Once upon a time, there was a boy growing up out West. The weather was comfortable year 'round, and it was a great place to grow up. Over the years, the boy gained many interests -such as BMX bikes, skateboards, motorcycles, super-hot racecars, babes, elephant bellbottoms, Niki's, and so many other cool things that boys dig. When he was about 12, he took Karate lessons for a few years. It was an incredible experience for him as it increased his confidence level 50 times more than ever before.

His best friend lived across the street, and they were always doing cool things. They setup a lab in the garage including test-tubes, flasks, a boiler, and many were connected with hoses, created a sidecar with a bike, model rockets, etc. They made all kinds of cool stuff...

Another excitement the boys shared was going to a nearby construction area and finding dozens of .22 bullets that had not been fired. The boys would go up in their fort and ever so carefully, remove the lead bullets in order to dump out the gunpowder. Once about 20 of those were emptied, there would be lots of fun had with burning and exploding the powder !!

The general evolution or transportation went; bikes, skateboards, BMX bikes, 10-speed, mini-bike, go-cart, motorcycle, car. At that time, the boy was about to turn 16 and moved far away to a distant state in the south he barely had ever heard of before. The boy and his family moved far away from all the friends he'd known since kindergarten as well as all his best friends, Karate friends, and BMX crew.

The South was quite different in many ways. The boy, 16 now, had his first taste of heavy humidity and also extreme heat. His home out West was near the ocean which provided constant fresh air at very comfortable temperatures (70*). He had never felt humidity and soon missed his old home more and more.

The South also differed with minorities. Growing up out West, there were many, many Mexicans and very few black folks. He had several black friends and many Mexican friends as well -but some of the Mexican folks were in gangs and carried weapons, which the boy stayed clear of.

Once in the South, he noticed after a few months that blacks were 50% of people at his school, and had trouble finding even one Mexican. Interesting to him, but he didn't care -he always judged people by what they said or did, and color made no difference.

The boy graduated from high school 3 yrs. later. He was always kind of shy in school, so he didn't date much until after graduation. He called himself a "late bloomer" although it was mostly just shyness, and also the fact of not knowing many people at school.

He didn't care much for school and had a lot of trouble deciding on a career. His parents were very supportive, but with that old question, "What do you want to be when you grow up ?" question, the boy always found it extremely difficult to answer since there were so, so many careers to choose from, he didn't know where to start.

The honest answer to that question, which was a secret known only to him, was that what he truly wanted "to be" later in life, was a father and a husband. He already knew he had the love deep within himself as well as a good heart and good morals. Happiness to him for many years was merely to have a "happy family" when he would become a Man. Those words were even written in his high school yearbook under the question, "What do you want to be in 10 years ?" -his answer was: "A father and a husband."

So, after high school and having had a few jobs, he was ready for his own place. The only thing keeping him from that was a really good job. Ever since mid-Senior year in high school, he was trying to decide what to do with the rest of his life. His parents were extremely successful and he felt a deep desire to do the same.

Since high school pretty much sucked, he was really not sure about going to college. The more he thought about 4 more years of school, the more he hated it and started looking at alternatives.

His stepfather had been in the Marines and his natural father had served in the Air Force, and some of his friends were headed off to boot camp right after high school. He asked dozens and dozens of people this question: "Which of the armed forces are the toughest ?" He was surprised to hear 99% of the answers were always "The Marines."

So, the boy decided to join the Marines and filled out all the paperwork. His mother cried and begged him not to join and did everything she could to change his mind. Within a few weeks of boot camp, she talked him into joining the Marine Reserves instead of active-duty Marines. She explained how he would still go to the normal boot camp, but after that, he would come home. He then would be required to train one weekend a month, and 2 weeks every summer, for a 6 yr. obligation.

He learned he could always go Reserve to Active, but not Active to Reserve. So, he gave in to his mother and changed over to the Marine Reserves just before boot camp. His recruiter was certainly not happy, but it seemed like a more logical decision at the time for the boy.

Boot camp was a long 3 months for him, but he not only survived -he thrived big time. His platoon earned all 5 trophies against the other 6 platoons. They were awesome and gave a tremendous sense of teamwork, responsibility, and confidence he had never felt before.

After returning home, he had a few blue-collared jobs. White collar positions are basically office-work, and blue-collar positions are manual. He worked for about 6 yrs. at a factory making great money. The jobs were either very technical, or else very easy but very dangerous. Many of the older guys were missing fingers and others had severe scars.

