by Piper Denna
“Huh-uh. I have to go to the boys. This is gonna be on the news, too. I made a scene when I left. I shouldn’t have, but…” Already I regretted my public display of emotion.
“You were upset. You’re flying to Denver? Then Grand Junction?”
“Yeah. I think they said it would take two hours, or three. I don’t remember. Will you take the case, Cam?”
“Don’t worry about that right now. I’ll handle it. Ali, it’s gonna be okay. I promise.”
“Thanks.”
I really doubted it would be okay, ever again.
All Fore Revenge
Chapter 17
The pilot offered to help me find my way to the other side of Denver International, where my connecting flight to Grand Junction would take off in six long hours. It was the least he could do, given the thousand dollar bonus I’d tacked on to the charge card total. But I declined. Wandering around the airport would be a better way to kill time than sitting in one place.
Even a big airport is a quiet place that late at night. It was just before midnight and everything was winding down while I was winding up inside. I still had to pay for my ticket with the airline, so I assigned myself the ‘busy work’ of getting that finished. Some time in the immediate future, I’d be falling apart. Business needed to be taken care of before that happened.
I’d called Kerri once my chartered flight was in the air, and asked her to keep the boys away from the TV ‘til I got there.
“Why, Al? They already saw the press conference. That was so sweet! Tell Bill congrats!”
“Kerri, a lot happened since then. Please, don’t let them watch anything with news.”
“Oh God. Did something happen to Bill? You’re okay? Is he okay?”
“Kerri, I left him. I don’t have the energy to tell you about it now.”
“Oh. When will you be coming back?”
“Now. I’m on my way. I should be there by mid-morning.”
“Alright. Are you okay?” she repeated.
“Not really.”
*
As I rode the underground shuttle to the other side of Denver International Airport, I knew I wasn’t even close to okay. The ticket counter was deserted. An unfriendly agent finally moseyed out of the back, where he’d apparently been eating. The evidence around his mouth indicated he’d been noshing on Oreos. While he pecked the keyboard at a pace slower than evolution, I looked at the bank of TVs on the wall to the side.
Headline news read, “Pro golfer Bill Smyth wins gold, loses girl all in one day!”
“Shit,” I muttered to myself.
The ticket guy scowled at me.
Another TV showed closed captioning of an anchorman saying, “In an apparent modern-day fairy tale with a twist, golfer Bill Smyth proclaimed his undying love for his wife of fourteen years after a Babe Ruth-esque finish, where he sunk every putt by staring love-struck into her eyes. However, witnesses at his hotel reported his wife skipped out on him only hours after his gift of a two-carat diamond.”
The female reporter beside him laughed and her caption read, “Only one thing can make a woman that fickle, Fred.”
He responded with, “That’s right, Darcy. Neighbors guessed from their arguing that Bill may have been playing other courses.”
Both reporters smirked knowingly.
Darcy responded with, “It’s just such a shame, Fred, how many athletes’ wives are taken by surprise when they discover what their men are up to on the road.”
I glared at the monitor and muttered, “Yeah, but they’re not just athletes, bitch. They’re husbands and fathers, with theoretical morals.”
The ticket guy glared at me again, and kept pecking at his painfully slow work.
I resolved not to look at the TVs again. But then this group of people going past stopped and laughed, pointing at the monitors.
One half of the screen showed Bill kissing me in the press conference while the other half showed footage from the hotel security cameras of Bill standing in the doorway of his room with only his golf cap covering his private parts, calling after me. The camera panned to me stomping furiously barefoot down the hall.
Another channel showed me yelling at Bill, using symbols in captioning to replace my swear words. It read, “And what do I get in return? No matter what I did, it still wasn’t e-*&%$#@%-nuf! So go to hell, Bill! *%$# you, you kinky, oversexed, throbbing @$$hole!”
The crowd laughed more, and the ticket agent, jeopardizing the incredible progress he’d made with my transaction, looked back from the monitor to me. His eyes widened. When he grinned, I saw the edges of his teeth were lined with Oreos. I suddenly hated him with a vengeance, for enjoying the most horrible moment of my life.
