Paying It Forward

This story kind of starts out as a bit of a bummer.

Just hang with me on it as I hope it delivers quickly. There is only a small bit of sex in the story. I've concentrated on the set up for romance.

It's been a while since I posted. Life goes on, and then, sometimes it doesn't. You get to learn a lot from people where it doesn't. I found out once again that it's less scary then I thought.

The other thing is lately I've been driving past several housing and small business construction sites. With my mischievous nature, I wondered what a load of lumber, dirt or gravel could be used in exposing unfaithful partners. I hope that I may have nailed it. Either way, it was fun imagining it.

Once again, the author is fully responsible for everything in this story. I still use Microsoft work to spell check and Google along the way when I write to get better at spelling. I also read the story and reread it several dozen times in an effort to get it better. Please forgive my failures. I am sure that it may not meet your standards. I try to write as how people think. The focus is different.

As always, stupid comments will be deleted and well reasoned comments, even if contrary to my thoughts will be retained. I like people that think and can produce logical reasons for such comments. This appears to be an uncommon trait these days.

Paying it forward

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John

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It's been a good life. Judy and I had enough to eat, steady but not great paying jobs, reasonable apartments in reasonable neighborhoods, an occasional tent camping vacation in Wisconsin and good friends. We did staycations before there was a name for them. We weren't rolling in dough, but we lived below our means and were comfortable. We felt that we were lucky.

Our extended families were shit, but we helped them. When someone overdosed, got out of jail, got pregnant or whatever, we made ourselves available. We were at every graduation and any niece's or nephew's wedding when we were invited. Didn't have much to physically give but our support and knowledge -- only when they needed it and they implied that they wanted it. Most of the time we just listened, very quietly. I have no idea if it did any good for them, but it did help some of their kids, our grand-nieces and grand-nephews.

As for excitement in our lives, we've never even had a parking ticket, drunken driving charge, won more than $50 in the lottery, had an affair, IRS Audit or been a crime victim outside of some tagging. We had each other and that was enough. Going out to bar was an expense we couldn't afford, but going to a friend's house was enough. Although a little bit of decent Costco vodka and the occasional joint helped. That was for special occasions, not a daily thing. The three-times daily plus thing is what helped to screw up our extended families.

Now I'm standing on the ground with my walker and looking up at my old truck cab's door. My friend the yard foreman 'left' my truck for me. It's loaded with a full tank of diesel and crushed stone. I have to brace myself just to climb up. This will be my last bit of excitement in life. For 35 years I would jump in and out of truck cabs without a care. Now, I have to take it slow... real god damn slow... mother-fuckin' god damned slow.

I 'got retired' as a full time dump truck driver 8 years ago. They were pretty good about letting me go. The business couldn't support all the staff and my body was rapidly slowing. I had 2 years to go to get Medicare but they kept me on Medical if I could come in when they were short handed. The pay was lower but the work was slower and that was OK. It worked out well as there was a need at least once a month for up to a week for those first 2 years. I also filled in on vacations and holidays, 'emergencies' as well when somebody was on short term disability. It paid much better than if I took early Social Security. I was grateful for that.

My hours were a bit less after those two years, but having a 'spare' driver that didn't have an attitude did help their operation. I was thankful, and they were too. Overall, it paid me a bit more than my social security would have at that time. I was able to hold off claiming until a full year past my full retirement age for Social Security. That additional permanent 8% 'deferral raise' in Social Security helped to keep Judy and me dry and fed for those later years. Those were the years where Judy and I spent our time fighting her cancer.

For over two years before her end, I felt like a poster from the early 70's. It showed a rat is giving the finger to the raptor that's about to slice him with his talons - the final act of defiance. Her cancer was the raptor and we were the rat. It was our defiance to the fuckin' end. Our fight was worth it. Hospice gave us a quiet supported ending. We were both at peace when she passed.

But now I'm grabbing the cab's handholds to slowly haul myself up behind the steering wheel. Fuck it, it takes both of my arms to barely make it in and I need to rest and catch my breath for a few minutes. This has been my life. I am and have been a fuckin' physical mess for a while. No way can I say that it started a short time ago. I've smoked unfiltered Camels, breathed in diesel exhaust and asphalt fumes, ate tons of greasy fried salty foods and wouldn't see a doctor unless I had no other options. Exercise? What's that? Doin' healthy stuff was for others.

Now I need to take 18 pills a day and two inhalers to just survive. Severe heart issues, approaching liver failure and my kidneys are massively compromised at 40%. Dialysis is a couple of percentage points away. Oh yes, I forgot that I can hardly breath. The latest nail in the coffin - a real nail and a real coffin - was a lung cancer biopsy that showed my cancer is aggressive. The follow-up scan showed that the cancer has already quickly metastasized - it spread fast and far - and it's a real bad type of cancer. I had several different people explain it to me, and they all said the same thing about what could be done medically and what my life would be like.

The younger doctor suggested fighting it. After that, the older doctors, nurses, social workers and the two chaplains asked me what I wanted to do. I chose hospice.

