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They say that blood is thicker than water, and I guess that’s so. Still, water evaporates, and the supply of blood for any one individual is limited. But, the feelings one has for the love of his or her life never evaporates and has no limit, none. I am living testimony to that great truth. My dad, Philby Carter, married Xena Westbrook in 1964. I came along a year later, and joined my brother—a product of mom’s first marriage—Ronald Carter completing the family Carter. Oh, we had relatives, chief among them mom’s sister Aunt Delia. But, our nuclear family was complete with the final addition of me. My brother was nine years older than me and he had my back from day one. Mom used to say that he could change diapers better than she could; I think she was kidding. But, there was no doubt that Ron and I were tight. Oh, and I’m David Carter. I never met Ron’s Dad. Never knew much about him, and, as was the case, neither did Ronald. The story was that he was a big guy and handsome; and, he was a player who abandoned mom and child after a year of more or less worthless fatherhood. Physically, I was a little guy compared to my brother: he turned out to be six-two and a hard body; me, five-six, and slight of build. I guess the two of us most resembled our dads. ****** My earliest memory of Ronald and me goes back to my days in grammar school, fourth grade actually. At the time he was a senior at Central High. He was mister all everything there: football, class vice president, lead in the senior play; oh, and real popular with the girls. Jenna Kirby was arguably the prettiest girl on planet earth, or so I thought, and she was Ronald’s personal arm candy. Well, she was until she caught him making out with Sofie Matson. I was there when she told him to take a hike—her exact words actually. But that was Ronald, a player; guess he inherited that little trait from his daddy. At any rate there was always a girl on his arm and he wasn’t selfish. Hell no, he set me up with my first two dates! I always suspected he paid them to go out with me, just kidding! I was actually pretty good looking for a short skinny guy. No, truth was that I had dates, plenty of them; not as many, nor with as many different girls as Ron; but, chopped liver I certainly was not. Oh, and I was better looking than him; well, at least that’s the story I’m sticking with. ****** Ron met the woman that everyone thought was the love of his life in 1979 I think it was. They got married in 1980. Big ceremony, high hopes, and for the next few years things looked rosy as heck. But, well, I guess it’s true what they say about leopards. Madeleine caught him in bed with her best friend, and as had Jenna Kirby before her, told him to take a hike. I know for a fact he shed a few tears over her; she really was a winner. The upside to his divorce was that there was no alimony: she made more money than he did. He worked as a used car salesman at the time, pure commission. He was pretty good at it but Madeleine had a steady job as a bartender and a week’s tips alone for her could be as much as Ronnie made in a month, well, at the time. Maddie and Ronnie had no children, her decision; Ronnie wanted them, and he wanted them badly. But, Maddie ruled the nest, well, until she didn’t. At any rate daddyhood may have been denied him, but the desire to be a daddy, incongruous as it sounds considering what a womanizer he was, only grew over time. Singlehood did seem to work for Ronald. After his divorce he dove into his job like a wild man to help him forget his lost love. He became so good at selling cars that dad gave him the seed money to get started in his own business, yeah, used car sales—he did have to take out a second mortgage to do it. What also came of his success was a big head. He had women around all of the time. Kind of scandalous actually. He never tired of giving his little brother, me, advice on women. “Find yourself a soulmate, bro,” he’d say. Ala high school days, he even set me up with a couple of “nice” girls; read girls who didn’t put out. Why he was so interested in getting me married was a mystery to me. He, on the other hand, in spite of his mania to become a daddy and it was a mania in his case, did not seem in a hurry to get married again. Most of us in the family thought it was because he just couldn’t get over losing Madeleine. Well, she had