play the piano and the drums.  He was passionate about music and his life’s goal was to make music.  When he was 13, their parents surprised him by soundproofing a room in the basement so that he could practice his music without anyone complaining about the noise.  Cameron was pretty sure where Malachi was.

She walked towards the music room and opened the door to find Malachi aggressively playing his drums.  His eyes were closed and he was drenched in sweat.  At some point, he opened his eyes and saw his sister and stopped his furious playing.  He bent his head and took deep breaths in order to steady his breathing.  Cameron walked over to him.

“Feel better?” she asked.

“No”, he grumbled.  He sat as if lost in thought then angrily threw his drumsticks across the room.

“Hey!  Mal, I know how you feel.  I’m angry at Dad too but lashing helps no one.  Talk to me, tell me what’s going on in your head.”

“How could he do this, Cam??!!  You didn’t see Mom, that night.  I’ve never seen her so hurt, so angry.  You only had to look into her eyes to know that her heart was broken. How could he DO that to her?  I HATE him!!”

“No you don’t and you know it”, Cameron said gently.  “You’re angry and hurt, believe me when I say that I am, too.  You don’t hate him, though.”

“Feels like hate to me.  Whatever it is, I don’t want to EVER see him again!”

Cameron didn’t see the point in arguing the point.  Her brother was allowed to feel how he felt about their Dad.  If he wasn’t feeling in the forgiving mood right now, who was she to protest?  She didn’t have much forgiveness to offer her father at the moment either.

****************

Lynne decided that she needed to take a few days off from work considering the events of the past weekend.  She didn’t think she’d be any good to anyone in her current emotional state.  Lynne was an english teacher at Arbor Mills Middle school.  She loved her job and she loved the kids she taught, but she didn’t think she could handle dealing with them just now.  She called in to the automated system an advised that she’d had a family emergency.  Lynne always had a contingency plan in the event that she had to call out, so she advised that she had a detailed lesson plan and where the sub could locate it.  She didn’t like the idea of her kids getting behind in their lessons because she couldn’t make it to school.

After she finished making the call, Lynne leaned against her headboard, her legs pulled to her chest.  She rested her chin on her knees and looked around the room she’d shared with her husband for 20 years.  They’d bought this house 5 years into their marriage.  She was pregnant with Cameron and their little one bedroom apartment just wasn’t big enough for 2 adults and a baby.  This was the only home her kids had ever known and it was always a happy place.  Saul had tainted that.  The more Lynne thought about the upheaval of not only her life, but the lives of her children, the angrier she got.  Her eyes settled on the closet.  The doors were open and she could see her husband’s clothing.  She got up and started pulling his things out and tossing them onto the floor.  She’d initially started pulling the clothing out one piece at a time, but as her anger began to build she began to pull the clothes out of the closet more frantically.  She began to pull armfuls of suits, shirts, sweaters...everything she could get her hands on and throwing them violently on the floor.  

When she finished emptying the closet of his things, she went to the cherry wood high boy to continue her manic purging.  She pulled out the drawers that contained Saul’s belongings and upended the contents on the growing pile.  She went to the bathroom and cleared all his things from the counter and drawers in there.  She emptied his nightstand as well.  

Once Lynne was satisfied that she’d removed all of Saul’s things from every nook and cranny of the room, she went down to the laundry room and retrieved a box of clear lawn bags.  She shoved the contents of the pile on the floor into several bags, then dragged them down the stairs and unceremoniously dumped the bags on the front lawn.  Once she’d completed her task, she grabbed the house phone and dialed her husband’s cell phone number.  

He answered on the first ring.  Before he could complete his greeting, Lynne curtly said, “Come get your shit.” and disconnected the call.

“You did WHAT??”  Saul’s best friend and co-worker Dan Masterson said, incredulously.  “What the...I don’t even know what to say.  Wait, I DO know what to say...you STUPID FUCK.”

“I know, I know.  We were at that conference and one night we had too much to drink and it just...happened.”

“Papercuts just HAPPEN, Saul.  Sleeping with a woman other than your wife...it may not have been pre-meditated on your part, but you had the ability to NOT put your dick in the company bicycle at any time that night.  I mean, it’s not like you slipped and fell dick first into her vagina.  And continuing to screw her after the conference?  Man, come on.  Can you really blame Lynne for throwing your ass out?”

“No. No, you’re right.  How do I fix it?  I don’t want to lose Lynne, I love her so much.  What do I do, Dan?”

“I can’t answer that for you, Saul,”  Dan said, slowly shaking his head.  “Lynne might be willing to talk at some point, but I think for now you just need to give her space and time to sort things out for herself.”

“But what if during that time she decides she wants a divorce?  That would kill me.”

“If she files for divorce, you have to accept that it’s what she wants.  You betrayed her trust, man.  It’s hard to regain trust once it’s broken.”

It wasn’t what Saul wanted to hear, but he knew that his friend was telling the cold, hard truth.  He didn’t expect any less, but he knew he had to try to regain his wife’s trust.  He’d give her the space she needed, but he wasn’t going to give up on them.

******************

Saul was back in his office going over his team’s production stats when there was a knock on his door.  He looked up and his blood began to boil.  Alicia.

“Alicia, if this isn’t business related you can turn around and go back where you came from.”

Alicia walked in and closed the office door.  “That’s not nice, Saul”,  she said while sitting down in the chair in front of Saul’s desk.  “I came in to see how you were doing.”

“How I’m doing?  Are you fucking kidding me?  How did you THINK I’d be doing after the stunt you pulled on Friday?”

“Oh PLEASE, spare me the victim routine.  You weren’t complaining all those times we were having sex in this very office.  I did you a favor.  You are definitely not the type to be satisfied with a boring little school teacher”  Alicia said, dismissively.

Alicia flinched when Saul abruptly jumped out of his chair.  Her reaction gave him the smallest bit of satisfaction.  

“Alicia, get out of my office.  Get out of here before I do something that will get me fired and arrested.”

“Saul, I-I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to say that!  I love you.  I just wanted the chance to love you the right way.  Now that your wife is out of the picture, we can be together.”

Saul stared at the woman incredulously.  “My wife isn’t out of the picture and I do NOT want to be with you.  What you and I had was just sex.  JUST sex, Alicia.  I told you that before you made your little phone call.  What happened between you and I was the single most regrettable thing I’ve ever done in my ENTIRE life, I take full responsibility for it. I should never have done it and I’m paying the price, believe me.  And that boring little school teacher?  She’s more woman than you will EVER be...even on your BEST day.  Now please, get the HELL out of my office.”

Alicia stared at him wide eyed.  She got up and walked out of Saul’s office and walked briskly to the ladies room.  Once she was behind the locked bathroom stall door, she let the hot tears flow down her cheeks.  

She didn’t understand how he could treat her this way after everything they’d meant to each other.  Granted, he never TOLD her he loved her, but actions speak louder than words.  She could tell by the uninhibited and passionate way he would take her.  It was love, she knew it.  She told his wife about them so that they’d be free to have a relationship without him feeling so damned guilty all the time.  It was his stupid wife’s fault.  That mousy little thing more woman that her?  Not likely.  No, there wasn’t a woman alive who could hold a candle to her, deep down Saul knew that.  And he’d see that.  She’d make him see that.

Alicia walked out of the stall, and headed to one of the sinks.  She dabbed away her tears, reapplied her make-up and fluffed her hair.  She smiled at her reflection.  Perfect.  This wasn’t over for Alicia.  She loved Saul and she wanted him for herself.  “And I ALWAYS get what I want”, she said, smiling.

******************

Lynne was sitting in the teacher’s lounge at Arbor Hills middle school.  She was resting her head in her hand, absentmindedly picking at the salad she brought for lunch.  She looked up as the door opened and her friend and fellow teacher, Angela Emerson walked into the room.

“Okay, Lynnie, spill.  You’ve been walking around here like a zombie all day.  Is everything okay?”

Lynne looked up at her friend and couldn’t stop the tears that had been threatening to fall all day long.

“Lynne”, said Angela, her voice filled with concern. She sat in the chair next to Lynne and began rubbing her back.  “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“He cheated on me, Ang”,  Lynne whispered.  “Saul...he’s been having an affair.”

“Oh my God!  How’d you find out? Did he tell you?”

“No, the bitch called me herself.”

“You have GOT to be kidding me!  That takes big brass balls and a non-existent level of shame.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Oh, honey...I’m so sorry.  So what did your husband have to say for himself.”

“He got out a bunch of meaningless bullshit before I kicked his ass out of the house.”

“Well, that’s probably for the best, for now.”

“For now?  Do you think I should take him back, because I don’t know if I can do that.  I also don’t know if I can divorce him, either.”

