Unbroken Promises (21 page)

Jordon watched Susan everyday, like before, getting braver and more daring in what she wore and did. She turned into a whole other person when she got like this. He hardly knew her.

He allowed it to go on longer than he said he would because he was trying to give her some time to calm down and get over being angry. He was hoping she would stop acting the way she was and come to him so they could talk. It had already been a month and things still hadn’t changed between them, and he was almost to his limit.

He kept track of what Susan was doing and with whom. Sometimes, when he couldn’t do it himself, he had Jesse and his friend, Beaux, watching her for him. He was pretty sure Susan wasn’t aware they were watching her. It wasn’t that he thought she would be unfaithful to him, but he was afraid she might get herself into trouble and not be able to get out of it. Susan, even though she was a grown woman, was still very naïve as to what went on in the real world. Her mother and father had kept her sheltered and then he married her and took up where they left off.

He was surprised when he found out Susan was hanging out with Patty. He sure didn’t trust Patty. She was nothing but trouble. She always had a wild streak and loved to live life on the edge. That’s probably the reason she already had three failed marriages before the age of 34.

He knew Patty and Susan had been friends ever since high school and that Susan had kept up with her through the years, but he did his best to put a stop to that close friendship a long time ago. He had to admit that, knowing his wife was hanging out with Patty did make him nervous.

He didn’t even know the woman had moved back into town until he had seen Susan meet her for lunch one day.

Susan hadn’t spoken to him since the day the twins came over and, in all that time, she hadn’t washed his clothes or cooked for him. He would come home hot, tired, and sweaty from working all day and have to wash clothes and cook before he could eat. Then he had to go grocery shopping because they were out of everything. She hadn’t even done that. He guessed she ate out everyday because he never saw her eat at home.

When she came downstairs that night, she was dressed to kill. She was wearing a short black dress with black high heel sandals. He could smell his favorite perfume exuding from her. Her hair was done up in a twist and he could tell she had on make-up, something she’d never worn.

Jordon wanted to rip the little dress off of her right then and there, along with the smug smile she was wearing.

“Where are you going dressed like that, Susan?” Jordon said with a calm fury, his eyes going up and down her body in assessment. The first words he’d spoken to her.

“I am going to a party, Jordon—not that it’s any of your business,” Susan snapped.

“I understand….Susan, I’m warning you right now, you’re biting off more than you can handle. I have been a good and faithful husband to you, but you’re going to push me too far, and you are going to see a side of me you will wish…would have stayed dormant, as it has since I married you. Do you understand what I’m telling you?” Jordon said in a calm deadly voice.

He stepped away from the wall he was leaning against and swaggered up so close to her that she could feel the heat radiating off him. “Let me make it a little more clear. You’re showing me a side of yourself I’ve only seen once, and I didn’t like her then and I don’t like her now. I think she’s cheap and sluttish. But, like you, there is also a side to me, Susan, which you’ve never seen. It is a man that I laid to rest the day we started dating and he’s stayed asleep; but, I’m warning you once again, you don’t want to wake him up. He’s been happy sleeping; leave it that way because he was happy awake also.” Jordon said this all matter-of-factly. “Please… stop acting like a pouting child and stay home and start acting like my wife again.”

“I am not acting like a child, and I don’t believe that allowing another woman to feel you is considered being faithful. For your information, I am going to a party with my old friend, Patty, from high school. Now I have to go or I’ll be late,” Susan stated, not the least bit concerned over the riddles Jordon was babbling. She wasn’t finished getting even. He hurt her and she was going to hurt him back. She turned and started walking away from Jordon.

“All right, Susan, I’ve had enough…but you mark my words… you will be the one begging the next time we speak, and it will be me who will turn and leave you standing while I walk away to be with another woman,” Jordon said indifferently.

That stopped her cold in her tracks; but, when Susan turned around to question him about the last remark he made, he was nowhere to be seen. Surely, that was a slip of the tongue for him to word it like that. Susan didn’t feel as arrogant as she had felt before; and, if the truth be known, fear had crept in.