I am lucky as there is an in-patient hospice in town. Living alone in my small apartment was just not acceptable to hospice. It was something about rules and regulations and being alone. Having someone about will really be critical once I stop most of my meds. I sure as hell didn't want to see the inside of a nursing home again. Judy's experiences in those things for rehab weren't good. With the in-patient hospice, I knew that I wouldn't be there for long. I can now go there at any time but I've been putting it off for a couple of days. If things go well, I'll drive myself there tonight. I finally finished the admitting paperwork earlier this week so all I have to do is show up. If things don't go well tonight, I'll either be in the hospital, dead or in jail. Talk about goin' out with a bang. Tomorrow we'll stop the majority of my meds. No more of my critical heart and lung medications. I won't be alive within a week but most likely it'll be just a day or two. It'll be three if I'm unlucky. I'm looking forward to eating a few brats with beers again and a shot Jack Daniels with a PBR chaser. I'm really looking forward to my last meal. I even scheduled it when I signed up at the hospice. I haven't had that meal in years.

Grabbing my spare key to the dump truck from my pocket, I pause for a minute or two to think and catch my breath again. Then I adjust the mirrors and seat, then exhale slowly.

Last week I asked the yard foreman on the qt to keep my old truck loaded with crushed gravel and have it parked near the gate overnight. Before he could ask me why, I looked at the owner's son who was then walking to the office. "I just want to do a nice thing for Bill and his wonderful loving wife Nicole." Nicole has been stepping out on her husband of three years and has been treating him like shit. Bill couldn't prove it and didn't want dueling lawyers to fight. He knew that the bitch would go to the mat and the threat of excessive lawyer hours would drain whatever he had saved. His fuckin' marriage has been hell. It was Bill's father Harry that kept me on the reserve payroll. Harry still owned the small company and the rumor is that the reins weren't going to be passed down to the son until the bitch was gone. Bill was pretty pissed at his wayward wife. Bill also had a very short fuse and wasn't afraid of spending time in jail for battery. Bill as well as Harry also didn't want to find out what great bodily harm or murder would cost Bill. Bill's reputation for physical anger has preceded him and I was counting on that to 'help resolve his situation'.

I've known the yard foreman for decades. After I asked him to set up my old truck for me, he smiled and broke into a really bad fake German 'Sergeant Schultz' voice. "Colonel Hogan. I know nooooothinggggg. I seeeee nooooothinggggg. I hear nooooothinggggg." Then he smiled, lightly clapped me on the back, and we talked about the price of diesel and the non-war. He's been great in discussions when he comes out with '... What fools these mortals be...' when he sees that somebody bought a load of BS. He's a pretty good guy.

I started my old truck. Can't say that the roar of the diesel was purring, not on our profit margins. But it was running and did have enough power to drop a load of stone in-front of a specific garage door. I put it into gear and headed on out. Thank god they had finally fixed the power steering.

In the past two years since Judy died I've been lonely. Judy and I used to stop at 'our' greasy spoon at least monthly until she could no longer go. After she passed, I ate there twice a week and always on the slow days and slow hours. 'Our' waitress was Chloe. She always had a good word for me and Judy when she was alive, even knowing that we couldn't tip very well. Chloe is now a 22 year part-time nursing student with a certified Class A-1 Asshole for a boyfriend. Tyler moved in a year ago and has since screwed around with their finances, her head, and apparently several single and married women.

I've been an ear to Chloe these past two years. I've heard her dreams, her struggling with classes and finances and her drive to make something of herself. She thought that she finally found someone that she loved and he would love and support her back. I saw that relationship crack start soon after he moved in.

Being an old guy with a walker, I'm pretty much invisible to self-absorbed people. I heard enough from Chloe to find out with my own eyes what that asshole Tyler was doing around town. He had a bad credit rating and worse spending habits. He depended upon Chloe for his toys. The good news is that 'their' car and insurance and apartment lease were in her name only. He did put five thousand of his own cash and tons of his labor into tricking out 'their' car. She really didn't care at first. She wanted to make him happy. As I expected, he went overboard. Some bills were late because of his spending.

I got to see that flashy rice burner all over town, with different women in the passenger seat. This was while he was supposed to be at school or work.

I let Chloe vent with me. I was safe, I listened, I asked questions and generally I never told her what to do. She was going to come to her conclusions on her own. That's exactly what happened in the past two months.

Her biggest problem was in kicking him out to the curb. More than just being a silver tongued devil, he was physically scary at 260 lbs and 6'3" while Chloe was 95 lbs soaking wet and almost 5'0". He also had all her information and could fuck up her financial and real life for years.

We talked about these problems for a month and she began to feel comfortable with our plan to move forward with. She started out by quietly freezing her credit at the three credit bureaus and shifted new money away from their joint account. Changes to account passwords happened when they could. The apartment renewal was due in two months. It was going to be hard for her to get her hands of 'their' car, but I had a plan after I saw who his latest conquest was. Asshole still had his old beater, the beater that he stopped his insurance and state plates on after his 4th moving violation in less than 10 months.

