Bad Decision

Chapter Six: Acceptance of Change

Not many people liked the new me, which I knew would happen. The change was hard for people to process, especially for those who didn't know me before I married Jacob. Those that did loved it.

"Up here," I smiled as I looked at the guy in front of me. "They won't get your drinks, I will."

"Sorry, but they are just so big," the man smiled.

"I know. I carry them around all day," I nodded. "What do you want?"

The new me no longer wore clothes that tried to hide my large chest, or did I try to hide anything about my body, my wide hips or my big ass. I wore tight jeans and tight, low-cut shirts.

Of course, I always got the significant comments that I shouldn't wear that, or I only have big boobs because I was a big woman, but it didn't stop them from staring or even asking for my number.

I left the warehousing job and went full-time at the bar, which was paying off, as since I was there every night, my tips were through the roof.

I flicked my fingers again at the same guy and smiled. "You really have to order," I said.

"Right," he said as he shook his head.

It was like this most nights, especially on the weekends. I made a killing on tips during the sports games. I had invested in some of the local team's shirts and cut a deep V into them so my chest would stick out. It was a massive hit with both men and women.

The most significant turnaround for me was Jacob and Alyssa. A week after our argument, they both showed up at my house without Clayton.

They both apologized for treating me like I was a bad person. Jacob admitted that while I had cheated on him, it didn't give him the right to throw it in my face every chance he got, especially after I apologized and gave him a speedy divorce without fighting him.

I promised to stay out of their way and not talk bad about their relationship. It was the least I could do. So far, I held my end of the bargain, and so did they; Clayton was getting excited about having a new kid to play with, I had to tell him it would be a long while before the baby would be able to play with him, and by then he would be a teenager and might not want to play with it.

It didn't change his mind any.

"So," the young man said as I finally gave him his drink.

"So," I said as I looked at him.

He was a young man who was probably in his early twenties and was very good-looking. With a muscular body, which I guessed he loved to show off due to his tight muscle shirt.

"When do you get out?" he asked.

"Me or them?" I asked.

"I deserved that," he nodded.

"Yes, you did," I smiled. "The three of us get out at two, that might be past your bedtime."

"Deserved that, also," he nodded. "Jason," he said, introducing himself.

"Shelly, or Shells," I said as we shook hands.

I went around the bar, ensuring everyone's drinks were filled, and no one felt left out, but I returned to Jason occasionally.

"So, what do you have in mind?" I asked as I started closing just before two in the morning.

"Well," Jason said as he stared right at my tits.

"You know there is more to my body than just tits, right?" I flirted back at him.

"Yeah," Jason smiled. "I definitely noticed."

As soon as we got out of the bar, Jason's hands were all over me. As usual, he was all hands and no brain. I had stuck to my original plan, no sex, just fun.

And while Jason thought this night would end with his cock inside of me, I made sure I brought him back down to earth as quickly as possible.

"No," I said as he tried to pull me towards his truck.

"Follow me," I said as I got in my car.

We went to a local area near the lake, and I climbed out and got into the back of his truck. Again, he was too excited for anything lasting to happen. By the time I got his cock out and into my mouth, I could feel he was on the verge of cumming.

All it took was a few bobs of my head on his cock, and he was holding my head down as he came.

"That's disappointing," I said as I wiped my mouth.

"It's okay," Jason smiled. "I got a few more in me, you know what they say about young guys," he said with a toothy grin.

"Well, let's see what you got," I said as I unbuckled my belt.

Two minutes he lasted as he tried to go down on me. Even with me giving him hints of what to do, he fumbled around and then gave up.

"Nope," I said as he tried to push himself onto me. "If I don't get off, neither do you."

"Fucking tease!" Jason yelled as I pulled my pants up.

"That goes for the both of us," I said as I jumped down from his truck.

"Fucking Slut!" Jason yelled at me as he slammed his door.

"You would have had to fuck me, to call me that, you fucking moron!" I yelled back.

Jason's truck skidded off as he gave me the middle finger.

It wasn't the first time one of them got all in their feelings about me not letting them fuck me, but I was in it for fun and the thrill, not the sex.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"One night, one of them are going to try and do something more," Rachel said. The following night.

She was the other bartender that worked with me. "And that's what your there for," I smiled.

