32 comments/ 57316 views/ 11 favorites Garage Sales By: K.K. GARAGE SALES By KK Author's Note: Once again I want to thank Techsan for proofing this story for me. While fitting in the Loving Wives genre this story, however, does not contain any descriptions of sex scenes. I look forward to your comments. I don't know what it is about garage sales but they seem to have a calming influence on me. It's not as though I am out looking for bargains and I don't go out looking for antiques. I am not sure that I would recognize an authentic antique if saw one anyway; I just like rummaging through old tools and household items. I like to browse and occasionally buy something that interests me. When I am feeling stressed out or angry, I find that getting up early on Saturday morning and going to a few garage sales helps me unwind and that is what I was trying to do on that particular Saturday morning. By 8:30 that morning, I was already at my third sale of the day. It was a multi-family sale with lots of interesting stuff. They had old record albums, eight track tapes, car parts, furniture and lots of old tools and household gadgets. Next to the driveway, behind a stack of old lampshades, I had discovered a box full of odds and ends with a price tag for two dollars for the whole box. I was sifting through the contents and came across several interesting if not valuable items. There was an old tobacco can full of marbles, three old pulleys, a vacuum cleaner motor, a spool of wire, a broken Dick Tracy cap gun, a jack knife, a couple of sheets of decals of some kind and several other items. I had just pulled out one of the sheets of decals when I heard someone ask me, "Find something interesting?" I turned to find a young man dressed in torn jeans and a faded Alan Jackson tee shirt standing next to me. Using my superior negotiating skills, I said, "Would you take $1.50 for this box?" "Yeah, sure." I was interested in the box because I thought I might have a use for the vacuum cleaner motor and I just wanted the marbles. I also thought that I might have a use for the spool of wire. I figured I would just throw the rest of the stuff out. I held up the sheet of decals that had been in the box and asked, "What do you use these for?" The young man pointed to the back of his Ford 350 pick up truck parked next to the garage. At first glance, it looked as if there were several bullet holes in the tailgate and a couple more in the rear window. It took a few seconds before I realized that he was showing me that the bullet holes were actually decals that had come from the sheet I was holding. I wondered why anyone would want their truck to look like it had bullet holes in it. I paid the guy for the box and carried it over to my car. As I dropped the box in the trunk, my thoughts flashed back to the reason that I was so agitated that morning. Things had been a little strained between my wife Dee and myself for a while. It had started six weeks earlier when I stopped at Cody's Tap Room for drinks with friends from work. My friends and I stop for drinks about once a month and I would normally call Dee and tell her that I'd be home late but for some reason I forgot to call that night. I used to ask Dee to join us but she doesn't like going to Cody's. It's kind of a dump and it is located in a bad neighborhood. I liked it when Dee came with me because she kept me out of trouble. I have a tendency to drink more than I should when I am out with my friends. I usually end up having to take a taxi home and often in the morning I can't remember how I got home. That Friday night was a typical night at Cody's for me. I got so drunk that I had to take a cab home at 1:00 AM and Dee was pissed. It wasn't bad enough that I had forgotten to call her, I was so hung over most of Saturday morning that I didn't accomplish any of my normal chores and when Dee asked me what I had done the night before I couldn't remember much past ten o'clock. Dee let me know that she was getting tired of my coming home so drunk after going out with my friends. I wasn't too worried though; I knew that by Sunday everything would be back to normal. That night we went to a party that was attended by several of the guys I had been out drinking with the night before. They all seemed to think it was funny that I got so drunk that I couldn't remember a lot of what went on that night so they began to tease me by making innuendos that I might have done something improper with Kate, one of the barmaids at Cody's Tap Room. Kate is a hot looking blond with big breasts and a great ass but she didn't have much else going for her. I knew that drunk or sober I would never make a play for Kate. Kate was nice to look at but she didn't interest me in any other way and besides, I loved Dee too much to risk my marriage for a few minutes of illicit sex. Even though I didn't remember much, I knew that I would never have done what they were hinting at so I just laughed at their silly jokes. The problem was that Dee didn't know they were joking. None of the guys was stupid enough to say anything to me in front of Dee but she overheard some of the things they said. She heard Jack Stone say that he saw me follow the barmaid into the lady's room around midnight and that we didn't come out for at least twenty minutes. Apparently Dee stewed over this for a couple of days before she confronted me. She actually accused me of having sex with Kate. Nothing I could say would convince her otherwise. I had Jack Stone call Dee and explain that it was just a joke but she didn't believe him. The fact that I had already told Dee that I couldn't remember much about that night didn't help in my defense. I decided that I would have to wait till Dee calmed down a little and then try to talk this out with her. I was sure that in time she would realize that Jack and the other guys were just joking with me. Well, she didn't calm down. ***** I am a buyer for a chain of sporting goods stores so I often get different items of sporting equipment "to sample." These are supposedly given to me to help me with my buying decisions. I always have several baseball bats and gloves, sets of golf clubs and some sports apparel stored in my garage. There is too much stuff for me to use but I can't sell because it would be unethical for me to profit from these gifts. So, when the garage is full I usually donate a lot of the stuff to local schools or colleges. This makes the recipients happy and keeps me out of trouble. One night at dinner Dee started talking to me about one of her girlfriends at work. I was so happy that she was talking to me about something other that my supposed dalliance that I listen to her with great interest. "My friend, Sharon, was telling me that her son wants to try out for the golf team at school but he doesn't have a set of clubs of his own to use. Sharon is a single mother and just can't afford to buy him a good set of clubs," Dee said. "Have they tried our store?" I said, "We do sell a lot of second hand equipment. They might be able to find something he likes." "She said they haven't had any luck finding anything in their price range." "What's their price range?" "Two hundred dollars." "Good luck finding anything in that price range," I said. "I was just thinking, couldn't you sell them a set of the clubs you have in the garage? You usually just give them away." I guess I should have seen that coming. Dee never really understood why I wouldn't sell the stuff my vendors gave me. I felt it was unethical to accept these