So here I am, driving a gravel dump truck up to a certain garage. Earlier today, I sat on my walker in the park by Bill and Nicole's house. Tonight Bill was scheduled to be at his AA meeting from 7 till 10. He pulled out at 6:30 and Nicole pulled her car onto the street at 6:45. Tyler, the A-1 Asshole, pulled into her garage at 6:50 for 2 hours of whatever people do when the husband is not at home.

I got back to my car by 7:10 and drove to the gravel yard. My truck was waiting. I haven't felt this good in years. I'm doing this to pay it forward.

For most of my life, I've been a little bit of a screw-up, but not a total fuck-up. I hope there is a difference. I didn't study in high school, I smoked quite a bit of low grade grass... just wasn't serious about anything. I lived life in a haze. It was the early 70's and blue collar manual jobs were much easier to get. Then the Arab oil embargo, high inflation, stagflation and the world changing meant that those manual jobs started to disappear. Quick job replacements were harder and harder to get.

I lucked out when I met and married Judy. I calmed down. I grew up and got serious. It only took a year or two and she and I became a fine team. My friends have told me that I was real lucky, 'youse guys' complete each other. That's when I realized that there were people that did good things for others, without it being a transaction that required a payback. Life's not a transaction. When we heard about 'pay it forward', Judy and I realized that that's what we wanted to do with our lives.

Before I join Judy, driving this dump truck with a load of crushed gravel was going to be my pay it forward. I was going to help someone get out of his marriage and help a really nice woman reach her dream of full time nursing school and her future. Judy would be proud. I know that I'll be seeing her soon. Once again, it'll be Judy and John, together, and together for all eternity. No more hospitals, tests, pain, uncertainty or fear. I'm crying as I drive. Not all tears are an evil. I think that was Tolkien. Anyway, my physical and emotional pain will be over. I'm ready for the next stage.

Where I live is not a high end town. In fact, we're even not a middle class town. It's barely a working class town and the gravel business pays the bills, but won't get anyone rich. I smiled thinking of Judy as I stopped in front of Bill's house.

Backing up into their short driveway, the backup warning beeps started. At 5 feet away from the garage door, I stopped and hit the dump switch. This was going to be loud for about 2 minutes. I watched the mirrors to see a brand new 5' tall pile of crushed gravel block the driveway and about 2' of it laying against the outside of the garage door. No fuckin' way will the automatic opener open that door. Moving that pile by hand enough to open the door and drive out will be damn near impossible in less than 2 hours.

If they were fuckin' up a storm and didn't hear me, I'd get away long before the front door opened. If not, what will be will be. You really can't kill a man that going to be dead anyway. Besides, the law might look at my death in the cab of this truck as manslaughter -- for the asshole Tyler that is. Who the fuck knows?

I finished the dump and took off back toward the gravel yard. You're not supposed to drive while the bed is still up. There's a chance of pulling down some power lines. So sue me or give me a fuckin' ticket. I haven't felt so fuckin' good in years.

Now I'm taking a longer trip around the town in the truck. It's going to be my last trip to drive past the places that Judy and I had our good and not so good times. I finally park the empty truck back in the gravel lot. Pulling my walker from the cab, I slowly lower myself out. After 10 minutes of recovery, I roll to my car with my walker. I take a look at the yard the final time and then start heading back to my apartment,

I had previously packed a very limited bag to go. I had arranged for a cleanout from a local charity. They only agreed because I gave them a $500 check to do it. This week I had placed notes on items left in the apartment. I let them know upfront what was trash. The rest could be sold in charity shops. That makes sense 'cause that's where I bought most of it. I had pre-paid my cremation with the funeral home years ago. I notified them of my plans this week. They'd be responsible for my ashes, along with Judy's. They have a special place next to the woods for that. It's kind of fitting to become dust and go back to the earth as dust.

I signed the title of my car for transfer and dated it for today. This is the most expensive thing that I own and it's worth about $17,500. At least that was what CarMax was willing to pay for it. I had written a letter to Chloe that I was going to 'post' with the hospice along with the title. Our extended families haven't been around since Judy was diagnosed with cancer. No bridges to burn there. The last letter was to Harry, the owner of the gravel yard. He's been good to me over the years. I wanted to pay him for the gravel as well as getting someone back there to pick it up.

It was time to drive to the hospice unit, but I stopped by the diner for a scheduled last cup of coffee with Chloe. She knew that this was going to be the last time I'd see her and she wanted to make it special. She's been there for me with Judy, later with my medical issues and she knew that it was now past the time to fight. It was time to let nature take its course. After parking, I struggled in with my walker and looked at 'my table'. There's a couple of brats, beers (some fancy kind) and a bottle of Jack. My table's also surrounded by the guys from the gravel yard, a few close friends and Chloe.

When I was young, death was a real emotional thing for me. As the years went on by, it became less so, especially if I got to say good bye. Chloe was trying to hold it together, and failing. She's young. She'll learn in time. It's somewhat easier with the people in their 50's and 60's. Most of the rest of us, the old people, we understood. When you're younger, it's still kind of 'if I die'. I know that that makes no logical sense but it's how people think. It's far away. As you get older, some people finally admit that it's a 'when I die'.