“I don’t know, chica.  I DO know that you have to be comfortable with whatever you decision you make.”

“I know, Ang.  I just have no idea what my decision is going to be.  If I take him back I’ll always be wondering if he’s going to cheat again.  I can’t live like that.  But I love him.  He’s the only man I’ve ever loved.  I just don’t know if I can throw that away.”

“Sweetie”, Angela said softly, “he threw that away when he slept with that other woman.”

Lynne dropped her head, the tears streaming again.  Angela wrapped her arms around her friend and held her as she cried.

Cameron had convinced Malachi to go with her to pick their grandmother and great aunt from the airport.  She thought the change of scenery would be good for him.  Lately, if he wasn’t at school he was holed up in either his bedroom or his music room.  Malachi was sensitive and laconic, when he was upset he withdrew.  Cameron knew that if he withdrew any further, there’d be no reaching him.  She didn’t want to lose her brother.  They needed each other now more than ever.

“There they are”, Malachi said.  They watched as the two women walked out of the walkway between the plane and the terminal gate in mid fuss.

“Ernestine, you know it ain’t right to say somebody’s baby is ugly.”

“I didn’t SAY he was ugly, I said he looked like a crack baby.  Hands and face all dirty, clothes looking like he rolled around in Spaghettios.  Walkin’ round lookin like nobody ever loved him.  And the parents sittin right there while that little ankle biter tryin to put his nasty lil hands on everybody!  I was about to call Child Protective while we was still on the plane.”

“You ain’t have to say none of that to the people’s face, though!  You so damn ignorant sometimes.  If someone had said those things to you about Donnie or Renae, TSA woulda been carrying you out of this airport and off to the jailhouse!”

“Nobody woulda said anything like that to me about MY children because my children never looked like they was homeless dumpster divers.”

Della rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth.  “You make me sick, Ernestine.”

“I know.  But you love me and you stuck with me, so get over it.”

The two older women’s bickering was a constant source of amusement for the family and today was no exception.  Even Malachi found himself chuckling at their comical exchange.

“Are those my grandbabies standing there looking like grown folks?!”  Della exclaimed as she set eyes on Cameron and Malachi.

“Hey Grandma!”  The said in unison and moved in to sandwich their grandmother in a three way hug.

“So I guess Auntie Ernie is chopped liver now, huh?”  Ernestine said as she placed her hands on her hips in mock indignation.

“No, Auntie Ernie”, Cameron laughed  “we were going to give your lovin’ separate and special.”

“Lil girl, you fulla shit!”  Ernestine said as she threw her head back and cackled.  “C’mere and give me mah squeezes.”

Cameron and Malachi made a hug sandwich of their beloved auntie as well.

***********************

The foursome began their trek to baggage claim, with Cameron and Della leading the way.  Ernestine looked up at her great nephew.  He’d gotten taller and began to look more like a man.  He turned and looked at his favorite aunt and smiled a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.  

Ernestine stopped and pulled the young man to the side and faced him.  She cupped his face in her hands, looked him directly in his eyes and said  “You are NOT your father.  You have the power over the choices you make in life, so you will only become LIKE your father if you make the same choices HE did.  His mistakes today do NOT reflect who you will be tomorrow.  Understand?”

Malachi nodded his head as he fought back tears.  Ernestine wrapped him up in a hug and said “Alright, enough of this meaningful shit.  Let’s get to baggage claim so we can get my luggage.  I’ll even let you carry it.  That’s gon’ be fun for you!”

And for the first time in a week, Malachi laughed.  A genuine, honest to God, laugh.

***********************

They arrived at the house at around 2pm to find Lynne manically puttering around the downstairs living spaces, wiping down surfaces that had been wiped down twice already, fluffing already fluffed couch cushions and picking up imaginary pieces of lint off of the floor.  Lynne turned as she heard the door open.  Her mother walked in, took one look at her and said “Come here, baby”.

Lynne walked over to her mother and took comfort in the arms of the woman who had loved and cared for her all her life.  They stood there for a long while, Della rubbing and warming her daughter’s back and arms and Lynne basking in that much needed warmth.

“Mama I-”  Lynne began before Della cut her off.

“Shhh.  Ain’t nothin gotta be fixed right now.  Just let me baby you for a little bit.  I can’t make the pain go away, but I can give you some comfort.  That’s what mamas do.  So, let some of that tension go, cry if you gotta, Mama just wants to give her baby girl a little bit of peace.”

Della felt the sting of tears in her own eyes.  How many times did she wish her mother had been there to wrap her arms around her and soothe her when Ray was stomping on her heart?  She made the choice to stay with her husband because it was better for Lynne to have both of her parents, but it didn’t make each and every betrayal hurt any less.  Maybe her mother’s hugs wouldn’t have made the pain any more bearable, but she’d have liked the opportunity to know for herself.

Della pulled back and and looked at her daughter for a moment.  “You ain’t been eating.  Aww, Lynnie you wastin away!”

“I can’t eat, Mama.  I just don’t have an appetite.”

“Yeah, but you need to keep up your strength.  You lettin’ ya’self starve to death ain’t gon’ help the situation none and it sho ain’t gon’ help them kids.  You gotta be strong for them, even when you feel your weakest.”

“I know, Mama”, Lynne said softly.

“Tell you what.  I’ll get Cammie to take me to the grocery store and I’ll get the ingredients to make your favorite meal.”

Lynne looked at her mother with the hint of a gleam in her eye.  “Chicken and Dumplings?”

“Chicken and Dumplings.”  Della said, chuckling.

“And Peach Cobbler?”

“Girl...what happened to ‘I don’t have an appetite’?”

“You came in here promising Chicken and Dumplings and my stomach woke up.”  Lynne said sheepishly.

Della laughed.  “Well, let me go get Cammie so she can take me to the store to get the fixins for Chicken and Dumplings AND Peach Cobbler.”

Della got up and started to move towards the stairs when Lynne grabbed her by the wrist.  “I’m glad you’re here, Mama.

“Me too, babygirl.  Me too.”

Some one in the review section asked what the characters looked like, but because I'm "challenged" when it comes to adding photos to the story, I'll just give y'all an idea of the public figures that most resemble them in my mind.

Saul: Lamman Rucker

Lynne: Gina Torres

Cameron: Tessa Thompson

Malachi: Trevor Jackson

Della: Phylicia Rashad

Ernestine: Alfre Woodard

Alicia: Essence Atkins

Angie: Constance Marie

Dan: Jon Hamm

Cameron and Della were making their way through the grocery store picking up ingredients for the supper she’d planned.  Once they’d gathered all of the ingredients needed, they headed to check out.  While they were standing there Della realized that they’d needed some staples from the dairy aisle.

“Cammie baby, I forgot that we need eggs.  Run and go get some, honey.  Make sure the eggs are-”

“Extra large.  Not large, not jumbo.  Extra large.”  Cameron had been hearing her grandmother’s “egg rule” since she was a little girl.

“Don’t sass me, yungin’.  Just run and go get them eggs.”  Della watched her granddaughter trot off and smiled.

Cameron moved quickly to the dairy aisle and grabbed the carton of eggs.  As she turned to run back to the check out line, she stopped short.  Her father was standing four feet away from her.  They both gaped at one another for what felt like hours.  Saul began to walk slowly toward his daughter like she was a bull that would charge him if he made any sudden movements.  When he was about a foot away he spoke.

“Hi baby. H-how are you?”  He asked, softly.  He knew that she would light into him, and he knew he’d deserve every bit of whatever she’d unleash on him.  When she spoke to him, however, there was no venom, no anger.  It shocked him and it made him feel even guiltier than if she’d unleashed on him.

“I’m okay, all things considered”,  she said evenly.  “How are you?”

“I’ve been better”, he replied.

“Yeah, so has mom.  And Mal.”  

“I know...I-”

“Why’d you do it, Daddy?”  Cameron said, interrupting him.  “Was it that you just weren’t happy at home?  How could you do that to Mom?”

“Cameron, it’s a complicated issue and now is not really the time or pla-”

“What’s complicated about it?  You had an affair and shattered your family.  Seems pretty simple.  But you’re right, now’s not the time or place.”  Cameron was surprised at how calm she was, considering her heart felt like it was about to pound out of her chest.  “So what’s a good time and place to talk?  Because I REALLY need to know why this WOMAN was worth the risk to your marriage.”

“If you want to stop by the hotel tomorrow afternoon, we can talk then.  If you want.”  