items and then turn around and sell them. That's why I always donated them to a school. But Dee was presenting me with a chance to get back on her good side so I took it. "I can't sell the clubs to her but I'll let you give them to her and say that we are donating them to a worthy cause. Just make it clear to your friend that she can never tell anyone where she got the clubs." Dee actually got out of her chair and came over and kissed me on the cheek. "Thanks, honey," is all she said and then left the room. After dinner, I went out to the garage to see what I had. I had five different sets of Calloway clubs but I had already promised to give those to the golf coach at the local college. The only other set I had was a full set of Taylor Made clubs with a bag. The bag was a special addition copy of the American Ryder Cup team's bag. The clubs and bag were worth more than $1500. I thought that was a bit much to give this kid but I didn't have any other sets available. I could probably get another set of clubs if this kid was willing to wait another week. Then I figured, 'what the hell?' I wasn't going to use them. I would just store them in the garage and eventually give them to one of the schools on my list so I decided to let Dee give the clubs to her friend's son. I put the clubs into the trunk of Dee's car and went back into the house where I found Dee watching television. "I put a set clubs in your trunk. You can give them to your friend tomorrow." "I hope you aren't just pawning off some junk on him," she said. I didn't like the tone of her comment. "It happens to be a top of the line set of clubs but, if you are going to take that attitude with me, I might just as well keep them for myself." "I'm sorry, honey, I didn't mean it to sound that way. I was just hoping that you could give him something nice. Something he can be proud of." "Believe me, this kid will wet his pants when he see these clubs." Dee smiled at me and said thanks. There was no more conversation after that but it was the first night since my night out with the guys that we didn't get into an argument over my supposed behavior that night. After that night, things seemed to be getting better between us. By Friday night, I felt that we might even get back to having sex. After that, I planned to do whatever was necessary to convince Dee that I had never had sex with the barmaid at Cody's. At 5:30 that Friday afternoon, I was getting ready to go home and thought that maybe I could get Dee to go out to dinner with me so I called her office. After seven rings, her phone was answered by a woman's voice that I didn't recognize. "Diane Wilson's phone. Can I help you?" "Is Diane around?" "No, you just missed her. She just left with a group from the office to go over to the Brass Rail for drinks." I thanked her and hung up. I found that unusual. I couldn't remember a time that Dee went out for drinks with her work associates that she didn't call me and tell me to join them. I had been to so many of their gatherings at the Brass Rail some of her associates thought I was another employee of their company. I double-checked my office phone and then my cell phone to make sure I didn't miss a message from her but there were no messages. I decided that it must have been an oversight on her part and that she would probably expect me to be there and, even if she didn't, I was going to be there anyway. The Brass Rail is actually closer to my office than Dee's so I got there before she and her group and I was sitting at the bar with a beer when she and her friends walked in. Dee saw me immediately and walked straight over to me. I wondered if she even realized that she forgotten to call me. I was about to find out. "What are you doing here?" Dee asked. I couldn't believe it. She didn't want me there. "I just stopped in for a beer," I said. "Did I call you and tell you to join us here?" "No." "Then why would you think I wanted you to come here tonight? I let you go out with your friends and I didn't interfere so why can't you give me the same courtesy?" I couldn't believe the way she was acting. I was ready to rip into her when I noticed that all of her friends were watching us. I decided to back off and deal with her later. "I didn't come here to ruin your evening," I said. "I didn't even know you were coming here tonight. I just stopped for a beer on my way home. I was as surprised to see you here as you were to see me. Go ahead and join your friends. I'll sit here and finish my drink and go home." I watched Dee and her friends go into the back room while I sat at the bar doing a slow burn. I was so angry that my hand was shaking. I needed to calm down so I did what I always do to calm myself, I ordered a double bourbon. I had finished my second double bourbon and had put away a half of my third beer when I decided it was time to head home. As I walked toward the door, I peeked into the back room. Some of Dee's work associates were seated around a few tables they had pulled together and some were on the dance floor. Dee was among those on the dance floor. I didn't know the guy she was dancing with but I did know they were dancing way too close together for my comfort. The guy she was dancing with was tall, over six feet, maybe 180 pounds. I guess women might consider him to be handsome; me, I considered him an asshole. He was putting the move on a married woman, which makes him an asshole in my book. Logically I knew that this guy wasn't my problem. Dee was my problem but that didn't change the fact that I wanted to go into the back room and kick his ass. Prudence being the better part of valor, I decided to get out of there and go home before I really messed things up. Just as I was about to head out the door, two young women came in. One of them looked into the back room and said, "There they are." I didn't know either of these women so I guessed that they must be new employees. I stopped them before they went into the back room. "Do you know those people in there?" I asked. Both girls said that they did. "That tall guy on the dance floor. Is his name Gary Benson?" I asked. "No, his name is Carl Wentworth," one of the girls replied. "Good thing I asked before I went in there and made a fool of myself," I said. "Thanks." I stepped out of the way and let the girls pass and I headed out the door. Dee came home at 11:00 PM that night. She seemed quite sober considering how long she had been out. I wanted to rip into her about the way she acted toward me when she came into the bar but decided to wait until we were both completely sober. Like I said, Dee appeared to be sober, but I wasn't. I may have left a half beer on the bar when I left the Brass Rail but that didn't mean I was done drinking for the night. I knocked off three more beers and a large Scotch when I got home. I slept till nearly ten the next morning. When I got down to the kitchen, there was no coffee in the pot. I was just starting to make a pot when Dee walked into the kitchen. She obviously had already showered and was dress to go out somewhere. "Why didn't you make coffee this morning?" I asked. "I did but since you were dead to the world I only made enough for me." I had the feeling that she was ready for a fight so I backed off. "I am making a pot now. Would you like some?" "No. I have to go. I have to work on a presentation I have to give next week. I'll be gone most of the day. I'll stop on my way home to pick up some groceries. What do you want for dinner tonight?" "How about you?" She almost