A Tale Of Two Bitches

This is a tale of infidelity but has only a little sex. When writing I find myself fascinated more with the human condition than the physical act of sex. After all, betrayal is still the most shocking transgression there is at any level and generates a pain that is hard to recover from.

I hope that you will enjoy this submission and I thank you in advance for good honest critiques of my work. For those of you who want to bash the characters based on your interpretation of their acts I would beg you to consider that each of us handles crisis in our own unique way. Some choose revenge while others choose a different option.

My name is Ken Wilson and I am now 51 years old as of this writing. My wife, Cathy is 45, still quite comely and our marriage has lasted through twenty four years of ups, downs and doldrums. All in all, I guess we were the average American couple.

Our life over the past twenty four years has produced a son, Martin who is now serving on a destroyer in the navy. Also, our home is now paid for and we have even managed to save a few bucks along the way.

Cathy works for an insurance company as a secretary and I work for a dying breed, an American manufacturing firm. I am strictly middle management, nothing spectacular, just another Joe doing his best to keep his job in a troubled economy.

As this title of the story implies, this is about two bitches. Let me start with the first one. Her name was Daisy and she was a mutt. My friend Tom who I used to have a drink with on Friday's informed me that he and his wife were splitting and that he was going out of state to interview for a new position. The problem was Daisy. The dog was almost three and was like his child. He didn't know what to do with her. If he got the new job he would most likely find an apartment and that would mean Daisy had to go. As I recall it he asked me as a favor to take the dog on a trial basis and if I did not love her to death in two weeks he would take her back on his return.

What could I do? I was trapped, he was my friend and he needed help so I reluctantly agreed. The next day was Saturday and he brought Daisy by with all her toys and food. Cathy was not too pleased but she understood the predicament I had gotten myself into.

Long story short, Tom was right about Daisy. I really did fall for the dog. She was loving and gentle and when you looked into her eyes you could sense a high degree of intelligence. I spoiled the dog rotten and within a few days we became inseparable. Cathy even commented that she now had a rival for my affections. We both laughed.

I was still perplexed however as to what to tell Tom. On the one hand I wanted to keep Daisy but on the other hand did I want the responsibility? The night before Tom was to return he called me to let me know that he got the job and had lined up an apartment that did not allow pets. The inevitable question arose when Tom asked, "Well Ken do you think you can keep Daisy?"

I came up with a solution that King Solomon would have been proud of. I replied, "I'll tell you what Tom, let's let Daisy decide." On the other end of the line I heard a somewhat confused Tom utter, "How do you propose we do that Ken?"

I outlined my plan for him, when he arrived he would not call the dog or make up to her, if after that I called her and she came back to me I would keep her. Tom agreed and told me he would be by around four.

The next day I swear Daisy seemed to know something was up as she was hyper all day long. Suddenly about four she started barking and a minute later Tom pulled into our yard. I let Daisy out the front door and she ran to Tom without a look backwards.

True to plan he did not pet her or acknowledge her but asked me what now. With that I cheerily called Daisy but she only turned and gave me a look that clearly showed she was not interested in coming back to me. I looked at Tom and replied, "Daisy made her choice, she wants someone else." Tom nodded sadly saying not to worry he had another option, then collected her stuff and left.

A couple of weeks later I learned that Tom had taken Daisy to the vets and had put her down. Somehow I felt guilty but not really as much as I should have. Daisy made her choice when she had ignored me and that's how the chips fell.

The dog made her choice and she paid the consequences. I know it sounds cold but that is the way I am. If you cross over a line with me I will have nothing more to do with you be it man or beast.

Time as always moved on. I was still trying to keep my job and praying the Chinese didn't grab too big a chunk of our market share. I really didn't want to find myself out of a job at my age. About this time Cathy was cut back in hours due to the recession hitting her company too. We took a hard look at our finances and decided we could still make do on what we were bringing in.

Generally, Cathy was now home two days a week and the weekends and that's when it started. Somehow she got interested in those do it yourself shows like yard bashers and this ole home. Within a month she was adamant that we repair and renovate the house.

