Virginia Ménage

One of the things about being a notable and the largest employer in town was that everybody knew me. Apparently when the moms and dads heard the party was at Carl Harvey's place they felt safe and sound with dropping their pure chaste princesses off in my care. The problem was I knew from my own teen experiences that at least half of these princesses are not chaste and by no means pure in thought. I was hit on at least a dozen times that afternoon and brazenly in some cases. Twice I had to instruct a rather well- endowed young lady to put her top back on.

Eventually the fun and games came to an end. The moms and dads picked all the kids up and Tammy and Tonya thanked me profusely for my 'helping' them. By the time I finished cleaning up the mess, and I mean "I" since everybody else had left, it was almost 8PM that night. I had no sooner sat down in my now empty and lonely house when Mother walked in. She never knocks. She just walks in.

"Carl Jr., let's talk" She said after pouring herself a glass of wine.

I looked at her like she was crazy. I was sitting there with a cold beer in my hand wearing nothing but a pair of boxers with the UFC playing on the television.

"What are we going to talk about, Mother, about how my wife was cheating on me with some douchebag at the community college she goes to?" I asked her with a tinge of angst. I was tired.

"Carl, listen to me. I talked with Lucy this morning, a good long talk. She really did think you were screwing around on her and was really hurt by it. She knows she did you wrong but listen to me, Carl, that girl loves you to death."

"Mother, you remember that time I called you in Savannah, when I asked you if that prick Rhodes was with you? Was he really there or was he up on 2200 Crossover Road the night before? Or, was he just supposed to be there by then and just hadn't arrived yet from his morning flight out of Charlottesville? Don't you dare lie to me, Mother, because I'm going to check the flight registries for that morning.

"You told me to check with the girls and they could tell me where Lucy was but funny thing, Mother, I asked Tonya about that sometime later just on a lark and come to find out, both the girls did a sleep over at a friend's house that weekend starting Friday night.

"So, I need to know the truth." I closed with that. I didn't really know and I hadn't asked the girls anything. I was just acting on a hunch. I didn't know if I could check any flight registries or not. Mother was covering for her lothario or embarrassed at not having him in control. Seeing him with Lucy Friday was the catalyst.

"Carl" she replied much softer, "Dale flew down early that morning. He got in to Savannah around 9AM after taking the 6:30 direct flight."

"OK then. Mother, you need to know, I'm going to get Lucy to come clean with everything. We might be able to save our marriage or we might not but one thing is certain; if that Gypsie Rhodes fucked my wife I'll take his god damn balls!"

I spit it out with fury and Mother no doubt understood the sincerity of my intentions if it were true. We broke off the discussion at that point and I wished her well but I needed to go to bed. I had another busy day at the office.

The next morning I sat in the office on the mezzanine looking out the plate glass window over the production floor contemplating the state of my affairs; a middle aged guy with no kids, the responsibilities of running a company whose good fortunes were the lifeblood of this small town, a wife who is fucking some college classmate and maybe fucking my mother's boyfriend as well. It wasn't what I signed up for when I chose adulthood.

Jim Reed, my floor supervisor and I talked a good long while that day, not just about the Arnolds and their nutty marriage along with her slapping the beejesus out of her husband on the shop floor. I talked to him about life too. He had been divorced when he came back from Iraq and his wife couldn't handle his mood swings and tough adjustments coming right out of combat. She ended up leaving him for a school teacher over in Nelson County although they both get along now, joint custody of the kids helped matters there. Life sucks for some more than others.

After concluding our chat I picked up the phone and called Lucy's sister, Claire. She always had a good head on her shoulders and if there was a sold place to land for Lucy, it was there. Her husband was a pastor of a Baptist church over in Woodville and their two boys were all grown up now.

"Claire, Carl here. How are you doing?" I asked her when she answered.

"I'm doing good, Carl. I'm glad you called. Your wife is a mess, Carl, a real mess. She told me some of what's been going on and I can't figure out what she's been thinking of that would make her think you did what she says you did. You didn't, did you?" She asked.