been a stunner. Of course, he would eventually marry, and that little reality would be at base the cause of everything else this story’s about. CHAPTER TWO: 1987 The wedding reception was going strong. The champagne was flowing. The bride and the bridesmaids were carousing and dancing, and the groom, and his entourage, were doing their thing out on the patio. It’d been a largish wedding, a couple of hundred in attendance. But, as far as David, me, age twenty-two, unmarried and wished he was, married that is, was concerned there was just one guest he would ever remember, and he is slow dancing with her at this very moment. “So, you’re a warehouseman, David,” said Stacey Wilcox. “I guess I don’t have to worry about you wanting to show me your etchings.” She laughed. “Yes, been in the business since high school. My dad got me the job; he’d worked for Ferguson forever. And no, no etchings; but I’d like to tell you about the new headers on my car,” I said, “you know over coffee or lunch or something.” “Oohee,” she screamed , in simulated joy, “can’t wait to hear about those.” “Yes, well the extra power I get from şişli escort the reduced back pressure from the manifold is most definitely worth a good ‘ole rousing oohee!” I said. “Hmm, well, if you’re job pays you enough to afford me, you can take me out to dinner tomorrow night,” she said. I admit it. I blinked when she said that. I mean, was she putting a move on me? But, I recovered pretty damn quickly. “Hmm, I love an unabashed gold digger,” I said. Now she broke up laughing. ****** The next night happened to be Sunday night. I had to work the next day, but as I discovered, she didn’t; she had Mondays off. She was a waitress at Mahoney’s B I mean I was the one who’d done all the work, and man had it ever been worth it! “That was the best sex ever,” I said. “I hope it was okay for you too.” “Hmm, it was very good, David, thank you,” she said. I thought it was interesting that she didn’t say that it was the best sex that she’d ever had, but, I guess honesty is the best policy; and, she had said it was very good. Well, and we were both only twenty-two years old, so what did we know. “Was it good enough to get a second date?” I said. She rolled over and looked me right in the eyes. “Damn straight it was,” she said. “I’m just glad as can be that you noticed me at the reception and decided to ask me out.” “Me too, but truth told, it would have been real hard to not notice you,” I said. “You were without a doubt the best thing at that little gala, no doubt about it.” She laughed. “Well, thank you for that,” she said. “If you’re clear this coming weekend there is a little family get together. You know the barbecue bit and such. I’d kinda like to show you off if you’d be up for it,” I said. “Of course,” she said. “I’d be delighted. Formal or informal?” “Very informal,” I said. “Pick you up at high noon?” “Sounds good,” she said. “I’d love to meet your family.” Oh boy, this was the woman for me, no freakin’ doubt about it. I had to have her. Nothing else in the world mattered and iota: Stacey was the one. ****** I was proud of myself. I’d actually found a woman who I could not only be proud of, because she was such a looker and such a fun person, but also because she was going to be supremely popular with the family. My much older brother, ten years older, especially, would be thrilled I’d finally found someone to latch onto. He’d been bugging me about finding the right woman for forever, hypocrite and womanizer though he was and had long been. Oh, he’d, had my brother, had a winner in Madelaine, his now ex-wife. But, he’d soured that in almost no time cheating on her with damn near every pussy in sight. She’d finally caught him of course; he wasn’t especially cautious in his antics. She’d divorced his cheating ass, she had, and thereinafter, disappeared into the eternal ether of the cosmos never to be seen again, well, by any of us. I pulled into the parking lot of her apartment building. I wanted to kick myself for not bringing flowers for her, the universal sign of slavery for future husbands. But, I’d be making it up to her in spades for damn sure. Parked, I headed for her second floor walkup. I knocked. I could hear footsteps. The door opened and I couldn’t believe how beautiful she looked. I think I stared for a full minute before squeaking out my prepared greeting. “Ready to go?” I said. She could see I