Susan tried to put the conversation with Jordon out of her mind and have fun at the party.

The stereo played rock-n-roll in the background, low enough for everyone to talk over but loud enough to be heard. There were about 10 women lounging on sofas and surrounding chairs, all laughing and giggling as if they were teenagers. A hostess walked around serving drinks and hors d oeuvres—some shockingly in the shapes of male body parts.

Susan had never heard of such a party. There were all kinds of naughty toys and nightwear for sale. The items were lying on a table in the center of the room, visible for any who wanted to look at or examine. She was amazed; she honestly didn’t know they made such things. Some of the things were so funny, a little embarrassing, but funny. Susan bought a few of the less shocking items.

Susan politely turned down all the alcohol being served and made her way to the table that had a large bowl of icy red punch. She picked up a tall glass that was sitting beside the punch bowl and helped herself. It wasn’t long after she had finished the punch that she began to feel dizzy. Then an absurd thought reached her brain, “you’re drunk.” Susan gasped, it was true, someone had put alcohol in the punch, and she was drunk.

She had drunk very little her entire life—the wine on her wedding night and a glass at a few other special occasions, so it only took the one glass to totally wipe her out.

Susan had parked her car at Patty’s mother’s house. She knew she was in no shape to drive home so she asked Patty to drop her off at the ranch and told her she’d pick her car up sometime tomorrow.

Susan was having a hard time opening the front door. She waved a hand at Patty and told her she could go ahead and go because Susan didn’t want to take a chance of her running into Jordon. After she unlocked the door, she decided not to try to make it up the stairs—stairs that looked as if they were made of 200 steps instead of 12. Therefore, Susan stumbled her way to Beth’s room to sleep. When she got there, she just fell across the bed, clothes, shoes, and all, and went to sleep.

Jordon and Jesse watched her come home and go into the house drunk. Jordon had followed them to the party and waited until he saw Susan climb into Patty’s car to come home. Jesse turned to Jordon.

“Well, what cha’ gonna do, Bubba?”

“I’m going to do what I warned her I would do.”

“Jordon, have you tried talking to her? Have you told her that you thought at first it was a joke that Beth was playing on you with some of her friends?” Jesse reasoned.

“She has not even given me the chance to get close enough to talk to her. The other night when she turned her back on me and walked off was the first time we spoke to each other in a month. She’s acting the same damn way she did the last time, like a pouting child and a whore at the same time. I gave her time to be mad and get over it, but she’s gone too far. I’m not going to put up with this shit anymore. If she wants to run around with single friends and act single, then so will I.”

“Jordon, I just don’t think that’s a good idea. I know I was young and don’t remember too much, but enough people have told me about how wild you were. I mean, compared to the way you were and me now, I can’t hold a candle for you to see by. I don’t understand how you think this will help anything.”

“Susan made the choice for both of us. You saw her tonight. She has never been drunk a day in her life, and now she comes home so drunk she could hardly make it through the door. And the dress she has on is so short and tight that, if she bent over, her ass would show. She’s been running around this whole month with that no-count Patty. What in the hell would you do? Just sit by and watch? Let her treat you like dirt? That’s how she’s been treating me for the last month,” Jordon said heatedly.

“No, Jordon,” Jesse sighed. “I wouldn’t just sit by and watch. I really don’t know what I would do,” Jesse replied exasperated. “I only know that I love you both, and I don’t want to see y’all throw away 16 years of marriage because of pride and revenge.” Jordon didn’t say anything, just stood there absorbing what Jesse has said. He didn’t want to end his marriage either. Susan was his life, but he knew he had to do something drastic to stop and wake her up so this crap would end and never happen again. Once in a lifetime was enough.

Jordon eased the phone off the receiver and listened to Susan talk to Patty. Patty invited her to go out dancing with her and a few friends. Jordon held his breath in the hope that Susan would turn her down. It crushed Jordon when Susan reluctantly said she would meet them there.

She told Patty to wait for her outside the dancehall so she wouldn’t have to walk in by herself.

