The Stalking Horse

I looked at Barry lying there next to me on the bed and wished I could go to bed with him every night and wake up with him every morning instead of just once in a while. What was hardest on me was knowing that Barry wanted it to, but I just could not do it. I knew what would happen if I did and I just could not do that to him.

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I met Bobby in junior high and I was his from the first time he said hi and introduced himself to me. He asked me to go to the movies with him and I said yes and from then on we were an instant couple. As far as the rest of the kids were concerned we were 'The Golden Couple." Bobby was the quarterback and captain of the football team and I was a cheerleader and class president. We were the Homecoming King and Queen and it seemed like all school social activities revolved around us.

My eighteenth birthday and the senior prom were on the same day and following the dance and after two after prom parties I surrendered my virginity to Bobby. From that point on we made love whenever and wherever we could.

Our football team, under Bobby's leadership, went undefeated for two years straight and Bobby was besieged with offers from a dozen universities and colleges and he chose State. I was a straight A student and I had half a dozen scholarships and though I really wanted to go to CU I went to State because that is where Bobby was going.

Bobby and I were so hot for each other that sometimes we did not use good sense and halfway into our freshman year at State I got pregnant. Bobby didn't care. When I told him he just smiled and said:

"What the hell baby, we were going to get married later on anyway. It will just happen sooner is all."

Neither of our families were happy about it, but they offered their support. The plan was for me to stay in school until I had the baby and then the grandparents would take turns babysitting while I went back to school and finished my degree program.

Bobby was on his way to a lucrative career in the NFL and our future looked bright and then it all came crashing down. Bobby went out with some friends one night and got drunk. He and his buddies were watching some guys who were doing some 'extreme' skateboarding and Bobby's friends were commenting on the skill necessary to be able to pull off some of the moves and Bobby, never a shrinking violet, said that anybody with a sense of balance could do what the boarders were doing. "Bullshit" one of his buddies said and Bobby said;

"Bet you ten bucks I can do it. I've never been on a skateboard in my life, but if you want to put up the money I'll show you just how easy it is."

His buddy pulled out a ten dollar bill, Bobby borrowed a skateboard from one of the boarders and promptly broke his leg in three places and his football career was history. He lost his full ride and since he had been a mediocre student at best -- just keeping his grades high enough to allow him to stay on the team -- he rapidly lost interest in school and dropped out.

Until that point married life had been fine for us, but things started to change. Bobby found work easily, but after finding a job he couldn't keep it. I blame Coach Nichols for that. Coach Nichols was Bobby's high school football coach. When Bobby took over as quarterback the team had never had a winning season and Coach Nichols knew that his time as a coach was running out,

Bobby had a natural ability, a feel for the game, and in the huddle he started changing the plays that Coach Nichols sent in. The team started winning and although Coach Nichols kept calling Bobby into his office, reading him the riot act and threatening to bench him if he didn't follow the coach's instructions Bobby just listened politely and then went out and did what he felt he had to do to win. In the huddle everyone looked to him and did what he said. He was in charge. He was the one in control. Bobby was a natural leader and Coach Nichols bowed to the inevitable and left Bobby alone and Bobby in return gave him his first ever winning season and then went undefeated for the next two years.

Bobby left school with the mindset that he knew better than anyone else. He was the leader, he was in charge and he told people what to do; they didn't tell him. It didn't work that way out in the real world. When the boss told you what to do you didn't argue with him if you wanted to keep your job, but Bobby never seemed to learn that lesson and it cost him job after job after job.

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I was in my sixth month and was hurrying through the hall to make it to a class I was late for when someone tripped me and I fell to the floor. I woke up in the hospital and after making sure that I was okay they told me that I had lost my baby. Bobby went out and got drunk and came home calling me a clumsy bitch who had cost him his son. Our marriage went downhill from there.

Because Bobby couldn't hold a job I had to quit school and go to work to help support us. I quickly learned not to leave money where Bobby could get his hands on it because as soon as he had some he went out drinking and when he drank he usually got drunk and when he got drunk he got abusive. The first time he came home drunk and hit me I was so shocked and upset that I ran out of the house crying and drove down to the park. I sat on a bench crying for over an hour and when I finally stopped I went home and found Bobby passed out on the living room floor. I left him there and went to bed.