I was able to hold her enthusiasm in check by telling her the amount of work involved, the hassle it would cause and more importantly, the money it would take to accomplish her plans.

Cathy would not be daunted and within a week she came back with the name of a private contractor given to her by one of the women at her job who raved about this man's abilities and low prices. She nearly pushed the card into my face and when I looked at it, it simply said,Marc Braun, landscaping and renovations services.

I began to protest but Cathy cut me off, "No Don, this is something we have to do! The value of the house will decrease if we don't keep it up! Not just that, our neighbor's yards put us to shame! There is no discussion here we have to do this!" After taking a deep breath she continued in a less hostile manner, "Besides I called Mr. Braun and he is coming tomorrow morning to give me an estimate on fixing the sprinklers." When she was done she stared at me in a challenging way almost daring me to contradict her. What could I say; I shrugged my shoulders and replied in my most manly way, "OK. But don't be surprised when it costs you a lot more than we can pay!"

The next morning on my way to work I did take a look at the yard and the wife was right. The houses on our right and left were retirees who really took care of their property and ours did look rather shabby compared to theirs. Also, Cathy's argument of keeping up the property did make sense.

That night I returned home to find a beaming wife. She went on and on about how we were getting our sprinkler system fixed and a hundred other things she had planned. I interjected, "How much?" She smiled even more broadly if possible an oozed when she told me the figures he had quoted her. Watching my wife gush about this guy and her plans I thought, "This guy is gonna rip us off. Nobody can do that kind of work for that little." However I only nodded and let her go ahead with her plans. Sometimes you have to let someone make their own mistakes and I felt she was making a huge one in trusting this guy.

That night when we were in bed she snuggled next to me and within a few minutes had me ready for some lovin. That night we enjoyed each other's bodies more than we had in quite awhile. I fell asleep grateful but also wondering where it had come from.

The next couple of weeks Cathy would take the days off from work when Mr. Braun was working on the house. When I got home I could see the amount of work they had done and was actually impressed. Finally the day arrived when I came home to find our built in sprinkler system actually working. We had lived in the house for 18 years and it had never worked since the first day.

During this time Cathy was pumped all the time. She talked incessantly about "Marc" and it made me feel like I was the village idiot compared to superman. After listening to her rave over this guy I was beginning to die a little inside each time she raved about his skills.

I have to admit though, that while she hurt me by telling me what a he-man our yard guy was compared to me, she did make me feel like a king on those nights he had worked at the house. Our lovemaking had reached places it hadn't been since our honeymoon.

When the sprinklers were done I thought that we had seen the last of Braun's landscaping services but it was not to be. Cathy found other things for Mr. Braun to take care of. Soon he was redoing the hedges and planting new trees. As Cathy said landscaping was a key in selling a house down the road.

Next Cathy proposed a privacy fence to enclose our backyard. When I protested Cathy said just think how romantic it would be to make love under the stars and not have our neighbors see us. I was beginning to wonder who this woman was because she was not like my old Cathy.

The next day Cathy called me and told me she got a few extra hours of work at the office so I was the first one home. When I was getting out of the car our neighbor on the left Marv Schneider came ambling towards me. Marv was nearly eighty but still spry and a really nice guy.

Marv didn't mince words, "Don why are you putting up that eyesore in your backyard? Have I or the Connelly's next door pissed you off so that you want to cut yourself off from us?" I could see he was agitated but I tried to calm him down, "I'm sorry Marv but it was Cathy's idea. She got some crazy idea that a fence will give us privacy and enhance the value of our home."

Marv looked thoughtful before continuing, "Don I have lived next to you for a quite a number of years and I believe we are friends so I'm gonna ask straight out. Are you and Cathy having problems?"

I was confused by Marv's question and a little unnerved. I could feel my eyes squint as I hesitatingly replied, "No Marv, everything is fine between us. What makes you ask?"