“Yes, let’s do that, then.  Oh...at some point you need to talk to Mal.  He’s really angry and he’s hurting.  He may not be receptive to talking to you at first.  In fact, I know he won’t be, but keep trying.  Oh, and if you really want Mom back, you’ve got some heavy duty ass kissing to do.  There’s no guarantee she’ll forgive you, but you still need to start groveling.”

All Saul could do was nod.  His daughter had always been level-headed and pragmatic, but it was like she had aged 10 years in the past week.  There was a loss of innocence and he was directly responsible for it.  He hated himself for taking that innocence from her.  He hated himself for ruining his family.

“Well, I’m gonna go now, Dad.  Don’t forget to reach out to Malachi.  Maybe next week you should just come to the house.  Take your lumps like a grown up.”

Before Saul could respond to that, Cameron walked past him and headed to the check out counter.

***************************

When Cameron got back to the check out counter, her grandmother had already paid for the other groceries, so she just paid for the eggs and walked to the bench Della was sitting on.

“Well that took a long time.  I thought you went to the farm to collect the eggs ya’self.”

“I ran into my dad.”  Cameron said, her voice tinged with sadness.

“Oh Lord.  I didn’t hear no yelling and screaming so you must notta talked to him.”

“No, I talked to him.  I’m kinda surprised I remained as calm as I did.”

“Well, what did he say? Did he explain hisself?”

“No, but what could he really say in a few minutes?  He said that it was a complicated issue and that he’s been having a tough time of it.”  Cameron said, with undisguised sarcasm.

Della barked out a humorless laugh.  “HE’S having a hard time???  Well poor, precious baby.”  

“Yeah.  Let’s get out of here, grandma.  I don’t want to see him again.”

****************************

Saul sat in his car in the parking lot of the grocery store, staring blankly out of his windshield.  Cameron’s words were echoing in his head.  “Come to the house.  Take your lumps like a grown up.”  She was right, he was avoiding facing his wife and kids and their hurt and anger.  If he wanted to save his marriage, he had to face the fallout of what he’d done.  He pulled out his phone and dialed a familiar number.  His call went directly to voicemail.

“Hello, Lynne.  I know I’m probably the last person you want to speak to right now, but I was hoping that we could talk.  I’m not push you, but...I just want to talk to you.  I miss you and I just want to try to work things out.  I’ll understand if you don’t want to see me ever again, but can we please just try?  I love you, please call me.”

Saul disconnected the call.  The next number he dialed was his son’s.

“Yeah”, Malachi said when he answered the call.

Saul had to admit to himself that he’d expected a much worse reception.

“Hey son.” he said awkwardly.  “I was calling to see how you were doing.”

“Gee, Dad, I’m just peachy keen.  Never been better”, Malachi responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“I know you’re angry, Mal.  I deserve your anger and so much more.  You, your mom and your sister deserve so much more than you’ve gotten from me.  I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”

“Well thank you, Dad.  Thank you for considering our feelings AFTER the fact.  And of COURSE you’re sorry.  It’s EASY to say sorry after the crap hits the fan.  Just like it would have been EASY for you NOT to cheat on Mom.  There’s no excuse for what you did.” Malachi’s voice was thick with emotion as the words just tumbled out of him.

“ I admired you, I looked UP to you, I wanted to be LIKE you.  I used to tell my friends that you were the greatest man that I’ve ever known, and you made me a liar.  Hey, I guess I’m like you after all.  I don’t want you to call me anymore, Dad.  There’s nothing else I want to say to you and there’s nothing else I need to hear from you.”

And with that, Malachi disconnected the call.

Saul let out a breath and leaned his head back on his headrest.  He folded his arms over his face and cried harder than he had in a long time.

Alicia began driving by the Dixon house every day at least twice a day for about a week now.  Her intention was to walk up to that door and tell that bitch to leave her man alone.  She was just waiting for the right opportunity.  The truth was that despite all her bravado, she couldn’t quite screw up the courage to confront the Lynne face to face.  She’d never admit that to herself, though.  

Just as she was driving past the house this particular evening, she saw Lynne’s car coming at her from the opposite direction.  Alicia pulled over and watched Lynne pull into her driveway.  “It’s now or never, girl”, she said to herself.  She unbuckled her seatbelt and strolled over to the other woman just as she was reaching into the back seat to grab a canvas bag filled with books and folders.

“Excuse me, ma’am?”  Alicia called out as she reached the rear bumper of Lynne’s car.

Lynne turned towards the woman addressing her and smiled.  “Hello, do you need help?”

“Yes.  Are you Lynne Dixon?”  The question stopped Lynne cold.  Her heart began to pound, but managed to keep her breathing steady as she placed her canvas book bag on the ground next to her feet.  

Lynne looked at the woman and let a slow smile cross her face.  If Alicia had known Lynne from way back in the day, she’d know that nothing good came after that smile.

“How can I help you dear?  Saul’s not here.  That’s why you came here, right?”

Alicia’s eyes widened for a moment but she quickly recovered.  “As a matter of fact, I AM looking for MY MAN.  Is he here?”

Lynne chuckled.  “Sweetie, shouldn’t you know where YOUR MAN is?”

“You didn’t know where he was all those times he had me bent ov-”

Alicia didn’t see the left hook as it met her lips, cutting her off mid-sentence.  She looked up at Lynne to see her leaning calmly against the side of her car.

“What was that, honey?  I didn’t hear you.”  Lynne said sarcastically. “Care to repeat yourself?”  It wasn’t a question, it was a dare.  

Lynne looked at the woman’s lip and saw that it was quickly swelling.  “Come inside the house, I’ll get you some ice for that lip.”  When Alicia hesitated, Lynne chuckled.  “Don’t get shy on me now, honey.”

Alicia had played this all wrong and she knew it.  She clearly hadn’t considered that the woman she thought was a meek schoolteacher would be anything but meek.  She may even be psychotic, but here she was, the woman who’d just boasted about sleeping with her husband, following the scorned wife into her house.  What was wrong with her?

Lynne turned to her just as she was about to cross the threshold of the house her lover owned.  “Please stay there.  My children are at home.  I don’t want to have to explain to them who you are.”

Lynne went to the kitchen, wrapped some ice in some paper towels, then put that in a plastic bag.  She returned to Alicia with the ghost of a smirk on her face.

“Here’s your ice pack, dear.”  As Alicia reached for it, Lynne pulled it back and leaned in close to the younger woman.

“Now, I want you to hear me clearly.  I’m sure you’ve realized by now that you made a mistake by walking on to my property.  I’m guessing you wanted to intimidate me, but you must not have done your homework because I. AM NOT. A. PUNK.  Now, I hope that you don’t forget the lesson you learned here today, because if you make your way on to my property again, you WILL be digesting some of your teeth.”

Lynne then unceremoniously slammed the door in Alicia’s face.

Saul had called Lynne several times since he left his first voicemail asking her to meet with him so they could talk.  She’d never responded to any of them so he was surprised when he saw her name pop up on his phone’s display.

“Lynne?  Is everything okay?”

“Yeah...um...you wanna talk, so let’s talk.  Meet me at Christie’s on 5th in a half an hour”.  Her voice gave nothing away; he had no inkling of what the outcome of this meeting would be.

“Okay”,  Saul said eagerly.  “Half and hour.  I’ll be there.”

“Alright.  See you then.”

“Thank you, Lynne.”

She replied with an “uh huh” and hung up.  And “uh huh” from Lynne wasn’t usually a sign of good things to come.

*************************

Lynne arrived at the little cafe ten minutes early so she could order a cup of chamomile tea in order to calm her nerves.  She’d have preferred a Xanax, or at the very least a shot of some brown liquor, but tea would have to suffice.  

Seeing Saul’s mistress had given Lynne a much needed attitude adjustment.  She was still hurt by her husband’s actions; that wound wasn’t closing any time soon.  She was no longer confused about what she needed to do to move on with her life.  By sleeping with that trashy woman, he had essentially brought her into their home, into their bed.  Now SHE was bringing drama right to her front door.  Where her children live.  That pissed her off and if that was the type of crap that her husband was willing to subject her and their kids to, she wanted no part of it.

Lynne looked up and saw Saul walk into the cafe.  She sat up front so that he’d see her when he walked in.

“Hi Lynnie.  You look beautiful”, Saul said almost sheepishly.  He almost reminded her of the boy she’d first fallen in love with. “How are you doing?’

“I’m good, Saul.  Let’s move towards the back of the cafe.  I only sat up front so you’d see me when you walked in.”

They walked towards the back of cafe and sat at the last table on the right.  Lynne sat and looked at Saul for a minute.

“You look like you haven’t been sleeping”,  She said, with a neutral tone.

“Nah.  Not sleeping so well.  It’s hard to sleep without the woman I love beside me”.

“Would that be me or your girlfriend?”

