A Ticket to Ride

Just when I began to wonder what he was staring at Debbie grabbed one of my arms angrily and tried to cover me up.

"Mother, where do you think you are?" she screamed. "There are children here! Do you really want your own grandchildren staring at your wrinkled old ass? That suit shows your entire backside and most of your front too. Why would you..."

She dragged me into the house and privacy. "I...I...just wanted you father to notice me. He always loved my body and when the two of us were...I always wore things for him. I just thought that..."

"You just thought that you'd show my husband your giant saggy tits," she hissed.

"I honestly only thought about your father," I said.

"If you had been thinking about my father three years ago, you'd still be married to him," she spat angrily.

"But I never got a chance to talk to him afterwards," I whined. "I never got a chance to apologize or to ask him to forgive me. I never...I never had the chance to save us. And now that evil woman is trying to take over his life and wreck our family. She's..."

"She's the one who invited you here, Mother. She's also my best friend and the best thing that's happened to Dad in a long time. She makes him happy. She asked you to come here because..." she started.

"Because she's trying to steal your father away from me," I hissed. "That's why I had to break out the big guns honey. She's younger than I am and..."

"Mom, Selena looks young, and she had her kids later in life, but you two are about the same age," she said.

I was a bit shocked to hear that. She looked much younger. "I'm not going to give your father up without a fight, Debbie," I hissed. "I let him down once. I betrayed him but I will fight for my chance with everything I have, including my body."

"Mother there is no fight," she laughed.

"Don't I know it," I smiled back at her. "She's practically flat chested compared to me. That's why she's wearing that cover-up."

"Mom, there's no fight because Selena and Daddy have been married for a year. And her body is...I don't think you're going to change Daddy's mind with a skanky swim suit."

"Married!" I gasped. "But no one told me anything and..."

"Mom, you're divorced," she said. "You hurt him pretty bad. Until recently just mentioning your name pissed him off. Selena started working on him. She thinks that in order for him to really heal. He has to get over this thing with you. Maybe he'll never forgive you. He'll definitely never forget, but it would be good of the two of you could be in the same places occasionally and be civil. So put some clothes on."

I went back into the bedroom and changed into the most modest of the swimsuits that I'd brought with me. I wasn't sorry that I'd done it. I was only sorry that I'd wasted the opportunity. Danny had barely glanced at me. I wished that I'd had the chance to get right up in his face so he could have gotten the full impact of my suit.

When I got back outside, Danny and Greg were out on the lake with the kids. My daughter was relaxing on a lounge chair while Selena laid out plates and brought bags of chips and snacks. My daughter had on a really cute swimsuit. It was comfortable and showed off her nice shape but did so modestly.

Before she noticed me standing in the doorway she gestured for Selena to join her. I stood watching them for a while. They talked about the kids and their men and the house and even clothes. They were clearly comfortable with each other. That kind of intimacy takes time to develop, which again made me wonder how the hell this woman had met and married my husband without me hearing about it. The thing that bothered me the most was that my own daughter had been in on keeping me out of the loop.

I thought about that for a while. I'd have to ask her about that someday. A short time later Danny and Greg and the four kids came back to the house. The men settled in and took over the grill, still talking about Danny's car. The two boys ran right by me after grabbing small bags of chips and cans of soda. They were obviously headed for the den and the game system attached to the giant TV.

Just as I watched them disappear into the room. I turned back and saw Selena coming back inside the house. Our eyes met and she smiled. "I liked your suit," she said. "I wish I was brave enough to wear something like that." She giggled like a school girl then. "Of course Danny would kick my ass if I wore something like that where anyone could see me. And of course I don't have the equipment to fill out a top like that," she laughed.

I wanted to hate her. She was so nice, but at the same time, so self assured. Even though she made light of the size of her breasts, it was clear that she was comfortable in her skin. She liked the person that she was. It was as if she had no regrets in her life or that she had come to terms with them. The birch was so happy that she glowed. Up close, I could see that Debbie hadn't lied. Selena was much older than she appeared. But she moved like a much younger woman

I had always thought that my main competition was from younger, fresher women. But Selena was clearly someone with as much appeal as I had and hers didn't come from any lucky genetic gifts.