smiled. "I am not on the menu. Pick something else." "Okay, I'll have chicken then." Dee picked up her car keys and started for the door and then stopped. "What are you going to do today?" she asked. "I don't know. I hadn't planned anything yet. I was thinking about going to some garage sales but I think I got up too late. Why?" "I just thought that today might be a good day for you to start cleaning out the attic." "I'll think about it." "Well, don't just sit around all day drinking beer and watching ball games. Try to do something productive." I had to smile as she walked out the door. That was the Dee I knew. Always trying to get me to accomplish something on the weekends. Well, since I was trying to get back into her good graces, I decided to start cleaning out the attic. The house we lived in I had inherited from my grandfather on my mother's side. He died shortly after Dee and I married and left me his house. The house was about a mile outside of the city and was located on twenty-five acres of wooded land. In the middle of the woods, a few hundred yards behind the house, there was a pond I used to fish in when I was a kid. I spent a lot of time at my grandfather's house when I was growing up and I was very close to him. He knew I loved the place so he left it to me in his will. My grandfather always kept his house neat and always took care of any needed repairs but he was a bit of a pack rat and the attic was full of boxes of things my grandfather couldn't seem to part with. Dee and I had been living in the house for almost five years and I had yet to start going through the stuff in the attic. I guess the time had finally come. After I drank my coffee and had some breakfast, I went up to the attic. I started right at the top of the stairs with the first box I could reach. It was full of old clothes that smelled of years of dust. So I took the whole box down stairs and put it in the trash and went back up. In two hours, I got rid of twenty boxes. As I got farther from the stairs, I started finding some interesting things. I started to visualize the garage sale I would have. By 3:30, I had cleaned out about half of the attic. I was tired, my back hurt from so many trips downstairs carrying heavy boxes and I had inhaled about as much dust as a man can handle in one day. I decided to look in one more box and then call it a day. As I started to open the box, the side split and the contents spilled out. The box was full of old detective novels. As I was restacking the books that had fallen out of the box, I found a small wooden box that was about the size of one of the larger books. Inside the box, I found a thirty-eight-caliber pistol. It was the kind you always hear referred to as a snub nose .38 because of the short barrel. I never knew that my grandfather had this gun. He had a rifle and a shotgun that Dee made me sell as soon as we moved into the house. Dee hated guns and I had no use for them so I sold them to a dealer in town. The .38 had been packed in grease so I put the gun back into its box and carried it downstairs and out to my workshop. I cleaned all of the grease off the gun and out of the barrel and then I examined the weapon carefully. I don't know much about guns but as far as I could tell everything seemed to work properly. I debated what I should do with it but in the end I knew that Dee would never allow a gun in the house so I planned to ask a friend that collected guns how much he thought the gun would be worth. I guessed that it might be old enough to qualify as an antique but I wasn't sure. I locked the gun in my tool cabinet and went back into the house. With my work for the day completed, I went to get a beer but there weren't any. That was something I was going to have to remedy. I got my keys and headed into town to buy beer. As I was driving, I was thinking about the gun and wondering if it still worked so I took a little detour and drove across town to one of our sporting goods stores and went back to the hunting section. I asked Al Banister, the department manager if the store stocked ammo for a .38. "No. We don't carry any hand guns or ammo for hand guns at this store. Sorry." "No problem. I found an old .38 of my grandfather's that I want to sell. I just wanted to find out if it works first." "If that's all you want to do, I can fix you up," Al said. "I have a .38 that I carry in my car. We can slip out to my car and I can give you a few rounds so that you can test your weapon." Al gave me six rounds from a full box of ammo that he had under the seat of his car. I thanked him but made a mental note to keep an eye on him. Garage Sales On the way back across town, I passed Dee's office building. It was 4:30 PM and there was no sign of her car in the parking lot. I guessed that she was probably at the grocery store so I decided to save myself a trip and have Dee pick up some beer so I called her cell phone. "What do you want, John?" "Can you pick up some beer while you are at the store?" "I'll add it to my list and I'll bring some home but I won't be done here for at least another hour. So if you can't wait till I get home you'll have to go get some yourself." "Oh? You're still working?" "Yes and I have to get back to work now. I'll see you when I get home." I made a quick turn and swung back around the block and passed Dee's office building again. The only car in their parking lot belonged to the security company that protects that property. This was a new wrinkle. Dee had just lied to me about where she was. I was going to have to do some serious thinking about this. Now I was definitely going to have to stop and buy some beer. ***** By the time, I had finished my forth beer I had figured out what was going on. Dee was having an affair. I didn't know who her lover was but my leading suspect was one Carl Wentworth. I had no proof of anything, only the lie she had told me about being at her office and the way I had seen her dancing with Wentworth the night before. Dee finally came home at 6:30 that evening and immediately started to fix dinner. I was so pissed that I wanted to go out and start screaming at her about what a slut she was but I decided I needed to exercise self control to keep things cool around the house until I could prove what I already knew. To help me stay under control, I poured myself a large Scotch and drank it down in two large gulps. As I felt the Scotch working its wonders on my brain, I went into the kitchen to try and make small talk with the wife. "So, did you get enough sex today?" I said. So much for keep things cool around the house. "What did you say to me?" "I asked you if you got enough sex today. I just wanted to make sure you were satisfied. If you're not maybe, I can help you out by giving you a little jump after dinner." "What are you trying to say?" "What I am saying is that you lied to me about where you were today. I was looking at the parking lot at your office when I called you and you said you were still working. Your car was not in the lot." I could have sworn that I saw a smirk cross Dee's face. It lasted only a second but it was there. "I said I was working. I never said I was in my office," Dee countered. "Then where were you?" "I was at Carol's house working on the presentation I have to give next week?" "Good. So if I call Carol she will back up your story?" "She would if she was home. The reason I had to work with her today was that she and her husband were leaving to go to Europe tonight. They are on their way to New York right now to