“Come on, Lynne.  It was never like that with her”.

“She doesn’t seem to think so.  She stopped by the house looking for you last week.  She wanted to know where her MAN was.”  Lynne chucked humorlessly.

“She WHAT?  Lynne, I haven’t had anything to do with Alicia since before the day she called the house!  You have to believe me!”

“Sure, because you’ve been SO honest lately”,  Lynne said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.  “So that’s her name? Alicia?”

“Uh...yeah”,  Saul responded, the discomfort clear in his voice.  “I can’t believe she showed up at the house.  What happened?  What did she do?”

“She walked onto my property demanding to know where her man was, she proceeded to, once again, try to provide me with details about your trysts.  I tagged that jaw, gave her some ice for her boo-boo, and sent her on her way with a warning that if she ever came on my property again things would not go well for her.”

As mortifying as the account was, Saul felt a little surge of pride at how Lynne handled Alicia.  People always mistook Lynne’s demureness as frailty or weakness, but Lynne was neither frail or weak.

“Saul, I think we should separate.”

Saul was crestfallen.  He had hoped that Lynne was ready to take him back.  Maybe get counseling.  He was devastated.

“Why Lynne?  Why can’t we work on this?  I messed up so badly and betrayed your trust, but I don’t want us to end.  Maybe if we went to counseling.  Do you not love me anymore?”

“I still love you Saul, that’s not the issue.  You said it yourself, you betrayed my trust and even if we GOT counseling I’d always be wondering every time you were late coming home or you said you had to work late, I’d be wondering if you were sleeping with someone else.  Trust is part of the foundation of a marriage, once that’s gone…”

Saul’s eyes shone bright with unshed tears.  “Please Lynnie, I can’t lose you and the kids.  I love you so much.”

“Saul, if you loved me, why’d you cheat?”

“Lynne…”

“No Saul, I really want to know.  You don’t just wake up and say “You know what I’d like to do today?  I’d like to break my vows and sleep with another woman.”

“I suppose…”  Saul hesitated, trying to chose the right words.  “It was a release of stress.  Sex without responsibility.  It’s not that I don’t love my life...Saul trailed off, feeling ashamed.  “It was something...different.”

“Different…”.  Lynne couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  So it really came down to him just wanting a little strange.  He was just like her father.  “This has been very illuminating.  You know Saul, I don’t want the separation anymore.”  Saul visibly relaxed.  “I want a divorce.

Saul paced the floor of his hotel room frantically.  He was losing everything.  His wife was leaving him and his kids hated him.  He hated himself but right now, he hated that little bitch more.  He picked up his phone and dialed her number.

“Come to the Downtown Wilton, room 236.  NOW.”

***************************

Alicia was smiling from ear to ear after she hung up with Saul.  He finally came to his senses.  She rushed to take a shower, using her favorite shower gel.  It smelled of vanilla and brown sugar.  She smoothed on lotion that was fragranced the same way then put on burgundy and black demi bra and matching boy shorts.  She slipped on a sexy black mini dress that was cut low enough to show off her ample bosom, sky high black platform shoes and reapplied her make up.  She left her apartment with a huge smile on her face.  

She reached the Wilton in record time and sashayed through the lobby, attracting lascivious looks from the male desk clerks and other men in the lobby.  She also garnered some dirty looks from a pair of women checking in to the hotel.  “She might as well have a neon sign around her neck with the word THOT on it”, said one woman as her friend cackled.  Alicia didn’t care, she was here for her man.  She didn’t care what a couple jealous bitches said or thought.

Alicia got off of the elevator on the second floor and headed towards Saul’s room.  She knocked once and the door flew open and she was roughly yanked inside.  As soon as the door was closed, Saul grabbed her by her throat and pushed her against the wall...hard.  She usually liked it hard and rough but the look in his eyes had frightened her a bit.  He applied pressure to her throat before letting go, much to Alicia’s relief.  Saul pulled her against him, grabbed a handful of hair and the back of her head and yanked, making grunt in pain.  

“Not so rough, baby”, her voice tinged with apprehension.

“Isn’t this how you like it, sweetheart?  You always said you liked it rough.  I’m just giving you what you like”.  

Saul crushed his lips against hers, drawing a bit of blood.  He hitched her dress up forcibly and slid his hand into her panties.  He slid his fingers up and down her slit and wasn’t surprised to find her soaking wet.  

“You feel how wet I am for you, baby?  I missed this so much”.  She grabbed him by the back of his head and pulled his face to hers kissed him.  Saul didn’t want to feel any desire for her; he wanted to punish her, but he found himself hard as granite.

Saul ripped her panties off of her and bent her over the arm of the lounge chair and pushed her face into the cushions.  He frantically wrenched down his pants and boxer briefs, took his tool in hand and plowed it into her in one hard thrust.

“Ooooh fuuuck”  Alicia moaned.  This was perfection.

Saul pounded her pussy recklessly.  He dug his fingers in to her fleshy hips as she screamed and moaned, caught between the pain and pleasure of being fucked so brutally.  She felt herself reaching her peak and and the rise felt so delicious.

“I’m coming baby!  I’m coming!”  She yelled.

Saul groaned and pulled out of her, turned her around and pushed her to her knees.  He rapidly stroked himself, aiming his cock at her face.  It only took him a few seconds to unload all over her face, coating her from her chin to her hairline.  He collapsed over the arm of the chair, breathing heavily.  Alicia got up and went to the bathroom to wipe Saul’s spend off of her face.  He stood in the doorway, watching her.  When she turned and walked towards him and attempted to wrapped her arms around his neck, he grabbed her wrists tightly and bent down so that he was eye to eye with her.

“You are just a good fuck”, he said menacingly.  “That is ALL you will EVER be to me.  Lynne is the woman that I love; the woman I will ALWAYS love.  And if you go near her again Alicia, a left hook will be the LEAST of your problems.”

Saul walked over and opened his hotel room door.  “Good night, Alicia”.

*********************************

6 months later

Malcolm Davenport was in the office of Arbor Mills Middle School taking care of some administrative business before he started his day.  It was his first day as an English teacher/Baseball coach at the school and he was eager to get started.  He turned away from the desk and saw the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen talking to another woman in the lobby.  He didn’t want to stare so he turned back towards the desk and watched the secretary, Mrs. Garrity, gathering up the documents he’d requested.

Mrs. Garrity returned to the desk and handed him the documents and smiled at him.

“Okay Malcolm, here’s everything the asked for.  Let me know if you need anything else”.

“Thanks Sarah, you’ll probably get sick of me bending your ear this week”, he said with a smile so dazzling that the older woman almost swooned.

Malcolm was used to the reaction and it made him blush every time.  He was undeniably handsome with dirty blond hair that was cut short and a perpetual five o’clock shadow.  He had deep green eyes you couldn’t help but get lost in.  He wasn’t especially tall, topping out at 5’10, but he’d never been overly concerned about his height.  He was lean but muscular due to his strict exercise regimen.  He looked like the boy next door, if the boy next door was ridiculously gorgeous.

“Well here comes your fellow English teacher now.  I’m sure she’d be happy to help you out should you need it”.

Malcolm turned around and came face to face with the lobby goddess.  She was a few inches shorter than him and although he could tell she took care of her body, she still had sumptuous curves.  She had the body of a real woman. She had warm caramel colored skin and the most luscious lips he’d ever seen.  Those lips looked kissable, suckable and biteable.  She had beautiful brown eyes that he wanted to stare into forever.  

Malcolm realized he was staring, so he quickly turned his attention back to Mrs. Garrity.  

“Malcolm Davenport, this lovely lady is Lynne Dixon.  Lynne, this is Malcolm, he’s the new English teacher.  I’m counting on you to show him the ropes, doll”.

Lynne chuckled at the older woman and turned to Malcolm and stuck out her hand.  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Malcolm.  Your classroom is right next to mine, so feel free to pop your head in if you have any questions”.

God, her voice.  It was silky and husky and it sent a chill down his spine that ended in his crotch and made his member twitch.  “Please don’t get hard, please don’t get hard, please don’t get hard” he chanted in his head.  He definitely didn’t need to be labeled the school letch on his first day.

“Malcolm, you okay?”  He was staring again.  Mrs. Garrity said with a barely contained smile.  Somebody had a crush.

“Oh, I-I’m so sorry.  Th-thank you. I need you...I mean I’m sure I’ll need you to assist me the first couple of weeks”.  “Real smooth, Davenport”, Malcolm thought to himself.

“I’m gonna go to class...my classroom. ‘kay, bye!”  Malcolm almost ran out of the office.

Mrs. Garrity chuckled.  “You sure did get him flustered, Lynnie.  I think you have an ardent admirer”.