was distressed. She giggled, but only slightly. “Sure thing, sailor,” she said. She stepped back inside momentarily leaving me at the door waiting for the best part of fifteen seconds. She’d grabbed her purse and sweater and we were on our way. “You are absolutely gorgeous today,” I said. “I mean you’re always gonna be gorgeous but today I’d be afraid to allow you out into traffic. I mean if I had anything to say about allowing you out. I mean—oh heck, I don’t know what I mean.” Now she laughed. “Relax handsome. I just hope your family likes me,” she said. “Not a worry in the world about that one,” I said. And, boy was that ever the truth. “Well, good,” she said. We’d known each other for almost no time to speak of, but I was already practicing the proposal of marriage speech I was going to make to her. I was just hoping and praying that I wouldn’t make a fool of myself in the doing of it. The barbecue was already going when we arrived. Mom and dad were inside: Mom in the kitchen and dad on the service porch messing with coolers full of beer and soda pop. Ronald, my brother, and a couple of cousins, Mike Carter and Bill Carter, were present as were their wives, Marilee and Jennifer along with their kids; all four of whom were engaged in making as much racket as they could. Mike was currently busy tending to the fires and the meat being toasted on them. I strode up to the fire pit and, smiling broadly, got my erstwhile brother’s, who was nearby, attention. “Ronald,” I said, “I’d like you to meet the girl you warned me about.” He turned to see us and his mouth shot open and didn’t immediately close. “Holy mackerel, David, you don’t deserve a girl this pretty, not even,” he said. “I have to agree with you there, brother dearest. But, quite frankly, neither do you. So, stay clear of her,” I said, laughing. “Yeah, yeah, no guarantees,” he said, also laughing. I gave him a sour look, well, he deserved it. “Hi David,” said Mom, followed by my dad. Dad was carrying a too large styro-cooler and mom was laden with a largesh bowl filled with her special salad. “This the lady you were telling us about?” said Dad. “Yes, mecidiyeköy escort yes it is,” I said. “Stacey Wilcox, this is Xena and Philby Carter, My parents. “Pleased to meet you both,” said Stacey, smiling broadly. The greeting and pleasantries continued for some few minutes. Cousin Mike broke that up. “Your turn at the pit,” he said, handing me the already soiled apron he’d been wearing. I frowned but accepted the protective garment. “I’ll be back as soon as I can find an excuse,” I said, addressing my date. “Don’t worry bro, I’ll keep the lovely lady company for the duration,” he said. “Yeah right,” I said. I gave my date a peck on the cheek hoping it would hold her until I was able to escape barbecue duty. ****** “So you and my brother,” said Ronald, addressing Stacey Wilcox. “Yes, we met a week ago,” she said. “He’s a very nice guy.” “Yes, well he is a Carter. “So, you’ve known him a week. Is it love at first sight, or just friendship?” said Ronald. “Hmm, jury’s still out,” she said. “Let’s just say, I’m interested.” “Yeah, well, I know my brother, and I can say with confidence that he sure as heck is interested,” said Ronald. “I’ve been trying to get him to find himself a woman to latch onto for forever. He’s one of those who needs a woman to guide him; he’s kind of shy if not exactly painfully so, I guess is the bottom line. I just didn’t expect him to be so successful.” He laughed uproariously at his own remarks. “Thanks, I think,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “No, no, you’re quite beautiful. He’s a lucky fella to have met you, and, for you to have had mercy on him,” said Ronald. “Well, thank you for that. You’re very nice too,” she said, “and your parents.” “Yeah, mom and dad, they’re the best,” he said. “Look, can I get you a drink. We Carter’s always have a supply of the very finest spirits on hand in case of company.” She looked him askance. “Okay,” she said. “Anything will be fine.” “Okay, anything coming up,” he said. He headed for the cooler, parked next to the picnic table that his dad had lugged out but shortly before. He pulled out a couple of Lite beers. He popped the tabs and headed back to his charge. He handed her hers. “Thank you kind sir,” she said. “My pleasure, fair lady,” he said. Their conversation went on for some little while. They were interrupted by an