"When you're done exploring the house, come on out," she said. "It's going to take some time, but you'll get used to us eventually. I want that."

Why the hell was she being so God damned friendly? It was insulting. She had to know why I'd come. She had to know what I wanted. Apparently she was so confident in her hold on my husband that she didn't consider me a threat. That only made me hate her more.

I saw Danny and Greg passing through the living room on their way back to the deck. I couldn't help but over hear their conversation.

"Dad, why do you have a traffic ticket framed and hung on the wall?" asked Greg.

Danny frowned. "I've never told anyone this story," began Danny. "It's kind of painful, but maybe if I get it out, I'll feel better."

The two of them sat down and Selena appeared from nowhere to give them both drinks.

"This happened back before," began Danny. "Back when I was married to Debbie's mom. God, I loved that woman back then. Anyway, I had gone out of town on business. I hated being out of town because I never wanted to be away from her. So I came back early. I got done with my business and instead of spending the night in a hotel I caught a red eye flight and got back to the house at about 2 o'clock in the morning. Karen was already asleep so I got into bed with her. I wrapped my arms around her and went to sleep.

The next morning, as soon as we woke up, we went at it. She let me know how much she'd missed me. I had to go to the office that morning, so as much as I wanted to stay in bed with her, I got up. I showered and dressed and went downstairs. While I was down there, I noticed the mail sitting on the counter as usual. One of the letters was from the traffic court. I opened it because I didn't remember getting any traffic tickets.

It turned out that I hadn't. They were trying out those new traffic cameras that show when you go through a red light in the downtown areas. The tickets have a small photo of the car and the red light. They also show the time and the date that the incident occurred. So sometimes you can think that you got away with blowing through a light and still get the ticket.

The ticket clearly showed my Mustang. Some guy I didn't recognize was not only driving my car, but the look on his face was ecstatic. I wondered at first why a guy I didn't know was driving my car. Then I wondered why he looked so damned happy to be driving through a red light. Then I noticed the second person in the car. It was your mother in law and her head was in the guy's lap."

The expression on Greg's face was pure shock. Danny had kind of a wry look on his face. "So this ticket is here because it changed my life," said Danny. "This is a ticket to ride and Karen rode it out of our marriage."

I ran back up the stairs crying my eyes out. I don't know if they saw me or not. I had always wondered how Danny caught me. I'd often thought that he'd hired a private investigator or something like that, but it had been pure bad luck. Brad had only wanted me to try some things that Joyce wouldn't do. Having a blow job while he drove had been one of his fantasies. That fantasy had ended my marriage and ruined Brad's career. The ironic thing about it was that Danny seemed to have the idea that I had been in a long term affair with Brad.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The whole thing had only lasted for a few weeks. It hadn't been exciting or thrilling. Perhaps my guilt over what we were doing prevented me from enjoying it. And the sex...it just seemed to lack something. There was no emotional connection in it. Brad just hammered away at me like a cheap whore. I deserved better. I realized that I already had better. Danny loved me. Brad just wanted to fuck me and feel on my tits. So I decided to end it.

Brad and I had gotten together one final time. We had only done two sexual acts. We had driven downtown to a cheap motel and had sex once. On the way there, I had fulfilled his blowjob fantasy. I didn't love Brad. In fact at the time, we barely knew each other. He just had the right line of shit at a time in my life when I was particularly vulnerable.

Now that I understood why I was a divorced and miserable woman, I was angry. It just wasn't fair. I'd been a good wife for over twenty years. How could one mistaken series of events over a few short weeks outweigh all of that?

All of a sudden, my anger seemed to grow. I went back down the stairs. I heard the boys in the den. They were laughing and playing some video game. It sounded like they were shooting at aliens or some stupid thing like that. I went out onto the deck, just in time to see Selena and my traitorous daughter lying out in the sun. Selena stood up and dropped her cover-up so she could work on her tan.