Jordon showered and dressed in his new tight jeans and green shirt that the sales clerk said matched the color of his eyes. He pulled on his new cowboy boots, tucked his wallet in his jeans, and left the house. He was going to be at the dance hall before they arrived.

When he got there, the huge speakers blasted an old country song and couples were two-stepping across the dance floor. The cigarette smoke was a heavy fog that enveloped the entire place, stinging his eyes. Jordon ordered a beer and pulled out a stool that stood facing the dance area. A few minutes later Jesse hauled a chair up beside him.

Jesse tipped his hat, “Followed you; come to keep you out of trouble,” he said bluntly. “You know this is the place Beth and Cody come to when they go out. They might be here later, too.” Jesse said, trying somehow to prevent a disaster.

“Maybe they won’t come tonight,” Jordon said hopefully. He didn’t want either of them to witness him and Susan here tonight, but he was determined to go through with his plan to wake Susan up.

After Jordon downed a few beers, he walked up to a woman and asked her to dance. They walked on the dance floor as a country waltz began. Jordon was an excellent dancer. He’d always loved dancing when he was young and single, but he’d never wanted the bar life in his marriage, which was why he searched for a woman with the morals Susan had when he decided to settle down.

Jordon and his partner, Molly, danced through the next three songs, and then he thanked her and went back to his chair for another beer. While he was sitting down, someone came up behind him and put hands over his eyes. He knew it was a woman from the sweet smell of her perfume and the softness of her hands.

“Guess who?” came a vaguely familiar voice.

Jordon tried to place the voice but couldn’t. “I give up,” Jordon said as he took her hand in his own and looked up into the eyes of one of his old lovers. “Well, well, what a pleasant surprise to find such a lovely lady attached to these lovely hands,” Jordon said as he smiled at the lady.

“Jordon!” The lady said as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “It has been so long.

What have you been doing for the last 17 years?” Lola asked.

“Been missing you, sweetie.” Jordon put the question back on her, “What have you’ve been doing?”

“Jordon, I promise you, you don’t want to hear about my last 17 years. You are here to have a good time, right? Well, I don’t want to depress you and ruin your good time,” Lola laughed.

Jordon was glad to see Lola and thought she looked pretty good. He could tell there was some truth behind her joking and that she really didn’t want to discuss anything sad tonight. And that was fine with him because he didn’t want to talk about stuff like that right now either. He was here to have a good time.

Lola was standing between his thighs with her arms draped around his neck. His hands were around her, lying on her bottom when Susan and Patty finally showed up. When he saw her, he gave her a single nod and turned his attention back to Lola. His sole intention tonight was to put Susan out of his mind as if she didn’t exist. He wanted her to see him as he once was and realize what she was turning their marriage into by her foolishness.

Jordon unwrapped Lola’s arms from around his neck and led her onto the dance floor for a two-step. If he remembered right, Lola was also a good dancer. They used to dance until closing then go to one of the closest hotels and stay until noon.

After the two-step ended, a slow song began, and he and Lola just more or less swayed and rubbed to the music.

Susan was reluctant about coming to a dance hall. She was beginning to feel guilty about the way she was acting. She couldn’t believe she agreed to wear Patty’s britches. Her mother would die anew if she could see her now or know what she’d been wearing and doing for the last month. She didn’t even want to think about how she might be hurting God. She was nothing but a hypocrite. She knew she had to change this jealous and revengeful streak in herself or she was going to wind up in hell.

The only thing that kept her going at this time was curiosity. She had never been in a place like this before. She decided before she left that she would see what it looked like and just sit and watch people dance a few minutes. She knew she wasn’t going to dance; for one reason, she didn’t know how.

As she was looking the place over, through the dim light and heavy smoke she spotted Jordon. Her heart fell to her toes. When he nodded to her but still kept holding the woman in his arms, Susan realized then that things between them were very, very dire. She knew now he meant what he said about her pushing him too far. He was at the point that he didn’t care if she was mad at him or not and that was terrifying.