In the morning Bobby couldn't apologize enough for what he had done, but six days later he came home drunk and did it again. But I'd had those six days to think about it and I vowed that he would never do it again and get away with it so when he did it I left the apartment and waited two hours before going back and found him passed out on the bed. When he woke up in the morning I had him tied hands and feet in an X to the bedposts. I waited until he was wide awake and yelling before I went into the bedroom with an aluminum pot and pounded on his body. I stayed away from knees, ankles, wrists and elbows -- and his head of course -- but every other inch of his body felt that pot. When I was done I told him the next time he came home drunk and used me for a punching bag I would use a cast iron skillet and I wouldn't take care to miss things like knees and elbows. Then I left him tied up and went and had my hair done. That didn't turn out to be one of my better decisions because Bobby wasn't able to get up to pee.

Bobby was a quick leaner. He stepped up his verbal abuse, but he never raised a hand against me again. But what he couldn't do to me he could and did do to others. Even though our own relationship was in the toilet he was still a very jealous man and if he saw me with another man, no matter how innocent it might have been, Bobby would accuse the other man of trying to get into my pants. Sometimes words would be exchanged and the fight would be on. It had happened a half dozen times over the course of a year and twice Bobby had sent guys to the emergency room at the hospital. His luck held though and he was able to get away with it because witnesses were never clear as to who threw the first punch and Bobby was always able to claim he was just defending himself. That and the fact that none of those he fought ever pressed charges against him.

As I looked down on Barry sleeping peacefully on the bed I knew I could never let Bobby find out about him. If Bobby could send guys to the hospital for just talking with me or having a cup of coffee with me I couldn't even begin to imagine what Bobby would do to a real lover.

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Barry was an accident. Regardless of how things were going between me and Bobby I had never even thought about another man. It happened because of Bobby.

One night I got a call from Mack Ellis the owner of Mack's Bar and he asked me to please come down and get Bobby.

"He is way to drunk to drive. I took his keys and had a couple of guy's park so as to block his car in case he has another set of keys. I can't let him drive. The way things are now if he drives and kills somebody I'll be the one who gets sued because I sold him the booze.

"Let him walk. Maybe the exercise and fresh air will do him some good."

"Can't do that either. He steps off the curb in front of a car and I get sued. Do me a favor and come down here and get him I'll repay you by giving you your first two rounds free the next time you come in here with your friends after work."

"Just me or the whole group?"

"The group. Come on honey, come and get him."

I got to Mack's and saw cars bumper to bumper both in front of and in back of Bobby's F-150 and I could see him sitting in the truck. When I walked over and pulled open the door and the interior light came on a shocked Billy Jean Evans pulled her head up off of Bobby exposing his wet cock. Billy Jean had gone to school with us and she had always had the hots for Bobby. Twice she had made a move on him trying to split us up and God knows right then I wished she had been successful.

Billy Jean's face was wet with tears and she cried, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Please don't tell Gary. Oh God, don't let Gary find out."

Gary was her husband.

"Maybe I won't tell Gary if you tell me how long this has been going on."

"Maybe eight or nine months. Please, I'm begging you not to tell Gary."

"Why would I want to tell Gary? He might do something to put a stop to it. You are welcome to this piece of shit. You keep him busy and he will leave me alone. Fact is he is going to need you because he is never going to touch me again."

I slammed the truck door and went home. I took everything of Bobby's out of the bedroom and tossed it on the living room floor and then I dropped a pillow and a blanket on the couch which is where he would sleep from now on. The only way he would get into the bedroom again was when I moved out. He staggered in around three in the morning to drunk to do much more than fall into the chair next to the couch. He was still there when I left for work in the morning.