Over 2 hours, three brats, a beer and two shots of Jack later, Chloe drove me to the Hospice unit. I gave Chloe the title to the car and the remaining money that I had. It was only about $2,500 and I knew that she'd put it to great use. Chloe stayed with me until I was settled in my room with the staff. I gave her the letter for Harry that paid him for the gravel and to clean it up. "Chloe, thank you for all the kindness you gave me and Judy. I know that you still have payments on that rice burner, but I've been asking around and I think that you can sell it and net $6,000 after paying off the loan. You could also sell my car to CarMax. When you give my letter to Harry, talk to him about your car. Don't let his son damage it."

With tears in her eyes, "John?" We both reached out and hugged each other. It was our goodbye hug. "Remember Chloe, you've got a great life in front of you, just keep paying it forward." After another goodbye hug, she left and I settled down for a good night sleep.

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Tyler and Nicole

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"Oh yes baby, lick me out like you do so well. MMMMMMMMMMMM."

CRASH.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT NOISE? THE FUCKING HOUSE IS SHAKING. TYLER, GET YOUR ASS OUTA BED AND SEE WHAT THE FUCK IT IS."

"Where did I leave my god damn mo'fuckin' jeans this time. I gotta put shoes on in case I gotta run." Two minutes later, "MY GOD DAMNED MUTHERFUCKIN' CAR IS BLOCKED WITH A PILE OF STONE! One look at the car and he's gonna know it was me!"

"And he's gonna know it was me you were fuckin'. We're both gonna be dead if we don't leave now."

"YYYYour car's on the street, I'll pull it up close to the house."

"I'll grab whatever I can and let's load my car and get the hell out of here. Our only luck is that his gun safe is full and locked. Get moving. He's due home in 90 minutes. Then we'll go to your apartment to get your stuff and your car."

"Oh shit. No plates and no insurance."

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Harry

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I struggled into the yard this morning with a hangover. I got called by my son last night. Someone piled several feet of crushed stone in front his garage. His wife's car is missing along with a ton of her shit. In the garage was a tricked out rice burner.

I'm just a small time aggregate operator. I've got a dozen smaller dump trucks and I deliver asphalt, mulch, crushed stone and other aggregates for the surrounding area. Most residential building and other small scale sites need materials in small loads at specific times. Yes, a large load by one of the bigger haulage firms would be cheaper, but the builder would have to store it on site. Sites generally don't have the working space for it. Just in time inventory works out much better for them. It's my competitive niche. Damn, that sounds highfalutin'.

Sitting down at my desk, I call our security company to review the video and send a copy to me while I suck down the first of my cups of dark roast of the day. There aren't many places around here where that sized load of crushed gravel could come from. I was celebrating the rest of last night with my son. I celebrated with bourbon, he celebrated with Diet Coke. He's been on the wagon for more than a year. Being with him kept it that way. We both think that the bitch is gone.

I'm holding my head in my hands for 20 minutes, nursing my hangover. The staff knows to stay away if they can see when I'm not OK. More so, its construction season and we're as busy as ever. Headache over stress, it's what's for breakfast.

Our part-time billing clerk and chief cook and bottle washer 'knocks' on my non-existent door. I did say that we're a small operation. "Mr. W?" She's of Caribbean and Irish backgrounds and can't adequately pronounce our names. I'm eastern European, along with a fourth of our staff. We've also got 4 naturalized Hispanic immigrants that I required that they always keep a mobile phone on them -- with me on speed dial -- along with a copy of their certified citizenship papers and passports. Same holds true for the 5 'Americans' from rural Kentucky, Alabama and Missouri. The rest are 'da locals' who have been inside our fine police stations for everything from overdue parking tickets to a couple of Saturday night fights at our local watering holes when they were young. Having them all have their papers makes sense to not take any chances. Even with that, I've had to show up at our local police station once to 'free' one of my guys. After that episode, I put my lawyer on speed dial.

Mary repeats "Mr. W?", I nod. "The security footage is here. Would you like to..." I nodded yes and followed her to her desk. She motions me to sit down and she pulls up the file. The video footage showed John entering the yard with a key. He struggled into the cab, finally pulling his walker in after him and then after a few minutes, he drove away. He's looking as frail as ever. "Mary, get the foreman in here after he dispatches the morning runs." I go back to my office for follow up business phone calls and paperwork.

A few minutes later, Mary repeats "Mr. W?", and I look up and see a young woman at my 'door' with Mary. The young woman looks like hell. She's short and attractive and her eyes are bloodshot. She's also looking very pensive. She's holding an envelope. I motion to her to sit down and nod to Mary to get back to work.

"Mr. Wlodarczyk?" I nod for her to continue. We've never met, but anybody that can correctly pronounce my name I either like or I owe money too. "I'm Chloe. I've got a letter here from John. He gave it to me last night at..." and she broke into tears.

"Well Chloe, I'm going to guess it is has something to do with a big pile of crushed gravel?" I smiled at her, hoping that she'd relax a little bit.

