I was holding Jay with a blanket around him as I knocked on the door.
“Hi Jay! Come on in”. Wesley said answering the door.
“Hi Wes, how has everything been going.” Cynthia, his wife came in to meet us as I shook their hands.
“Sue, this is Cynthia and Wesley. This is Sue and Jay, my son,” I said, introducing them.
“What a beautiful baby, come in the den where it’s warm. We have a
fire going.” Cynthia said directing us to the den. I laid Jay
on the couch, cuddled in the blanket as we sat down.
“Wes, in case you wondering about the baby, Sue was two months pregnant when
I went to Nam. You knew how my mind was. Sue wouldn’t tell me
because she didn’t want to trap me into marriage. However, you see
it has worked out,” I explained.
“Hey, I’m glad for the both of you. Congratulations, both of you on
getting married. You have a great guy here Sue. We have been
through a lot together.” Wes said.
“I know you have, we have been through a lot together also,” she replied.
“With him I know you have, probably more than we can imagine.” Wes responded.
“You guys don’t sugar coat anything,” I said, jokingly.
“Okay, I won’t, he was so hateful it got to where I didn’t want to be around him.” Wes said laughing.
“I know what you’re saying. I saw some of it starting about a month
before he went over there.” Sue replied laughing also.
“Do you have any coffee?” I asked.
“So you want to change the subject, do you?” Wes asked.
“Yeah, Let’s tell everything while we are on the subject,” sue stated. I leaned over to her ear.
“If you want everybody to know the truth, I’m going to tell them that you
do private strip shows for me,” I whispered to her and kissed her cheek.
“Okay, let’s change the subject!” Sue stated.
“No, come on, tell us what you said.” Cynthia said laughing.
“I’m not telling. I’ll go get your coffee Jay,” sue said being embarrassed.
“I’ll help you.” Cynthia offered.
“You have a nice house Wes,” I said.
“Thanks! Is this the girl you told me you were living with in Fort Knox?” he asked.
“Yes the one I met at the drive-in.”
“You didn’t tell me she looked that good, she’s a knockout! He responded.
“Are you saying I only had ugly girlfriends?”
“You know what I mean. I cannot believe you treated her, like shit.
I’m surprised she’s having anything else to do with you, if you treated her
like the other ones,” he stated.
“I wasn’t as bad to her, I fell in love again. She has cured me from you know who,” I replied.
“By the way, I saw her the other day, she was asking for you. She said
if I saw you, to tell you she wants to talk to you,” he said lowering his
voice.
“What did she want?” I asked.
“They’re getting a divorce. I think she wants you back. She told
me she realized her mistake not waiting on you,” he said, continuing to speak
softly.
“Don’t tell her you saw me or that I’m married but tell her you know I’m
at home. Please don’t say anything about Sue or Jay, okay,” I asked.
“Why not?”
“Sue knows about her and what she did to me. She helped me get over
her. Christi is pretty, but as you said, Sue is a knockout and I want
Christi to meet her.”
“You are still a hateful SOB aren’t you?” he stated.
“Please believe me Wes, I don’t hate her. I just want to set my life
straight with her. I’m not going to torment her. I just want
her to know what she missed. I would have done anything for her, but
she didn’t even give me a chance. For three years I walked around like
a zombie,” I explained.
“You’re getting carried away again,” he said.
“Your right, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10”. I joked counting as though I was
calming myself down. We could hear the girls laughing and talking in
the kitchen.
“Sounds like they’re having a good time fixing one cup of coffee,” I said, jokingly.
“They had to make a pot,” he said.
“How do you like married life? It’s been less than a week for me but I love it,” I said.
“That is great, Congratulations again. Now you can set back and lead a normal boring life,” he said laughing.
“Life with her will be anything but boring,” I stated.
“You are so sweet, I heard that!” Sue said as they were coming back in with coffee.
“I just told him I loved being married. He told me his marriage was boring and mine would be too,” I said, laughing.
“I didn’t say that! I merely pointed out that his wild days were over,” he said defending himself.
“Wesley, you don’t have to explain, I know how he is,” Sue stated.
Jay awakened wanting to eat. Cynthia picked him up.
“Can I warm his bottle on the stove?” Sue asked.
“Sure you can! Make yourself at home!” Cynthia answered.
“Are you going to live here?” Cynthia asked.
“Yes! We are going to try it here, if it don’t work out, we will probably move to Kentucky,” I answered.
“I hope it works out then, I like Sue. We will get along great!”
She replied. Sue heated the bottle and fed Jay.
“Why don’t you two stay for supper, we can order pizza or something?” Wes asked.
“That’s fine with me, but it’s up to Jay,” sue responded.
“Sure! It sounds good to me. We sat talking for a few hours.
“Are you glad to be home Jay?” Cynthia asked.
“I am now! I thought I was going to go crazy until Sue and I got back
together! Then I find out when I come back that I have a son, I couldn’t
be any happier!”