“You know that’s the first time you’ve smiled at me this entire transaction?” I snapped. “You’ve got something in your teeth. It looks like a pubic hair.”
His hand snapped to his mouth.
There was a snicker behind me and I was sure I’d been found. The press would be all over me before I could get out of the airport.
“She won’t be needing your services after all,” a familiar voice said. “I rented a car.”
Cam. Cam was here, to… to what?
“What are you doing here?” I gasped.
He hefted one of my suitcases over his shoulder and carried the other under his arm.
“I flew here. I got us a rental car. Beats waiting ‘til morning for the other flight. Why didn’t you have that private flight take you to Grand Junction?”
I followed him like a lamb, answering, “They couldn’t get their flight plan approved on such short notice, or something.”
His free hand took mine.
He grinned at me sideways and said, “You looked fucking glorious stomping down that hallway!”
“God, I was a complete disaster. Look at my hair. My agent will shit herself. The first time I get national news coverage, and I have bedhead.”
“You totally kicked Bill’s ass, without even touching him. When the media connects your way with words and the fact that you have books out, your stuff will fly off the shelves.”
It was so good to have somebody to talk to. He was making light where I’d seen nothing but a black hole.
Once we were settled in the rented Cadillac, I sat back and lost it. We’d driven all the way through Denver and started up the first mountain pass before I quit crying.
“Oh, hell. What am I gonna tell my sons?”
“They’re old enough, you’d better not lie to them. They’ll figure it out.”
To think I couldn’t protect them hurt even more. I wanted them to have a clean image of Bill. They needed someone to respect. I cried again.
“Ali. It hurts a lot, I know.”
I sniffed, intending to convey that he had no idea.
“Erin and I reconciled twice. Once after the divorce was final.”
“Oh.” That would suck.
“Granted, it wasn’t on the news, and she never gave me a verbal ass-whooping like that. But it still hurt. I was afraid it wouldn’t work out with Bill, when you told me you’d taken him back.”
“Liar. You were afraid it would work out.”
He chortled. “That’s true, too.”
“Thanks, Cam. I want you to know, I don’t expect anything from you just because I’m leaving him. I mean, I know I hurt you…”
“I said I’ll be here, and I meant it.” His tone told me not to argue. What did he plan to be for me?
“I can’t believe you got here so fast.”
“I was home with Emily when I got your message. I took her straight to Erin’s and traded her Em for the papers. They’re in my bag.”
“Papers?”
“Divorce papers. I’ll get them back to Erin tomorrow and she can file them Monday. If you still want…”
“I do. But why did Erin do them?”
“Ali. I don’t want you for a client. I’m not going to be your attorney, because this divorce could take a
long time.”
“Oh. The ethics thing.” Hope twitched deep inside me.
“Yeah.”
“Will she keep it low-key? I don’t want national news coverage of my divorce.”
“She’ll do whatever I ask her to.”
*
Having Cam with me - and arriving at three-thirty in the morning under cover of darkness - was infinitely better than my expected solo return later in the morning. He slept on the couch, telling me it wouldn’t be a good plan to risk being caught in bed together that night. Given that Bill’s and my home was in Phoenix and I was unlikely to be followed, I guessed that Cam really needed to distance himself from me because I’d so recently been in Bill’s bed.
I couldn’t blame him. When I showered, I felt like I couldn’t clean myself enough to wash away the remnants of Bill’s body fluids with mine.
Sleep was deep, dreamless, and entirely too brief that night.
*
My cell phone woke me.
Cam was already up, sitting on the edge of my bed.
“Hello?” I croaked.
“Ali. Oh my God. I saw the news. Are you okay?”
“Um. Shurre? Yeah.” I remembered, then corrected myself. “No.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m at the farm.”
“I’m coming over.”
“No, Shurre…” She’d hung up.
