Spiteful Panties

George often went on weekend trips with his friends to the casino about an hour away in the town of Cherokee.  It didn’t bother Maggie too much because she didn’t really want to go. She just didn’t see the point of working herself to death only to spend her paycheck gambling it away.  So, when he’d leave, she’d busy herself in the garden, do some scrapbooking, or play with the kids. They had a pretty good relationship by most standards; not much arguing, date nights out, vacations with the kids, and occasional flowers.  

George came home one Sunday evening tired from a long weekend away.  He hadn’t been very lucky playing poker on this trip, so he was in a stale mood.  Maggie let him simmer by himself while she cleaned up the dinner dishes and put the kids to bed.  By the time she got finished, he was already in bed asleep. She showered and slipped in beside him.

The next day was a teacher workday at the kids’ elementary school which meant she’d had to take off work to stay home with them.  She fed them in the morning and sent them outside to play while she caught up on some housework. The laundry needed washing, so she went around the house collecting various baskets of clothes, bathroom towels, and stray socks.  She unpacked George’s weekend bag and started separating the whites from the colored when she noticed a pink bow.

The bow was pressed neatly on a pair of panties that Maggie had never seen before.  She held the pretty lace up with one hand like it was a snotty tissue and covered her gaping mouth with the other.  She felt her blood run cold and her stomach suddenly lurch. Was she really seeing what she thought she was seeing? She stood frozen for almost a whole minute while she tried to logically explain away another woman’s panties mixed in with her husband’s dirty laundry.

Maggie wasn’t a fat woman by any means.  She kept in shape and ate healthy food, but judging by the size of the panties, this woman was much smaller than she was.  She suddenly felt very ugly. And naive. How could she be so dumb as to not see what was going on right in front of her face!  The insecurities started to mount, one right after another, which made Maggie feel inwardly small. It was an odd place for her because she’d thought everything was fine.  Cheating husbands were something that happened to her friends, not her.  

Time seemed to stand eerily still for what felt like an eternity until the sound of the children’s laughter echoed through the house.  Maggie shoved the panties into the basket and smiled as they ran into the room. The children. What was she going to tell the children?  

The next few hours crept by while she was left with nothing but her thoughts.  And they were screaming. All at once. She made lunch for the kids, but her sandwich sat untouched.  

“What’s wrong mommy?” her daughter asked.

“Nothing, honey.”  She faked a smile, but her insides were empty.  “You two run along now.”

She suddenly felt very suspicious.  What had she missed? She went to the computer and did something she’d never done before.  She logged into George’s Google account and checked his internet search history.  

She scrolled down the list of queries.  He’d searched for football scores, blackjack statistics, cordless drills, and weirdly, Optimus Prime.  A feeling of guilt crept up on her for invading his privacy which gave her mixed emotions. She sat back in the chair and looked up at the family portrait on the wall.  There she was smiling back. And then there was George. Was his smile hiding something? Were his eyes thinking of someone else - someone younger… prettier? She looked away.  Was she making it up out of nothing? She didn’t know what to do with her new reality.

And then something caught her eye on the side menu of George’s account.  ‘Mobile Voice Searches.’ She clicked the filter and saw two entries with the most recent being at the top.  7:17pm on Saturday. “Restaurants near me… ”  It was George’s voice loud and clear.  That was normal since he’d been in Cherokee that day.  The second entry was from 1:35pm the previous Wednesday.  “Hotels near me… ”  For the second time that day, her blood ran cold.  He was supposed to be at work during the day. What did he need a hotel for?  She played it again. “Hotels near me… ”  This time she heard giggling in the background.  A woman giggling. Until this point, she’d been trying to suppress the doubts she had about George’s infidelity, but now, those doubts were gone.  This was proof. A feeling of defeat washed over her.

Just then, Maggie heard the familiar sound of rocks crinkling under a vehicle pulling into the driveway.  George was home early. She quickly closed the browser and went to the kitchen. He came through the front door carrying his briefcase.  The moment she saw him she wondered if their whole marriage had been a lie.

“Hi honey!”  George looked surprised to see her.  “What are you doing home?”

“Teacher workday.  Kids are out back.”  She tried to keep her voice as even as possible, but her words felt foreign and detached.  “You’re home early.” Did she sound as suspicious as she felt?

“For a quick shower.  I’m going over to Joe’s Place to meet with a client.”

“At the bar?”  She felt like this was one of those moments where she should be paying attention.

“Yeah,” he replied like it was nothing out of the ordinary.  “Won’t be long.” He gave her a smile and went to the bedroom.

Maggie stood there for a few minutes staring out the kitchen window.  Her hands were shaking. Tears threatened to surface, but she knew if the floodgate opened she would have a hard time closing it, so she held them in.  She felt like she was being duped into believing some weird story. How long had she been so blind? Was he going to the bar to meet his mistress? Anger started to creep in. 

She went to the bedroom and sat on the bed next to the basket of dirty clothes that still held the token of betrayal. George had just put his shoes on and was bent over lacing them up.  She dug around the basket until she found the pink bow. She held it up with one hand.

“Those are pretty.  When did you get them?”  George’s smile made her even more angry.

“Today when I cleaned out your bag.”  She watched the smile fade from his face.

As these things tend to go sometimes, George and Maggie got divorced.  She stayed in the house with the kids, and he ended up marrying his girlfriend - the same girlfriend that was the owner of the pink bow.  The kids split their weekends between parents which forced George and Maggie to maintain a level of civility.  But, Maggie became bitter.

One Saturday morning, Maggie walked the kids up to the door of the house that George shared with his new wife.  He lovingly embraced the kids and then invited Maggie inside while he grabbed his shoes. He was meeting his wife at the nearby Water Park so the kids could have a day of fun in the sun.

Maggie sat on the couch and talked with the kids about how exciting their day would be.  George emerged from his bedroom and the kids ran over to him. In that split second, while no one was watching, Maggie quickly pulled something from her purse and stuffed it between the couch cushions.  

On Sunday evening, George brought the kids back to Maggie’s house.  She met them at the door and told the kids to go inside because their dinner was ready on the table.  She turned to look at George while she leaned against the doorway with her arms crossed.  

“You’re little trick worked,” George spat.  “She’s leaving me, and it’s your fault!” For a second, Maggie wondered if he’d said that once before to the other woman, when the pink bow had first surfaced.  She thought he looked small, defeated even, but she didn’t pity him. She no longer saw him as the man he used to be.  

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Maggie lied, but she knew very well what he was talking about.

“Here,” he shuffled around in his pocket.  “You can have them back!” He shoved a piece of cloth in her hands, and turned to leave, storming all the way to his truck.

Maggie held up the cloth with both hands and stretched it out.  She smiled as she looked at it - such a small thing with such enormous power.  It was a pair of lace panties with a little blue bow pressed on them - the ones she’d shoved between his couch cushions.