catch their flight to Rome. She'll be gone two weeks but you can talk to her when she gets back." That round went to Dee. I knew she was lying but I couldn't prove anything. I did say I wanted to keep things cool. Well, I certainly succeeded. Things were not only cool; they were positively frigid in our house for the next two weeks. ***** That brings us back to the night before my garage sale adventure. It was another Friday night and, as I getting ready to leave work, Dee called me. "I am stopping at the Brass Rail with my friends tonight," she said. "Do you want me to meet you there?" I asked hopefully. "No. I just wanted to tell you so that you wouldn't come there and bother me. Don't wait up for me either. I will probably be quite late getting home tonight." I didn't respond. I just put the phone down. I spent the next hour and a half just sitting in my office trying to decide what to do. Should I go see what she is up to and confront her? How would that work? Make a scene in front of her friends and coworkers? That would never help my cause. Maybe I should sit outside the Brass Rail in my car and wait for her to come out and follow her to see where she goes. In the end I decided to just go to the Brass Rail and peek in the back room to see if she was with Wentworth. If she were, that would be all I needed to know. ***** When I got to the Brass Rail I stood near the doorway to the back room trying to peek in without being seen. Most of her crowd was sitting around the tables. Dee wasn't sitting next to Carl Wentworth but I wasn't sure if that meant she wasn't with him or not. I was leaning into the room trying to get a better look when Dee suddenly looked in my direction. I jumped back as quickly as I could and stayed out of view for a minute and then peek into the room again. It appeared that Dee had not seen me. I watched as she stood up and took Mr. Wentworthless by the hand and dragged him out to the dance floor. That was all I needed to see. I knew that our marriage was probably over but I didn't know what to do about it. I ended up going home and drinking myself to sleep." I have no idea what time Dee came home that night but I know what time she got up. Dee got out of bed at 7:00 AM and went to take a shower. I thought about going back to sleep but felt the sudden urge to get up and go to some garage sales. I was on my second cup of coffee when Dee came downstairs. "You look like shit," she said. "Gee, thanks. Just what every guy wants to hear from his wife." "What are you going to do today?" she asked in a tone that sounded almost friendly. "I thought I might take in some garage sales." "Jesus, garage sales? Again? Don't bring home any more crap that we don't need," Dee said while laughing. I wondered if Dee was suddenly trying to play up to me? Did she know that I saw her with her boyfriend the previous evening? Dee looked like she was dressed to go out again and I wondered if she was planning on spending another day with her lover. "Looks like you are planning to go out somewhere today. Are you planning to go see your boyfriend, Carl Wentworth, again today?" I noticed the momentary look of worry on Dee's face when I mentioned her boyfriend's name. "I do not have a boyfriend. Carl is just a work associate," Dee said. "I saw the two of you together last night. You two looked like more than just friends when I saw you." Dee was smiling now. "So, you spied on me last night. Well, I danced with Carl a few times but we are not even friends. He is just someone I work with. Besides he's married." "So he's married. What does his being married have to do with anything? You're married and it doesn't stop you from messing around," I said. "Listen to who's talking. We know that you have been putting your dick where it doesn't belong so I don't think you should be accusing me of anything." "You only think you know that. I didn't touch that barmaid. I would never cheat on you and besides, I was too drunk to do anything that night." "That's what you always say." "You still didn't answer my question. Are you going to see Carl?" "No. I am going over to my mother's. If you feel the need to checkup on me, you can call me there. I should be home around two o'clock this afternoon. Maybe we can go out to dinner tonight." "Sure. Dinner tonight. Fine," I said. Dee gave me another smile and then left. What the hell was she up to? She never lost her temper during that conversation. She had done nothing but bitch at me for the last six weeks and suddenly she is trying to make peace with me. I sensed that she is up to something. ***** I left the garage sale with my box of goodies and went looking for another sale. I drove past about five sales that didn't seem to have anything interesting and was about to head home when I spotted another sale that looked promising. I walked up the driveway looking at all of the boxes of stuff they had laid out. I didn't see anything that really interested me until I got to the garage door. There sitting in the middle of the garage was an item with a price tag of $500. It was a brand new set of Taylor Made golf clubs in a special addition copy of the American Ryder Cup team's golf bag. I actual felt as if my blood was going to boil. I gave those clubs to Dee to give to her friend's son so that he would have a nice set of clubs when he tried out for the golf team. I didn't give them the clubs so they could sell them. I looked around to see who was running the sale and spotted an attractive blond talking to an older couple that was asking questions about a chair that was for sale. I walked over to where they were talking and waited until the couple moved off. "Do you have a question about something?" she asked me. "Are you Sharon?" "No. My name is Trudy." Trudy? Who the hell is Trudy? Another twist. Dee said she was giving the clubs to a woman named Sharon. "Are you selling those golf clubs?" "Yes. Are you interested?" "Can I ask you where you got those clubs?" Trudy looked a little embarrassed by the question. "Some woman that my husband works with gave them to him?" "They're brand new. Why are you selling them?" "I am not about to let my husband accept a gift like that from another woman." "Is your husband's name Carl by any chance?" "How did you know?" I told Trudy that my wife was the one who gave Carl the clubs and that she he lied to me about who she gave them to. I could tell that Trudy was getting angry. "Please take the clubs with you. I just want to be rid of them." "Where is your husband now?" "He went up to Minnesota to go fishing with his brother and his father. He'll be there for two weeks. When I close up this garage sale my sister is picking me up and we are heading up to Minnesota to join the men. I can't wait to tell Carl I gave his new golf clubs back to you." "What do you think he'll say when you tell him?" "He knows that there is no way he should be accepting expensive gifts from other women so he had better keep his mouth shut." I had nothing else to say to Trudy so I picked up the golf clubs and carried them to my car and headed home. Dee giving the clubs to her boyfriend was the last straw. She has been treating me like a pariah for the last six weeks. She accused me of cheating on her while she has been carrying on with this Wentworthless dick. Then to top everything off she plays on my generous nature to con me into giving her lover an expensive set of golf clubs. By the time I walked into the house, I was livid. When I got up that morning, I had pretty much already decided