Lynne blushed but waved her off.  “He’s probably just nervous about his first day”.

“Uh huh.  All I know is he was fine before you walked in.”

“Oh hush”, Lynne laughed.

“Lynne, it’s been 3 months since your divorce, time to get back on the horse.  And that man that just stumbled out of here is one pretty horse.”

“Sarah! Woman, you are too much”, Lynne said, laughing.

Lynne turned to leave the office.  She may have protested, but she couldn’t wipe the smile off of her face.

Alicia had been distraught the night that Saul made love to her then threw her out of his room; professing his love for that bitch wife of his.  She’d needed to get away from him, so she’d quit her job.  She couldn’t bear the thought of seeing him everyday and not being able to have him.  Why couldn’t he see that they were perfect for one another?  His wife didn’t know him; she didn’t know the REAL Saul.  Only SHE knew who the real Saul was.  He wasn’t some family man, content with the mundane life he’d been stuck in for 25 years, she was sure of that.  No one could fuck like that and be happy at home.  He’d liked rough, kinky sex and Alicia was sure he wasn’t getting that from his frosty, boring wife.  He’d never said that, but she knew it was true.  He was just infatuated with Lynne; he was stuck in his marriage because she’d gotten pregnant and trapped him.  “Maybe I should have done that; gotten pregnant”, Alicia thought.  If she had, he’d be by her side right now.

That didn’t matter now; he’d refused to see her in the 6 months since their last time together.

“It’s that wife of his.  Well EX-wife now”, She thought. “She divorced him; cast him away like he was garbage.  Her Saul didn’t deserve to be treated that way”.  She deserved to be punished.

***************************

Lynne was eating her lunch at her desk when Malcolm stopped by her classroom.

“Not eating in the lounge today?” Malcolm asked.

Lynne jumped at the sound of his voice.  “Oh, you startled me.  No, no lounge today.  I have some tests I need to grade; It’s a working lunch for me.”

“Oh, well I’ll leave you to it, then”.

“No, wait!”  Lynne cringed inwardly.  She sounded a little too eager for her liking.  “Um...I’m just about done.  Want to keep me company?”

Malcolm’s stomach did a little flip flop.  Alone time with a goddess?  Only a fool would pass that up.  “Sure, if it’s not going to be a distraction.”

Lynne dismissed the thought with a wave of her hand.  “Of course it’s not.  I asked you, remember?”

Malcolm entered the room, pulled a chair up to Lynne’s desk and sat down.  As he sat, she leveled one of her devastating smiles on him.  This woman would be the death of him.  But what a way to go.

She watched him take out his sandwich and begin eating.

“Is that peanut butter and jelly”, she said with a chuckle.

“What?  It’s the only thing I know how to cook!”  They both laughed.

“Now, that is just sad”, Lynne laughed. “So how’s your first week going?”

“Pretty good.  Although I have a feeling that by the end of the school year Kevin Blankenship will have me contemplating homicide”.

Lynne laughed.  “Oh that will happen before then, I can assure you”.

Malcolm laughed and smiled at her.  “He’s got a great smile”, Lynne thought.  She immediately admonished herself.  It was too soon after her divorce and she knew that she was still too raw to be thinking of another man that way.

“So what brought you to Connecticut?  This is a long way from Phoenix”.

“Oh, basic break up story.  Girl meets boy, they fall in love, get married and four years later boy catches girl in bed with boys cousin”.

“Oh god!  That must have been so awful for you.  I’m sorry”.

“Well, unless you mentally compelled them to betray me,  you have nothing to be sorry for”.  Malcolm said with a wry smile.

“So how long have you been divorced?”

“Going on three years now.  I’d finally started getting over things after a year, but then they announced that they were pregnant and getting married and I knew it was time to get out of there.  It was just too much”.

“I can understand that.  I-I’m divorced, too.  It’s been three months since it finalized.  H-He cheated”.

“Well, he was a fool”, Malcolm said, softly.  He looked up and their eyes locked.  She blushed and looked away.

Just then the bell rang signaling that lunch time was over.  Malcolm wanted to ask her out to

dinner or lunch or to just watch grass grow, but he didn’t want to move to fast.

“Well the young ones are returning.  I better get back to my room.”  He got up, returned his chair to the original position and walked towards the door.

“Malcolm”, she called out before he walked out. “Thanks for keeping me company”.  She smiled.

“Any time, Lynne”, he replied, returning her smile.  “Yeah”, he thought, “She’s going to be the death of me”.

One Month Later

Saul was surprised by a knock on the door of the apartment he’d moved in to 5 months ago; he wasn’t expecting anyone.  He looked through the peephole and smiled.  It was Cameron.

“Hey babygirl! Why didn’t you use your key?”

“I didn’t want to just barge in.  I didn’t want to surprise you if you were entertaining company”.  Cameron said sheepishly.

Saul’s face fell.  He knew that the remark was based on the reason he and her mother divorced.  Now his daughter thought he was some over sexed manwhore.  The truth was, he hadn’t had sex since that night with Alicia.  A night he was still disgusted with himself over.

“Cammie, you’re the only company I’ve had in six months”.

“Oh”, she felt just the slightest bit embarrassed for assuming, but it’s not like there wasn’t a basis for such an assumption.

Eager to change the subject, Cameron inquired about her father’s physical welfare.  “Dad, have you been eating?  You look like you’ve lost weight”.

“I’m okay, Cammie.  I’m eating enough”.

Cameron eyed Saul skeptically.  She knew he hadn’t been eating well and she was sure he hadn’t really been sleeping.  He had started going to a therapist a month ago, but she didn’t think he was still going.

“Daddy, when was the last time you saw your therapist?”

“Cammie”, he said with an exasperated sigh.  “I jus-”

“No SAUL”, she used his name in order to get his attention and to stop him from indulging in a bout of self-pity.  “No excuses.  You’ve been cloaked in your depression for months now.  You’ll never get past the divorce if you don’t start dealing with the reasons you cheated in the first place!  Work on your issues, Dad or your life is going to spiral even further down the tubes”.

Cameron never pulled any punches.  She always held a mirror up and forced him to face the cold hard truths about himself.  “You’re right honey.  You’re right”.

“I know I’m right.  Now, I want you to make your appointment first thing Monday morning or I’m gonna make it for you”.

Saul looked at his daughter and chuckled.  “Yes ma’am”.  Saul decided to broach a much more painful subject...Malachi.

“How is Mal?”  Saul asked, cautiously.  The subtext of the question wasn’t lost on Cameron.  He wanted to know if his son still hated him.  She skirted the issue.  

“Mal’s fine.  He’s actually performing in a talent show at talent show at the Belmont Drama Center next week”.

“Wow, that’s great!  I’m sure he’ll knock’em dead; he’s so talented”.

Cameron hesitated for a moment and then said softly, “You should come”.

Saul’s eyes misted over.  “He won’t want me there.  You know that”.

“He doesn’t have to know your there.  You could sit in the back”.

“Maybe Cam.  Maybe”.

No maybes, Dad.  You’re going, if I have to pick you up and drive you myself”.

Saul smiled at his daughter.  “Okay, I’ll be there.  He moved to the other elephant in the room.  “How’s your mother?”

“She’s good, Dad.”  Cameron wasn’t going to elaborate, pretty much for the same reasons she wouldn’t elaborate about Mal.  Mom didn’t hate him, but telling him that she seemed to be smiling more since the divorce, especially in the last couple of weeks, wasn’t going to do him any good.

“That’s good”.  He knew there was something Cameron wasn’t telling him.  He also knew that he didn’t want to know what it was.

*****************************

Lynne walked into the teacher’s lounge to find her best friend Angela and Malcolm already at the table the three of them sat at every day.

“Hey, Chica.  What’s the haps?”  Angela said cheerfully.

“Not much, although I might be choking Kevin Blankenship out before the day is over.  He is the biggest pain in the ass”.

“Tell me about it”,  Angela and Malcolm said simultaneously.  The three of them laughed.

“What did the little bugger do?”  Angela asked.

“The usual.  He’s disruptive and combative.  I don’t mind a student challenge ideas, it means they’re thinking and absorbing the lessons.  He challenges without even knowing what he’s talking about half of the time!  He does it to waste my time, not to mention his classmates.  I end up spending most of our class time dealing with him”.

“Yeah...having him in my homeroom is no picnic, but you two have to deal with him for a longer period of time.  I don’t have to teach him, I just have to deal with him being a little asshole”.  Malcolm whispered the last part of his statement.  It wasn’t appropriate to say such things about students, no matter how true they were.

“Time to call another useless PTC”.  Angela said.  