After about 6 yrs., the man (no longer a boy), decided he wanted more out of life than the factory grind for the next 24 yrs. Sure, he owned a sweet, sexy, black Z-28 HO with T-tops, but that career thing just wasn't his style for the long term.

One day, he was at his parents’ house, and his dad had brought home his laptop he used for his job. Back then, laptops were rather new and the (boy) man stayed up all night examining everything the laptop could do. He had fallen in love with the technology and his life would never be the same again.

The man eventually got his own computer and spent the next few years learning everything about. He learned how to take them apart, what made them run, became an expert at downloading dozens and dozens of programs from the internet, mastering them, and then removing most of them.

He taught himself how to build websites when the internet was just in its infancy. He enjoyed taking and editing pictures, making videos, slideshows, and endless things.. -we all know how vast the internet is these days. His computer opened up a new world to him.

The man's parents moved up North for his dad's promotion. About a year later, the man also moved up North -although he was just across town.

Love had always been evasive, but he had met a beautiful southern girl while living in the South. She relocated to be with him and they lived together for about 9 months before getting married. She was extremely charming, very attractive, very loving, tended to his every need, had a beautiful smile, and she also was an excellent cook.

They lived happily for a while, but she eventually started lying about things. Big things, little things, just lies, lies, and more lies. It became so bad and caused so much stress in their marriage, he sat her down many times to discuss it and explained how that behavior was not acceptable.

She told the truth for a month or two, but eventually started lying again. That was the trend: 1-2 months of lies, then we would talk, and things would get better again for a while. He explained how he refused to live like that anymore and basically told her she could move out if she kept up the lies.

That same conversation and warning repeated every few months. She told me she missed her family quite a bit and wanted us to move to her home-town in the deep, deep South. Eventually he gave in and began searching for a new job down there in preparation of the big move. Her parents had always been very kind and so it seemed like a good idea -plus, they would get away from the severe Northern winters.

Within a year, she began lying more and more and became ever more blatant about it. She also began stealing money from my bank account by signing the man's name. Initially, the checks were for $50-75, but each week, the amounts started going up. She eventually was writing checks for $300 cash, all the while, denying she had done it, and denied ever taking any money.

She could never manage money, so the man had to handle the budget and make all the financial decisions. She could easily blow hundreds of dollars in a week with clothes, restaurants, and eventually to finance her affair and her drug habit.

Even when the man would tell her he was about to pay all the monthly bills and asked her specifically if she had withdrawn any money, or written any checks -she always would say "No." The man would then mail out the house payment, 2 car payments, utilities, etc. only to have them all 10-15 checks bounce. She lied every time, and for 4 months, he had to pay a total of $300-450 each month just in NSF fees to the bank.

The lies continued and he sensed she was having an affair. Sure enough, it was somebody in her workplace. The man decided to tap the home phone to get a better idea of what was going on. She had stopped working and allowed herself to get fired when the man's grandfather passed away and received a $5000 inheritance. She looked at it as a vacation for her and things really got bad after all that.

The man listened to the phone recordings once she finally found a new job and was out of the house. He would take notes, then hide the cassette tape in an extremely clever place so she would never find it. This went on for a few weeks and the man began to understand some of the things his wife was up to.

There was an intense secrecy between her and her family, like they were spies or something. The first question they would always ask in passing, is if the man was home or not. If he wasn't, the conversation was very open and blunt. If the man was home, the conversations were always light and fluffy -and brief.

One day while listening to the previous day's phone taps, the man heard his wife say, " I just know he's recording the phone calls, but I've searched everywhere and cannot find a recorder anywhere."

A short while later, her brother and mother drove an hour to come to the house but stopped at a payphone to make sure the man wasn't home yet. The wife said, "No, he's not home, come on over. He'll be off work in 2 hrs."

Luckily, the man had also placed another hidden recorder in the family room, near the couches, which was sound-activated. He wanted to listen in on non-phone calls in the living room as well. The man was working 2nd shift at the time, so that's why their schedules were not the same.

They all 3 searched the house for the phone recorder, but never could find it. The man even heard their discussion after their search, which went like this: "We've searched the entire house for a phone recorder and also his gun, but we haven't found anything. We searched every square inch of this house. I don't think he's recording anything," said her brother.

She quickly snapped, "I know he's recording the calls, I just know it !! And that's so weird about his gun -he used to always keep it next to the bed, and now it's lost or something."

Then the brother responded, "Hell, we've searched every bit of this house.. -except for the attic." The wife then said, "Well, I'm not going up there.. -no, he wouldn't have gone up there for anything."

