I Knew You Were Waiting for Me – Part II Chapter 18
Twelve Months Ago…
"So that's it?!" After about ten minutes Nancy came up the stairs and began speaking as she entered their bedroom; only to find it empty. She turned around in the doorway and stared down the hall. She walked towards the center of it glancing into the other rooms on that floor while holding onto the top rail of the banister which extended across the entire hallway until it bent upwards towards the next landing. It was then that Nancy heard the footsteps above her head. She walked the length of the railing, around and up the stairs to the next floor. She saw Daniel removing some of Sam and Stevie's old things and packing them into boxes. "What are you doing?" She inquired. He made eye contact with her briefly but then went along with his work. "I am putting the rest of the boy's old things in storage in the garage so that I can use this for my room until I find another place." Nancy stood there in total shock. "Just like that… you have made a decision without even speaking to me and just like that? After all these years?" She questioned.
"I don't want to sound like a prick but why are you acting like this means something to you? Didn't you make it clear to me before I left that we weren't compatible anymore; that we didn't want the same things out of life? Your words and your attitude spoke volumes and believe me this time—I heard you." Daniel reassured her; as he recalled their discussion before he left for his trip, and her accusation that "he listened but didn't hear her," then he moved past her and placed two boxes on the ground outside of the room door and then re-entered the room to continue his work. "You son of a" Nancy was now visibly angry. "I stayed with you through losing a house! Carting our kids to cheap motels; all because, your pride, didn't allow for me to reach out to any of our parents for help. I respected your wishes. I worked double shifts, not so that we could afford to get a new place. But so that we could get out of debt enough, only to incur more debt later, by buying this house, and now you are going to up and LEAVE ME! How DARE you!" Nancy's scream was so loud that the pitch of it reverberated in Daniel's ears.
"Don't give me THAT NANCY!" Daniel stopped working and swiftly turned to face her. "Don't stand here and portray the poor weak victim in this mess. Number one, you have never respected my wishes. I told you I didn't want our parents to know because I knew that neither one of them could HELP US! Both, of their places, were too small for our family of five to stay in with them. Your mother was barely holding on after having to pay all of the mounting medical bills for your father, and my mom and dad worked hard all their life they were so happy about retiring. They were trying to put the money to good use and have some semblance of a life before they died—they wanted to travel! They EARNED IT! And I was not going to take that away from them! If you had ever even bothered to listen to either of our parents, when they spoke, you would have known that telling them, when neither of them could do anything about it, would have been cruel and made them worry for nothing." Daniel's body stirred with excitement as he finally spoke his full mind on the subject. He continued.
"Besides, you weren't the only one taking whatever jobs they could, Sam and I did it too; we were all working double shifts. I did it because you guys were my family, and my responsibility, and I owned that! You may not have liked the motel where we had been staying; but the one thing, we weren't doing was living outside on the street, or living in our car!" Daniel began to circle Nancy as he spoke and his begrudging nature exposed itself more and more as he continued to rail at her.
"You didn't stand by me; you stood behind me stabbing me in the back, and then kicking me when I was down. You didn't stay for me, hell I don't even think that you stayed for the kids! You stayed so that you would never again miss an opportunity to belittle me in front of them, or your friends, or your co-workers, and even my family! Did you think I didn't know that you told my mother? So much for respecting my wishes huh, Nancy?" He grunted challenging her earlier statement. "I heard you on the phone on several different occasions making me sound like a complete and utter idiot to everyone we knew. Daniel's stare turned arctic cold as he began to tear in one eye. "Do you think that I didn't know that my parents gave us all they had as a down payment for this place? Do you think that I wasn't watching the savings and that I didn't notice when my mother gave it to you—the same amount that they had in savings; just mysteriously added to our balance? Did you think I could ever really forgive you for allowing my parents die thinking that I was a failure? That they died after I robbed them of the life they had desired, saved for, earned, and worked so hard for? That they never got to travel because of me? Why else do you think I started drinking so heavily during that time? I was hurt and embarrassed that the enemy in my camp-had been my own wife, but I took it; because I made some bad investments. I owned it, and I had to deal with the losses. Well, now I know that you too Nancy, were a bad investment as well, and I own that too! Trust me I can deal with this loss as well, and a lot easier than you think." Daniel concluded with great resolve.