*
After grinding to a halt with “Girls, Girls, Girls” blaring, she burst in my front door like she usually did. No knock, no calling ahead or announcing herself.
“OH MY GOD! You are my coolest friend. Ever!” she shrieked, tearing into the kitchen to hug me. “Jesus. Tell me what he did this time. I will kill that fucker if he comes near you again. I’m sorry, honey, for being such an ass to you this past week. You’ve totally inspired me to fix all the screwed-up shit in my life.”
“Shurre,” Cam said from behind her. “Good morning.”
“Oh.” She stepped back from me, quick. “You’re moving in fast again, I see.”
“Cam met me at the airport in Denver and drove me home.”
“If you’d called me, I would have,” she pouted.
“I didn’t know. You weren’t really talking to me, remember? Cam brought my divorce papers. His wife—his ex wife—will be my attorney.”
“Oh. Well,” she smirked, “then, good morning to you, too, Wonderboy. Hurt her and you’re dead.” Was this a tentative truce? “Ali. You were, like, cooler than Thelma and Louise put together strutting out of that fancy-pants hotel with your ‘fuck you very much’ expression! I never would’ve guessed you were such a badass.”
“I wasn’t feeling too tough. I was pretty shaky and mostly just pissed. You were right, Shurre. He’s been cheating on the road for a long time.” I told her about the condom count, and she shook her head.
“God. He must be the most careless cheater ever. No wonder he needs a personal assistant to hold his balls for him. A caddy can’t keep track of all the details for that guy.”
“Great imagery, Shurre. The PA holding his balls.” I left the room to go throw up my toast.
“I need to go get my sons,” I announced when I returned.
“You want me to hang here?” Cam asked.
“No. Come with me.” I knew Shurre didn’t like it much, but I didn’t feel like relying solely on her for support. “Shurre, would you fill Kerri in? I don’t know if I can stomach it.”
“Are you okay?” Cam asked in the Cadillac.
“I think I’m gonna go crazy if I have to answer that again.”
“I mean, you threw up your breakfast. Maybe you should see a doctor and get something for your nerves.”
“No. I’ll be alright.”
“I hate to freak you out more right now, but there’s another thing. Um, remember the AP picking up the photos of us? I mean, maybe nobody will ever put two and two together, but there’s always a chance.”
“Oh, holy mother of God. Somebody will see that picture of me with you, then some picture of me with Bill at the tournament press conference or leaving him. Shit. Pull over. Now!” I retched on the side of the road. “Oh God! How could I mess up my world so much? I might as well just call the Enquirer and sell my story. Think I should include the virgin and the gay guy now, or sell them for more, later?”
“Ali. It’ll work itself out. I wish I didn’t have to leave today. I’ll be back as soon as I can, though. Your avoiding Phoenix for a while would probably be a good idea. It’ll be an especially hot story there. And for the boys…”
“Yeah. I know.” The boys would be hearing way more than they should, when they went back to school. Might as well get all the cards on the table right away.
*
Kerri smiled and shook Cam’s hand when she opened her door, then raised her brows suggestively after he’d passed.
For me, she had a hug. A long and hard one, that left me in tears.
“Honey. I can’t believe you have to go through this again, after you were just getting over it. Are you o—”
I held up my hand to stop her. “No. Really far from it. I’m gonna take the boys out to the farm for awhile.”
Kerri patted my hand and led me back to the den, where the boys were playing X-Box with their cousins.
“Hi Mom!” Will called. He rushed to hug me. “That was the most awesome tournament in history! Where’s Dad?”
“Yeah,” Andy echoed, “where’s Dad?” He looked down the hall, past Cam, then back to me. “Who’s that?” His upper lip snarled.
“This is my friend Cam. Most people call him CJ. He came up from Phoenix last night.”
“You weren’t here last night. You were in South Carolina?” Will said, confused.
“I was, ‘til I came back. Come on guys, we’re going out to the house for a while.”
They protested, and Andy adamantly refused ‘til I threatened to ground him.
“Why are we riding in his car?” Andy complained. “This is like an old man’s car!”