They all 3 sat on the couch for a while, and the mother asked her daughter how much life insurance he had. The wife said, "I don't know for sure, but it's at least $500,000."

The mother said, "You could ask him to take a heavy box downstairs, and then just push him really hard when he's on the first step... -it's concrete down there, so that would probably do it."

The wife said, "Well, what if it doesn't ? What if he's still moving ?" The mother said, "Then just finish him off while he's laying there. He'll probably break his neck, or leg, or something."

Her brother then asked, "Well, if we can't find his gun, I'll just come over here and knock on the door, then beat the hell out of him with a baseball bat. Then, I'll drag him into the hallway and close the front door, and finish it."

He then asked the man's wife of 10 years, "What do you think ? Is that how I should do it ?"

There was a pause.. -which seemed like an eternity to the man as he intently listened to the tapes from the previous day.. -things that were discussed in his own home by these people he thought loved him.

She answered her brother, by saying, "Just make sure I'm not home when you do it. I don't want to be here, and I don't want to know when you'll do it."

The wife then announced that the man would be home soon and that she had to start dinner. They said their farewells and left.

The man could hardly believe the things he had just heard on the recordings, and played them over and over again...

He had given this woman 10 yrs. of his life, never cheated on her, always was honest, never hurt her, never yelled at her, supported her financially and emotionally, and even moved their home to the deep, deep South to be near her family. He was hurt, he was heart-broken, and then he became scared. He knew his life could be ended any day now, so there was no time for tears on his face, nor tears in his heart.

He needed to come up with a plan.. -a GOOD plan, because if he messed up, he could be dead any day that week and his wife would be rolling in insurance money. And, all of the intelligence he was receiving (the recordings), were always 24-48 hrs. old, which means he had to be prepared for anything, from anybody, anywhere -and not just at home.

Two days later, the wife became very cocky with the guy and it was very out of character for her. She said a few bold things, and a few minutes later ask him how much life insurance we both had.

The man knew at that point that his days were now numbered, since she felt like she could come out and ask that question. His time was running out quick, and he didn't know what she and her evil family had planned for him -but he did know it would end badly if he didn't play his cards well.

So, he replied to her, "I know you had trouble finding my gun.. -why were you looking for it ?"

Her eyes got so wide, and her face became white as a ghost. He left the room.

He felt he might have bought himself a few days, but that his days were still numbered, and that her plans were now probably just postponed, not cancelled.

That next day was a Saturday, and she had put on her happy face and pretended to be very loving. The man told her he wanted to have a talk with her on the bed, so they laid side by side above the covers.

He said, "You know, I've given you the best 10 years of my life. We've had a lot of very happy times, but we've been having more and more bad and terrible times. I don't know what I've done to you to make you so bitter and hateful towards me, but I've had enough. I'm not doing this anymore. It's over. I've been mailing tape recordings of all your phone calls to my family all over the United States for my own security, and they know everything that has been going on in this house."

He continued talking calmly, " I've had it, I'm through. I am going to divorce you. Soon, very soon. Now, we can get divorced here in this town, or else move back up North, away from this tiny town, and we'll get divorced there, but it's going to happen very soon."

Tears began rolling down her face. She asked him, "Well, what if I don't want a divorce ?" He told her, "It doesn't matter, I'm divorcing you."

With that, she announced to her family they were moving away so they could both find better jobs. They moved away within a week.

The man knew he had bought himself more time, but not sure how long, so the move was fast. Once at their new temporary place in the new state, the man wrote up all the divorce papers himself, including giving her every single bill and account to pay off. Furniture was split evenly, and he let her keep her car -since she'd need it to get to and from work.

When the man brought the paperwork to the lawyer the first time, the lawyer said, "Well this isn't how we do it, we need to have discussions about the bills and so forth."

The man looked him right in the eyes, and said, "You will draw my documents up to be legal, so the judge can sign them -or else I'm finding another lawyer. Do you understand me ? She is getting every bill and account put in her name, I will make sure she signs it, and I want it signed by a judge -and 100% legal."

The lawyer sat back in his chair and said, "Ok, I'll do it."

And that's exactly what happened -the papers were signed and she had already moved out of our temporary place. He didn't hear anything from her for about 3 yrs. One day, she called to say she was getting married -the man wished her good luck. Later in the call, she said she's been able to skim hundreds of dollars out of his account every month and had over $7000 in a secret account, "And he doesn't even know it," she said.

The man wished her luck (again), keeping things light, and said he had to go.

Twelve years later, he learned she had died of cancer at about 50 yrs old.