Her body was incredible. I had underestimated her again. Her breasts were not nearly the size of mine but they were very firm and very well shaped. I knew that if she took her clothes off, they wouldn't sag or flop down to her waist. Her waist was tiny and her legs and ass made me look like a boy. Her hips flared outwards and were rounded in a way that would drive most men crazy. I was sure that my husband loved that body. As I looked across the deck, I could already see it. Danny's eyes settled on that body the way he used to look at me.

I knew that look well. It was a combination of pride, mixed with appreciation and lust. It was again, the same way he used to look at me. I also knew that when they were alone he would probably fuck the shit out of her every chance he got.

And I saw something else. I saw that the bitch loved it. She knew that he was staring at her and she loved it. She stuck her ass out, just a bit more. She flexed those legs and posed. She leaned over directly towards him. It was a subtle move that allowed him to get a better glance at her boobs than anyone else had. The anger that had been building in me suddenly doubled.

At that moment I was like a fly who had been lured into a spider's web. That fucking bitch, with her polite words and clearly fake sweetness, had tricked me into underestimating her, while she did exactly what I had planned on doing to her.

She got me here in what was now her house and showed my husband how she was superior to me. And she had pulled the wool over his eyes. He was eating it up. No one was as sweet as she pretended to be. I was so angry that I saw red everywhere I looked. I needed a way to show Danny that Selena wasn't nearly as special as she pretended.

I needed a plan, so I headed into the house. I figured I'd just find somewhere that I could sit and think. I wanted to have a look at that God damned ticket that had ruined my life too. When I got into the living room I was pissed. I don't think I had ever been that angry before in my life.

My granddaughter and the other little girl were playing with dolls in the living room. As I looked at the ticket they came over to me. I took the framed ticket off of the wall. The photo on it was amazingly clear. I could even make out the look on Brad's face. As I looked even closer, the back of my head was clearly visible.

Danny had been absolutely right. That was a ticket to ride. I had ridden that ticket right out of my marriage. Another thing that pissed me off was the way that Danny had handled everything. He had never given me a chance to explain. He had never given me any kind of a chance to make amends or to try to save our marriage. He had just thrown me out like yesterday's garbage.

And the way he just turned up with a new woman and family, was almost too convenient. It was almost as if he'd been planning on dumping me all along. Or maybe Danny had known Selena before he caught me. Maybe he'd just been waiting for me to fuck up so he could replace me.

And Selena had just moved right into my spot in not only Danny's life and his bed, but in my daughter's life and her family's as well. It was too convenient.

I was so angry that I almost didn't hear my granddaughter Helen.

"Old Grandma, what cha doing?" she asked. Hearing her call me "Old Grandma," pissed me off even more. I knew that she meant "Old" not in terms of age, bit on terms of not being the newest or best. I was the replaced Grandma. I was the lesser Grandma. My anger ramped up even more.

"That's my daddy's ticket," said the other little girl. I know kids. The girl didn't mean anything by it. I've raised a daughter. But I just snapped.

"He's not really your daddy," I said. "He only has one daughter; Helen's mom. You're barely a step daughter. You're only here because he's screwing your mom."

Even as I said the words, I realized how cruel I'd just been. But it was too late to take them back. I guess I just wanted to hurt someone the way I'd been hurt and I chose a child to focus my rage on.

The little girl erupted in tears. She was crying her eyes out. Gut-wrenching sobs emanated from deep inside of her and she started to run away from me. What I hadn't realized when I said it was that my daughter Debbie had been close behind me and had heard the entire exchange.

Even worse was the fact that Danny and Greg were close behind her. I don't think that Danny had heard me but Debbie had. I don't think I have ever seen that level of anger in anyone's eyes before. Debbie was angrier than Danny had been when he'd found that ticket.

The little girl had run straight for Danny. He scooped her up in his arms and held her whole she cried.

"What happened, Angel?" he asked. She had buried her face in his shoulder and was still sobbing uncontrollably.

"Karen told her that you weren't her daddy," spat Debbie. My own daughter was so angry at me that she had called me by my first name. By that time Selena had gotten there. She reached for the little girl who refused to leave Danny.