Lynne groaned at the idea of meeting with the boy’s mother.  She was convinced that her son was a special snowflakes who challenged ideas he questioned and could generally do know wrong.  Conferences were absolutely useless.

Lynne dropped the matter and opened her lunch bag.  She pulled out two sandwiches, one for Malcolm and one for herself.

“Ah, turkey.  My favorite!”,  Malcolm took a bite of the sandwich and closed his eyes.  “This is SO good, Lynne.  What’s the spread on it?”

“Pesto.  Just decided to spice it up a bit.  You like?”

“I do indeed, now stop talking to me so I can eat.  And don’t look at me.  I’m about to inhale this bad boy and I don’t want you thinking I’m a greedy pig”.

“Too late”, Angela said with a smirk.  Malcolm flipped her the bird in response.  Angela cracked up.

Malcolm started to dig back into the sandwich when one of the other teachers, Mrs. Gunderson burst into the lounge.

“Malcolm, there’s a fight in the cafeteria.  Can you help?”

“Sure Alice. Right behind you.”  Malcolm dropped what remained of his sandwich and headed out of the lounge.

Angela looked across the table at Lynne, with a sly smile on her face.  “So, how come you don’t bring ME sandwiches?”

“Oh stop it, the food I bring him is probably the only proper meals he eats all week.  If I didn’t bring him sandwiches, he’d be subsisting on pb&j.”

“Uh huh”, Angela said, smirking.  “You’d have to be a blind person to not see that you two clearly like one another”.

“Please...he’s 10 years younger than me.  That’s FAR too young to even ENTERTAIN the thought of dating him”.

“Girl, this is the age of the cougar.  You better snatch up that cub before someone else does”.

“Shut up, Angie”, Lynne chuckled, nervously.

“Well you don’t have to DATE, just hang out.  Invite him over for dinner, use the kids as a buffer in case you end up feeling like jumping his bones”.

“For goodness sake, Angela”.

“I’m just sayin’....”

Just then, Malcolm came back into the lounge.

“So who was fighting?” Lynne asked.

“Anthony Bell and Thomas Landers”.

“Anthony?  But he’s so sweet and quiet.  He’s never been ANY trouble”.

“Well, you know how Landers is.  I guess Anthony got sick of it and just snapped”.

“Good for him”,  Angela said.

“Now, now.  We mustn’t encourage fighting, although, I kind of wanted to give Anthony a chance to get in a few more licks”.  When Malcolm received admonishing looks from both women he quickly added,  “I didn’t though, I swear.”

The bell rang and lunch time ended.  Angie looked at Lynne and jerked her head towards Malcolm a couple of times to encourage her to ask him to dinner.  Lynne waved her off.

Lynne and Malcolm were the last ones in the lounge.  He was headed towards the door when Lynne called out to him.

“Hey, Malcolm.  I-I wanted to ask if...if you’d like to come over to my house for dinner.  Don’t feel obli-”

“YES”, Malcolm practically shouted before offering a much softer response.

Lynne smiled and said, “Saturday night?  7 okay?”

“Sure.  Is there anything I can bring?”

“Nope.  Just your appetite”.

“Okay.  Okay!  Saturday at 7 it is”.

Malcolm couldn’t stop grinning as he walked out of the lounge.

Lynne just happened to be looking towards the door when Angela leaned in and gave her two thumbs up.

Lynne couldn’t help but laugh at her friend.  She also couldn’t help asking herself what she’d just gotten herself into.

Lynne left the school later than she usually did.  She was having a conference with the parents of one of her students.  She had suspected that Miriam Gonzalez was dyslexic.  They were initially upset, thinking that Lynne was suggesting that their daughter was stupid until she explained that Dyslexia was a type of learning disability.  She assured them that Miriam was very bright, one of the brightest children she’d ever taught.  She produced notes that detailed notes about the observations that lead to her thinking that Miriam was dyslexic.  She also advised them to consult their pediatrician as well as providing the names of a few learning specialists in their area.  At the end of the meeting, the Gonzalez’ were well armed with information that would help them address how to help their daughter.

It was dark when Lynne headed to her car, so she didn’t see the man standing beside her car until she was close enough to see the glow from a cigarette.  The man was standing against the driver’s door of car so she couldn’t jump in and drive away.  She thought about unlocking her doors with her key fob, but she assumed that he might anticipate that and climb into the car once the doors unlocked.  She did the only sensible thing given the circumstances.  She ran back towards the school, screaming to the top of her lungs.  She also pressed the emergency button on her phone.  The assailant caught up to Lynne and grabbed her by her shoulder.  He spun her around backhanding her, striking her on the left side of her face.  She fell to the asphalt and her attacker bent over her, punching her in the eye.  He wrapped his hands around throat and began to squeeze.  Lynne began to feel the darkness closing in on her and just as it engulfed her, she felt the man jerk his hands from her throat.  She rolled to her side, coughing and gasping for air before she heard a scuffle happening close to her.  All she could hear were blows landing and someone groaning in pain.  She finally heard a sickening crunch and her assailant fell to the ground, apparently unconscious.

She felt someone leaning down next to her.  She looked up and found herself looking into Malcolm’s worried face.  Then the world went dark.

************************************

One of the police officers was taking Malcolm’s statement as he watched Lynne be strapped to a gurney and lifted into the ambulance.  

“Mr. Davenport, can you give me an account of what happened here tonight?”

“I was in my classroom grading papers when I thought I heard someone scream.  I listened to see if I heard it again, so I ran outside to see a man assaulting Lynne.  He had his hands around her throat, so I ran at him in order to get him off of her and subdue him”.

The cop smirked and said, “you subdued the hell out of him.  And judging by the marks on Mrs. Dixon’s neck, if you hadn’t have done so, she wouldn’t be alive”.  The police officer advised him that they may need him for additional questioning, but thanked him for coming to Lynne’s aid.

Malcolm looked over at Lynne’s assailant, who was conscious while Lynne wasn’t.  He felt his rage building.  He wanted to bash his head in so he was just as unconscious as she was.  But he knew that would be no help to Lynne right now.

He turned back to the ambulance Lynne was in.  He walked over and asked the paramedic if he could ride with her.  The gentleman looked at Malcolm sympathetically and told him that only family and medical personnel could ride in the ambulance.  The paramedic told him what hospital they were going to and advised him to meet them there.

Before Malcolm took off for the hospital, he called Angela and told her what happened.  

“Oh my GOD!  Who would do something like that?!” Angela exclaimed.

“Don’t know who he is, but I hope he has a long, very painful recovery”,  Malcolm said angrily.

“What hospital are they taking her to?”

“Bainbridge”.

“I’ll meet you there”, Angela said as she disconnected the call.

********************************

Angela and Malcolm both arrived at the hospital emergency department almost at the exact same time.  Angela hugged Malcolm and they headed towards the front desk and asked about her status.  The desk clerk said that she’d been moved to the neurology department.  Angela and Malcolm headed for the main building and went to the neurology department.  Malcolm walked to the nurse’s station and asked what room Lynne was in.

The nurse looked at her records and said “Mrs. Dixon is in room 17.  Unfortunately, you won’t be able to see her tonight.  Visiting hours are going to end in about 30 minutes, but you can head in for a bit”.

Malcolm and Angela walked in to find Malachi and Cameron were already there with their mother.  Cameron looked up with tears in her eyes.

Angie walked over to Cameron and took her in her arms.  “It’s gonna be okay, Cammie-bear.  Your mom is a fighter”.

Angela then turned to Malachi and hugged him as well.  She heard him sniffling and looked up at him.  “You know your mom’s gonna be fine.  Be strong, baby boy”.

Angela suddenly noticed that she hadn’t introduced the kids to Malcolm.

“Cameron, Malachi.  This is Malcolm Davenport he a fellow teacher and the reason your mother is alive”.

Cameron looked at Malcolm for a long moment then walked over to him and embraced him tightly.

“Thank you.  Thank you SO much.  We don’t even know-”

“And you don’t even have to consider the idea.  Your mom is safe and will be up and around in no time.  She’s an amazing woman”.

Malcolm turned back and looked at Lynne.  “She needs to be okay”, he thought.  “I need her to be okay”.

The next day, Cameron called her father to let him know what happened.

“What the hell!  She was attacked?? Why was she attacked??”  Saul asked, his heart racing.

“We don’t know yet, dad.  The police have the man in custody, but they haven’t given us anymore information yet on the guys motivation for attempting...what he did”.

“And why the HELL didn’t anyone think to call ME after this happened?!!!” Saul was shouting and frantic now.  

“There wasn’t time DAD!  By the time Malcolm called Angie to tell her-”

“Wait, who’s Malcolm?”