Rachel was a crack shot; we went to the range several times, and I always thought Hank and Jacob were the best with guns. No, this little five-foot-two blonde was terrific with all firearms. She outdid all the guys there.

"One night, I won't," Rachel said.

"And on that night, I won't go," I smiled.

Rachel shook her head.

It was a two-way street with us, Rachel always got the guys that weren't interested in the big girls, and I got the guys that didn't like the small girls. We were a great tag team. We always went to the same place. Either I hid in my car a few feet away, or she hid in hers to make sure no one tried anything.

But our run was ending as Rachel found a nice guy named Ryan, and he was a city cowboy, as some would call him. He loved country music and wearing cowboy boots and hats but lived downtown. He had never lived out in the sticks, unlike Rachel, who had grown up in a place I had never heard about until she mentioned it.

Ryan was good to her from the start. He didn't go with her to the lake; instead, he gave her his number and called it a night. Ryan showed up every Saturday night, drank the same thing, and ordered the same cheeseburger with fries.

"One day you will find one," Rachel said as she looked over at Ryan.

"Nope," I said, shaking my head.

I was beginning to think I wasn't the relationship type.

I got off work, but I turned down any pursuers this time as I had somewhere to be in the morning. Clayton was home, and I wanted to get in as soon as possible.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Wake up!" Clayton yelled as he pushed me back and forth.

"I am up," I said as I looked at him.

I looked at the time, "Clayton, bud, you got two hours," I said, turning over.

"Yeah, but you take long to get ready," Clayton said.

"It's a monster truck rally," I said as I looked at him as he had run around to the other side of the bed. "I can go like this and fit right on in."

"You're not going to do that are you?" Clayton asked.

"It's a joke," I said as I sat up.

I knew he wouldn't let it go until I was ready. "Okay, go start the coffee and I will be right down," I said.

"Thanks," he said as he took off.

Andrew had gotten us tickets to the sold-out monster truck show downtown. I didn't know how he got them, but he was picking us up from my house in a few to take us down there.

Katie was through the roof that he was taking Darold with us. She liked the idea that Darold spent time with a black male. All the guys that had shown her any interest always frowned when she mentioned she had a half-black son.

"Maybe he has a brother," Katie said as she dropped off Darold.

"Take him," I said as I watched the three guys playing football in my front yard. Andrew was throwing it, and the two of them were running around catching it.

"I think he is interested in you," Katie smiled.

"No," I shook my head. "We are friends, that's it."

"Uh-huh," Katie nodded.

Andrew and I had finished the deck weeks ago, and then he showed me how to install ceiling fans, so I could change out the rest by myself. He called me now and then to help him with other side projects, and we have been close friends ever since.

I told him about my past and what happened with Jacob, and he laughed. No one had laughed before. They always looked at me with that judgmental look, but he laughed and shook his head, and that was it.

Andrew told me about his past marriage and how it stood him going overseas and, on many tours, but ended badly.

"Did you see...." Clayton said as we got out of the show.

"Yes, Clayton I was sitting right beside you," I said, shaking my head.

I loved seeing Clayton and Darold like this; they were both talking nonstop. Before they would finish a sentence, another was hot on its tail.

Andrew opened the door for me and walked around the truck. I got inside and opened his door. The boys got in the back, and we headed back home.

"Want to stop and get dinner?" I asked.

"Sure," Andrew nodded.

Andrew lived in a double-wide trailer a few miles outside of my town. I had only seen the outside as he never allowed me to enter.

I guessed it was a total mess inside there. He didn't disagree or agree with me.

"Fuck no!" I said as I looked at his shopping cart.

"What?" Andrew asked.

We had gone to the grocery store as I wanted to make dinner for the boys and me. Andrew was picking things up for himself.

"Just no," I said, shaking my head.

His shopping cart was filled with single-guy food, a lot of canned meats, some microwaveable plastic cup things and a shit ton of microwaveable frozen foods.

"Put all that shit back," I said, shaking my head.

"What?" Andrew smiled.

"No, put all of it right back where you got it," I said without a smile on my face.

"You know, you can be a pain, right?" Andrew asked.

"Yup, a pain that won't allow anyone to buy that shit," I said. "What the fuck is this?"