She stopped crying, but her face was still showed her sorrow. "John gave this to me last night when I dropped him off at the hospice unit. It's to pay you for the gravel dump and the clean up."

It became quiet and I waited as she looked like she had more to say. "John wanted to do something good for me and your son for all the help you both gave him over the years. My now ex-boyfriend ex-roommate Tyler parked my car in your son's garage while he was... ummmm.... with your daughter-in-law."

I looked up and saw the foreman at my door less office. Smiling, I waved him away. He gave me thumbs up and went back to work.

"John didn't make it last night. He passed sometime after 2AM." That's when she broke down again. Mary came back in with a box of tissues and a cup of coffee. I nodded to her in appreciation.

"I'm going to take a wild guess that you'd like your car back?" She nodded yes to me, looking at me a bit sheepishly. I smiled back. "If you can share, can you tell me what John did for us both to receive this wonderful gift?" She nodded yes. "Do you have time now or can we schedule a time for later. Your car will remain safe. The crushed stone remains blocking the driveway and the house locks were changed last night. My son and I celebrated last night when we realized that his wife and her stuff were gone. My son remained sober, but I've got a bit of a hangover this morning." I fidgeted in my chair. It's a nervous habit of mine. "So when? We also have to get someone there to remove the gravel before you can claim your car."

Chloe smiled and probably for the first time today. "I'm off of work in two days, but I have a morning class that day. How about..."

=========================

Harry - Two months later

=========================

Mary, my part-time billing clerk 'knocks' on my non-existent door. She is wearing a big smile. "Mr. W., it appears that someone is using a company credit card at a campground in rural South Carolina. The charges are up to $1,900. I looked it up and felony theft starts at $2,000."

Now that's great news. Our cards were only issued are for Corporate Officers (ME and the accountant). Bill's soon-to-be ex-wife was not one of them. That's theft and looking at the dollars involved, it will be a felony level offense very soon. "Mary, call our lawyer and tell him what you found." This has been my lucky day.

I had our lawyer draw up the divorce papers days after Bill's ever loving wife Nicole left. I never trusted her and made sure that there were no transfers of assets to Bill since before they married. Their house was rented, no bonuses, his car was leased and I kept his income low. Bill was pissed with me at first, but within months, he began to see a very different side of his wife. That's when his social drinking started. As the marriage deteriorated, his drinking increased. He would never drink and drive and he never was under the influence at work. I had laid out that would be death to his job here. I was able to get him to agree to go to AA as well as seeing a therapist for his anger and marriage issues. He's always been a little bit of a brawler and I've worried about that for years. Bill never told Nicole about the therapist, he just went before the AA meetings. I can't believe the good it's done him.

Since Nicole left, it was only a matter of where she could be served. We're a no-fault state, but me hanging a felony conviction over her head is gonna be great to pressure her. The lawyer says that we should get a 40/60 assets breakdown - in Bill's favor. Part of her 40% is going to cover the theft from my company. Bill paid cash for her car and that'll come out of her pot too. Still, unless she really fucks things up, she'll walk away with $40,000 cash with no alimony or a conviction to restart her life. She also gets to keep her minor 401K balances. If she fights it, I prosecute for a felony and we take our chances on the rest. My guess is that she wouldn't have enough now for bail.

"Oh yes, by the way, have you found anything when you monitored Chloe's credit and bank cards?" Chloe has been very helpful in getting rid of my soon-to-be ex-daughter-in-law. I offered Mary's help to check her cards for unauthorized use too.

"It must be your lucky day again, he's in the same area as 'Who I will not talk about'. He's charging to Chloe's credit card." Chloe's joint accounts with him were emptied in the first couple of days. "I'll let the lawyer know about him too."

=====

Bill

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"So, I hear that you're interested in getting your car back?" I can be a real asshole sometimes, but I'm saying this to Chloe with a smile on my face and in a very warm tone. She smiled back. I think that she gets it. Whew. My months of going to an hour of personal therapy before my AA meetings may have really paid off. I've realized something there. I didn't have a real bad alcohol problem. I had a real bad anger problem. I've worked with my therapist and I've been concentrating how I coped with my anger -- alcohol and my fists. I was doing other shit that was bad too, but I've been addressing all those issues. It's a long journey and 'I've only just begun ...'. Still, I've had NA wines and beers a couple of times. I'm a recovering anger addict. There is no cure, only monitoring and prevention.

"Yea, it's funny. A load of stone in my driveway helps us both get rid of a couple of boat anchors." We both busted out laughing. The last couple of months have been 'verrrry interesting'. Both of our partners took off, never to come back after the gravel was dropped. Two weeks ago, my then wife was arrested down south for using the corporate credit card that she was not authorized to use. They held her long enough for my father get a lawyer to her jail cell with the divorce papers calling for her to receive 40% split of our assets. She was driving 20% of our assets so it wasn't gonna hurt much out of my pocket. The lawyer offered that my father would drop the financial theft charge if she signed immediately. Two days in an unairconditioned jail cell in the summer in Bum Fuck rural Egypt may have helped her to decide quickly. Lover boy split the scene when he found out that they were going to issue a warrant for his credit card fraud on Chloe's account.