that I was going to divorce Dee but after finding out about the golf clubs I knew that I was going to have to get some revenge. It was 11:30 AM so I had about two and a half hours to come up with a plan. I got my bottle of Scotch out and sat down at the kitchen table to plot my revenge. After two doubles, I could feel the Scotch beginning to clear the cobwebs from my brain. I didn't have a complete plan as yet but ideas were starting to come to me. The first thing I did was to get the golf clubs from my car and bring them into the house. I set them in the middle of the kitchen so that Dee couldn't miss them when she came in. I couldn't wait to hear what she would say when she realized that I knew the truth about the golf clubs. I was pretty proud of myself for coming up with that idea so I poured myself another Scotch to celebrate. I didn't have any other ideas at the moment so I went out to my workshop to putter around and kill time until Dee came home from her mother's house. When I unlocked my tool cabinet, I saw the gun box and remembered the .38. "This would be a good time to see if this thing works," I said to myself. I was a little embarrassed when I realized I had said it out loud. "Now she's fuckin got me talking to myself," I said, out loud again. I went out to my car a retrieved the six thirty-eight caliber bullets Al had given me. Then I picked up the gun and a couple of empty beer cans and carried them out into the woods behind the house. I put the cans in the crotch of a tree and backed off about twenty-five feet. I opened the cylinder and put one bullet into the gun. Then I closed the cylinder and rotated it around until the chamber with the bullet in it was lined up with the hammer. I aimed the gun at the one of the beer cans and prepared myself for the noise and the recoil. I took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. "Click." The gun didn't fire. I looked at the gun and saw that the chamber with the bullet in it wasn't aligned with the hammer. "Must have moved on me," I thought. So I lined the loaded chamber up with the hammer again, took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. "Click." "Shit." I removed the bullet and examined the gun. I pulled the trigger a couple of times. As I did, I saw that the cylinder rotated one position clockwise as I pulled the trigger. "Idiot." I reloaded the chamber and rotated the cylinder so that the loaded chamber was one space to the left of the hammer position. I aimed at the beer can and pulled the trigger. "BANG!" My ears were ringing, my fingers were tingling and the beer can was still sitting in the crotch of the tree unmarked. I had no idea where the bullet had gone. I guessed that I must have closed my eyes when I pulled the trigger. I put two more bullets into the gun and fired two more shots at the cans. Although I managed to keep my eyes open for both shots the results were the same. I did manage to see where the bullets hit. I missed the cans by at least ten inches. One went to the left and the other was too high. My ears were still ringing when I went back into the garage. I removed the empty cartridges from the gun and put it back into the box. Then I went back into the house and poured myself another Scotch and got a beer chaser. As I sat enjoying the clarity of thinking that comes from a well-lubricated brain, I started to develop a fantasy. I started thinking how Dee would react if I shot her lover. It would be fun to watch her suffer the pain of knowing it was her fault. The problem with that would be that I would never be able to get away with it. The cops would know that I did it almost immediately. I would hate going to jail. Maybe I would then kill myself. That would teach her. I liked the idea. I would kill Mr. Wentworthless and then tell Dee I did it. Then while she is trying to deal with that I would tell her that I am going to kill myself too and it is all her fault. I could put the gun in my mouth and blow the back of my head off right in front of her. Let her live with that. I grabbed myself another beer as I thought about the pros and cons of that idea. I could only find two things wrong with the plan. The first was that I was not a killer and the second was that I didn't want to die. The only good part of the idea was that Dee would really suffer. I wished that I could make her feel that bad. If only there was a way to do it without having to kill anyone and without having to die myself. As I was finishing my beer it came to me. I had everything I needed to really get her. My parting shot was going to be something she would never forget. I looked up at the clock as I got another beer from the fridge. It was 1:00 PM. I had one hour to prepare. ***** At 2:15 I heard the garage door open and Dee's car pulling in. When she came into the kitchen I was sitting at the table facing her. Dee was carrying what appeared to be a garment bag from Nordstrom's and she had a big smile on her face. "I picked up a sexy little black dress to wear when we go out to dinner tonight," she said as she entered the room. "That's nice," I said. When she saw the bottle of Scotch sitting on the table in front of me, she said, "I hope you haven't been drinking all afternoon." "Not all afternoon," I said. Then she saw the golf clubs. "What are those clubs doing in the kitch...?" She stopped talking and her mouth seemed to hang half opened as she realized that they were the clubs she had given to her lover boy. "Imagine my surprise when I found these clubs at a garage sale this morning," I said. "Would it be too much to ask you to explain how your fuck buddy Carl ended up with the clubs that were supposed to be for your friend's son?" "I can explain," she started. "Actually you don't need to because it is no longer important to me," I said and then I lifted the .38 from my lap and laid it on the table in front of me. "What are you doing with that gun?" "Taking care of business. You may be interested to know that good old Carl protected your reputation right up till the very end before he admitted that you were his lover. I think you would have been proud of him," I said. Dee's face went white and her lips began to quiver. "Lover? What have you done?" "I took your lover for a little ride. We had a little chat and then I put him out of my misery so to speak. They won't be finding his body for a long time." "Oh, my God! No! God, no!" Dee began screaming. "This wasn't supposed to happen. Please, God, no!" I have to admit that I almost felt bad for her but I wasn't done yet. In as pathetic a voice as I could fake, I said, "I wanted to kill you too but I just can't do it. I guess I still love you too much. I've destroyed everything now. The police will be looking for me soon and I just can't deal with that. I just don't see any other way out of this." "No. No, please don't." I started waving the gun around to help me make my point. "Unless you want to watch me do this, you better leave right..." "BANG!" The noise in the kitchen was much louder that it had been out in the woods. I looked in the direction that the gun was pointing and said, "Oops. You'll have to get that hole patched. Sorry." Dee looked at the wall and saw the bullet hole I was looking at. She looked absolutely terrified. "John. Please put the gun down before someone gets hurt." "Haven't you been listening? Someone already has been hurt. Now I have to do what's right. Give me your cell phone," I said. "Why?" "Just give me your fucking cell phone," I shouted. Dee pulled the phone out