"Selena, I told you this wouldn't work," said Danny. Then he turned to me. I got the feeling that if that little girl hadn't been in his arms, he'd have hurt me.

"Get the fuck out of my house," he spat. "Never come back. I don't ever want to see you again for as long as I live." He turned to walk away carrying and rocking the little girl.

"Danny, I'm sorry," I whined. "I was angry."

"At what?" he hissed. "Ever since you got here, no one has been anything but nice to you. Is that what you're angry about? You can't stand it when people try to treat you well. You got so angry that you had to try to hurt a six year old girl."

"But..." I began.

"But, my ass," he sneered. "Karen, get out of here while you can still walk."

"I don't have a car," I said. "I came with Greg and Debbie. I swear that I'll..."

"I'll drive her back and then come back here," said Debbie. I quickly went out to the front of the house. I tried to apologize again but no one was listening to me. Selena and Danny were cuddling the little girl and telling her not to pay any attention to the crazy old lady. Greg just looked at me and shook his head. I heard him whisper to Debbie that he didn't want their kids around me anymore either.

For the first half hour or so of the ninety minute drive, the interior of the car was completely silent.

"Mother, how could you do that?" Debbie asked me suddenly.

"I was angry," I said. "I was hurt. That bitch brought me there just to humiliate me in front of my husband."

"Mother Selena was trying to be nice," said Debbie, tersely. "What reason would she have to try to humiliate you?"

"She wants your father," I spat.

"Mother, Selena loves Daddy," she said. "And news flash. She has him. They've been married for a year now. She was just trying to make everyone happy by bringing the family back together. I feel stupid now because she did it mostly for me. Every time we all got together, I was always the one who said, "I wish mom was here to share this with us."

"You don't know that type of woman," I said. "She couldn't wait to get her claws into your father."

"Mother, shut up," she spat. "You weren't there. Daddy was depressed and angry for a long time after your divorce. He met Selena a little over a year after you two had split up. They dated for another year before they got married. She put my father back together after what you did to him."

"Debbie, I made a mistake," I said. "I was vain. I was vulnerable and I was feeling old and unattractive. For most of my life men have always wanted me. But as I began to age, all of the men in my office started to ignore me. There were younger and I guess prettier women there. I guess I just lost my mind, when Brad started complimenting me and telling me all the things he wanted to do to me. And to be truthful, your father was the only man I had ever slept with. So my curiosity and my vanity just got to me. But this is your father's fault too. We should never have gotten a divorce. He just threw me away like I didn't matter. He's my husband, not my owner. This isn't the eighteenth century."

"Mother how would you have felt If Dad had been out screwing around on you?" she asked. "Actually, we already know don't we? Look at how angry you are right now and he's spending time with the woman he's legally married to. You don't like it, do you? Face it mom, you screwed up. You have no one to blame but yourself. Daddy is old school. He takes his marriage vows seriously. And as for the eighteenth century, its values are making a comeback. As far as Daddy is concerned, he does own Selena and she owns him too. And he legally adopted her kids, so that little girl IS his daughter. All you've done is made it so you're always going to be on the outside as far as our family is concerned. Not only is Dad never going to speak to you again, but my husband doesn't want you around our kids."

"You're joking right?" I whined. "I'm their grandmother."

"So is Selena," she said. "Mom for a while, I think that maybe you and I can just have lunches together occasionally. I think that you're in some sort of depression over losing Daddy. Give it some time. I'm sure that eventually Greg will agree to let you see the kids again. But as far as Daddy is concerned, I think you've burned your bridges. He loves those kids. And you need to take a serious look at things. You lost Daddy because of what you chose to do. He loved you. He married you. You cheated on him. You caused the divorce yourself. It's no one's fault but yours, mom."

"Bullshit," I said. "As soon as your father found out that I wasn't PERFECT, he dumped me like a hot rock. I'm a human being. We all make mistakes including your perfect father and that perfect whore he married. What's he going to do when he finds out that she isn't perfect either?"