"I hope you don't think that I am going to make this easy for you!" Nancy was also bearing down on her position. Daniel knew that she was about to go to war with him and threaten his future happiness, bitterness swelled up within his soul. "Nancy, why would you make this easy-you have never made anything else comfortable in my life?" This question was Daniel's only curt response. "I'm telling the kids!" She demanded. "Not without me you aren't!" He spoke up after her.
Nancy stormed away, and Daniel knew that the die was cast.
XXXXX
"OH, Hell to the Nah!" Mercedes thought inwardly. She was angry, she was disgusted, she was afraid of what this would do to the family dynamic. She needed her mother to come clean to her. She needed to get her alone to answer all of her questions. It was at that moment that Mercedes heard an indistinguishable sound escape from Stacy's throat. Mercedes looked over and saw that Stacy had been standing alone and staring at the accent wall of the living room which had been filled with photographs and portraits. Stacy turns around abruptly and shouts directly at Mercedes' mom. "You Bitch!"
The room goes silent.
Jordan spoke up "Hey!"
Daniel and Joanna flinch and attempt to part at the sudden outburst. Sam then cries out. "STACY!" "Mom…" Stacy speaks up. "…She is the reason for your divorce! Look at this!" Stacy points to the wall behind her covered with paintings and photographs. "They are the SAME!" Stacy walks towards Joanna. "You didn't even have the common decency to remove them before we came over here today? Are you really that vile?" Stacy questioned. Joanna raised her head and focused on Stacy's eyes not willing to let her see her sweat, but she did not respond.
Nancy walked toward the wall and studied the evidence. Jonathan spoke up. "Stacy who in the hell do you think you are speaking to like that?" To which Jordan shouted. "Yeah, show some respect! Mom, what gives?" Jordan questioned his mother afterward. "RESPECT!" Stacy spat. "Did she?" Stacy pointed to Joanna. "Did she respect my mom or her marriage?" She continued to advance and speak in an accusatory tone, but now her gaze fell upon her father as she spoke. "MY FATHER HAS A MATCH OF EVERY ONE OF THES PICTURES AT OUR HOUSE!" She walked back to the wall and pointed. "This one was taken in Cartagena, Spain last year, and this one (she pointed to another), and this one, and this one." She continued pointing at different pictures prominently displayed.
"Dad took up painting too, he has every one of these portraits hanging in his room at home. Are you claiming that these are all just coincidences? Or, proof that they have been together all of this time?" Stacy dared everyone in the room with her eyes to doubt her estimation of the situation. She walked again towards her father. "You said that you and mom were getting a divorce, but you never said it was because another woman was involved." Stacy directed her vitriol towards her father as she spoke using a disgusted tone.
Daniel spoke up forcefully. "STACY, THAT IS ENOUGH!" Mercedes was stunned she had no idea about a divorce or that this could have been going on for that long. Mercedes looked over at Sam who had the same disbelief on his face. "Dad?" Sam began dumbfounded. "Is this right?" Sam looked at his father awaiting a response that would clarify this misunderstanding that had obviously been going on right now. "Mom, why aren't you saying anything?" Jonathan questioned. "Yeah, mom tell them that it's not true." Jordan insisted.
The tension in the room had been building; the silence felt burdensome until Stevie began to speak. "Everyone just needs to calm down," Stevie said as he walked over to the sofa and sat down in the center of it—unimpressed.
Nancy continued to scan every picture and portrait displayed on the wall. They were the mirror images of everything Daniel had brought home from his trip and once a week for an entire year. Nancy's body shook with rage. She finally had signed off on the divorce, and she had no idea that there had been another woman involved all this time.
