OK. For this to make any sense I need to give you folks some back-story:
My cousin Stephen is twelve years younger than me. Stephen's mom died of a brain aneurysm when he was three. This left my uncle Geoff to raise a child all on his own. This was something he absolutely was not prepared for. Geoff wasn't really cut out to be a single parent and as a result he and Stephen butted heads. A lot. So much so, in fact, that when Stephen turned 18 he just bolted. I mean it was like he fell off the face of the earth for several years. Uncle Geoff came home one day and Stephen's room was empty. All of his personal belongings were gone. Vanished. Kaput. Nobody knew where he was. All he left behind was a simple note that said "I'm leaving. Goodbye." True to character, my Uncle Geoff just blew it off to Stephen being immature. No effort was made to find him or anything. Everybody just assumed (hopefully, that is) that Stephen was just wandering around the country somewhere.
When Stephen left I think that it slowly began to sink into my uncle's brain that maybe, just maybe, he'd been a bad parent and so he started getting his life in order. He quit drinking, started going to a therapist, started attending church and over a period of six or seven years he eventually became the person that I think he probably would have been all along had his wife not died.
OK. With that said, here's the issue:
About five years ago Geoff met a woman named Carrie. They seemed to almost immediately fall in love with one another and wound up getting married about a year or so after they started dating. In all honesty I have to admit that I never really took very kindly to her. There was something about her that I just couldn't seem to trust. Carrie was, shall we say, substantially younger than my uncle who, coincidentally enough, also just so happened to be very, very well off financially. In the end, though, I decided that it really wasn't any of my business. If she was making him happy then who was I to judge either of them?
Fast forward with me to about six weeks ago. It's now been about thirteen years since Stephen took off when he decides, out of nowhere, to call my uncle. The two talked on the phone for an hour or more and agreed to meet up. After some heartfelt apologies and manly tears they hugged it all out and Geoff agreed to let Stephen move back in with him and Carrie until he can get himself squared away. Good for them, right?
Nah.
Geoff stopped by my house about a week or so ago to borrow some tools. While he was here he mentioned to me that Carrie had started acting more than a bit weird lately. He called me one afternoon (this was probably a month or so ago) and told me that he felt like something was up but that he really wanted to push through it and make things work. Again, though, this was really none of my business. Who was I to judge?
OK. With that said let's skip to yesterday. Geoff called me and he was about as distraught as I think I've ever heard him and so of course I ask him what happened. Five or so uncomfortable minutes of crying and sobbing later he eventually explained to me that Carrie had been having an affair.
With Stephen.
I, of course, was rendered totally speechless here. I had absolutely no idea what else to say, so I ask him how he found out. Through his tears he said "Thursday was her birthday and I left work early to surprise her. That was when I walked in the house and saw Carrie on my wayward son."
Topic: Family Drama (Read 3150 times)
