'She was?'
Teresa nodded. Then she slyly added, 'But I didn't tell her where you were.'
Walter frowned. Finally he asked, 'Did she say why she was looking for me?'
Teresa wanted to lie but decided against it. 'Yes. She thought you were with another woman.'
He frowned again. 'Did this have anything to do with her meddling in your affairs?' he bluntly asked.
Teresa gulped. Alan felt uneasy. Mr. Cunningham looked angry, upset. 'Did it?' Walter persisted.
'Oh, Daddy,' sobbed Teresa as tears started to build in her eyes. 'She's been trying to break up me and Alan! Then she tried to break up me and… '
'You and who?' asked her father. She answered him quietly. 'Me and Johnny Carvel.'
'Johnny Carvel?' asked her father with a loud voice. 'You and him? I thought he was… '
'He was. And now he is again,' said Teresa.
'Your mother's lover?' asked Walter.
Teresa slowly nodded but was surprised to see her father wasn't upset in the least. The only thing that seemed to bother him was the complicated mess Grace had made of things. He rubbed his chin with his hand and finally said, 'You two stick around, I may want to talk to you again.'
Teresa and Alan stared questioningly at each other as Mr. Cunningham went back to the bar.
'He seems angry,' said Alan.
'Yes. But not with you or me. He seems angry with Mother.'
'He should be. She's been cheating on him quite a bit,' added Alan.
'But that's not what's bothering him,' said Teresa. 'I think he's angry because she didn't leave us alone.'
Walter walked into the bar and stopped directly across from Johnny Carvel. Johnny Carvel looked up and saw the cold stare coming from the man's eyes. He swallowed the lump that quickly built in his throat.
'Hello, Mr. Cunningham,' said Johnny. 'What can I pour you? Scotch?'
'Nothing,' said Walter. 'I want to have a talk. A private talk.'
His clipped words sent shudders of fear down Johnny's spine. But he nodded and came from behind the bar. 'Where shall we have this talk?'
'Outside.'
Johnny followed Mr. Cunningham out to the pool area where they found an area devoid of people. Walter turned and smiled. Johnny felt better.
'I know you and my wife are having an affair,' Walter said first.
Johnny's first impulse was to deny it but he knew better. He nodded and said, 'Yes.'
'And believe it or not I don't care. As a matter of fact, I approve of it.'
'You approve?' Johnny's mouth fell open.
'Yes. It keeps her happy and out of my hair, to put it bluntly. I'm not a man to worry about fidelity or what my wife does on her own time-as long as it's discreet. I'm not a stupid man,' stated Walter.
Johnny's mouth managed to fall open even more. 'Uh… Uh… You mean you've known all along?'
Walter grinned. 'Sure I have. I've known about you and all the others.'
'Others?'
With a laugh Walter said, 'You don't expect a woman who cheats on her husband to be true to her boyfriend, do you?'
'No, I guess not,' admitted Johnny.
'You're aware of her interest in the young lifeguard?'
'Yeah,' said Johnny. 'But that's over.'
'So I notice,' said Walter. 'Are you two back together again?'
'Well… '
'Come on, you can admit it. Just never tell her I approve, that's all,' said Walter.
'Yeah, we patched things up a little while ago. It seems she wanted to correct the trouble she caused between your daughter and Alan the lifeguard.'
'Uh huh,' said Walter as he thought. 'But that doesn't excuse her foolish behavior. She was the reason Teresa and you got together, right?'
Johnny nodded without speaking. He had no idea Mr. Cunningham knew about that.
'It all happened because Grace didn't think that lifeguard was good enough for our daughter,' said Walter. 'So she drove her into the arms of a bartender.'
'What's wrong with bartenders?' asked Johnny.
'You'll have to ask Grace that one. She must think something is or she wouldn't have moved so fast to stop it. She chose the lesser of two evils.'
'I guess so,' admitted Johnny.
'When the most evil thing was her own behavior.'
'Right again.' Johnny was feeling nervous. Mr. Cunningham's calculating discussion of his wife's actions was confusing him. Why bother to even talk about it? It was over. Everything was back the way it was.
'She needs a lesson,' said Walter. 'A lesson to teach her to stay out of other people's private affairs… even her own daughter's.'
'Do you think so?' asked Johnny.
'What if she doesn't approve of Teresa's next boyfriend?'
'I see what you mean.'
'Do you know where she is?'
'Uhhh…' stammered Johnny.
'Where is she?' demanded Walter.
'She was looking for you. And I mentioned the old cottage out on the golf course.'
'Oh, shit!' said Walter loudly. 'Did she go out there looking for me?'
'I guess so. She disappeared right after I mentioned the place.'
'Come on,' said Walter. 'We have to move fast!'
'Where are we going?'
'Out to the cottage! We've got to teach her a lesson right now!'
'But… But…' stammered Johnny as Walter dragged him into the bar and to the dance hall. 'What kind of lesson?'
Walter spun around and faced Johnny. 'That woman loves cock more than anything else in the world. Tonight she's been fucking around like a slut right under my nose. That means she wants a lot of cock tonight and that's what we're going to give her!'
'Us?'
'That's right!' firmly stated Walter. 'So much cock she won't want to see one for months!'
'You mean like a gang-bang?' asked Johnny incredulously.
Walter waved to Teresa and. Alan to signal them over. 'And here comes the rest of the gang,' he hissed.
'Oh, for Christ's sake,' slurred Johnny. 'This is ridiculous.'
'It might be,' said Walter. 'But it'll work. I know my wife.'
When Teresa and Alan arrived, Walter reached out and grabbed Alan by the arm. 'Come on, Alan, you're coming with Johnny and me. We have a little problem to take care of.'
'Me?' asked Alan.
'Why?' asked Teresa.
'You wait here, Teresa,' said her father with a smile. 'We'll be back pretty soon.'
As her father ushered Johnny and Alan out of the building Teresa stood alone and stamped her foot. She had no idea what her father was up to. She knew only one thing. They were gone. Everyone was gone. Her mother, her boyfriend, her girlfriend, her mother's boyfriend and most of all, her father.
Mr. Cunningham told Johnny and Alan to get into the golf cart and they started off across the green. Johnny looked over at Alan. Alan's face was puzzled.
'We're going to have a gang-bang,' said Johnny,
'Huh?' asked Alan.
'We're going to show my wife that the only person she's fooling is herself!' shot back Mr. Cunningham.