"Dad…" Sam's voice was almost pleading. "…Don't you have anything to say?" Sam stood there, man to man, trying to understand "Why would he do this and especially with her?" Sam wondered. Once he had been met with silence once again, Mercedes spoke up. "Something must be happening between them because I saw them kissing when I first came home today." "WHAT!" Jonathan and Jordan both shouted. While both of their wives were feeling extremely uncomfortable about the information that had been made public in this room. Sam's gaze swiftly flew to Mercy. "And you didn't tell me?" "Sam, I was trying to process it myself. I wanted to tell you but, I wanted her to explain to me first. What could I say? She wouldn't answer me when I confronted her about it. Then everyone came in and I just…I didn't know what to do."
Daniel stepped forward and reached out his arm behind him beckoning for Joanna to take his hand. After a few moments she took her hand and held onto his, this elicited an audible gasp from Stacy, and then he spoke up. "Stacy's right I have been in love with Joanna for at least ten months now, and I don't regret any of these photos and paintings because they are proof of some of the happiest times of my life," Daniel spoke up.
Nancy whipped around from the wall "YOU LYING BASTARD!" She ran towards Daniel and began smacking him across the face. Stevie and Sam rushed forward from their positions and pulled Nancy off of him. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!" She screamed. "AND YOU….WHO IN THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" Nancy's anger raged against Joanna. "I AM…" Joanna began to speak. "A person without honor," Jonathan interjected filled with disappointment. "How could you?" Jordan added. "After all the years of teaching us right from wrong? All those lessons, all of the Bible studies, and you go and have an affair with a married man? You are such a hypocrite!" Jordan's anger bubbled over fiercely as he spoke.
Joanna inhaled a deep breath and started to speak again. "I am not a hypocrite. I have spent my entire life teaching your right from wrong. We were not having an affair. We were meeting up, as friends. Despite what our emotions told us we have never betrayed our families." Joanna still managed to speak with some dignity despite the circumstances in which she found herself. Daniel then faced Jonathan. "Don't say that about your mother. She has always been honorable in this situation even when I desperately tried to talk her out of it. She held her ground, and I love her even more for it."
Nancy directed her gaze to Joanna. "After all these years that you have known me how could you betray me like this?" Nancy's self-righteous indignation bursting forward. "OH, please mom! Stop overacting you know how you have treated Dad all these years—why pretend like you are so hurt now? She doesn't have to answer your questions." Stevie interjected disinterestedly as he finally let go of his mother. To the shock of Mercedes and Stacy. "This is a joke. C'mon Hun we are leaving." Jordan spoke up as he grabbed his wife and their things and moved towards the front door. "Let them figure out this crap on their own." Jordan barked. "Jordan!" Mercedes called as Jordan stormed out of the front door his wife following quickly after.
"I'm right behind you Jordan!" Jonathan picked up his family's bags and gestured for his wife to take his daughter and leave the house as well. "C'mon, guys don't be that way stay and let's talk this out!" Daniel began following them towards the door, but Joanna held on to his hand and prevented his movement.
She merely shook her head, and he understood instantly that it was futile to continue. "So now you want to talk, huh." Stacy blurted out. "How could you daddy?" She went to comfort her mother which had shown where her allegiance and support lay. "To answer your question, Nancy…" Joanna began speaking again. Her tone was not harsh, or cold but it was firm and unapologetic. Sam felt a bitterness rising in his throat and a foul taste in his mouth. "What could she say to his mother?" He thought. "I've always loved Mercedes, mom." He thought, but now he was feeling like he betrayed his mother, in some way, by having done so. "When did she become this person? When did my dad?" Sam thought to himself as he still held onto his mother's quivering body. The tension in the room and the positioning of the people made it difficult not to see where the lines were. The lines had been drawn. Stacy and Sam had been each holding on to Nancy at the far end of the room. Stevie took his seat again on the sofa in the center of the space. Mercedes had been standing closest to the newly formed couple of Daniel and Joanna; although, the chasm between them felt like the Grand Canyon in scope and scale. Nevertheless, Daniel and Joanna held a united front on the opposing side of the room from Nancy. It was then that Joanna continued speaking.