of her purse and put it on the table. "Good. Now you can't call anyone. Now get the hell out of here." "I am not leaving so just put that gun down," she said. "Don't go getting all brave on me. I am still not sure I won't decide to kill you too so just get the fuck out of here now." "Please don't do this," she pleaded. "Just go or you will get my brains all over your new dress." Dee finally gave up and left. I heard the tires squeal as she raced out of the driveway. I figured it would take at least five minutes for Dee to get to a phone and another five minutes for the police to respond leaving me ten minutes to clean up. I started by opening the kitchen windows to get the smell of the burnt gun power out of the room. Then I wiped the kitchen table with lemon scented cleaner and sprayed some air freshener in the room. Then I went over to the wall and removed the bullet hole decal I had put there. I had removed the slug from one of the cartridges and used that to make Dee think I had actually fired the gun. I put the Scotch away and put Dee's cell phone in the charger. I put the golf clubs in the garage and took one last look around. I took the gun and the slug that I had removed from the cartridge and left the house through the back door locking at as I left. I cut through the woods and tossed the gun, the slug, the used brass, and the two remaining bullets into the pond. I continued through the woods and came out on a road that ran behind the property where I had parked my car earlier. As I started the car and got ready to leave, I could hear the police sirens off in the distance. I knew I was going to have to get out of town for a while but I was a little too drunk to start a road trip so I drove across town to an old motel where I knew I could get a room without needing to use a credit card. I was just going to have to stay out of sight until the Wentworth family either came back from their vacation or the cops found out where they were. That would be two weeks at the most. Garage Sales I sat in my motel room until the six o'clock news was over because I wanted to see if my little stunt made the news but it didn't. I laughed to myself as I pictured the scene at the house when Dee came back with the police and they didn't find my body, no hole in the wall or anything else that would corroborate the story she told them. Would they then believe her when she told them that I had killed Carl Wentworth and hid the body where it wouldn't be found for a long time? Poor girl, they might think she's crazy. Maybe, when they can't find me, they will think that she did away with me. It was with those happy thoughts in my mind that I walked the five blocks to Cody's Tap Room. It was just after seven o'clock that I sat down and ordered a beer. The place was just starting to get busy so I had to wait a few minutes before Cody could bring me my beer. While I was waiting, I saw Kate delivering drinks to a table across the room. For a moment, I thought that maybe I should make a pass at her but then decided not to. I just couldn't imagine spending an evening with someone with the IQ of a garden gnome. Later, as I was drinking my beer and watching a ball game on the television, I felt a pair of small hands on my shoulders. As I turned my head to see who it was, Kate kissed me on the cheek. "What was that for?" I asked. "I am just glad to see you. It's been six weeks. I was beginning to think that you lied when you told me you would be back to see me again." I shook my head a little, not understanding what she was talking about. "I get off at nine o'clock tonight. This time we can go back to my apartment and do it in my bed. Last time was great but I really don't like fucking in the lady's room." "Oh, God" I thought. I did fuck her in the lady's room that night. Dee knew the truth and I kept denying it because I just didn't remember. No wonder she was fucking around with Wentworth. She was probably sick of me. Then I remember the smile she had on her face when she came into the house earlier. She said that she bought a sexy black dress to wear out to dinner. She was trying to fix things between us. I guessed that I fucked that up. There was no way back from what I had done to her. Now I was going to have to figure out what to do about Kate. I looked down at the beer in front of me and finally got some clarity in my thinking. I finally realized that the big problem in my marriage wasn't Dee. I was looking at the cause of that problem. It was time to fix my life as best I could. I took Kate aside and told her the truth. That I was so drunk the night we did it in the lady's room that I didn't remember it. I told her that it may have destroyed my marriage and I had no idea what to do about that. Beautiful Kate, being the deep thinker that she was said, "We don't have to go back to my apartment; we can do it in the lady's room again if you want." "Thanks for the offer, Kate, but I think I had better leave." ***** I had walked about two blocks toward my motel when I heard a voice behind me and felt something cold pressed against the left side of my head. "Don't be stupid, man. Just give me your wallet." The gun was pressed so hard against my head that I had to turn my head to the right to relieve some of the pain. Suddenly it felt like my head exploded and then nothing. ***** I opened my eyes and all I saw was white. I wondered for a moment if I was dead but the dull pain in my head told me I wasn't. I tried to move but I couldn't lift my hands. I heard someone walking across the room and then a voice whispering, "He's awake." It seemed that within seconds there were maybe three people standing around me. When I couldn't see any faces, only shadows, I realized that my eyes were covered with gauze. "I'm Dr. Richardson. How are you feeling?" "I don't know. What happened to me and where am I?" I asked. "You're in Memorial Hospital recovering from a gunshot wound to the head." "Who shot me?" "You don't remember?" "I remember someone putting a gun to my head but I don't know who it was." "Are you sure you don't remember?" This was a different man's voice. 'Of course I am sure. What this all about?" "We found you laying in an alley with a gun in your hand. So you don't remember shooting yourself." "What the hell are you talking about? I didn't shoot myself. Some guy was robbing me. He put the gun to my head and told me to give him my wallet. That's the last thing I remember." "You didn't have a wallet on you when you were found," the voice said. "Of course not. Whoever shot me took my wallet," I said as I began losing patience with this asshole. "Mr. Wilson," the voice said. "I am Detective Monroe and I need to ask you some more questions if I may." "Go ahead. It seems that you plan to ask them whether I say it's okay or not." "Did you tell your wife that you were going to kill yourself today?" "Shit. What?" I wondered how much trouble I was in. "I didn't exactly say I was going go kill myself." "Well, then what exactly did you say to your wife?" "I don't remember the exact words I used," I said trying not to lie anymore that absolutely necessary. "Mr. Wilson, would you say that what you told you wife might have led her to believe that you might be considering suicide?" There was no way to get out of this by lying. "I suppose she could have gotten that impression." "Don't you think it is a pretty big coincidence that after telling your wife you are going to kill yourself that you end up lying in an alley with a gunshot wound to the head and a