older lady apparently on a mission. “Aunt Delia,” said Ronald. “Let me introduce you to Stacey Wilcox, David’s date for the day.” “Oh,” said Aunt Delia? “Has your date abandoned you, dear?” “No, no, Aunt Delia, he’s just manning the barbecue for the moment,” said Ronald. “Hmm, and left the sheep to be sheared by the wolves,” said Aunt Delia, meaningfully. “Now, Aunt Delia, I’m just the spear carrier here today,” said Ronald, pretending shock at his aunt’s words. “Yes, yes, I’m sure the leopard has changed its spots,” she said, she was not smiling. “Here comes our hero, now,” said Ronald. “Hi Aunt Delia,” I said, coming up to the group. “Anybody miss me?” “Just me,” said Stacey. This girl seemed to find new ways to make my day every time I turned around. Things started breaking up just after dark. Well, it was summer and dark didn’t happen until around 8:00PM. I could see my brother had hit it off with Stacey. She thought he was funny and talked to him a lot. I was happy that she got along with him. Ron and I were closer than any two brothers in the county, oh yeah! I counted on him to have my back, as he always had. Big brothers were the best as far as I was concerned. At any rate, the barbecue had been an unqualified success. Everybody loved Stacey. And I had a date for the following weekend. Talk about happy times, these were more than that for me. And then it was six months later and we were married. Stacey and I we were happy, sinfully so. We had set up our lounge chairs on the patio of our little three bedroom place. It was a smaller place than mom and dad’s or big brother’s for sure, but it was cozy and clean and warm and ours. “Happy?” I said. “David, I have never been so happy. Thank you for asking to marry me. I love you,” she said. And, for no reason whatsoever she started to cry. I didn’t need to ask the reason for the tears; they were happy tears. I just got up from my chair and knelt beside hers wrapping my arms around her. God how I adored this woman! ****** It was Saturday, mid-afternoon, when we got the visit. Unexpected, but the visitor was welcome. “Ronald,” I said. “Good to see you; been a little while.” “Yeah, I’ve been busy, trying to get another shop open; well, you know, a lot to do: financing, hiring, the whole ball of wax,” he said. “I guess,” I said, “come in, come in. Honey, Ronald’s here,” I yelled to get my wife’s attention. She was busy doing woman’s stuff in the kitchen. She didn’t quite scurry out to meet our visitor, but she was glad to see him. First beers downed, the conversation light and airy, tacos consumed— it’d turned out Stacey was a master of Mexican cuisine—we kicked back on the patio. “Honey, we’re out of Lite,” I said. “I’m gonna head down to the market and pick up a couple of six packs. Can you keep Ron entertained for a little bit?” I said. “Of course, go get your stuff. Hurry back,” she said. I nodded. “Okay, I’ll be back in twenty,” I said. I got my keys and headed out. “David’s a lucky guy,” said Ronald. “Thank you for that, Ronald. He is a good guy. We’re happy,” she said. “If I’d seen you first, well,” he said, and laughed, but it was a laugh tinged with something. “Yes, well, you Carter men are an attractive lot. I might have given you a tumble,” she said, she smiled, and her smile was likewise tinged with something. The moment passed, what ensued was a pregnant silence. “Stacey?” he said. “Yes?” she said. “Oh, I don’t know. Can I tell you something, something I’ve been thinking about for some time now,” he said. “Ronald? Is something wrong?” she said. “Uh-no, I mean yes,” he said. “I mean, can I tell you something?” “Sure, I guess so,” she said. Her brow was knitted. And, she wasn’t sure why, but she felt her face flush. “I know this might come as a bit of a shock. But, if you can abide hearing what I have to say, well, I feel an almost irresistible impulse to tell you,” he said. “This is something you wouldn’t want David to hear, I’m guessing?” she said. He looked down. “No,” he said, “that would not be good.” “Okay,” she said. “Stacey, I’m in love with you,” he said. “Now if you want me to leave, I will and I will never bother you again. But . . .” “Ronald, I don’t . . .” she started. “I’ll be leaving. Please forget what I said. I really won’t bother you again,” he said. “No!” she said. “Ronald, I, well I feel the same way. But, we can’t, I mean; well, you know what I mean.” “Come here,” he said. He