"It had been brought to my attention Nancy that you had something that you no longer wanted; something that lacked value for you, something that had now lost your interest; something that, in the least, you had been in the process of throwing away. You, yourself have run into me on a couple of occasions over this last year, and you spoke to me of 'how happy you were that you were finally going to be free from your marriage.' You told me how, 'for a long time, you no longer connected with Daniel.'
I was never quite sure that I could believe Daniel's point of view-only-on this matter, and I kept our friendship as platonic as I could because of that. In fact, there was nothing that he could say or do to convince me to move forward with him. But it was you, Nancy, it wasn't until I heard the scorn and derision from your lips. It matched the disdain he spoke of to me, and I knew then that he wasn't lying to me. I knew then that he was not just a man trying a clever rouse to begin having an affair on his wife.
It was only then that I realized that the things he said that you thought about him were true. I realized how difficult it would have been for him to have had that attitude greet him every night when you came home. I found myself wanting to be of great comfort to him, a place solace for him; as he had been for me, so often. The man I knew, he just didn't deserve that…not in my opinion. What you had vehemently decided no longer had any value to you. I, personally, found great worth in it. (Joanna moved closer to Daniel so that now their shoulders were touching) I recognized the value in it for myself, and before I knew it—it had become priceless to me, and I could not give it up. I allowed myself to fall in love with him Nancy only when you proved to me that you had fallen out of love with him. I did not take him from you, Nancy; I had only caught hold of what you so willingly threw away." Joanna concluded. Daniel's face brightened with a small smile. The two of them had never said that they loved each other, out loud, not to each other—not until today. Even in the midst of the chaos, the confusion, the sadness, the anger, and the lack of privacy-still, it somehow was enough; for both of them. There was a strengthening of their bond as they watched each other take on all of this negativity about their relationship and yet not pull away. Mercedes watched her mother closely and she seemed sincere but what was she supposed to do. "This could ruin everything." She thought until Daniel pulled her out of her thoughts with his words. "I wanted to apologize to you, Mercedes. I'm sorry. I know that you were put in an awkward spot earlier today. I ran over here to tell your mother that the divorce had been finalized. I know that you saw me kissing her, I honestly couldn't help it. I hadn't kissed her since I said good-bye to her in Spain. I just couldn't wait any longer, but I told her that I would bring back the proof when I came here tonight and I did." Daniel added as he reached for the same piece of paper that Joanna had been holding on to this entire time. Daniel handed the paper to Mercedes. "Look at the date." He said. "I just received it in the mail today, but the divorce has been final for four days already. I know that we all were here to celebrate Sam's and your happiness at finally being together, but can't you all see that we are sharing in that same type of happiness for ourselves—we are finally able to be together too." He mused at the similarities of their newfound happiness.
Nancy's body stiffened at these revelations, and she spoke up immediately. "I think that I am going to be sick." She broke away from the grasps of her children grabbed her coat and took her leave through the front door. Stacy is now quickly running out behind her. "Well, I think that is my cue," Stevie said as he stood from the sofa and went over and gave his father a big hug. "I'm glad that you are happy dad; you too, Joanna." He spoke as he hugged her too and then walked past a disillusioned Sam and tapped him on the shoulder as he left the house.
The house which had just been buzzing with family and happiness not even an hour before now stood in stark contrast with only the two couples left in the room. Sam finally came to himself and began to speak. "I think that we should leave now Mercy" was all that he said. "You don't have to Joanna admonished." Sam and Mercedes, both, had so many conflicting emotions about their parents right now that staying and continuing to discuss this did not seem like a good option for either of them.
"Let's go" Sam reached out his hand to Mercedes. She took hold of it, and they both walked out of the door with nothing more to say to their parents or each other for now. Once they left the house, Daniel turned to face Joanna. "I think that I need a place to stay tonight. Do you mind?" He asked. Joanna shook her head "No" and then they embraced each other.