“You didn’t tell him you were having a baby.” Cynthia said to Sue.
“No! She was never going to tell me until I got down on my knees and
begged for forgiveness and ask her to marry me,” I said, jokingly.
“Tell the truth now, I would have told him sooner or later. I wanted
him to ask me first so he wouldn’t feel obligated,” sue explained.
“The one thing that amazes me is that she said she would wait for me and
did. I knew men that were married and others that had girlfriends that
received letters three times a week and their wives or girlfriends ended
up leaving them because of the distance between them. I only wrote
one letter to my mother while I was there and my commander forced me to write
that one. How many women do you know that would be faithful to a ghost
that wouldn’t write her? Not one! There isn’t another woman alive
that would do that.”
“I don’t know if I could wait under those circumstances.” Cynthia stated.
“Jay! Let’s go get a pizza, I’m hungry.” Wes said.
“I’m ready anytime you are.”
“You guys take your time, we will be getting to know each other.” Cynthia stated.
We drove to the Pizza house to pick one up. We began talking and laughing about the old days.
“I bet you Sue is telling my life history right now,” I said.
“What makes you say that?” he asked.
“Two women getting together, that’s a no brainer. Sue will know a few things about you too,” I said.
“Your probably right,” he replied.
“I know I’m!”
“You were always pretty much on the money when it comes to knowing what women think,” he said.
“Every time except one. I didn’t see that one coming.
“You’re not going to hurt her are you?” he asked.
“You mean like kick her ass or something. No, but I have thought a
thousand times how I could get back at her in a cruel way. I don’t
hate her and I wouldn’t do anything cruel. I may still have a little
love left in me but because of Sue, I’m glad she dumped me. I just
want her to see what she missed and what I have now,” I explained.
I love Sue, and I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize her love for me.
I put her through hell for more than a year and I could never make it up
to her except to give her all my love. Now see there, we are just like
women at times, spilling our guts.
“When we get back, Cynthia will ask me a question or make a comment, but do not let her know I said, that she would.”
“Why?”
“Just to show you how predictable they are,” I explained.
We arrived with the pizza and began eating.
“I guess I was hungry too,” I said.
Cynthia prepared cokes for each of us.
“Thank you.” We all said.
“Jay! You didn’t tell us you got the Medal of Honor!” Cynthia commented.
“There wasn’t anything to be said,” I said, looking at Wes. He knew
what I meant by that look. Sue had been telling my lifes story.
“No, he didn’t mention it. What happened over their Jay?” Wes asked.
“Nothing, I just did some crazy things over there,” I replied.
“He’s being modest, he was given all kinds of medals and was wounded twice,” sue said bragging.
“Let’s talk about that some other time,” I said.
“Okay Sergeant York, what ever you say”. Wes said jokingly.
“See what you started Sue. Did you tell Cynthia everything about me?” I asked.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything,” she said, worried I might be angry.
“That’s all right, I really don’t mind. I’m just teasing with you,” I said, leaning over to give her a kiss.
“Are you sure?” She asked.
“Definitely sure, my life is an open book,” I answered.
We talked for another couple of hours and decided it was time to go home.
“I’m going to warm the car up,” I said. Wes went outside with me.
“If Christi doesn’t call you, call her and say I would be at the house until
two o’clock. If she wants to talk, she can come by. Don’t let
her know you told me anything she said to you, okay?” I asked.
“Sure, I’ll just tell her you said come by before two if she wants to talk.”
We got home at ten o’clock. Phyllis and Nina said they had cleaned
up their room and put clean linens on the bed so we could sleep in their
room.
“Thank you girls, you’re so sweet,” sue said to them.
“I need forty more sisters like you two,” I added.
“Yeah! Then we could really drive you crazy.” Nina replied.
I showered and went to bed as Sue prepared a couple of bottles for Jay.
It was taking longer because she was talking to mom. I wanted to make
love to her so I tried to stay awake. I was also going to tell her
about Christi.
A half hour later she came up and was undressing to take a shower.
“Wait a minute,” I said, as I moved to sit on the end of the bed. I
pulled her between my legs as she stood. I began kissing her belly
as I caressed her body.
“Let me shower first,” she said.
“I can’t help myself, I want to touch you all the time,” I replied.
“Let me take a shower and you can touch all you want,” she said pulling away
from me. I had gotten myself excited about making love, but I wanted
to talk to her about Christi first. After her shower, she got in the
bed and moved next to me, wrapping her body around me to get warm.
“I need to talk to you about something. I want you to hear me out before you say anything, okay. I asked.
“Talk away.”
“I love you so much, I want everyone in the world to see the one I’m going
to spend my life with. Wes told me that Christi wanted to talk to me.
I told him that I would agree to talk with her if she came by the house tomorrow
before two. I want to introduce you to her,” I explained.
“Okay, I have no problem with that, is there a catch to it?” She asked.
“Yes, I believe she wants us to get back together.”
“Isn’t she married and doesn’t she know you’re married?”