That night when it was time to get off work Agnes asked me if I would like to stop for a drink with the group. I had stopped with them on Monday and normally I limited myself to once every two weeks or so, but Bobby and Billy Jean were still on my mind and I really didn't want to go home just then. We had been at the bar about an hour when an extremely good looking man came in. Agnes said:

"Oh good, he came. I wasn't sure that he would."

She stood up and waved and the man saw her, smiled and headed for our table. Agnes introduced us all to her brother Barry and informed us that he had just moved to town to start a new job. For some reason Barry homed in on me. To me it didn't make much sense since out of the five women at the table I was the only married woman and two of the others at the table were better looking than me or at least I thought so.

He took turns dancing with all the girls, but I seemed to be his partner more often than any of the others. A couple of hours later and after several drinks I was just loose enough to comment on it. Specifically the part about me being the only married woman there.

"It is because you are married that I'm spending most of my time with you."

"I don't understand."

"I'm not dumb and I know why Agnes invited me to join the group here tonight. She is in her matchmaking mode. Her plan is to get me hooked up with one of her single girlfriends, but I am not interested in getting anything going with a lady right now. I have just too much on my plate with the moving and settling into my new job to take on a girlfriend. You are married and therefore safe. As an added benefit you are also the best looking woman in the place."

It must have been the drinks I'd had that caused me to say it, but I smiled at him and said:

"Don't be too sure about the safe part. I'm a little pissed at my hubby right now and I'm thinking of giving him some payback and you are kind of yummy looking."

"Yummy? Me? No one has ever called me yummy before."

"I probably shouldn't have either. I think my alcohol intake is having an effect on me."

"Not meaning to be too forward but I kind of like the effect. Tell me more about the yummy part."

"I think you should take me back to the table before I do something stupid."

When I got home I saw that all of Bobby's stuff had been picked up off of the living room floor, but I didn't see it piled up anywhere. I found that he had moved it all back into the bedroom and he was in bed asleep. I got a glass of water and poured it on his head. It woke him up in a hurry and he sat up and glared at me, but before he could say a word I said:

"You don't sleep in this room anymore. It's the couch or get out and go stay with Billy Jean. Get your crap out of this room and do it now."

"Bullshit! This is my home and my bed and I'm staying here."

"Okay asshole; your choice, but as soon as you fall asleep I'll get my ropes and my cast iron frying pan. Sweet dreams asshole."

I walked out of the room and a couple of minutes later Bobby came out carrying some of his clothes. It took him five minutes to get his stuff out of the bedroom and then I went in and went to bed.

In the morning Bobby was up and making coffee when I came into the kitchen. He looked at me and said:

"Can we talk about this?"

"What's to talk about? I caught you with your cock in Billy Jean's mouth."

"Ah come on baby, I was drunk and she took advantage of me. You know she's always had the hots for me. I was blitzed and she saw her chance and took it. I was too out of it to know what was going on."

"My turn to say bullshit Bobby. You have not been drunk and out of your mind for nine months and that's how long Billy Jean says you have been getting it on with her. I don't have the money for a divorce and this apartment is the best I can afford right now so if you aren't decent enough to move out I guess I'm stuck with having to live with you right now, but all we are is roommates Bobby. Just two people sharing a place to stay."

Two days later I was on my lunch break and sitting at a table in Patty Ann's when George Tarkis came in and saw me and came over and asked me if he could join me. George had gone to school with me and we hadn't seen each other in a couple of years. We were talking about things like "Any idea where _________ is now?" and "Whatever happened to ________" when Bobby came in and saw us. He came over and said:

"So this is why you are turning your back on me. Get up asshole. I'm going to teach you what happens when you mess with another man's wife."

George started to say that he wasn't messing around with me, Bobby slapped him across the face and the fight was on. George wasn't a push-over and Bobby was getting the worst of it until he grabbed a sugar container off of the table and smacked George in the head with it. George went down and Bobby started kicking him and wouldn't have stopped if I hadn't picked up a chair and swung it into Bobby's back. He turned around in a rage and I stood there holding the chair and snarled at him:

"Come on Bobby; do it! Come after me Bobby, please come after me."

