The Truth About Maggie

"You wouldn't dare."

"I'm having dinner with them Wednesday night and they are bound to ask me why Maggie isn't there with me. Want to guess what I'm going to tell them? Oh, by the way; I took the key you gave me when you asked me to watch your place when you were on vacation and used it to get into your house and move all of Maggie's shit into your spare bedroom. She can stay there all the time now instead of just Tuesdays and Thursdays."

I turned to Tom and said, "Let's get the hell out of here." I waved at Gus and he waved back and we left.

++++++++++++++++++++

Maggie's car was parked in the drive when I got home and she was sitting in it waiting for me. I hit the button on the garage door opener, edged around Maggie, pulled into the garage and hit the button to close the door. Maggie got out of her car and ran to try and get in the garage before the door closed but didn't make it. I went on into the house hoping that she would go away but knowing that she wouldn't.

The front door bell started ringing and I knew it would keep ringing until I went to the door so I decided to just get it over with. I had foreseen the eventuality and after the locksmith was done I locked the screen doors on the front and back doors and the patio. I opened the door and Maggie tried to pull the screen door open, but it wouldn't budge.

"Let me in Rob."

"Nothing in here for you Maggie. All of your stuff has been moved over to Jerry and Christina's place. You live in their spare bedroom now. It will save on the travel time you used to have to spend on Tuesdays and Thursdays."

"We need to talk Rob."

"No we don't. The time for the talk should have been the day I asked you to marry me. What should have happened on that day is that you should have said:

"Oh gee Rob; I don't know. I have long term lovers that I don't want to give up. If you can see your way clear to share me with them of course I will marry you."

"I would have said sorry no thanks and we could have been spared what we are going through right now."

"I need to explain Rob."

"Probably" I said as I cut her off, "But while you feel the need to explain I don't feel the need to listen. All talking is through my attorney from now on" and I closed the door in her face.

Maggie beat on the door for another fifteen or twenty minutes, but I just turned the volume up on the TV and ignored her.

++++++++++++++

The next day started out badly and then got worse. I was making my morning coffee when the phone rang. It was Jerry.

"We need to talk Rob. You've got the wrong idea. Things are not what you think they are and you need to let me explain."

"Maggie used the same words last night and I'll tell you just what I told her. You may feel the need to explain, but I have no need or desire to hear it. Stay out of my life Jerry. Don't call, don't come to see me, don't send me emails or snail mail. As far as I'm concerned you are dead to me and I don't ever want to see you or hear your voice again."

I hung up on him and then began building myself a breakfast. I was still simmering from the call from Jerry when the phone rang again. It was my mother.

"Don't forget that you are coming over for dinner tomorrow night. Your Aunt Grace is going to be in town tomorrow and I'm having the whole family over for dinner."

"Will Jerry and Christina be there?"

"Of course."

"Then I'll have to pass."

"Why on earth would you say that?"

"Jerry and Christina are no longer in my life and if you want to know why ask them about their six year sexual affair with Maggie."

"Oh my God Rob; you can't mean that."

"Unfortunately I do."

"Sis years? But you have only been married six years."

"Apparently it was going on even before Maggie and I got married."

"Oh baby, I'm so sorry."

"Give my love to Aunt Grace and make up some excuse as to why I can't be there. I'll talk to you later."

I hated like hell putting my mom in the position of having to juggle family events to allow for the fact that I would not ever be where Jerry was, but I would have had to tell her eventually why I never showed up for dinners and the like so sooner rather than later was my decision. That and the fact that the sooner she knew the sooner she could go after Jerry.

After disconnecting from mom I started going through the house making a list of what I needed to do to make the house more marketable. I was under no illusion about keeping the house. For one thing we lived in a state where no fault divorce was the norm so the house would need to be sold because we would have to split the proceeds. For another the house was way too big for one person. We had bought the big four bedroom with a future family in mind. The plan had been to start having children when we reached thirty. Until thirty we wanted to be free to go places and do things that we knew wouldn't be possible when children came along. Now I was glad we had waited. Putting kids through a divorce is never a good thing.

I was on the patio looking at what needed to be done in the back yard when a voice behind me said, "Afternoon Rob."

I turned and saw Christina standing there.

"What do you want?"

"To talk. You won't talk to Maggie or Jerry so I thought I'd try. At least I don't think you'll hit me like you did Jerry."

"No need to talk Christina. You don't have anything that I either want or need to hear."

"Since when have I been Christina? It has always been Chrissy or Chris."

"That was before I found out about you stabbing me in the back for the last six years."

"It isn't wha..."

"Don't try to bullshit me Christina. I wired the house before my last out of town trip. I have it all on DVD Christina so save your lies. Now please leave. I won't hit you like I hit Jerry, but if you don't leave on your own I'll pick you up and carry you off my property."

"You do that and I'll file assault charges against you. You can call the cops and have them evict me from your property, but if you touch me without my permission I'll burn you."

I locked eyes with her and held my gaze on her as I took out my cell phone. "So be it" I said as I started pushing buttons on the phone.

"What are you doing?"

"Taking your advice and calling the cops."

"Damn it Rob; why won't you be reasonable and hear me out?"

"Because I don't want to."

"All right, all right, I'll go" and she turned and walked around the side of the house and out the gate. I disconnected the call and went back to scoping out the yard.

+++++++++++++++++++

I spent the next two days refusing to take Maggie's phone calls at work, on the home phone or my cell. My evenings at home were spent on the projects I had listed as being needed to get the house in saleable shape. I was in the downstairs bathroom working on a leaking shower door when I heard a loud noise from the kitchen. I went there and got there in time to see Maggie climbing in through a broken window.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Getting into my house. Since my key won't work any more this is the way I've .chosen to do it."

"You aren't supposed to be here."

"This is my house just as much as it is yours and just because you say I don't live here any more doesn't make it so. You really should have looked for a better lawyer Rob. Your divorce paperwork doesn't say anything about who gets the primary residence pending the decision of the court. That has been corrected by the way. I saw an attorney and he told me that absent such wording in your divorce petition I have as much right to be here as you do. My petition has the proper wording in it so after you are served you will have to move out."

"Your petition?"

"I'm countersuing."

"On what grounds?"

"We are no fault Rob so I don't need grounds but my attorney said it would be wise to put in a reason so I'm claiming extreme mental cruelty."

"How are you going to prove that?"

"I don't need to prove it Rob. That's what no fault means. I simply say that I want out because of mental cruelty and if there are no extenuating circumstances the paperwork is rubber and it is done."

"But it isn't true."

"So?"

"So it becomes public record and if anyone for any reason does a records search I'll come out looking less than good."

"So?"

"Okay, if that's the way you want to play it I'll talk to my lawyer tomorrow and have him change my petition from Irreconcilable Differences to Adultery and we will see how you come out looking if your name turns up in a records search and just to make it interesting I have proof of my claim and you don't."

"You don't have any proof."

"Oh but I do. A little birdie told me that you were cheating on me so I wired the house before I went on my last business trip. I have you on a DVD in living color cheating on me in our bedroom and on our bed."

"Is that what this is all about? Me and Chrissy?"

"And Jerry."

"Jerry? What has Jerry got to do with it?"

"Don't play dumb Margaret Estelle. You know damned well what Jerry has to do with it. The three of you stabbing me in the back since before we were even married."

I saw something come over her face, like someone had suddenly turned on a light bulb.

"Oh no, oh no Rob; you have it all wrong. There is absolutely nothing going on between me and Jerry. There has never been anything between me and Jerry. Between me and Chris yes, but never Jerry."

"That's not the story I got. You visit Jerry and Christina every Tuesday and Thursday when you are supposed to be playing cards and going to book club meetings."

"Sometimes Jerry is home and sometimes he isn't. Even when he is home he stays in his den or works in the basement. Jerry has never been part of what Chris and I do. He knows about it of course, but he also knows that Chrissy loves him and is never going to go looking for another man and knowing that he lets her have her little pleasures."

"So you admit to cheating on me."

"Of course not. Cheating implies that I'm taking something away from you and giving it to some one else."

"And that is just what you were doing."

"No I was not. Did I ever say no to you when you wanted to make love except for when I had my monthly? No I didn't and even then I always gave you head if you wanted it. And who was the instigator half of the time we made love? I was. Has our sex life suffered because of my time with Chris? No it hasn't. We are still making love four and five times a week. Ask our married friends how they are doing and I'll bet you that the average is twice a week. Can you point to any one thing over the past six years that would show that I didn't love you or care for you?"

I was silent on that so she went on.

"No you can not. Do we snuggle or cuddle any less? You can not point to anything that says I don't love you or that I am depriving you of anything. My thing with Chris has not cost you a thing."

"Your thing with Christina?"

"I am bi-sexual Rob and I have been since summer camp when I fell in with two girls who were also bi. Chris was my roommate all through college and we recognized the signs in each other immediately. We were lovers all through college and after. It has been almost eleven years now that we have been taking care of each other's bi-sexual urges."

"It is still cheating and you know it. The fact that you have lied to me for six years about what you do on Tuesdays and Thursdays, some Saturdays and whenever I'm gone proves that you know what you are doing is wrong."

"No it does not. All it proves is that I love too much to let you know because I knew how you would take it and you knowing would most likely would have split us apart."

"Of course knowing that you were cheating would split us apart."

"Damn it Rob I was not cheating. I didn't tell you what I was doing because of what is going on in your head right now. You are a homophobe Rob and you know it. I can't even begin to count the number of derogatory remarks you have directed at people who are not heterosexual. If I would have told you I was bi-sexual you would have taken it to mean I was queer, a dyke, or whatever else you use as a disparaging remark for people who don't think about sex as you do so I never let you know. I need what I get from Chris that I can't get from you."

"So you are saying that I don't satisfy you in the bedroom."

"No damn it; that is not what I am saying. I am extremely satisfied with you in bed, but you don't have a pussy I can eat. You do not have breasts that I can play with and suck. You are not a woman Rob and I occasionally need a woman. I need you and I need what I get from Chris. Bi means both Rob. I need a man and that is you and I need a woman and that is Christina. I need you both."

There was silence for several seconds and then Maggie said, "What now Rob? Do we call the lawyers and tell them to tear up the paperwork. Do we put this behind us and get on with our marriage?"

"I don't know that it would be possible Maggie. You have destroyed my trust. Do I know that Christina is the only one you have cheated on me with? Do I know that there isn't a man you see occasionally? Do I know that you really had nothing to do with Jerry? I only have your word that Christina is the only one, but what is your word worth? You are too good at lying Maggie. You have lied to me for six years without me ever having a clue. But even if you aren't lying you were still cheating.

"Paint it anyway you want to Maggie, but to me it is still cheating. A sexual relationship of any kind with someone other than your spouse is cheating. Can I get over it? Maybe if I work at it, but can you? Can you with your bi nature get used to only having one half of what you say you need. Can you give up Christina and be happy with only me?"

"I'm not giving up Christina Rob."

"Then you have just answered your own question."

"What? What question."

"You asked if we should call the lawyers and tell them to tear up the paperwork and you just answered the question. The answer is no, we don't call them."

"I didn't say that."

"Yes you did. When I asked if you could give up Christina and be happy with just me you chose Christina."

"Oh come on Rob; be reasonable. I explained it all to you."

"You explained from your standpoint and as far as you are concerned it is not a problem, but from my standpoint it is a problem. I will not share my spouse with anyone -- man or woman -- and if my spouse has sexual relations with anyone other than me she is cheating and I will not tolerate it."

"You are serious? You are going to throw away what we've had over this? Okay Rob; I will give up Chris. Are you happy now?"

"No Maggie, it is too late for that now."

"Why? I'm giving you what you want."

"Yes and you are doing it reluctantly. You don't want to and as far as you are concerned I am forcing you to do it. You resent it and over time that resentment will build and affect our relationship even more. You still don't believe that you have done anything wrong and if the opportunity ever presents itself that lets you think you can do it and get away with it you will. Our only chance was when I asked if you could be happy with only me you had replied yes, that you couldn't go on without me, or couldn't live without me or something along those lines. What I got was an emphatic "I'm not giving up Christina Rob" and that put the final nail in the coffin.

"No Maggie, the only way our marriage could have continued would have been for me to never find out. Unfortunately for us I did. Go enjoy Christina and look for a man who can accept it. Just make sure you let him know before you marry him."

+++++++++++++

Maggie never did countersue and the divorce went through. It hurt because I did love Maggie and I probably always will, but it just isn't in my makeup to condone cheating even when she didn't believe she was. I guess there is a price to be paid for having and holding to old fashioned values.

Maggie did remarry, but whether she told him of her proclivities before they took their vows I have no way of knowing. I do know that she lived in Jerry and Christina's spare bedroom until she remarried.

The breech between my brother and me never healed. The fact that Maggie said he never touched her meant nothing to me because he had known what she was doing and that she was hiding it from me and he covered for her and as far as I was concerned that was just as bad. I was able to reach a point where I could attend family gatherings if he and Christina were there, but I kept my distance from them and we never spoke to each other although Christina kept trying.

I finally met a girl I liked enough to date more than once and after six months she started indicating that she wanted to make things permanent. I asked her if she had any secrets that it would be best for me to learn before we got married and she asked "What kind of secrets?" I told her about my marriage to Maggie and she laughed as she said:

"I've munched a carpet or two in my time, but I'm not all that into them. I much prefer cocks and I am a firm believer in fidelity."

I married Betty and we are getting along just fine. In fact, she is expecting and I'm going to be a daddy in six months.