The old man gave me a look of cautious sadness as he spoke again, "Look Don I don't want to get involved, but I was out at that fence yesterday when the two of them were working on it and when I peeked around the last section they put in I saw Cathy kissing that contractor like there was no tomorrow. Then....oh, never mind it was probably just my imagination getting carried away with me that's all."

I felt the butterflies in my stomach turn to crows as I pressed Marv, "Please Marv what did you see? I have to know."

The old man looked down in thought and then back up to my face before continuing, "I spent ten years in the navy and saw women that had the same look as Cathy had yesterday. Usually it was when their old man had just put out to see. The bars were full of women as soon a ship left harbor. What I saw yesterday reminded me of those women. After that steamy kiss in the yard the two walked into your house hand in hand like a couple of kids on their first date. I didn't want to see anymore so I just left." I could see the care in the old man's eyes as he continued "Don, don't let her put that fence up son. I will look bad for the neighborhood and it will be bad for you. Well that's all I have to say. Good luck Don and I hope you make the right decision." With that he turned and slowly ambled back towards his home.

I had some thinking to do so I went in the house and opened a beer. Now that I started thinking about it, things started to fall into place. Cathy started almost initiating sex with me from the moment that man had come into our lives. She was always here when he was and he was always gone by the time I got home. I had never even seen the man.

By the time he got home Cathy was always showered and fresh on those days Braun was here. One last fleeting thought streaked through his brain, the sheets on the bed were fresh last night.

Logic inexorably broke into my dubious line of reasoning. This was Cathy; she has been a loyal and faithful wife for over two decades. She would never jeopardize our marriage by doing something unseemly or this stupid.

The problem was his age in this matter. He was old enough to realize that people stray and understood the implications of a move like that. However, he was still young enough to maintain the hope that she was still his wife in deed, not just in name.

After all, he rationalized, their might be a reasonable explanation for the kiss Marvin saw. Maybe she was congratulating him on doing an outstanding job. Also, two people going into the house to get out of the hot sun and take a break would not be illogical. It didn't mean that they had had sexual relations. Also, bed clothes get changed, that was not unusual or even evidence. No, he would not condemn Cathy yet, but he was going to dig a little deeper into things.

The next day Cathy was working late again so he took the opportunity to stop by for a little chat with Marv. The old man was cordial but still let it be known that he did not like the wall that was going up. Ken placated him on that issue and approached it from a different angle, "Marv, I'll make you a deal. If you can help me by telling me if you see the two of them go in the house again. I am certain that there is a reasonable explanation behind it all, but if you are right about the two of them doing more than just yard work.... Well, let's just say we won't really need that fence up anymore."

Marv gave me a grizzled smile and just said, "What do I have to do?" Ken gave him a slip of paper with his cell number on it and told him to ring him if it looks like they are getting frisky again. Marv agreed and excused himself for a minute and went into his house. Ken wondered what he was doing but then saw him return with a drill.

Marv lifted the drill up with a determined look, "I gotta see it before I report it!" Within a few minutes the two men had drilled out three peep holes along the fence. With some mud rubbed on the wood from Ken's side of the fence they were nearly invisible.

Work seemed to be picking up again and Cathy was working four days this week with only Friday off. That gave Ken some time to dig up some dirt on Marc Braun. A few old friends on the police force were more than willing to dig into the matter for him.

Apparently, his name was Marcus Braun and he had a police record dating back some years. However, he seemed to be trouble free for the last five years. One other fact that he picked up was that Mr. Braun seemed to be a big hit with the ladies. He also had some domestic disturbance reports from some of his ex-girlfriends. Ken was getting a bad feeling about the whole thing.

Friday about 10:30 in the morning Marv called and reported that Braun had arrived at his house and Cathy had greeted him with a warm kiss. They had finished the fence, completing the last section bordering the Connelly's, Ken's neighbors on the right. Ken told Marv to keep watching and he would be there shortly.