“He’s mom’s friend from work.  If he hadn’t have been there and beat the guy to a pulp, mom would be...sh-she’d be…”  Cameron’s voice broke, she couldn’t even say the words.  Saying them would remind her how close she came to losing her mother.

“I know, baby”, Saul said, all his bluster gone.  “I’m sorry, I know this isn’t about me.  What hospital is your mom in?  I’ll stop by later tonight to see her”.

“She’s in Bainbridge.  I’ll talk to you later, Dad”.

After Saul hung up with his daughter, and dropped heavily onto his couch running his hands down his face.  Lynne almost died.  He rationalized that if he’d been there, if they’d still been married he could have prevented this.  He felt like he was responsible for what happened to his wife.  He had no idea how right he was.

************************************

Malcolm was already at Lynne’s bedside when the kids arrived to the hospital.  She was awake now, but the neurologist wanted to keep her another day for observation.  Apparently, she’d hit her head on the concrete when she’d fallen after her assailant hit her and had a slight concussion.  Lynne was still terribly shaken up, but Malcolm had come to see her right after school and had stayed by her side.  He brought her food and word search books (she loved those) and a stuffed lion named “Checkers” to keep her company after visiting hours were over.  He was a godsend for more reasons than just the fact that he’d saved her life.

“Malcolm, you don’t have to stay if you have other things you need to do.  I don’t want to monopolize your time”.

“Lynne, stop.  You’re my friend and I care about you.  There’s nowhere I rather be, nowhere I NEED to be other than right here in this room with you”.

“Thank you, Malcolm”, Lynne said softly. “You’ve been wonderful to me.  I don’t think I can ever express how grateful I am to have you in my life”.

Malcolm felt his face flush.  When he thought about the fact that he almost lost her...well, it was something that he couldn’t fathom.

“Ohmigod, Mom!”

Malcolm and Lynne turned towards the door to see Lynne’s kids Cameron and Malachi enter the hospital room.

“I’m SO glad you’re awake, mommy!” Cameron exclaimed as she gingerly hugged her mother.

“Me too, Cammie-bear”.

Malachi walked over to the hospital bed and kissed his mother’s forehead.  “Do you feel okay, Mom?”

Lynne looked at her son.  His eyebrows were knitted with worry.  Malachi had always been a sweet and sensitive child.  She knew it was especially hard for him to see her like this.

“I’m still a little sore, but I feel really good baby.  Now, give me a squeeze”.  When she had him close she whispered, “I’m fine sweetheart, don’t worry”.

Cameron turned to Malcolm greeted him with a smile.  “How are you, Malcolm?  Keeping mom company, huh?”

“Yeah, I was just keeping an eye on your mom until you guys got here.  Hey Malachi, how ya doin’?”

“Good, you?”  Mal said while extending his hand to Malcolm for a handshake.

“I’m good.  Just about to head on out and leave you guys to family time”.

“You don’t have to leave, Malcolm”, Cameron said.

“Yeah, should stay”, Malachi said quietly.

“No, I’ve been here a while.  I’ll come back tomorrow if that’s okay, Lynne?”

“Of course it’s okay, Malcolm.  I’ll see you tomorrow”.

“Okay, you guys have a good night”.

Malcolm walked out of the room and walked towards the exit.  As he was walking out, he saw a tall black man walking his way with a large bouquet of flowers.  He looked like an older version of Malachi.  “This must be Saul”, he thought. He’d always wanted to put a face to the name of THE dumbest man on the planet.

Saul saw the white man exit Lynne’s room.  “Who’s THIS guy?” he thought.  As if in answer to his silent question, Cameron popped out of the room and called “Malcolm, wait!”  The man watched as his daughter approached.  “Malcolm, you left your book”. When Cameron saw her father she said “Dad, come here.  There’s someone I want you to meet”.  Saul walked over to where his daughter and Malcolm were standing.

“Dad, this is Malcolm, mom’s friend.  He’s the one who fought off mom’s attacker.  Malcolm, this is my dad, Saul”.

Saul pulled himself up a little bit taller, in a blatant act of posturing.  He stuck his hand out to Malcolm and said with a smile that did not reach his eyes.  “Pleasure meeting you.  Thank you for everything you’ve done for my wife”.

Malcolm fought to keep the smirk off of his face.  Was this dude really trying to get into a pissing contest while his EX-wife was in the hospital?

“Nice to meet you, Saul.  No need to thank me, it’s what anyone would have done”.

“Yeah...well, don’t let us keep you from the rest of your evening.  I can take it from here”.

Malcolm almost laughed in his face.  “Alright. Take care Cameron, Saul”.

Once Malcolm was out of earshot Cameron grabbed her father’s wrist and said “What is wrong with you?  Malcolm’s a nice guy and he SAVED MOM’S LIFE.  You were SO rude!”

“I wasn’t rude, Cammie.  I’m sure he was ready to get back to his OWN life.  That’s all I was saying”.  Cameron just shook her head and walked into the room.

Malachi was sitting on the edge of Lynne’s bed, watching a “Seinfeld” rerun.  When Saul entered the room Lynne felt her son stiffen.  

“Hey Malachi.  How ya doin’, son?”

“Fine, thanks”, Malachi said without looking at his father.

Saul was disappointed that his son was still angry with him.  He didn’t know what to say that would close that void, but he knew to give his Mal his space.

Saul’s view of Lynne was obscured by Malachi, but when Mal moved to sit in one of the chairs in the room, his stomach clenched.  Lynne’s left eye was an angry purple and swollen shut.  Her face was bruised and her bottom lip was distended.  Saul felt his rage flare.  Who would do this to her?

Saul handed Lynne the flowers and said “I can’t believe this happened.  How are you feeling?”

“I’ve felt better, but it’s not as bad as yesterday.  I’ll probably be able to go home tomorrow”.

“I can pick you up and get you home”, Saul said eagerly.

“Oh no, thanks.  Angie’s going to take me home and sit with me until Cammie gets there.  Mama said she’d come up for a bit just to keep an eye on me.  You know how she is”, Lynne chuckled then grimaced as the action pulled at the stitches in her lip.

Saul was crestfallen.  “Well, if you need me to do anything for you, just call me”.

“Sure, Saul.  I will”.  It wasn’t yes, but it wasn’t no either.  He’d be satisfied with that.

There was a knock on the doorjamb and two plain clothes officers entered the room and addressed Lynne.

“Mrs. Dixon, I’m detective Robert Mays and this is my partner Christina Avery.  We’re here to discuss a development in your case.  Is this your family?”

“Yes, detective.  These are my children and my ex-husband.”

“Good to meet you all.  Well lets get right down to the reason we’re here.  Your assailant, Aaron Pettiford told us an interesting story.  He said that he was paid $1000 to assault you by a friend of one of his cousins.  He said the woman’s name is Alicia Staley, does that name ring a bell?”

“Yes”, Lynne said quietly.  “She was my ex-husband’s mistress”.

“Wait..this is because of YOU?”  Malachi said, rising out of his chair.  “MY MOTHER ALMOST DIED BECAUSE OF YOU!!!”

“Whoa, calm down, son.  We don’t need you alarming the other patients”, said detective Mays while lightly restraining the boy.

“You’re a fucking disaster, I can’t fucking stand you!” Malachi said, venomously.

“Malachi!”  Lynne and Cameron said simultaneously.

“Miss”, detective Avery said addressing Cameron, “Why don’t you take your brother and to get some fresh air”.  Cameron pulled Malachi out of the room, whispering to him forcefully.

Detective Mays turned to Saul and said, “Given the circumstances of this case, we’re going to need you to come down to the station for questioning.  We need to begin building a case against this Ms. Staley.  Can you meet us there tonight?”

Saul had been in a daze for most of the conversation.  Malachi’s words had left him numb and the fact that Alicia may have been behind Lynne’s attack made his blood run cold.  “Sure”, he said, snapping out his fog. “I’ll leave now”.  Saul turned to look at Lynne, but she had turned away from him.

“Mrs. Dixon, we’re sorry about the disruption tonight, but we wanted to advise you of the situation as soon as possible.  We’ll let you know of any additional details come to light.  Rest well”.

“Thank you detectives”, Lynne said wearily.

When the detectives left, Lynne laid in her bed, stunned.  She’d move past all this and now that crazy bitch had people attempting to murder her?  Malachi was right, Saul brought this drama right to her doorstep.  Lynne picked up Saul’s flowers and threw them in the trash.