"Of course not, Claire, but she did, more than once I'm afraid. I'm not ready to talk with her yet but I did want to know how she is doing."

"She went with Dan to pick up a couple calzones for dinner. They should be back in a few minutes. Carl, is there any chance you two can reconcile and get past all this? I know I don't know all that has gone on but I know you two are darn crazy about each other."

I didn't know the answer to her question. I didn't know how to get past it until we talked and learned how much damage there was. I glanced out on the shop floor and all I could think of was RCA, Root Cause Analysis; it's what we do to get to the real problem.

"Claire, I don't know the answer to that question, honestly. I can't imagine a life without her but I feel sick over it too. When we are both ready, we'll need to sit down alone and talk and get it all out there. We'll see. Listen, like I said, I just called to see how she was and I'll let you go. I love you all and give my regards to Dan."

We disconnected and I sat there feeling a bit relieved. It was the family connection. She was Lucy's sister but I always felt a good bond with Claire and her husband ever since I first met them. I had a couple more meetings that afternoon before Kathy caught me in my office toward the end of the day.

"Hey Carl, How was your weekend?" She asked me while taking a seat next to my desk. She had a soft, caring smile on her face.

"Kathy, glad you stopped by. Well, you know how it started but that wasn't the fun part. I ended up having 50 half- naked teenaged girls to play with all day Sunday. It was great." I grinned

I filled her in on the real story and then she tackled the elephant.

"So, Lucy?"

"She's staying at one of her sisters over in Woodville for a few days. I talked with her sister earlier today just to see how she was doing. Hey, listen, I appreciate everything you did for me Friday night as well as for the discretion! I could have ended up doing a lot more to be ashamed of otherwise."

She just laughed and said "That's what you think. By the time we got you to bed you were a babbling bag of mush!

When she burst out in laughter I could understand why half the shop floor was in love with the woman. She had whatever it was that cupid loaded in all his arrows, in spades. We spent the rest of the meeting covering production issues and I did a GEMBA walk on the floor before closing up my office and heading home.

The drive was empty when I pulled in as was the house. My wife Lucy had left the previous Friday evening and now it was just me, the television and some pizza in the fridge that the girls had left-over from their pool party the day before.

This wasn't the life I wanted but for now I enjoyed three episodes of Shark Tank and called it a night.

---

Part II

The faint sound of arms slicing into the still waters of the pool mingled with the soft greetings of the songbirds outside my bedroom window. My eyes opened slowly adjusting to the gentle light bathing my rumpled bed. The clock showed a time of 8:25AM that I knew had to be wrong. I never slept past 7AM, never. Yet, the sun streamed in confirming my late arousal.

Other than the burst of a wrinkle of water on the surface of the pool with each of Tammy's strokes, there was nothing to indicate the bustle of humans anywhere in the house. It was empty but for this one still tired middle aged man staring absentmindedly onto the patio surrounding the large aqua blue expanse my sister had staked out as her domain, her fiefdom.

Her limbs were sleek and muscled and her form as she breast-stroked several laps, nearly perfect. Tammy had been doing this daily for the past three years since Mother returned to NYC. In the span of these short years, she had grown and developed into a beautiful young lady and an accomplished athlete. A UVA swimming scholarship awaited her in the fall.

Tonya on the other hand fared poorly with water, instead opting to excel in tennis and she was good, very good. She won the Virginia High School championship this year and like her sister would attend UVA on scholarship in the fall.

The twins would turn eighteen in a couple weeks, right after their High School graduations. Being their brother and guardian I would be right there boasting and proud of their accomplishments. Mother would be there as well. She still owned the old Jamison place and had a caretaker tend after it in her frequent absences.

As soon as the kettle for tea began whistling, both girls came running into the kitchen just as I rose to fetch my cup.

"Jr, are you still going to go with us to Wintergreen this afternoon?" Tonya asked me in the midst of her excitement.

"I promised I would so yes, I'm going. I need to call over to the plant first to make sure everything is OK." I replied.

"Oh, I talked with Kathy earlier and she said to tell you that she was agreeable to it and that you knew what she was talking about. She also said the plant is running fine and to not worry about it. She has everything under control, Captain!" Tammy laughed when she finished.

"Good, then I don't need to worry. Let's make sure we get out of here early then." I replied.

The girls ran off to finish whatever they were doing and I took my tea out onto the patio. It was a clear May morning and as I sat there my mind began to reminisce as I bathed in the soft sun.

---

I remember the conversation like it happened just five minutes ago. I don't know how that is possible with everything that was swirling and happening all around me at the time. It was four years earlier and Lucy had just left to stay with her sister after I discovered her infidelity.

We had only been married just short of three years and right up until I discovered her betrayal we would have been described as a perfect couple.

Lucy was staying with her sister Claire and we had both indirectly committed to sitting down and talking together. I didn't know if the marriage could be saved but if it could I was willing. More than anything else, I needed to know what happened and why, how could she have done this?

Maybe I was being stubborn but I kept waiting for her to call me and I didn't take the initiative. Instead I allowed things to deteriorate and age and fester. A week turned into two weeks and then three. By the time I was ready to call, I came home to find most of her things that she had left were now gone.

"Claire? Carl here, how are you doing?" I spoke first.

"Carl, I'm doing OK I guess. You are calling about Lucy, I know. I hate this, Carl, you know I do."

I did. Claire is a fine lady and for her to be caught up in this mess wasn't fair but she was also a sensible woman and that's what we thought Lucy needed.

"She took the rest of her belongings, Claire. Do you know where she is? Is she still with you?" I asked.

"No, she left this afternoon and told us she didn't know when she was coming back. I don't know what to say. I tried and tried to talk her out of it. When I asked her where she was going, she just said away. She told me she had destroyed her marriage and couldn't endure to look you in the face after what she believes she has done to you.

"She left a long letter sealed in an envelope for you here. Lucy told me it would explain how things happened and why she is ashamed to see you face to face. Can I bring it over to you?" She began crying softly at that point and I told her she could any time she wanted to.

She visited me the next day and brought me the envelope and we enjoyed a long lunch together. When it was over, we promised each other to stay in touch, frequently, and if either of us heard from Lucy, we would let the other know.

I gazed at the letter for a long time at my kitchen table and opted to set it aside for now and tucked it into the drawer of my desk in the study putting it out of mind. I wasn't ready for the angst. I was unknowingly about to have other problems to deal with.

A question for all potential leaders is to ask whether or not each of us is ready for that 3AM call. For me it came at 4:35 on a Tuesday morning. Plant security woke me with the worst alert possible; we had a level 5 safety incident on #1 Line and that means only one thing, a fatality.

I arrived at the plant site at 5:15 and was greeted by Kathy, Tommy Jones and our chief of safety. The Sheriff's Dept. and callout EMTs had already arrived and had cordoned off the area where the accident occurred. Tommy had already contacted one of our employee support providers for grief counselling. Some of these folks if not all of us were going to need it before it was over.

We work in a heavy and dangerous manufacturing environment with hundreds if not a thousand nip points where clothing and bodies can become entangled in the machinery. Almost all of them are protected with metal machine guards but as with everything human error can overwhelm any barricade or protection. That was the case at VA-Kraft that Tuesday morning.

The scene was gruesome and unbearable to most. One of the operators became entangled in a large nip on the press section of the paper machine and was pulled through the press. There was no real body to recover; only pieces and #1Line became a HazMat site.

Kathy was visibly shaken and broke down while I held her. She had hired the operator only a month earlier and she had been part of his training program. The young man had a wife and two small children to care for and now their husband and father was gone. I comforted Kathy as best I could and she refused to leave my side.

An hour later, Tommy Jones and I along with one of the grief counsellors made the solemn trip to the operator's home. It was the worst day of my life, bar none. Even confronting Lucy at 124 Jardine Lane paled in comparison to this task. I would rather have been forced to watch her fuck that bastard ten times over than do what we did that morning. When we got back to the plant, I instructed Tommy to draw up a financial package to help the operator's family get through the financial crisis they were undoubtedly going to face. Workers Comp would settle on their end later. For now, I wanted his wife and kids taken care of.

Later that evening I grabbed a burger and fries at a local diner and invited both Kathy and Tommy to go with me. It was more of a 'group hug' opportunity than anything else and it had been a long day and one none of us ever wanted to experience again. I got to see everyone's strengths as well as their emotional weaknesses. For Kathy, it was her frailty at being so close to such a gruesome death and it was taking an immediate toll on her.

"Carl, thank you for giving me your emotional support today. This was the worst thing that has ever happened in my life and I couldn't have endured it without your support." She said to me now in tears.

I comforted and assured as best as I could and after we finished Tommy and Kathy headed for their respective homes and I headed for the house. When I arrived, Mother was there.

"Not now, Mother, I've had a very bad day. Have you heard?" I asked her.

"Yes, Carl. I'm so sorry, the poor family. It is all so awful." She replied.

She sat there in the recliner looking like she had something she wanted to get off her chest but just couldn't do it.

"Mother, did you have something you wanted this evening? It's late and I've had a bad day, a real bad day." I inquired.

"Carl, yes, I suppose I do, I guess. I talked with Lucy this afternoon." She said.

That caught my attention. It had been a few days since I had talked with Claire and Lucy's letter was still in my desk drawer unopened.

"Really, Mother, what would the two of you have to talk about?" I asked with a bit of exasperation. I really didn't want the conversation and it was the first time in several days I had thought of Lucy. This was just another reminder of my failed marriage.

"She wanted to let us know she was safe and OK and not to worry about her" She answered.

"JESUS CHRIST! What the fuck is wrong with you people?? My cheating wife runs off rather than face her husband, she calls my fucking mother to let 'us' know she is OK and fine and not to FUCKING WORRY!?!" I railed. My bat shit crazy mother continued.

"She is in NYC staying at my apartment. She didn't have anywhere else so I let her stay there."

OK, now she really had my attention.

"Mother, isn't that the place where your sweet fucking gypsie stays when he feels like it?" I asked her incredulously.

"Oh no, if you mean Dale, he's back in L.A. doing a couple interviews for a production company out there. He won't be back for at least a month." She replied nonchalantly. Then she continued.

"Have you read her letter? You need to, you know."

"Mother, I need you to leave as in now. I can't take this anymore."

She did as I requested and I found myself flat on my back staring at the ceiling. It had indeed been a horrible day and sleep came difficultly. I awoke a couple occasions thinking of Lucy in Mother's apartment, the same place the smarmy bastard worked his gigolo magic. Eventually sound sleep made its visit, just in time for the alarm clock.

The rest of that week was consumed with OSHA, local, county, state and federal agency visits. It took a hazmat team 3 days to finish cleaning and readying the machine to turn back to operations. The funeral service was that Friday morning, three days after the accident. My team and I attended and it broke my heart to see the grieving widow and her two little children. Kathy sat with me and silently sobbed through most of the service. When it was over the two of us went to lunch.

"Kathy, you are taking this pretty hard, aren't you?" I asked her tentatively.

"Carl, this whole thing just breaks my heart. I can't help but feel just awful for that poor girl and her little babies. I wish there was something I could do." She replied just above a whisper.

"Well, if you don't take care of yourself first, you'll be no help to anybody else. I want you to make some time available to sit with one of the counsellors we brought in. Will you do that? It's important to you and the company. I'm going to block out some time for myself as well. This was harder than I thought it would be."

Kathy dried her eyes and smiled softly, thanking me for my concern and help. We wrapped up our lunch and headed back to the plant where we both did what I talked about, scheduling appointments to sit with one of the grief counsellors.

Later that evening, I sat in my study toying with the envelope in my hands debating whether to open and read the contents or let it sit longer. I wanted to talk to her face to face, not read letters and think that was a reasonable expectation for a man and a woman to discuss their torn bonds. The envelope was heavy in my hand and I almost reached for the letter opener but stopped myself. The decision was made.

I couldn't do what I wanted right away with an on-going OSHA investigation but when the time was right I would take the next step.