love marriage sex murder

Chapter Twenty Zoe's Broken Heart

Seems that cheating was the new normal. Either get on the band wagon or be alone. I was at least seeing a woman. I think it would be more devastating if I were screwing another man. "Hi mom." Zoe said kissing my cheek. "Hi honey!" I said. My children could always make me smile no matter what. "You ready for the college road trip?" "Yes." she said. "I can't wait to get out of here!" "What's your rush?" I asked. "Kevin is a punk." Oh boy I thought. "What happened honey?" "Nothing." she said pouting. "So you can't wait to get out of here, Kevin is a punk but nothing happened?" "Come on Zoe, don't make me pull it out of you." "Nothing mom, just that I caught him kissing that bitch Monica. You know people have been telling me that he was messing with her but I didn't want to believe it. I thought we had something but I guess he's just like all the other dumb asses out here."

"Zoe!" I said. She never cursed in front of me. "Because you're upset I'll let that slide." "I'm sorry mom. I'm just pissed off and disgusted. He told me he could wait until I was ready to have sex. Yes we had sex, once, and it freaked me out so bad I had to take a pregnancy test. So I told him no more. Monica's passing it out like free hotcakes at Bob Evans." I had to laugh even though she was serious as a heart attack. But then I realized that at such a young age my baby girl was experiencing what it was like to have a man you love break your heart. I pulled her close and gave her a hug. "I hoped you never had to know what that feels like." I said to her. "The good news is at least you know now." We both laughed. I was glad that I could at least make her laugh.

I'd taken the next week off so we could take the family on a vacation/road trip to visit colleges for Zoe. We packed up and rented an RV. It was a nice one. Charles got a good deal from Steve, a car rental agent buddy of his and it was fully equipped. Although she wanted to go to an artsy college I really wanted her to have a back-up plan. She really loved music and composition, dance, theater, the whole nine. I did want her to follow her dreams and be happy so I will support her in any way I can. Our first stop was 'Art Institute of Atlanta.' There were other students there for the tour. It was a beautiful college. The tour guide was very specific about the college and it's curriculum. The dorm rooms were a nice size and the campus was huge. She really liked everything about it and we had to admit it was nice too.

We went on to SCAD Atlanta, Savannah College of Art and Design. They offered such classes as advertising, arts administration, fashion marketing, graphic design, illustration, interior design, painting, photography and print making. This was another beautiful campus and they offered much more than the Art Institute. It was a little more expensive but she would be able to get other programs under her belt and still be involved in what she loved. We moved on to four more colleges and all of them seemed viable candidates. We would still have to decide which one she would be attending and of course she would have to be accepted. We drove through Florida and visited Disney World. We'd always wanted to take the kids there but money and careers were always in the way. It would be a nice way to send them off into the real world.

We returned home on Saturday afternoon to Kevin standing in the driveway looking like a little lost puppy. "Mom I don't want to see him!" Zoe yelled. "Why baby?" Charles asked. "What's wrong trouble in paradise?" Antonio joked. "Shut up!" Zoe yelled at him. "What's wrong?" Charles asked again. They were not privy to what I knew so I sat quietly to let her explain. "He's just a lying bastard, that's all." "What did he lie about?" Antonio asked. "He was fooling around with Monica Sanchez, okay? When I asked him he lied about it even though everybody tried to tell me. I finally saw it for myself." Before we could even think Antonio was out of the car and in Kevin's face. Charles put the RV in park and Zoe and I got out to stop the chaos.

"What are you doing here!?" Zoe yelled at him while I was trying to calm Antonio down. "I just wanted to talk to you." he said. "About what? You said everything you needed to say to me." "I wanted to say I was sorry...I didn't mean to hurt you." "Well you did hurt me...and I don't want to see you again." she said walking away. "You heard her, beat it man!" Antonio yelled. "Go inside boy." Charles said to him. "Go check on your sister." I told him. "Listen man, I don't know everything that's going on with you and my daughter but I want you to leave." "Can you please just tell her that I love her...I know what I did was wrong...I'm really sorry." "I'll tell her Kevin." I said. "Thanks." he said turning to walk back down the driveway.

Even though I knew he was a little asshole for what he did to Zoe, I still felt sorry for him. He looked like he really did feel bad. The sad part is he would probably cheat on some other girl because that's what men do. They see something else and for a split second they think she might be better than what he already has. Then when he finds out she's not it's too late to turn back. The grass ain't always greener on the other side. It's green where you water it.

Charles and I went inside to find Antonio and Zoe standing in the kitchen. He was holding her in his arms and she was crying so hard. It was nice to see him consoling his big sister. "Hey champ." Charles said. "I thought you were about to open up a can of whoop ass on him." We all, including Zoe had a much needed laugh from that. "Let's order a pizza." I said. I called in an order to Pizza Hut and we sat down to relax and watch a movie. I would tell her about Kevin's apology later. It was family time now.