Save One Bullet

Chapter 25

Tom had just laid out his financial plans for us after my mother's death. He'd taken out an enormous insurance policy on her and was planning on living high on the hog with it. I was stunned and incensed by his opportunistic greed and let him know.

“Jesus, Tanya, wake the fuck up. We are about one month away from losing the house, and the cars, and filing for another bankruptcy. I plunked down $350. every month on this policy. We, in effect, bought this with our own sweat and blood. Your mother didn’t suffer because of this policy. Your mother suffered because she married a stupid drunk. You’ve been cleaning up her mess for the last fifteen years. For the last ten years, I wasn’t sure if I had a wife or not because you were always taking care of them,” he screamed at me before stomping out of the house and gunning the car out of the driveway.

Well, fuckety-fuck. So much for Mr. Nice Guy. Sweetpea, my ass.

The tears began and the entire previous week replayed in my mind. The shock of finding out Tom had been cheating, my mom’s first injury, then her second fall, and her death. Then, to add to the confusion was Rick. My mind was a blur of emotions and I couldn’t seem to settle on one complete thought.

I dug out my phone and called Brenda, one of my closest friends in the book club.

“Tanya, hey, girl! Are you holding up?” She asked.

“Not so well, Brenda. Look, promise not to tell a soul,” I insisted.

“Okay. What’s going on, Tanya?”

“Last week, before all this with my mom, I discovered that Tom has been cheating on me with that blonde airhead at the office.”

“Um. Oh, Tanya, um, didn’t Sue tell you about them last September?”

The wind was knocked out of my sails. I could barely reply.

“Tanya? Tanya? Are you still there?” Brenda asked.

“What do you mean Sue was going to tell me last September?” I urged her.

“She saw them cozying up together at a bar in Liverpool. I thought she told you,” Brenda confessed uncomfortably.

“Oh, God. How long has everyone in the club known?” I asked, positively dumbfounded.

“Ever since Sue told us last year. I thought for sure maybe Sherry would enjoy telling you. You know how she likes to be the first to share bad news. I thought you were being brave by not talking about it or crying,” she said.

“Oh, no. Not brave. Just clueless. Jesus, Brenda, you guys are supposed to be my best friends. One of you should have gotten the nerve to tell me so I didn’t walk into this blind. I feel so stupid.”

“Oh, man, Tanya. I don’t know what to say, except now that you know you can call me any time you need to talk. I’m so sorry it ended up like this. You must feel betrayed by everyone now.”

“You might say that. Look, Brenda, I have to get some legal stuff done. I’ve got separation papers for Tom to sign, and the funeral is Wednesday at nine in the morning,” I ended the call, not wanting to hear any more lame excuses.

I took the separation papers out of my work satchel and set them, front and center, on the kitchen table with a pen next to them. Then I called Rick to tell him about my latest bad news.

“Hey, Tanya, are you all right?” He immediately sensed a problem, of course, I’m not giving him genius points for that. My life had been one problem after another since we met.

“No, Rick. I just found out that the ladies in my book club found out about Tom and Marcia last September. Last September! No one told me. They just talked about it amongst themselves, and I was clueless. I’m so angry I could scream.”

“That’s not right, Tanya. What a bunch of bitches. They were probably having fun gossiping about it and didn’t want to spoil their fun by telling you. You need to dump them as fast as you can. Jesus. I’m having a hard time wrapping my mind around that kind of shit.”

“Me too. I would never do that to any of them. I feel almost as violated as when I found out about Tom in the first place. They were having hen parties probably laughing about me,” I whined.

“I’m sure it wasn’t as bad as that. But it sucks, that’s for sure. You don’t need them, Tanya. After the funeral, you should pack up your things and move out here with me. If you want to work, there are plenty of schools nearby.”

“Rick, I’m not going to make you take care of me. I need to get my act together and I’ll be fine. Besides, there’s the house, the finances, and everything else to work out and I need to be here to do all that.”

“Well, I think a little space and time away from everyone will do you good. When is the funeral? Did Tom finally take care of it?” He asked.

“It’s Wednesday morning at nine at Mahoney’s Funeral Home. I just have to keep it together until after that,” I told him.

“You should give Tom the separation papers at the funeral when most of the people have left. That way he can’t hurt you,” he warned.

“I’m not worried about Tom hurting me. Don’t you think doing it at the funeral is a little cold and callous?”

“No, it’s perfect. There will be people around and he won’t make a scene or try and talk you out of it. Have some things packed and I’ll bring you to my place for a while so you can relax,” he suggested.

“If you’re sure you want me crowding you out of your bathroom with all my junk,” I laughed.

“I would love you to crowd me anyway I can get you,” he replied.

“Oh, and be sure to eat before the funeral because I won’t be going to the reception. Fuck them.”

“Don’t blame you one bit. We’ll stop and get something good on the way home,” he promised.

“So, you won’t feel uncomfortable being at the funeral with all this stuff going on?” I asked.

“Not if me being there is going to help you get through it. I don’t mind at all,” he said. “Meanwhile, is there anything I can do for you before the funeral? Are you gonna be okay staying home with Tom until Wednesday?”

“I’ll just sleep on the sofa. He knows what that means. If I need you, Rick, you know I’ll call you. I will do a little shopping this afternoon and get some rest tonight. I’ll call you when I get home,” I told him and clicked off the call.

The creepy exchange Rick had with me the last time we were at the hotel slipped back into my mind, ‘You’re mine, Tanya. All mine. Don’t let me down.’ I thought it might be a good idea to spend some time away from the white knight and get my thoughts together before I jumped from the frying pan into a fire that could easily burn out of control.