"Still, do you really want the car back? I'm interested in buying it off of you." I chuckled. "I'd love to say that I got the car as a trade-in for my wife and that I got the better deal."

Chloe got a little quiet. We've had a little bit of gallows humor over the past weeks try to deal with our respective partners. Looking at her face, I realize that I need to quickly move to support mode for her now. In a serious tone, "I've gotten several estimates. The guy who specialized in tricked out cars gave me the highest. I know that my father took over the payments so we could hold that car until the divorce papers were signed. That was just in case we needed the evidence. How about $7,000 over your outstanding note?"

Chloe smiled. "That'll be great. I'm returning to nursing school full time this semester and I could really use the money. I've been able to leave the apartment and move in with two other nursing students. I'll only have another two semesters after this one till I finish."

"While we're talking about money, I got the car professionally cleaned." I reached into my shirt pocket and pulled out an envelope. "Here's what they found hidden in 8 different places in the car." I handed her the envelope containing a wad of cash and 32 cents. "The bills total up to $4,348. I asked a cop friend of mine with a drug sniffing dog to inspect the car. It passed. Off the record discussions with some police we work with say that Tyler was suspected of being a fence, not a drug dealer."

Chloe just looked at me with emotions ranging from shock, to anger, to fright, to relief and finally exhaustion. I held out my hand to her. She then leaned into my embrace and I just cradled her while she cried. I've been through hell with my now soon to be legally ex-wife Nicole, and now there's another person hurting just as much as I did.

Her cries lessen as I rock her in my arms and she hugs me. She's clinging onto a human being that understands. "It hurts now Chloe, but it's getting better all the time." I pause and continue sing "Getting better all the time, a little better all the time." I continue with rest of the chorus of that Sgt. Pepper's Beatles tune and I hear her groan. But it was a happy groan I think, maybe, I hope? My shirt obviously makes a great handkerchief. Sometimes it's the little things, the human connection that makes all our lives better. I know it's that way for me. My pain is just a bit behind hers, but I've worked on things on how to live through it and help me grow. AND I'M DOING IT WITHOUT A BOTTLE, PILL, GUMMIES or any drug or cult. I've even cut down on my coffee, it's done me that much good.

She finally pulls away from me and sees my shirt. A worried and frightened look comes back on her face. She attempts to start an apology while I gently laugh while looking down at my shirt. In a couple of seconds, she relaxes as she see's that I'm not angry. Finally she joins me in a wonderful laugh that mushrooms in to a great belly laugh for both of us. What's that line from that Joni Mitchell song? '.. laughing and crying, you know it's the same release...' or something like that.

"How about I change my shirt and I take you out to dinner to celebrate our good fortune. And I'm payin'."

"You don't have to Bill. Look, I'm rich now and..."

"You're starting full time nursing school soon and you're off tonight. We both need to celebrate our journey and I won't take no for an answer. We've been through much and I think that we're friends now." She nodded. "Give me your new address and I'll pick you up at 7. Have the car title ready for the morning. I'll write the full check for the car now. You'll have to pay off the loan first to get a clear title. There's still time to deposit all of it in the bank on your way home.

"And by the way, we're going fancy. We're havin' real tablecloths and wine. Your wine will be real, mine NA. So let's look good tonight. OK?"

====================

Bill 6 months later

====================

"I'd like to have a.." when I looked up at my waitress, I got a shock. "Chloe? Is that you?" She smiled back at me.

"Do you always bury your head in the menus? Really now." She smiled at me. Her face is less tense, her smile brighter and her eyes were not full of sorrow.

"Chloe, you look real good, and happier too. How ya doin'?"

"Right now, were're in the middle of our rush. If you can hang around a bit, it clears out in about an hour and we can talk."

"How about I come back in a hour and we can touch base on things."

=====================

Chloe 5 months later

=====================

"Yea, my folks can't make it my graduation. I was hoping that..." I looked at Bill as he drank his third cup of decaf at 9:30 on a Friday night. My hours are until 10 and Bill's been waiting to give me a ride home.

After what I call the 'Stone Incident', gifts of money for school came my way. I sold my car at $7,000 over my car note and John's car at $17,500. Bill's father gave me the money that was to be used to clear the stone and Bill gave me the money that the cleaners found hidden in my car. It allowed me to work only three evening weekend shifts a this diner. That was darn near enough to make it and go to nursing school full time.

"You bet. I wouldn't miss it for the world." He smiled at me. "They're still doing OK?" I nodded. My folks are in their late 70's and their lifestyle has finally caught up with them.

He looked at me with seriousness that I'd never seen before. "Chloe, we've been friends for a while. I've been with you and supported you and your studies. I remember you saying that you didn't have time for a relationship. School was first and foremost." I nodded. Early on when we got together, first at the diner and later for pizzas, I let him know I needed to succeed in life. I couldn't afford to lose my focus.

He reached out to me and held my hand while he looked in my eyes. A saw a question and a fear in them. I leaned over to him and with my hand on his neck, I pulled him in for a kiss that answered his unasked questions.