2 Weeks Later

Building a case against was surprisingly easy.  The police brought Chris Pettiford, the cousin of the man who assaulted Lynne into the precinct for questioning.  He corroborated his cousin’s story.  Alicia Staley had contacted him about “teaching the bitch her man was cheating with a lesson”.  In order to make sure the charges against Alicia stuck, they needed hard evidence against her.  They advised Chris that he he’d be facing conspiracy to a felony charges, but they’d bump that down to an accessory to a felony charge if he helped build their case against Alicia.

The first step was to have Chris contact Alicia to advise that the police had questioned him about the night Lynne was assaulted.

“Well did you tell them anything?” Alicia asked when Chris spoke to her over the phone.

“No!  I open my mouth and I’ll probably go down with y’all”.

“Well if your cousin would have just beat the bitches ass, LIKE I TOLD HIM TO, instead of trying to kill her, his stupid ass might not be in jail now.  He spent too much time there.  He should have just fucked her up and left”.

The call had been recorded and it was enough to charge Alicia Staley with conspiracy to commit felony assault.  

When the police advised Lynne that they’d arrested Alicia, she cried with relief.  Her mother Della and her Aunt Ernestine where there when she received the call.

“Lynnie, what’s happened?”  Asked Della.

“Th-th-they got her!  They arrested her!  The got a tape of her basically confessing organizing the attack.  She’s going to prison!”

“Look at God!  Won’t he do it?!”  Della shouted, holding out her arms and pulling her daughter into a tight hug.

“I’m glad Jesus fixed it because I was ready to grease up my face and SEE that lil heifuh”.  Ernestine added.

“I’m so glad this is over.  It’s finally over”.  Lynne said, tears welling up in her eyes.

“I know baby, we are too”, Della said with a smile.

A minute or two later the doorbell rang.  “I’ll get that”, Ernestine said.

“That’s probably Malcolm”.  Lynne said.  There was a slight smile on her face as she said it.  He’d been so attentive; bringing her lunch, helping the substitute teacher who was handling her class while she was on leave, and just keeping her company.  He was such a sweetheart.

Ernestine looked out of the window.  “Nope, it’s your idiot ex-husband”.

“What?  Why is he here?” Della asked Lynne.

“I don’t know, Mom”.

“You want me to let him in or chase him off with a broom”, said Ernestine with a frown.  Lynne didn’t doubt for a second that she was serious.

Lynne sighed wearily.  “Let him in”.

Ernestine opened the door and looked up at Saul with clear disdain.

“Hello Aunt Ernestine”.  Saul said softly.

“Boy, we ain’t related no mo’.  You can call me Mrs. Christie”.

“Aunt Ernie, stop it”, Lynne said, walking to the door.  “What is it, Saul”.

“I just wanted to talk, Lynne”.

Lynne sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.  She knew she had to deal with him in order to truly move on with her life.  It just wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have today.

“Come on in.  We can go into the den and talk”.

“Hello, Della.”

“Saul”, Della said, barely sparing him a glance while her sister stared daggers at him.

Saul followed Lynne into the den.  He sat on the couch and she sat in the armchair across from him.

“I see your bruises are fading.  How are you feeling?”

“The physical wounds are healing well.  The emotional wounds...that’s a different story”.

“Lynne I am so sorry about everything that’s happened in the past year.  Me cheating, Alicia having you assaulted, all of it.  I’m ashamed of myself.  I had everything and I pissed on it.  I have absolutely no excuse for what I did, you deserved so much better.  I just hope that in time, you’ll find it in your heart to forgive me”.

Lynne looked at Saul and for the first time in the past year, she felt sorry for him.  He’d brought his troubles on himself and he was paying for them.  He’ll probably continue to pay for them for years to come; He’ll have a hard row to hoe with his children, especially Malachi.  She had to forgive him.  She had to forgive him in order to have peace; in order to move on.

“I can forgive you, Saul.  Forgiveness is not easy to achieve, but stewing in anger and hatred is not good for the soul.  And I want peace.  I want to move on with my life.  And I want you to do the same”.

Saul nodded his head.  Her words were both relief and heartache, but he knew that he had to accept them.  They DID both need to move forward with their lives.

“Oh, I have news”, Lynne said. “They were able to get Alicia to incriminate herself.  She’s been arrested”.

“Thank God”, Saul breathed.  It was a relief to know that she was going to be unable to harm Lynne or the kids.  “Thank God”.

“Well, I’m going to take off.  Thank you, Lynne.  Take care of yourself”.

“You too, Saul”.  She felt a pang of loss.  This was goodbye for them.  Even though it was what she wanted, she still felt a lump in her throat and unshed tears in her eyes.

Lynne walked Saul to the door and saw Malcolm’s car pull up.  She felt her heart lift at the sight of him.  As she watched the men walk towards their different destinations, she realized that her past was walking away from her as her future walked towards her, smiling and loaded down with bags from Boston Market.  

For the first time in almost a year, she could breathe again.

18 months later

Malcolm stood at the altar with his cousins Sean and David.  He was so nervous he was afraid he was going to sweat through his black tuxedo.  He couldn’t believe he was about to marry the woman of his dreams; the love of his life.

Cameron and Angie acted as bridesmaid and matron of honor, preceding her down the aisle.  Once they’d taken their places at the altar, Lynne and her uncle Henry appeared in the vestibule. As she started her walk down the aisle, Malachi began a beautiful rendition of Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud”.  His voice was gentle and haunting; strong but so sweet. It was a like a hybrid of Babyface and Maxwell.  As Lynne took in the sight before her, her son singing her favorite song, her daughter and best friend looking so gorgeous in their emerald green gowns and the man she loved, smiling at her with so much love, the tears began to flow.  For a while there, Lynne didn’t think she’d ever be this happy again.

In the months after Lynne’s attack, she and Malcolm had grown steadily closer.  He’d been her rock since that awful night.  He kept her company, doted on her and laughed with her.  They could sit in the same room in a companionable silence.  They’d spend more and more time outside of work and his visits to the house became more than just him checking up on her.  He had dinner with her and the kids every Sunday.  He’d become her best friend.

Cameron and Malachi absolutely adored him.  Given the rift between Malachi and his father, Malcolm had become something of a mentor for the young man.  He was there to talk to; whether it was about music, school or girls.  Malcolm had also encouraged Malachi to mend fences with his dad.

“Do it for you, not for him”, Malcolm had advised.  “Holding on to resentment doesn’t do anyone any good.  It’ll be a relief for you to not have to hold on to that baggage”.

Malachi didn’t think he and his father would ever have the same type of relationship they’d once had, but if his mother could forgive him, so could he.  He called Saul and invited him out to lunch and started the process of becoming reacquainted with one another.  Malachi realized that Malcolm was right, he felt lighter once he let go of the anger he felt towards his father.

Malcolm had also developed a cute relationship with Cameron.  He vetted any guy she dated and she would run scenarios by Malcolm where she would tell him things that a particular guy would say or do.  He would translate the “guy speak” and let her know if she could consider giving the guy the benefit of the doubt or kick him to the curb.  Cameron referred to him as her personal BBSD (Boy Bullshit Detector).

It was clear to see that Malcolm had become important to her.  He was now part of her family.  She’d known the day that she’d forgiven Saul and put that part of her life in the past, that Malcolm would be a huge part of her future.  She had fallen in love with him, and the reservations she’d had about getting involved with him seemed silly.  He was wonderful, thoughtful and strong.  She wasn’t going to make the mistake of letting him go.

One day when he was at the house hanging out watching movies, she decided to take the bull by the horns.  She kept giving him furtive glances while he was intently watching “Prometheus” then she just went for it.

“Malcolm, look at me”.  He turned his head towards her and she placed her hands gently on both sides of his head, leaned in and kissed him passionately.

He pulled back and looked into her eyes for a long moment and then said “Well okay then” before laying an equally passionate kiss on her.  It was a good thing the kids were both at friends houses that night or they’d have walked into the den and gotten their feelings hurt.  Lynne and Malcolm expressed their desire for one another once in the den, once on the stairs on their way to Lynne’s bedroom and twice more in her bed.  When they had no more energy for another round of lovemaking, Malcolm lay on top of Lynne and said with a lopsided grin “So...I guess you like me, huh?”

“No, I don’t like you.  I love you”.

“So the lady finally catches up.  I think I’ve been in love with you since my first week at Arbor”.

Lynne laughed, “It’s not a contest, sweetie.  But since I made the first move, I win”.

“Whatever you say, darling”, he said wrapping her in his arms. “Whatever you say”.

***************************************

And now here they stood, in front of friends and family celebrating the love they found after they’d both been so wounded.  And after the minister pronounced them husband and wife, Malcolm kissed his lovely bride then bent and kissed the bump that was the temporary home of their daughter, scheduled to arrive in four short months.  This was bliss.  And they were grateful for it.