gun in your hand?" "That is exactly what it is, a coincidence. I was robbed. Whoever robbed me wanted it to look like a suicide so that no one would think to cancel my credit cards. Some asshole is out there right now running up my credit cards to the max." "Mr. Wilson, where is Carl Wentworth?" "Wentworth? He is on a fishing vacation in Minnesota." "And you know that how?" "His wife told me." "I am going to check that out and then I'll be back," Detective Monroe said. After the detective left, Dr. Richardson stayed behind to talk to me. Mr. Wilson, your injuries aren't really all that serious. It appears that you turned your head just as the gun fired. This kept the bullet from penetrating into your skull. The bullet just cut a path thorough the flesh on the side of your head. The impact was sufficient to knock you unconscious. "Why can't I move my hands?" "Because we believed that you had attempted suicide, we were required to use wrist restraints to keep you from injuring yourself." Then the doctor told me that I should get some sleep and he would come back later and remove the gauze so I would be able to see. The next morning, which I guessed was Monday, Detective Monroe came back to see me. "We found Mr. Wentworth and his family in Minnesota just like you said. So, why did you tell your wife that you killed him?" I spent the next hour telling the detective about everything that had happened over the last six weeks. When I finished my story, Detective Monroe shook his head. "How much trouble am I in?" "That depends on what the DA wants to do with your case. You did break some laws here but none of them are all that serious. What you did was pretty cruel and I suspect that you are in a lot more trouble with your wife that you are with the law. We'll be in touch." ***** I was released from the hospital Monday afternoon. I was very surprised when Dee showed up to take me home. She didn't say a word to me on the ride home and I knew that it wasn't going to be any better once I got to the house. As soon as we walked into the house, Dee said, "It's time to talk. I am going to make some coffee. Would you like something?" I could almost hear myself saying, "I'll have a Scotch," but I opted for coffee instead. I sat on the sofa while Dee paced back and forth in front of me. "I guess I'll go first," she said. "When I found out about you and that slut down at Cody's, I was so angry I couldn't think straight. I was ready to leave you that night. But then I thought about how good our marriage had been and I remembered how much I loved you and I was sure that you still loved me. I decided to try and save our marriage. The problem was that you just kept denying that you had cheated. That just made it harder for me to forgive you. "It was awfully hard for me. I wanted to have you close to me and to have you make love to me but I couldn't get past the fact that you had cheated on me and, even though you knew that I had found out about it, you just kept denying it. That's why I didn't want you at the Brass Rail that night. I needed to relax and have some fun and I knew that, if you were there, it would just cause another argument. "When you began to act like you were jealous, it made me feel like there might be a way for me to get you to understand how much your fling hurt me. Friday when I called you and told you I was going out and didn't want you there, I knew you wouldn't stay away. You didn't show up as early as I thought you would and I was beginning to think that you weren't going to come but then I saw you trying to peek into the room without being seen. As soon as I saw you watching, I grabbed Carl and dragged him up to the dance floor. The only thing going on there was me trying to make you a little jealous so that you would understand a little of what I was feeling." "What about the golf clubs? You lied to me and give him those clubs," I said. "That was a mistake on my part. One day at work Carl asked me if you could get him a good price on a set of clubs. He said he really didn't want to spend too much. I knew that, if I told you who the clubs were for, you would have said no so I made up the story about Sharon wanting them for her son. I know I should never have done that but I didn't see any harm in trying to get Carl a good deal on a set of clubs. "Remember that you were the one that decided not to sell the clubs but to just give them to him - well, not Carl but you know what I mean. Then you just stuck the clubs in my car. I never saw them until Carl came out to my car to get them. When I saw them, I was surprised at how fancy they looked but I had no idea how much they were worth. "I guess I knew something was wrong when Carl saw them and said, 'Holy shit.' The next day Carl told me that his wife was upset that I gave him such an expensive gift. That's when I knew that I really screwed things up. "After Friday night, I just couldn't stand it anymore. I hated us not getting along and I hated seeing you so sad and I hated the way I felt. So I decided that I was going to try and fix things Saturday. I went out shopping with my mom and bought a sexy dress to wear that night. I wanted us to go out to dinner and talk about what was happening to us and then hopefully we would have gone home and made love. "I have to admit that I did some stupid things during the last few weeks but I did not have an affair with Carl Wentworth or anyone else. The things I did may have been misguided but I never tried to hurt you the way you hurt me. I thought you could never hurt me as much as you did by having sex with that slut but what you did to me Saturday was unforgivable." The tears were streaming down her face by the time she finished. Dee sat down and picked up a tissue and dried her eyes. Then she looked at me indicating that it was my turn to say something. I tried to think of where I could start and how I could spin my story to make me look like less of an asshole. The problem is that the more I thought about the things I had done the bigger the asshole I realized I was. I decide no spin. "For the last six weeks I thought that you were the devil incarnate. It wasn't until the last three days that I found out that I was the evil one. You were right. I did have sex with the barmaid at Cody's. The reason I denied it wasn't because I was lying to you. It was because I didn't know that I did it. I didn't know until Saturday evening that I had actually had sex with her in the lady's room. You know that when I drink too much I tend to have memory lapses. When the guys were telling me that I spent twenty minutes in the lady's room with her and I didn't believe them, I just thought they were teasing me because I couldn't remember part of the evening. I never would have thought that I would cheat on you under any circumstances. Now we both know that isn't true. "Something else I finally realized Saturday night is that I have a major drinking problem. I am not using that as an excuse. I have to take full responsibility for the pain I have caused you. While my drinking is a major reason why I did such stupid things I should have known better. You should never have tried to make me jealous and you shouldn't have lied to me about the golf clubs but I know that I can forgive you for what you did. I know that what I did to you Saturday was horrible and you may never be able to forgive me. "I guess it's my move now. You may be interested to know that I have decided to go into rehab for my drinking. Dr. Richardson has put me in touch with a good