took her in his arms. The kiss was long and hot and dirty. “Hello fans,” I said. Coming back into the kitchen where my family was. I deposited the beers in the frig, except for the three I’d opened. We picked up where we left off when I’d had to go to the store. We drank a couple more brews and then, hugs all around, Ronald took his leave. “That was nice Ron coming by,” I said. “Yes, yes it was. He’s a good guy,” she said. Life was good. ****** The Carlton Arms had a good lunch buffet, and it had a good view of the desert landscape surrounding the grounds; oh, and it had rooms. “Thank you for meeting me,” he said. “Thank you for inviting me,” she said. “How’s everything at home? He doesn’t suspect? I mean . . .” he said. ‘No, but it doesn’t matter, we haven’t done anything to be suspected of. You’re my brother-in-law; it’s all good,” she said. He nodded. “I don’t know, meeting here like this every week might not be understood,” he said. “What’s it been now, nine or ten weeks in a row?” “I guess,” she said. “But, I have to see you. Platonic or not, I have to see you.” “Likewise,” he said. “But, you said platonic or not. I mean, ‘or not’?” She looked away, looked back at him, but she said nothing. He looked her askance. “Would you, dare we?” he said. She rose and started walking toward the desk area at the front of the hotel. Tentatively, he rose to follow her. She waited by the elevator. He joined her but was for the moment confused. She took up the spear. “You have to get us a room,” she said. “But, my broth . . .” “Don’t talk. Just get the damn room,” she ordered. He turned and crossed the concourse to the sign-in desk. CHAPTER THREE 1987 “That was more than enthusiastic on your part,” she said. “Hah? You didn’t seem all that bored with the festivities either,” he said, smirking. “No, no, it definitely wasn’t boring,” she said. “I was into it. And, Ron, that bothers me.” She didn’t look over at him, but she sensed his concern anyway. “Yeah, I know what you mean,” he said. “What are we going to do?” “I don’t know. I just don’t know,” she said. “He’s too good a man to screw over. But . . .” “Yeah, I know what you mean, and he is too good a man to screw over as you say. That said, that’s just what we got done doing. I know I’m not going to be saying this right, but as bad as what we just did actually is; I mean cheating on our man, it feels right,” he said. “I feel the same way. I guess all we can do is hope for the best and keep our heads. I can’t divorce him nor can I, well, I can’t do whatever it is I can’t do,” she said. “What a mess. Why didn’t I meet you first!” “Fate, perverse gods, whatever: you met my brother first and the stiff gets to keep you. But, that said, I’ll be around. Stacey, we just need to be ultra-careful. No slipups, no casual conversation where hints of our feelings get picked up and destroys us all,” he said. “No, no slip ups,” she said. “So where do we go from here?” “I bury myself in my business. You remain, as I’m sure you have been this past almost a year now, the dutiful wife. We just get on with living,” he said. “Ron, I need you. We have to be able to see each other,” she said. He gave her a look. “Yes,” he said. “Half a loaf is better than absolutely nothing, but it cannot be scheduled and predictable. If we continue to see each other it will have to be on the quiet of course, but very occasionally and not predictable. My brother isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he’s not blind. And the fallout from being caught would be catastrophic.” She nodded her understanding. “I understand,” she said. “I’m just going to be the happy go lucky brother-in-law I’ve so far been, you the beautiful wife of one very lucky David Carter. And that brings up another matter, and it’s important,” he said. “Huh? What?” she said. “The sex you have with him: it can’t change or become less than it has been. You and he do get it on a lot, right?” he said. “Yes, well, I guess it’s a lot: two or three times a week,” she said. “I’ve been a womanizer for forever,” he said. “I know about these things. Any major change in your sex lives, that he doesn’t initiate, would be a tell and an easy one to recognize. Be very conscious of that; I know what I’m talking about.” She nodded. “But a womanizer?” she said. “Yes, but no more. From now on you’re my one and only; I mean that, Stacey.
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