What's "Up Chuck"?

So, before I begin with part four of my little story here I wanted to take a moment and thank you all for reading. I especially like and appreciate all the comments. I haven't been able to answer most of them, but I wanted those of you who have left them to know that I am appreciative. Again, if you are just stumbling on this post and haven't read the others that went before it you can click on the following links to read. (part 1) (part 2) (part 3) On the day after I learned my wife had left me and taken my kids, I became aware of several things. I discovered that most all my life savings, practically all the money I had in the world, had been taken. My mortgage, utlitlies, and credit cards had not been paid. I learned that not only was I in a situation where I had no idea what the future would hold, but I had practically no means to get me there. My parents drove down to be with me and to help me begin to make some sense in what was happening. I did settle on an attorney, the only one who returned my call, and with my parents I went to meet with him. At this point I was convinced that I would be loosing it all, the house, the car and worst, my kids. He explained to me that a divorce was like a pie and each slice represented money. He said that a slice will go to the bills, to the kids, to insurance and other payments, and what was left over would be what I had to live on. He assured me that the courts would not leave me living on the streets. He estimated, based on my income, that I would be paying around $1800 a month in child support. My parents loaned me the $1,500 retainer and I had me official representation. Late that afternoon, as we were sitting around the living room discussing the next steps, there was a knock at the door. I expected to be served the papers at anytime, and this was it. A young, short and stocky fellow greeted me at the door with a big ass grin on his face. He asked if I were Mr. Chuck, I nodded in the affirmative, and he handed me a stack of papers requiring my signature. Once back in the living room my parents and I poured over the papers. She was asking for everything and claiming divorce on the grounds of adultery. Wow! The guy had been gone about 10 minutes when the phone rang. It was her. She seemed giddy with excitement. "So, you got the papers huh? Gabe just called and let me know he served you. What did you think of him? Cute huh?" "FA, what are you talking about? Yeah, I got the papers. They are pretty far fetched." "Oh don't worry Chuck. I will be getting all that and more. You will be lucky to ever get to see your kids again." "I am not too concerned. My lawyer doesn't see it that way. I think this will be quite a fight." "Yeah, whatever. So, really what did you think of Gabe?" "FA I don't know what your are talking about. Gabe? You mean the guy who just brought..." "I mean the guy who happens to be a private investigator and has been following your ass around", she interrupted, "Me and Gabe have been pretty close lately." Hmmm, I was starting to get an idea here. A thought was beginning to form its way in the back of my head. Within weeks it would be confirmed. "Okay FA, so when are the kids coming home?" "We will be home tomorrow. You will be gone by then. Make sure that is the case." "Nope, sorry. My lawyer says I don't have to leave, and it would be in the kids best interest that I don't. This is my house." With that piece of news she became very flustered. "Well, I will have to see about that. I am calling my attorney." She said in a huff. "Okay FA, see y'all tomorrow." The rest of the evening my parents and I spent making lists and planning our next moves. The next day my Dad helped me secure a loan with his credit union so I could pay all the outstanding bills as well as him back for the attorney fees. I lay down to try to sleep that night thinking again about the future and wondering what Susan was doing and thinking about all this. Most likely she had already chalked me up as another internet guy she had become close with who had just fallen off the face of the Earth, as chat friends tend to do in time. The next day my parents went and checked into a hotel and I prepared for the return of my kids and my soon to be ex wife. I assumed that if they were in Huntsville they probably wouldn't return till early afternoon, but I was wrong. I heard the garage door going up around 10 in the morning. Come to find out they had been in Birmingham in a hotel the night before. To say I was terribly thrilled to see my daughter and son would be an understatement. They were both happy to see me too, and talked about their fun trip to the hotel and mall. FA seemed frazzled and didn't want to talk much. She unpacked the car, the brand new car I had just bought, and settled back into the house. I asked her where my lap top was and she informed me that it was evidence and had been sent off to California so my password to my desktop could be cracked. Well now, I thought, they might not know as much as I thought. I told her that my parents were in town and me and the kids were going to go spend the day with them. She made some crack about how Chucky's mommy and daddy had to come rescue their little boy, then laughed and went and closed herself up in her room. That evening, after dinner, we returned to the house and FA greeted us at the door all decked out and ready for a night on the town. She told the kids she was going out, and told me to stay out of her room, then left. I settled the kids into bed and decided to take a little tour of the bedroom and bathroom. She had all her clothes thrown around everywhere, and her hair and make up crap was all over the bathroom counters. Looking in the shower I noticed a lot of small hairs laying about in the remaining water on the floor. Looks like she had been shaving her pussy, she must have a hot date tonight. There was nothing else incriminating to be found so I assumed she must be keeping stuff locked up in the car. It was probably two or three in the morning when I heard the garage door go up and realized she was returning. From my opened office door at the top of the stairs I saw her come in from the garage, with her cell phone to her ear, and walk back to the master bedroom and close the door. Peering over the overlook down into the living room I was able to hear her lock the door behind her. After about 15 minutes or so I snuck down the stairs and quietly went and listened at her door. She was still on the phone, but I could not make out much of what she was saying. I could hear an occasional giggle or two. The next day, Friday, I informed her that the kids and I were going to Tennessee to spend the weekend with my parents. While she had slept in that morning I had packed the kids clothes and stuff and we were pretty much ready to go by the time she woke up. I expected her to try to put up some kind of fight, but she didn't. As a matter of fact she didn't even tell the kids goodbye. I was sure to tell her, before I left, that she was NOT to have any men here in my house while I was gone and if she did, I would know about it. She just rolled her eyes and turned to go into the kitchen. L, T and I got on the road for what would be the first of many weekend trips to Tennessee over the next few months. Saturday morning I wanted desperately to call Susan but I was still cautious of using my cell phone. I didn't want there to be any more evidence that I was communicating with other women. Instead, I took my sister's phone and went outside to make the call. Before I dialed her number I thought about what I would say. I was nervous, but I was definitely going to tell the truth. She answered pretty quickly even though she didn't recognize the number I was calling from. I won't go into all the detail of the conversation but I will say that she was extremely happy to hear from me. She said she had feared she wouldn't ever talk to me again. I took a breath and went ahead and told her the truth, all the truth. I told her that my wife had hired a PI and had me followed, that even though it hadn't been much of a marriage I had indeed been married. I poured it all out to her and you know what? She didn't care. She had missed me and wanted so bad to talk to me and meet me. She suggested she drive down to Knoxville and we meet at a Starbucks and talk. As bad as I wanted to, I just couldn't. I was still afraid that I was being followed even then. I told her that I promised we would meet, but that I just wanted to get some of this shit with FA behind me before we do. I told her how much I had missed talking to her, but that I was afraid the numbers I dialed were being tracked and I didn't want to get her involved. She surprised me by giving me her calling card number and telling me to use that to call her anytime I wanted. She again told me that she missed me and was looking forward to when we could meet. That was music to my ears. I was sure to let her know I felt the same way. Okay folks, I started retelling this tale early last week and to be honest never thought I would get so into it. I guess what I mean is that I didn't imagine I would be wanting to go into such detail. I can see that telling the tale of the next month could take some time so I have come up with an idea. Of course this all depends on whether you, the reader, are wanting to hear the rest. If you do, I thought I would outline the subsequent happenings in bullet point form. That way you can get an idea of what all occurred with out having to read too many details. As some of you know, the crap that happened in the next 40 days from the above mentioned trip to Tennessee is quite Jerry Springer-ish in reality. I am not sure how interesting it will come across when written down. Anyway, I will wait and see what you think and then get back at it in time. Thanks for reading!