After telling his boss he wasn't feeling all too well and the truth was he wasn't, he took the rest of the day off. Driving home as fast as the speed limit would allow Ken found himself wondering what he would do if it turned out to be a worst case scenario.

As a wronged husband he wanted to take a pipe and smash the two of them to bits. However, as a civilized man he knew he could not do that. Rationalizing that you can only control your own actions he decided that he would try to play this out without violence or rancor.

Ken reasoned that as gratifying as punishing the two of them would be, it still would not balance out with the jail time he would receive. Therefore he steeled himself to hold his temper and act in a rational and urbane manner as he possibly could.

When he got onto his street he pulled into the driveway of an empty house a block from his home. Ken then moved as quickly as he could until he reached Marv's backyard. The old man was there looking through the peephole they had drilled out previously.

As he approached Marv tried to stop him, "Ken don't look son. It won't do you any good." Ken pushed past the old man muttering only, "I have to know Marv. I have to." The old man stood back giving him access to the hole.

When Ken looked through he saw his wife and Braun kissing but what made it worse was that she was topless. His heart seemed to stop as he watched a good looking black man massaging her breasts as she looked at her lover with longing oozing from every pore. Ken was crestfallen as he remembered her look; it was the way she looked at him when they were first married.

Ken felt that his blood pressure was going to make his heart explode and he felt the throbbing of his blood pumping through his body. Adrenaline was pumping him up and he felt the need to hurt the two of them when reason overtook him. Marv had put his hand on Ken's back and in a quiet steady voice said, "Let it go son. They are not worth a murder rap."

Marv was right; their actions were beyond his control. This was the same situation when he gave Daisy the choice between him or Tom. She unfortunately chose wrong and paid the price. In this case only time would tell if Cathy had chosen just as disastrously.

Ken watched the two of them paw each other and his wife gently stroke the fly of Braun's jeans eliciting a growing response. Soon his hands went from Cathy's back to her buttocks massaging them as he kissed her neck. Ken knew that this was something that really turned her on and watching her face light up with desire for this dark stranger he just couldn't take it anymore and retreated from the peephole.

Marv asked quietly, "Are you alright Ken?" Ken looked past the old man and said, "You watch Marv and let me know when they are going in the house." Dutifully the old man went back to watching the peephole while Ken wandered over to a bench in the yard and flopped down onto it wondering what to do next.

He wasn't sure how long he sat contemplating his choices when Marv came over and gently laid a hand on his shoulder, "They went into the house Ken."

Like a man walking to the gas chamber on death row Ken felt himself stand and begin moving towards his house. He knew what he would find in there and only hoped that he would handle himself well in the messy encounter to come.

Reaching his front door he quietly let himself in only to hear laughter coming from their bedroom at the end of the house. Moving slowly but with purpose he started down the hall listening to the sounds of the lovers echoing in his mind.

By the time he reached his doorway he heard Cathy moaning. "Oh God Marc you feel so good inside of me. I love you so much!" He was grunting as he pistoned himself into her and replied between strokes, "I love you too Baby! I can't wait until we're together as man and wife!"

Ken looked on the vision of his wife having sex with another man. Up until that point she had been his world, but that world was now imploding upon itself. He gazed at his wife with distress as she lay on her back with her legs raised and urging her lover to impale himself deeper into her willing sex. He was shocked to note even how her toes were curled, a sight that was burned unalterably into his memory. A thought flashed through his mind that Braun was not into foreplay but looking at the scene before him his wife did not seem to mind. He occurred to him that he really did not know her at all

Braun was on top, pushing himself into her as his balls slapped against her butt. Between two of them making guttural noises and the rhythmatic slapping of their bodies pleasuring each other, Ken felt himself begin to get sick and looked for a place to vomit.

One thought seared across my tortured brain, "No! Take control of your emotions now!" At that point Ken finally spoke in a loud forceful voice, "Just when were you two planning on getting together? Or for that matter, when were you going to tell me?" The noises of their sexing stopped abruptly with Cathy letting out a shrill scream and Braun uttering a guttural, "Shit!"