“Wes told me that she was getting a divorce and she doesn’t know about us.” I replied.
“What makes you think she wants to get back together? Don’t answer, you feel it?” She asked.
“Something like that,” I replied.
“Why are you doing this?”
“In the past had imagined a thousand times how I could get back at her for
what she did. I do not want to torture her, but I want her to see you.
When she sees you, my future will be self-explanatory. I have gotten
over her, and you’re the one that helped me do it. There is still a
minute amount of love and hate. However, not enough to ever make a
difference. This is my small way to bring closure to this and it would
never come about except she has come to me wanting to talk. Will you
please go along with me?” I asked.
“Yes, but I hope it doesn’t get ugly.”
“I promise it won’t, the most you will see is, maybe a little crying and
maybe a touch of begging, nothing more. When she comes in, I’ll invite
her to the living room. You stay in the kitchen with Jay until I ask
you to come in. Then bring Jay with you, okay?”
“Okay, I hope you know what you’re doing.
“I know exactly what I’m doing. I want it to end with her right now
and this is the only way I know how to do it. Now, where were we before
all this came up!” I said, putting my hand on her. We made love
before we fell asleep.
The next morning we got up at eight thirty and dressed. Mom fixed us
breakfast. I tried not to lead on that I was anxious for Christi to
come by. It seemed forever, but finally she arrived at twelve thirty
as I invited her in and we hugged one another.
“How have you been?” I asked.
“Good, how have you been?”
“I’ve been fine.”
“Let’s go into the living-room,” I suggested. We went in and sat on
the couch. I didn’t want to do or say anything to lead her on.
I just wanted there to be an end to that part of my life. “Time has
been good to you. You really look good,” I said, to make her feel comfortable.
“You too. I knew you were in Vietnam and I’m glad you made it home and didn’t get hurt.”
“Actually I did. I took some shrapnel in the side and was shot in the
neck,” I said, wanting her to know all the pain I felt.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know that. Was it bad?
“It was at the time, it hurt! But I’ve suffered worst pain in the last three years,” I said, sarcastically.
“Do you mean me?” She asked, with a soft voice.
I shook my head indicating yes.
“That is what I want to talk to you about. I’ve been doing a lot of
thinking the last couple of years. I have come to realize what I had
done was wrong. Soon after you left, I felt alone and I wanted to get
away from home. I didn’t know if you were going to ask me to marry
you. When Jake asked me to go out with him, I went out because I was
alone. Before long, we were dating. I didn’t want to do you like
that, it just happened and I’m sorry for what I did. Can you forgive
me?” She asked.
“Sure! I forgive you.”
“I talked to your mom several times the last couple of years. Did she tell you? She asked.
“She mentioned of one occasion she had talked with you.”
“You have been on my mind a long time and from what I have heard, I have been on your mind,” she continued.
“To whom have you been talking?” I asked.
“I have been asking people about you for some time,” she said.
“And!”
“I was trying to find out if you still cared about me,” she continued.
“And!”
“I still love you, I want you to forgive me and give me another chance.
I want us to be together again,” she said reaching over to take my hand.
“Christi, except for a short period of time, you have consumed my thoughts
for most of three years. However, before I went to Vietnam I did meet
someone, Sue, and I fell in love with her. Because of what you had
done among other things, my mind wasn’t right for along time. I hurt
her by going to Vietnam. When I returned, I found out that she not
only waited on me, but also had my son. I want you to meet them,” I
went to the door and asked Sue to come in.
“This is Sue and my son Jay. We were married last Wednesday,” I said, introducing them.
“Hi!” Sue said.
“Hi!” Christi replied and asked.
“Are you doing this just to get back at me?”
“No! I love Sue and Jay more than anything. I’m sorry, I won’t lie, maybe a little,” I stated.
“I know you still love me! I know you do,” she said and began to cry.
“I’m sorry Christi, I do have feelings for you but not the same as before. I really hope you find love and happiness.”
“I need to be going,” she said walking past me feeling embarrassed.
I walked with her and opened the door. Before she took a step out,
she put her arms around my neck. “I wanted another chance but I see
I’m too late!”
“I really hope you find happiness,” I said, pulling her arms away.
She walked to her car, opened the door, and stood looking at me for a moment.
“Jay, come hear,” I lowered my head looking at the ground as I walked to her stopping on the opposite side of the car door.
“What is it?” I asked knowing she wanted to say something in private.
“If it doesn’t work out between the two of you, I’ll be waiting,” she stated.
“I’m sorry Christi, find someone else. I really do love Sue,” I said,
being sincere. She entered her car and left. I walked back into
the house and as I looked at Sue, I shrugged my shoulders.
“I don’t know if you handled it the right way,” she said.
“There was no right way, but that was the only way for me!” I replied.
“You will still think of her sometimes,” she said.
“Do you still think of David?”
“Yes, sometimes,” she answered.
“I don’t worry about your thoughts of him, don’t worry about my thoughts of her, she’s in the past,” I explained.