rehab center for alcohol and drug abuse. It's an eight-week program and I will be starting next Sunday. That will give you eight weeks to think about what you want to do. If you decide that you want to try and save this marriage, I will do whatever it takes to work with you to make that happen. If you decide that you want to walk from the marriage, I won't fight it. For now, I'll sleep in the guest room." I waited to see if Dee wanted to say anything but she didn't. The tears were still running down her cheeks. I could not bear to watch her cry any longer so I went upstairs and moved my clothes into the guest room. I spent the rest of that week getting ready for my eight weeks in rehab and staying out of Dee's way. Dee made no attempt to speak to me and by Sunday morning I was sure that our marriage was over. ***** The first two weeks of rehab were very hard for me. I never thought of myself as an alcoholic. I thought my problem was just that when I drank I tended to drink too much. I figured that rehab would be easy for me. All I had to do was learn how to control my drinking. During that first two weeks, every time I felt a little stress I found myself craving a drink. It took me two full weeks to realize what that meant. I was an alcoholic. It really scared me to realize for the first time that I couldn't get by with just learning to control my drinking. I was going to have to quit drinking all together. The third and fourth weeks were difficult as my resolve was the weakest during that period. I knew what my problem was and I knew what I was going to have to do to beat it but I wasn't sure if I wanted to beat it anymore. I screwed up and lost Dee so what else did I have. How would I get along without Dee if I couldn't have a few drinks to kill the pain? One night during my fourth week, I decided to leave. Dee hadn't spoken a word to me since the day I came home from the hospital and I was feeling depressed. I wondered what the point of being sober would be if I didn't have Dee. I didn't want to be in rehab any longer so I slipped out of my room one night and started walking through the woods so I wouldn't be seen. I got about halfway out to the road when I tripped and fell. I had twisted my ankle and had to sit for a while until the pain subsided. That is when I started to think about what would happen to me if I left the center. Without Dee to moderate my drinking, I could end up just being a drunk. I'd probably lose my job and I could easily end up out on the street. At that moment, it became clear to me that I didn't need to get sober for Dee. I needed to get sober for myself. I managed to get myself back to bed that night without getting caught but I got some curious stares from the staff in the morning when I showed up for breakfast with my swollen ankle. By the end of the fifth week I was feeling stronger. I had begun to feel like I could live a sober life and that is what I wanted to do. In my one-on-one session with my counselor that week, he told me that he was very happy with the progress I was making. Sundays were the only time patients were allowed to have visitors. I usually just stayed in my room since no one came to visit me. The Sunday after my fifth week I decided to sit outside and watch the interaction between the other patients in my group and their families. It was ten o'clock in the morning when the first visitors began to arrive. When I watched my new friends greeting their families with hugs and kisses, I felt sad. I tried to cheer up by telling myself that someday I would have that again. That someday I would have some one that loved me again. I was wiping the tears from my eyes when I saw a familiar looking car coming up the driveway. I caught myself holding my breath as I waited till the car got close enough for me to be sure if it was Dee's car or not. When the car pulled into the parking lot and Dee got out, I felt dizzy. My heart was pounding and my hands began to sweat. Dee hadn't seen me so I hid. I wanted to watch her while I tried to figure out what she wanted. Had she come to tell me she wanted to stay married to me or was she here to tell me she wanted a divorce? I was almost overcome by fear. I thought about running back to my room and hiding but I knew I was going to have to face her and hope for the best. I stepped off the porch and started walking toward Dee. She was walking toward the main building and didn't see me coming immediately. When she finally saw me, she stopped and I could see her take a deep breath. I felt like my heart had stopped beating while I waited to see what she was going to do. Slowly she began to smile. Dee turned and started walking toward me and the smile kept getting bigger and I realized that I too was smiling. When she reached me, Dee threw her arms around me and hugged me tight. "I've missed you," she said. "I've missed you too." Dee kissed me on the cheek and then stood back to look at me. "You look good. Looks like you've lost a few pounds and your color is good," she said. "What did you expect?" "I don't know. I guess I expected you to have dark circles under your eyes and a far away look in your eyes. I was worried about it." I took Dee's hand in mine and we walked over to a bench and sat down. "What finally made you decide to come see me?" I asked. "I didn't finally decide," she said. "I wanted to come the first week but I was told that you couldn't have guests until week five." "I didn't know that. I never checked into the visitation rules because I was sure you would never come," I said. "I wasn't planning on coming but after you had been away for a week I realized how much I missed you." "So, there is hope for us yet?" "I hope so. We have some work to do to save our marriage but I want to try," she said. "Me too." Dee produced a picnic lunch from the trunk of her car. She had fried chicken, potato salad and a green bean casserole. She also had a jug of unsweetened ice tea. By the time Dee was ready to leave, it felt as if we were back to normal with the exception that I couldn't go home with her for three more weeks. Before Dee got into the car, she kissed me. This time she kissed me on the lips with real passion. "I'll see you next Sunday," she said. "Your counselor said that I can't call you but that you can call me so I expect you to call me every night before you go to bed." I promised that I would call every night. "It will be the high point of my day," I said. I called Dee each night and she came to visit me on the next two Sundays and, on my eighth, Sunday Dee came to take me home. Garage Sales ***** Today is an anniversary for me. It's been five years since I got out of rehab and I have been sober for 1826 days and counting. To celebrate, Dee and I are going to Cody's Tap Room to have a drink with Kate. Just kidding. We are going to Hawaii and try to start a family while we are there. The End. I am now in the middle of my eight week in rehab. I feel stronger and I am ready to get back into the real world. I will still have to struggle with my addiction but there is help for me out there. Dee has decided that she wants to try and save the marriage and I am very thankful for that. I didn't hear from her during the first five weeks I was here but she came and visited me on the fifth Sunday and told me she was waiting for me to finish the program. We have talked on the phone everyday since then. I know that the success or failure of my marriage now rests on me but I am excited that I am getting the chance to be with Dee again. The End