He was slightly shocked and was tentative to my kiss. As he realized my insistance, he opened his mouth and fought with my tongue. My arms started rubbing his back as his held me, blending us both into one. That's when I heard the my co-workers yell out "FINALLY". I think I couldn't be more embarrassed as my co-workers and the regulars at the diner started clapping. All I could do is smile as I was escorted away.

==================

Three years later

==================

"Honey, I'll get the door. You sit down and keep your feet up like the prenatal class instructor told you to." I walk past the living room while looking at my 7 month pregnant wife as she turns toward me and opens her eyes. Sleep has not been good for her lately and she can nap at the drop of a hat. But she is smiling at me and that tells me everything is ok.

"Unless you have forgotten, I do work in the OB and the birthing rooms. I think that I may have maybe some little idea on what to do." The smile never left her face, or mine.

It's been some journey. We've not exactly been the rebound for each other, but we kind of were. We did take things slow and we married over 18 months ago. We're up to three years being around each other and the baby is due in 6 weeks, if not early. I sold off my gun collection to buy her the wedding ring and I'll never regret that decision.

Opening the inner door I see someone standing at the outer screen door. It's Tyler. From the pictures that I've seen, he's now 30 lbs lighter. Not muscle bound, but more fit. He could probably could lose another 25. He immediately backs up two steps away from the door and is looking very pensive. "Excuse me for bothering you and Chloe, but I'd like to take a few minutes to fully apologize to both of you. If you aren't interested, I understand." That's when I see a woman standing a few steps behind him.

"Honey, I think that we have company you may want to see. It's Tyler and?" Then I look at the woman standing behind him. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"I'm Chloe too."

By this time, my Chloe is at my side. She pokes me in the ribs "Bill, please invite Tyler and Chloe 2 into the house." Chloe 2 and I laugh. Tyler was still near panic. I cleared off some of the pillows on the couches for people to sit. Chloe 2 and Tyler sat down on love seat while my Chloe went back to her recliner and I pulled out a dining room chair for me.

Tyler is still very tense. Well, he should be. There were no more charges on Chloe's credit card after my ex was arrested for fraud. However, about 6 months ago, someone made a payment on Chloe's card. Now it's beginning to make some sense. It was $300, roughly the same amount that Tyler charged.

"Can I get anyone anything?" Tyler shook his head no. Turning to the women, "Chloes? Anything?" Chloe 2 answered "Water please. I really need to hydrate now." My Chloe mouthed 'me too'. I nodded and went into the kitchen. I grabbed two glasses and used the fridge water and ice dispenser. Walking back into the living room, something struck me about Chloe 2. She has a certain glow. Several times in my life I've seen that glow and weeks later I found out that the woman was pregnant. I bet that Chloe 2 is pregnant.

"Well Tyler, I think that the floor is yours."

Tyler almost began twice and he choked each time. That's when Chloe 2 held his hand. "Tyler and I met at AA. We both have problems with alcohol and some minor drugs. Part of why we are here is attempting to make amends. Tyler?" She looked at him with caring. He hugged her and his tension lessened.

"I've pretty much been an asshole most of my life. I've fucked around on every girlfriend and" looking directly at me "have been with married women." He cleared his throat and gripped Chloe 2's hand. "I'd like to be real clear about this. You may not believe this, but I didn't seduce your wife. I wasn't blameless. She offered and I just went along with it. I wasn't a very nice person, just a child in a man's body." At that point he turned to my Chloe. "I'm sorry for being an asshole with you. Taking advantage of all you are, draining you soul, your future and your money. You kept the same credit card number and I found a way to pay you back for the latest credit card charges."

For the next 45 minutes, my Chloe and I got to hear about the lives of the two people in front of us. It was about two years ago, they met an AA meeting. It took another year before they started seeing one another and 6 months ago, they moved in together. This was their second road trip. The last one was for Chloe 2 and her amends. It was as difficult as Tyler's is now.

It was getting on and I saw that my Chloe was beginning to fidget. Dinner time for my pregnant woman is important. "Would anyone have a problem if we ordered take-out Chinese for all of us? I think that we could all use a break." I got three nods. My Chloe pulled out a menu from our go-to Chinese place. As she and Chloe 2 started to look at the menu, I motioned to Tyler. "Want to come outside for a minute and we'll let these to make all the decisions that we aren't allowed to make." He got up as my Chloe threw a pillow at me.

Walking around to the backyard, he saw Chloe's rice burner. Turning to me, "I didn't think that you'd want to keep this. It had to be painful to you." That's when I laughed a happy laugh. He looked at me in confusion. "Oh no, it was a happy decision. I bought the car off of Chloe after the divorce was granted and I got to tell everyone that I traded the car for my wife, and I got the better deal."

We both started laughing. "Bill, can I ask you a personal question." I nodded. "I was on the run with your wife for 2 months. How did you ever put up with her? I was functionally an immature adolescent, but even I could see that she expected to world revolve around her. I was about to leave her when she got arrested. You should have seen how she bitched out the cops." We were both still laughing when the Chloes came out.

My Chloe and I are on a first name basis with 'Tom', the owner of Tom's Star of China. We were even invited to his son's Community College graduation. The son was the first of his family to go to any college. My Chloe does a first class imitation of Tom, to him and with him. "15 minute no problem". It doesn't matter what you order or how busy he is, it's always '15 minute no problem'. It's his busy time now, so I plan for a half hour.

We all head back in the house and the conversations restart, but much friendlier this time. My Chloe looks at Chloe 2. "So how long have you been pregnant?" Both Tyler and Chloe 2 sport a smile that's a mile wide. "We just found out a few weeks ago. That was one of the reasons that we are doing our 'Sorry' tour now. We both decided that we needed to have our lives free and clear before the birth. Later we'll get married when we can afford it." If you've ever been with pregnant women talking about being pregnant, you are in for a treat. If you don't pay attention to what and how they say things, then I pity your future.

I looked at the clock and smiled. "My dear Chloes, Tyler and I are going to pick up the food. Please have the table set with our finest paper plates and..." I immediately ducked as a pillow flew past my head. "Come on Tyler, let's go before her aim improves." We both chuckled as both Chloes started berating me about something.

"Let's take the rice burner. You can tell me what you think I need." We hopped into the car and took off. Tyler talked the entire time we were driving to the Star of China take out. His improvements were well thought out and executed. He was not a shade tree mechanic. He had real interest, devloping skill and knowledge. I almost thought that it would be good if the Star was further away so I could hear more.

As we entered the front door, I see Tom. He smiles at me and says "15 minute no problem." The number of paper grocery bags of food awaiting pick up told me everything. "We'll wait outside and check back in every 10 minutes. OK?" Tom nodded and we left.

Looking at the car, Trevor looked at me. "How much money have you found in your car? Instead of going to school, I did small repair jobs and unofficial taxi services and I stashed the profits in the car. It's not my money anymore, but I'm interested in how much you found."

My Chloe told me that Trevor used to be seen with lots of different women in the car when he was supposed to be in school. He did bed my awful ex, but he's appearing to be less of a jerk than I thought he was. "About $4,900. I gave it to Chloe when the divorce came through and she used it return to full time nursing school."

"I think that I can help pay for dinner tonight. Wanna do some light work on your car?"

I started by texting my Chloe that the food wasn't ready and I'd let her know when we left. For the next 15 minutes, Trevor showed me more places in that car that I never knew money could be hidden in. Dumping it all on the front seat, I counted $3,286 and 2 pennies. "Well Bill, does this pay for dinner tonight?"

"With this take, I think that we're gonna do desert too. We'll stop and pick up some ice cream." I put the money in an empty McDonalds take out bag and we both went back in to pick up dinner. It was ready this time. "Why don't you text Chloe 2 that we're coming on home and bringing desert too."

I think that the Chloes had a good time together. Even I could see the bonding. Chloe 2 was not involved 3 years ago and my Chloe has become the woman she always wanted to be, in a marriage she had dreamed of. They have pregnancy in common and no underlying nasty attitudes. I had no problem with Tyler as he helped remove my ex from the picture.

The meal was wonderful and the ice cream was even better. As were cleaning up the table, I asked my Chloe to come to the bedroom to help me check on some old pictures. The phrase old pictures means that we need to talk privately.

"Did something go wrong with Trevor? What's going on?"

"Actually Chloe, something went very right. I found out that he wasn't bedding the whole town, just my ex. He wasn't going to school, but was doing odd mechanical jobs and something Uber like. The $4,800 that was found in the car came from his profits. While waiting for '15 minute no problem' take out, he volunteered and uncovered for me, an additional $3,200."

"You've got to be kidding." She stopped and looked at me again. "What do we want to do with it?"

"As far as I think, the money came out of nowhere. It's not really ours. They're waiting to get married when they have the funds after the baby is born. They need it more than we do."

"She told me that they've both been going to Community College to get Associate degrees while working full time. He's in the automotive field. She's in healthcare. All I can think about is John and his paying it forward for us. What do you think?"

"As far as I'm concerned, they're trying to do good in their lives, trying to make amends to their past and they're prepping for their kid on the way. It takes me back to when the gravel was dumped. John gave me his car and his last bit of cash. I sold his car for my last semester expenses. Then your father gave me John's cleanup money and you paid full price on my car. I was getting help when it did the most good. We have to pay it forward."

"Slam dunk?"

"Slam dunk."

We got back to the living room and saw that they were a bit tired. Never overtire a pregnant woman. My Chloe kicked my leg when I was about to say something. "Chloe 2 and Trevor, I think that Chloe 2 needs to get some sleep. It's been a great evening but I think that it's time to call it a night." Those two nodded in unison as started to stand up.

We all slowly walked out to their car. I held back, keeping the McDonalds 'money bag' behind my back. After several hugs, even one between my Chloe and Trevor, I shook his hand then handed him the money bag.

"This is our wedding present to you both. Keep up the good work, we're pullin' for ya. We're all in this together." Chloe 2 was confused and Trevor was shocked. They drove away as my Chloe waddled back to the house. "You know John's advice was pretty good. Let's keep it up.",