Poetherapy 2.0

Costly Error

We drove in utter silence, nobody talked to each other. I was pondering on the next move but could not find any way out of the calamity I had plunged myself into. I learnt a lesson, but the hard way. This could not be repeated, it was lethal. I stammered a few incomplete sentences but ultimately determined to zip up my orifice.

The Friday was gentle with lonely cumulus clouds spread across the blue sky. A few birds could be heard warbling their carols on the roofs of nicely built Banket houses and beyond the canopy of nearby foliage. A dog was incessantly barking a few yards from my place. The sound amalgamated with that of vendors who interminably passed shouting as they advertised their wares. I was sitting there, not knowing how I was going to spend my day since I was not going to work.

My wife wanted me to drive her to a certain party with her friends. At this point in time, she was running about managing her chores of the house. I could hear her singing tenderly as she brushed the floor, the tempo of the brush merging well with that of her easy-on-the-ear voice. She truly had a saccharine voice, the sweetest resonance to my ears.

As I sat there, a message got into my phone and this marked an unexpected twist of fate. Tari wanted me to drive her to a party with her friends too, what a coincidence! Tari, my former friend, now my lover, lived in Sterling, across the shopping centre. Through her, I had learnt that love is the only force which can transform an enemy into a friend then a friend into a lover. I loved her, although not more than my wife.

I was facing a dilemma now. How the hell could all the ladies want to be driven each to a party, on the same day and time! I got to my feet and started pacing about my yard, my thoughts sprinting to and fro. Being a 'die hard' as I regarded myself, I knew this was a tragedy but I understood that die hards, like Germans, never surrender. I got myself a plan.

"Dear, l've been called to work, I can't drive you to the party but I can however hire you a taxi which will drop you there. I'll also give you some money to hire another taxi home when the party is over. I'm so sorry my Love but its beyond my control. I will phone you."

I told my wife, not even allowing her an opening to ask or dispute.

I tried hard to make it look authentic for her to believe me, which she did, although with some reservations. I, more often than not, didn't want to lie to my beloved wife.

I, with no supplementary delays, drove to Sterling movie-style. Time was not on my side. I got to Tari's place at a time when she was about to call me...again. I earnestly apologized for not being on time. She had two of her friends with her, whom l knew very well.

"Rose, Thandi, let's get into the car. We can't meet the expense of another delay here. Let's get going or else we will be unfashionable late." She ordered her friends in an authoritative manner and they did as ordered. She never gave me time to answer or comment. We drove to the party which was being held in Lochinvar. I dropped them and promised to pick them after the party. They would call me when it was over, they said.

I drove in solo to town to see a friend; little did I know that I was going to have a lesson of my life. I never knew that I was going to have a lesson of my life. I remembered my teacher once saying, "Learning is finding out what you already know, doing is demonstrating that you know it and teaching is reminding others that they know just as well as you. We are all learners, doers and teachers." The saying, on this particular day, lived to its billing. I learnt a very big lesson – the solid way, of course.

At the party, as I lived to lern, all went really well. The ladies enjoyed their day out. They sang, danced, wined and dined. Tari was drunk and started behaving rowdily, many thanks to Rose, her friend, who did not take any liquor on the day. Rose got busy managing Tari who was, even before half way through the party, dead drunk.

To my dismay, by the time the party was over, my wife had befriended Tari. The two became so close that they spent the majority of the party time together. They chatted and seemed to have clicked, hand-in-glove with each other, little did they know each other's linkage to me.

When my wife was about to call a taxi, Tari said, "Don't worry dear, my boyfriend is coming here soon. He drove me here and he is driving me home. We can pass by your place and drop you. There is room for one more in the car." To this, my wife was grateful. She had met a 'real' friend.

Tri was not aware of the intensity of the tragedy she had thrown me into. If she had known the potential outcome of her incautious, unwary moves and behavior, she would not have made any advances towards my wife. She would have left her alone.

I was happy that I had managed my situation carefully, without any hiccups. I knew for certain that my wife would never unearth my affair with Tari. I made sure that this remained a top secret, known only to myself, Tari and her friends.

By the time Rose called me, using Tari's phone, I was in Newlands, enjoying myself with friends. We were playing snooker and having some drinks. The ladies wanted to be driven home now. Leaving my friends was no fun but I knew very well that the alternative would be worse. I feared what these ladies were capable of doing.

I, with no further delays, drove into town before mapping my way to Lochinvar. I steadily drove out of town to the party venue although my conscience told me not to. As I drove closer to the place, my heart began to beat faster. If only I knew what was ahead of me, I would have done otherwise.

As I was a little distance from the gate, I called Tari and told her to come out with her friends. Drunk as she was, she could not even talk to me, I talked to Rose instead. Rose told me they were heading for the gate already. I parked by the closed gate and waited.

The gate opened and I got the bolt-out-of-the-blues of my life. There stood Rose, Thandi and my wife holding Tari whose legs could not carry her. Tari, brown bottle in hand headed for the front passenger seat and threw herself therein before commandingly ordering others to 'get in the car girls.'

Without uttering a word, my wife got into the rear seat with the other girls. I was dumbstruck especially when the drunken Tari started throwing herself all over my legs and begun kissing me haphazardly.

"Oh my dear, I missed you a lot," stammered Tari before turning to my wife and saying, "This is my boyfriend I was telling you of. Pee, this is my new friend."

"Nice to meet him," my wife gently answered. The words were the sourest sound to my ears. I could not start the engine nor could I say a word. I sat there, grinning stupidly and before I could think of what to do, Tari, thundered, "What are we waiting for dear, let's go."

I finally gathered my wits and started the engine although I didn't know where to head. We drove in utter silence, nobody talked to each other. I was pondering on the next move but could not find a way out of the calamity I had plunged myself into. I stammered a few incomplete sentences but ultimately determined to zip up my orifice....