He knew right away he was fucked if he did because he knew I would press charges on him in a heartbeat. He was standing there staring at me and breathing hard when the cops came in. Herb, the owner of Patty Ann's had called them and he told them that Bobby has attacked George while he was sitting there at the table and the cops cuffed Bobby and took him away. George got stupid and wouldn't press charges.

"I knew he was a jealous asshole and I had a fair idea of how he would act if he saw me sitting with his wife. I should have known better. I guess you could say that I brought it on myself" is what he told the cops and Bobby walked again.

The only thing that happened to him is that Herb barred him from Patty Ann's.

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The next day at work I was sitting at my desk when I heard "Good morning pretty lady." I looked up and saw Barry standing there. "I was in the neighborhood and thought I would drop in and see if Agnes would like to have lunch with me, but she has already made other plans. How about you? Would you like to have lunch with a poor boy new to town and not knowing many people?"

He smiled at me and I melted a little inside and said that I would love to have lunch with him. Lunch went well and he asked me to join him for a drink after work and I had to remind him that he was talking to a married woman.

"True" he said, "But you did say that you owed your husband some payback and I'm offering to help."

I was tempted. Lord knows that I was tempted. It had been almost a month since I'd had intercourse with Bobby and I was a bit on the horny side, but I wasn't quite ready to take that big of a step yet. It wasn't that I was feeling all that virtuous, but I hadn't yet decided what I was going to do about Bobby. Our marriage was over as far as I was concerned, but the fact was that we were still married. Not that I would let the fact that I was wearing the ring Bobby gave me keep me from getting payback, but I just wasn't ready. I had things to think about. I knew what Barry wanted. Why else would a man go after a married woman? True, being new in town he could be just looking to make friends, but how likely was that? On the other hand he was a good looking guy and I could do a lot worse if I decided to get even with Bobby. But the bottom line was that I just wasn't ready yet and so I said:

"Maybe some other time. Right now just isn't a good time."

He smiled and said, "That sounds like maybe some day there will be a right time. I guess I'll just have to keep asking you to have lunch with me."

When I got home that night Bobby was sitting on the couch waiting for me. Before I could even take my coat off he said:

"I'm sorry. I really am sorry baby doll. I've made a mess of things and I know it. I've been feeling so damned sorry for myself over the way things turned out that I haven't been thinking straight. To be honest about it I know I've had my head up my ass, but I'm going to change baby doll. I can't bear the thought of losing you. I know I haven't treated you right, but I can change. I'm going to change. I'm going to turn it around. I'm going to work for Marcus Gelling. He is going to help me get my CDL and I'm going to drive for him. All I'm asking is that you give me a chance. Don't give up on me."

I had never heard Bobby talk that way before and I did have a lot of my life invested in him, but Bobby had let me down too many times. Still. What would it hurt to give him a chance?

"Okay Bobby, I'll give you a chance, but you are still on the couch until you show me that you have really changed."

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Bobby did get his CDL with both tanker and hazmat endorsements and he did go to work driving for Marcus. He made good money and it looked like he had finally found a job he could keep. The driving job was 'over the road' and sometimes Bobby would be gone for five or six days. He had stopped drinking and it looked like he was finally getting it together. He wasn't back in my bed yet, but our relationship was getting better and if it continued I thought we might just have a chance to put things back together.

I had lunch with Barry at least once a week. I enjoyed talking with him. I didn't do anything to lead him on, but he did keep letting me know that he was there for me.

Things were looking better for Bobby and me right up until the night I ran into Bev Allison. Bev had been a schoolmate and was one of the few who had tried to warn me away from Bobby way back when. Naturally I assumed she was another Billy Jean who wanted to get me away from Bobby so she could get her hooks in him so I ignored her.

I had worked some overtime and didn't feel like going home and fixing myself dinner. Bobby was on a five day run to somewhere and not due back for another day so I stopped at Patty Ann's. The place was full and I didn't see an empty table or booth and I was about to turn and leave when I caught sight of Bev waving at me. She was in a booth by herself and I walked over and she invited me to join her. We made some small talk for a while and then she said: