Zero Tolerance

"Why...can't she walk by herself?" asked Dana. "Is she going to get lost? I'll go with you. I need to get out of this place ASAP. What a waste of time. We should have gone to Hawaii."

"I had a great time," I said.

As we got closer to the bar we heard Maurice and his friends talking. I stopped because I heard my name.

"...Bastard won all of my fucking awards," spat Mo. "The worst part is that I ate crow and fucking apologized to him just so he'd hire me because I need a fucking job. I can't believe all of these assholes voted for him over me. They're lying about the votes. If the two of you voted for me and I voted for myself and my wife voted for me that's at least four. The asshole on the stage said I only had three."

"Are you sure that Marian voted for you?" asked Gary.

"Of course she did," snapped Mo. "That bitch knows who the king is and I ain't talking about Elvis."

Mo took a sip of his drink and smiled. "Well, he may have won the shit that doesn't count, but just like in high school, I still came out the winner." He started laughing and the other two were shaking their heads.

"How would you two like to move to a better city?" he asked. The swagger was back in his delivery.

"How are we going to do that?" asked Gary.

"Because I'm going to get you better jobs," said Maurice. Marian looked at me strangely. I shook my head.

"Stevie is going to hire me one way or another," sneered Maurice. "I've had Marian working on him all evening. That's why I kept sending that bitch over to dance with the dummy."

"But what if he still doesn't hire you," asked Todd.

"He doesn't have a choice," gushed Mo. "First off, none of these dweebs can ever say no to Marian. I mean, to me she's just another bitch. She isn't even that good in bed, but these idiots look at her like she dripped straight from God's dick. Secondly, I'm twice as good...make that three times as smart as that juggling asshole. He has to hire me or I'll embarrass him far worse than I ever did in high school."

"You're gonna start a fight with him?" asked Gary. "That might not be too smart. He's beefed up since our school days."

"We're adults now dumb ass," spat Mo. "We don't go around starting fights. I said embarrass him, not beat his ass."

"Well, how can you embarrass him?" asked Todd.

"For starters, I could tell everyone that I spent a big chunk of the afternoon fucking his slutty wife," said Mo. "Those fake titties are really firm. I plowed that bitch good. She was begging for it. I heard from Donnie that she also gave blow jobs to a bunch of the guys to get them to vote for her and she fucked Donnie too. Donnie was supposed to count the votes in her favor. I'll bet she's feeling pretty stupid now."

"I just don't get it," said Todd. "You have Marian. She's the prettiest woman that any of us have ever seen. Why would you mess around with that orange skank?"

"Because dumb ass," said Mo. "I'm a man. Men do whatever the fuck we want. Marian needs to know her place. And that orange skank got me what I need. I needed something to hold over Stevie's head to force him to hire me. So he either hires me or I'll tell everyone. Besides Marian is nothing special. I was fooled by her too at first. She has next to no tits and freckles all over. Once you get past the hair there's nothing to her. But I parade her around in front of guys to get what I want out of them."

"And you have to realize that behind every beautiful woman, there's a guy who's bored to death, with fucking her. And really, it's not like this was the first time I got some pussy one the side. At least that orange skank was someone new. And poor dumb assed Stevie loves her so fucking much. Did you hear his little speech?"

Mo tried to imitate my voice and delivery, "I wouldn't even have come to this thing if it wasn't for my wife," he said.

"If he doesn't want everyone to know what a whore that bitch turned out to be; he'll give me a job. And it had better be a good fucking job too. I want to be a director or a vice president or some shit like that."

"It's not going to happen," I said loudly. The three of them turned to look at us.

"Huh?" said Mo. He was drunker than he'd seemed. "Oh, shit."

I loosened my tie and thought about jumping him right then and beating the shit out of him. But I decided then that it wouldn't change anything.

Marian had huge tears rolling down her cheeks and Dana's mouth was open in shock.

"Honey, you..." she began.

"Don't say a fucking word to me, Dana," I spat.

I turned and started walking out the door. It was an almost comedic scene as I left the ballroom. As I walked, people waved at me and spoke to me. Then they noticed the growing line of people behind me that seemed to be growing like a conga line as we made our way outside. Mo was yelling for me to slow down because we needed to talk. Dana was crying and trying to explain things but I wasn't listening. The rest of them just smelled shit and wanted to know who laid it.

When I got to the parking lot, I got into my car. I have more than one Mustang but this is the most fun to drive. The Newest iteration of the legendary Boss 302 is nothing like its predecessor. This car, for all of its grunt and muscle, is the most sophisticated Mustang ever. Where most Mustangs are flat out Muscle cars, which means they're fast and fun to drive in a straight line but relatively limited on road courses, the Boss, is Boss.

The car can handle the twisties with cars that cost three to four times as much. It's even faster on a road course than the Shelby GT 500 Mustangs which have far more horsepower. I took to the road with the windows down, the stereo blasting and no interest in the speed limit.

It's funny how driving can help you put everything in perspective. I came to this fiasco knowing that I hated high school. Only bad things happened to me there. I knew it from the very start. I expected only bad things to happen to me at this reunion and I'd been right.

The one thing I thought I could count on for this weekend was the fact that the woman I loved, loved me back and we'd be together through this bullshit. In fact, Dana's need to come to the reunion was the only reason I came. Once we got here, everything changed. I'd planned on staying on the down low. I wanted to blend into the crowd and be un-noticed. It didn't happen though. I won some meaningless fluff and lost the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my fucking life with. I roared into the night wondering where I went wrong and what the fuck I do next.

Ford's electronic systems are great. About fifteen minutes into my drive the car's stereo stopped and the voice over announced that I had a call from Dana. I just yelled, "Ignore," and my music continued. After a while, I was yelling ignore so often that it was like that word was the lyrics to the song I was listening to.

"What do you want?" Dana. I asked the stereo in frustration.

"I want you to come back here and talk to me about this," she said. She was crying and I didn't care. "And that redheaded whore and her husband want to talk to you too. I don't care whether or not you talk to them. This is about us, Honey. I made some mistakes. You were right we never should have come here. I was desperate. I wanted to win so badly. And she just kept cheating."

I hung up the phone and continued driving. After an hour or so, I was low on gas. I decided that the smartest thing to do would be to go back to the hotel. I'd get another room and grab all of my stuff. I really did need to know that Marian was okay, but after that, I was out of there.

I pulled back into the hotel's parking lot at a little after midnight. I got out of my car thinking that I'd be relatively safe from confrontations. I wasn't at the hotel that the reunion was being held in. I was a mile away at the hotel Dana and I had stayed in.

I was sure that Marian and Mo didn't know where we were staying and Dana would be waiting for me to return to the ballroom.

But like everything else that had happened since I got here, I was wrong on both counts.

Not only were Marian and Mo in the lobby, Dana was too. They weren't together. Marian and Mo were glaring at each other and speaking in low tones at a table near the banks of elevators and Dana was inside the lobby standing right by the door.

Dana looked up as I walked in and started towards me. Mo and Marian did likewise.

"Stevie, I'm..." began Dana. I held up my hand and she stopped talking.

"Yo, Stevie can we talk?" asked Mo. "I know you and yer woman got some things to talk about but you and I should talk first. You have plenty of time to talk to the little woman, but the things we need to work out can't wait."

"Maurice, there's nothing for us to talk about. As usual you hurt me. You took the one thing that meant the most to me in life and ruined it. Just like in high school. You won Mo. Now go celebrate. The only thing about it is that unlike when we were in high school, I have choices. I don't have to be here. I can leave. So tomorrow at the breakfast while you're telling everyone how you fucked my wife and ended my marriage, I won't be there. So you'll be telling a bunch of people that I'll never see again and don't care about," I said.

"In the end we both won and we both lost. Let's just call it a tie and walk away. I embarrassed you a bit in the athletics contests and took your crown. So in a way I won. You were a bit embarrassed because you didn't get to show off the way you did in high school. But you won because no matter what I accomplished at the reunion you took the thing that meant the most to me. And you still get to go home with the prettiest girl we know. So Mo you won. Rah rah sis boom bah."

"But at the same time you lost. Marian had already gotten me to think about hiring you. But now there's no way in hell that you or any of your friends will ever work for me. And in a way you helped me. You helped to point out several things about the woman I married that I could never accept. You wanted her, you got her. She's all yours now Mo. Treat her well, I always tried to."

I turned to go and he grabbed my arm. He immediately let go of it when he saw the look in my eye. "It's not like that Steve. I was drunk. I'm not used to losing. We need to talk and we can work this out. But don't blame the little woman. They all want a little Mo. It's not her fault that my animal magnetism over-whelmed her. But I'm telling you I can make this up to you. We can work this out if you just give me a minute or two."

"Stevie, he's full of shit," snapped Dana. "I love you. I always have. I fucked up and I know it. After you left, people kept coming up to me and telling me what you said about not being here except to please me. I realized then that I was so stupid. I was trying to please and impress a bunch of people who had never cared about me and never will instead of the man who loves me. I know I have a lot of making up to do, but I'm sure we can make it. It's going to take some time and some work but we..."

"Look Steve, we need to talk about this man to man," said Mo. "Let's send the women out back to do some knitting while we talk. There's no reason for the two of us to be arguing over pussy. There's enough of it for all of us and that bitch ain't that special. She's already fucked or blew damned near half of our class this weekend. Like you said, I did you a favor by showing you the kind of woman she is."

"Mo, I have no intention of going off somewhere to talk to you in private," I said. "There's nothing you have to say that I'm interested in."

"Yeah you are," he smirked. "What if I offered to even things up?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I'm a square shooter," he said. "I can't vouch for Donnie or the other guys, but I fucked your wife so you can fuck mine." I went into shock. Marian looked down at the ground but didn't say anything.

"I'll go you one better," he said. "I had your little woman for an hour this afternoon. You can have Marian for a day. Bring her back here twenty four hours from now and we'll call it square."

I don't know if it was the expression on my face, but suddenly Dana was screaming in horror.

I just turned and looked at her, but Mo saved me from having to deal with her.

"Shut up stupid," he snapped. "This is the best thing for both of us."

"I fucked up, you fucked up too. We both hurt him. This way he gets something in return to make his pain better. If we don't make him feel better, he won't forgive either of us."

The pain on Dana's face was obvious. Mo started talking again. I wondered if he'd ever shut up.

"You know you like the idea," he said. "I've never met a guy yet who didn't want her. I even heard from your little wifey there that Marian is..." he looked at Dana.

"What did you say she was to him? His dream woman?"

I could see that Marian was starting to cry again. She stuck her bottom lip out and never made a sound. Tears rolled down her cheeks. And she stuck out her hand and reached for me. "Come on," she said. "You have twenty four hours."

"And not a fucking second more," said Dana angrily.

Dana's anger and the smarmy look on Mo's face was all I remember before I snapped.

I turned and with every ounce of strength I could muster, I busted Mo right in the nose. He fell over backwards out of his chair and lay there on the floor. After a few seconds of dizziness he sat up and looked at me.

"Fuck you Maurice," I said. "You can't buy me off. I'm not a child. You are the luckiest man on the planet and are too stupid to realize it. Yeah, I'm a dumb ass. I'm just like you said. I'm just another one of those suckers who'd do anything for Marian. And yeah she is my dream woman. She has been ever since high school. But she's way too special to be traded around like some kind of toy. I only hope that one day she realizes that she's worth far more than you could ever give her and just walks out on you."

I turned to leave. I didn't even bother to go up the room and get my stuff. I'd call the hotel and have them ship my clothes and belongings to me.

"Stevie, we still need to talk about us," said Dana following me. "How do I make this up to you?"

I turned back to her. "Dana, I'm leaving now," I said. "Just like this, right now. I need to get away from here. I should never have come in the first place. But I loved you and I'd have done anything for you."

"Your credit card will still work for a couple of days. Go home and pack your stuff or go to your mom's house, I don't really care which," I said.

"But Steve, we can't work this out if we're not together," she said.

"We aren't working this out at all," I said. "You cheated on me repeatedly for what?...To be queen of a bunch of people we don't even know or like. I can't forget that or forgive it. I'll be nicer to you than you deserve if you just sign the papers when they come. But I really don't have to give you anything. We have a Zero tolerance clause, remember?"

"Stevie, don't be stupid," she said. "That's only if we get a divorce. And even then it's only if one of us has an affair or is unfaithful. I don't want a divorce. I love you. This was just a mistake. I was just desperate for votes. At no time was I in love with anyone other than you. We just need to talk about this."

No further words were necessary. I walked out the door, got into my Mustang and drove into my future.

I turned my phone off and went home. With the lighter traffic on the roads, I was able to get home even faster. Just like in business, I concentrated on solving my problem. By the time I arrived home I had all the steps necessary to eliminate the problem.

I was home long before the sun came up. I immediately showered and got into what I used to call our bed. I slept for as long as I could and was up before noon. I started packing all of Dana's clothes and put them into boxes in the garage. I packed all of her personal items and even some of the photos that she liked the best. In the late afternoon I answered the phone and spoke to her.

"Steven, can I please come home?" she asked. "I'm about to buy a plane ticket out of here. I cried myself to sleep last night. Your whore and her husband got into a big fight and he punched her in her face. He's in jail and she went home without him. I thought about what I did all day. I know that I was wrong but I was out of my mind. Can't you please forgive me?"

"I forgive you Dana," I said.

"I'll be home in two hours," she said.

"Dana, I said I'd forgive you. Not that I want to stay married to you or that I'd ever forget this. I've already packed up your clothes and put them in the garage. I've decided to let you keep your car as well, if we just put this behind us and move on. I think you should go to your mom's house or your dad's apartment and stop by here tomorrow while I'm at work to get your stuff."

"But Steve, we could..."

"Goodbye Dana," I said hanging up the phone.

I went out to a nice restaurant and got carry out service. I took the food and drove to a nearby lake to think about what I had to do. When I got home that night the phone was ringing. I answered it. It was Dana's dad. We talked for a while and he told me that his daughter was distraught and had been crying ever since she reached her mom's home. He begged me to try counseling to see if there was some way we could save what had been a very happy marriage.

I hated to remind him of it but it had been his cheating on his wife that made Dana so worried about me cheating on her someday. She'd been the one who'd opted for the Zero Tolerance clause in the pre-nup when we got married. It had been to protect her, but it would work for me just as well.

I told him that I intended to leave Dana with some money and all of her belongings. She'd have more than enough money for a fresh start. But if she made a nuisance of herself, she'd end up with nothing. Finally, I asked him if she'd told him what we were breaking up over. He told me that she'd told him she got a little drunk at the reunion and did something she shouldn't have. I spent the next half hour detailing the truth about her behavior. I told him everything from the clothes she'd worn to her screwing and blowing half of the guys in our class. The embarrassment alone was simply too much for me. She was his daughter, so I know he wanted to make her happy, but by the end of the phone call I was sure he could see my side of things as well.

I filed for divorce the next day. It took several days before Dana came to get her things. She also came in the evening when she knew I'd be there. I hadn't yet changed the locks so she just walked into the house. She saw me in the kitchen and just started taking off her clothes.

"Dana, what the hell are you doing?" I asked.

"From now on, until you really forgive me, I won't be your wife," she said. "I'll just be your sex slave. I'll be the best booty call you've ever had. Don't you want another chance with these titties and this ass that you paid for?"

"Dana, I never cared about that stuff," I told her. "We bought that stuff to make you feel better about yourself. I fell in love with you before you got any of that stuff. We got married before you got it too."

"Steve, you even turned down that red headed slut for me. I know you want me," she said.

"Dana, you're kind of twisted," I said. "Almost everything that happened to us happened because of your jealousy. And Dana it was stupid."

"It wasn't stupid," she snapped. "You've been obsessed with that bitch your whole fucking life. I'm prettier than her. My tits are bigger. I have a better body. I'm better than her and no one can see it."

"Dana, it was only a competition between the two of you in YOUR mind. I never wanted to go to the reunion. I went for you. If you hadn't insisted, I'd never have seen her again. I was over her. I only loved you, stupid. You destroyed everything we had. Marian didn't have any of the things you threw away. She didn't have a husband who loved her. She was stuck with Mo. We had it all Dana. But it wasn't enough for you. Now put your clothes on and get out."