“It’s a rental, Andy, and mind your manners or your allowance is mine.”
He sulked the rest of the way to the house.
*
Cam left to go pet Butter while I talked to the boys.
“Why didn’t Dad come back with you?” Will asked as soon as Cam was out of earshot. “And why’s he here?”
I took a very deep breath. “I’ve been trying to shelter you guys for a while. Dad and I have been having some trouble. We had a… disagreement last night. A really big fight, and we decided not to fight anymore. Because of things we can’t agree on, we’re going to get a divorce.” That sounded reasonable, I thought, without placing blame. But kids always need to blame someone. There is always a guilty party in a kid’s mind.
“Why?” Andy demanded. “Because of that guy? Why’d you let Dad tell the whole world he loves you? Liar. You tricked Dad to give you that ring, and now you’re leaving him. You suck!”
“Andy! It wasn’t a trick. We made up. But then we had a fight. I’d never trick anybody like that.”
Will cut in. “Is it because of Brianna? You made Dad fire her, huh? He told us she didn’t work for him anymore. Did you make him?”
“No. I didn’t. She quit. Why would you think that?”
“Brianna had the hots for Dad. All the guys at lessons used to talk about how she was a slut, and she was hot for Dad.”
“Oh. Well, she quit on her own.”
“Did Dad…?” Will asked.
“Honey, some things are better left for the adults to worry about.”
“MOM! Jesus Christ. Did he bone her or not?”
“Don’t talk to me that way.” It was no use prolonging the lie. “Yes. He did.”
“God, what a loser,” Will muttered.
“Dad’s not the loser. Brianna’s hot,” Andy sneered. “Mom’s the loser.”
Will’s fist hit Andy’s mouth. Both boys came away bleeding.
“Goddammit, boys. Th
is isn’t helping any of us.” I started crying then, and the last I remember before everything went dark, my sons were beating each other senseless.
*
“Our mom’s tough. She doesn’t faint,” Will said, worry in his words.
“Shut up, dummy. She’s probably faking so her boyfriend will feel like a superhero,” Andy sneered.
“You better shut up, you mouthy little shit, or you and I’ll be going out behind the shed,” Cam said.
Andy quieted only for a second before sniping, “You’re not my Dad.”
“You bet your ass I’m not. But I bet if he was here, he wouldn’t let you talk to your mom like I heard.”
“You bet your ass he wouldn’t,” Will agreed.
“Watch your language, Will,” I murmured. “Moms can hear kids swear when we’re unconscious.”
“Mom! You fainted!” Will informed me. “Are you okay?”
God, that question again. I needed a shirt that said, NO, I am not fucking OK! OK?
“I’m fine, honey. It’s just nerves.”
“Mom, you sure you’re not bulimic?”
“Will,” Cam said. “She’s not. She’s just very upset.”
“Mom,” Andy had the nerve to complain, “this guy called me a mouthy little shit.”
“Well, are you?” I asked.
Andy clammed up.
“Maybe you’d like to call your dad and tell him what you said?”
“When’s Dad coming anyway? I wanta live with him.” Leave it to Andy to already be making waves. I felt tears threatening again.
“I’m sooo gonna kick your ass, punk,” Will told Andy. “How stupid can you be? Are you on crack? Or is your crack just where your head is?”
“Please, boys!” I moaned.
Cam made them sit on the floor with their backs to each other, and led me off to my room. When he shut the door, I heard the boys arguing again, but in low voices they thought we couldn’t hear.
“You’re not okay,” Cam decreed. “I’m gonna get you something to eat. What can you keep down?”
He tucked me in the bed and kissed my forehead before he left the room and shut the door again. I heard him tell the boys they wouldn’t be seeing me again until they could behave themselves, and how his dad used to make him and his brother stand all day with their backs together, for fighting. “If you two wanta duke it out so bad, I’ll take you out back later, and you can knock the shit out of each other. I’ll even keep score if you want. But no crying about being hurt.”