"Chipped beef," Andrew said as I held up a bottle of what looked like red cardboard inside.

"Fuck no," I said as I took him around the store. "You see this section, it's called Produce, it's where we get fresh vegetables and fruit."

"I know," Andrew said. "I had fruit in my cart."

"Fruit in plastic cups swimming in sugar water, is not considered fruit, now get some real fruit." I said. "No!"

I slapped the box of fake banana bread out of his hand. "Bad!" I yelled. A couple passing us smiled, and she pointed to her man and nodded at me.

"What took you guys so long?" the boys asked as we returned to the truck.

"I had to teach this one how to grocery shop," I said, pulling the seatbelt over me. "He's coming for dinner so I can show him how to cook also."

"I can cook," Andrew said.

"Using the microwave isn't cooking!" I shook my head.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~

I waved as Andrew's truck pulled out of the driveway later that night.

"You like him," Katie said as I returned to the house.

Darold and Clayton were fast asleep on the couch, and we didn't have it in us to wake them.

Katie would take the guest room as usual and take Darold home in the morning.

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

"You cooked for him," Katie said.

"I am a big girl I love to cook," I shrugged as we cleaned up the table.

"You gave him leftovers," Katie smiled. "Don't say you give leftovers to everybody, because you only do it for Jacob."

Jacob still loved my cooking. Especially my Italian dishes.

"You should have seen his shopping cart," I said, shaking my head. "It was the poster for single man dinners, there must have been at least fourteen of those frozen food dinners."

Katie shook her head. "He might as well fill a plate with salt and eat it with a spoon."

"Exactly," I said.

"So, am I right?" Katie asked as we put dishes in the washer.

"I don't know, to be honest," I nodded. "I want to, if that makes sense, but he is very quiet about his past, and that's just a huge red flag for me."

"Most military guys don't talk about what happened to them. It's easier for them to cope with it, if they don't say it out loud," Katie nodded.

I nodded, but there was something more to it than that. Andrew had a lot of scars on his arms and chest. And it was bothering me.

"You could ask Lyle, he might know," Katie said.

"Good idea," I nodded.

We made sure everything was locked up and rechecked on the boys. I knew they would wake up sometime during the night and go upstairs to their beds.

I had bought two beds for Clayton's room, knowing Darold would spend many nights over here. Katie had done the same thing for Darold's room.

"Oh," Katie said as we started to head up to bed. "He might not have a fourteen-inch dick, just throwing that out there."

I shook my head.

"Also, all of them don't want to shove their cock up your ass," she smiled.

"I wouldn't mind if he wanted to," I shrugged.

"Whore!" Katie smiled.

"That's queen whore," I smiled back at her.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The next day after I dropped Clayton off to Jacob, I headed to the VA bar across town.

"Woah!" Lyle said as I opened the door.

"I know, not a member," I nodded. "And after what my dad did here, I knew it would be better to come now, before it got busy."

My dad was a lousy drunk, and one night, he came in here spitting words like fake valor and a lot of things that were not good to say about a bunch of military people.

Dad always thought the military was for people that couldn't hack it in the real world. But he consistently voted republican every voting day, rain, sleet or shine.

"Good idea," Lyle said as he looked at the few people in the corner. "What brings you here?"

"Do you know an Andrew, don't know his last name," I said, sitting down at the bar.

"You're going to have to be more specific," Lyle nodded.

"Really tall, black guy, arm tattoos, looks like he can wrestle a bear and win," I said.

"Duke!" Lyle nodded.

"Duke?" I asked.

"His parents are from England, we always call him Duke or some British title," Lyle smiled. "Yeah, he comes in once in a while, just to hang out, doesn't drink, because of," Lyle stopped. "Shelly? You aren't doing what I think you are?"

Before Lyle went to the military, he had heard about my actions in the locker room, and when he returned, he got the full scope of everything I had done while he was gone.

"No, those days are long gone," I nodded.

"Good, Andrew's been through enough," Lyle said as he came around the bar.

"I was hoping you would shed some light on that," I whispered as he sat near me.

"His last tour he and his squad got ambushed, things went sideways fast," Lyle whispered. "Can't give you the details, but needless to say he was the only survivor," Lyle said as he looked at the others.

"Fuck," I said.

Lyle motioned for me to be quiet. "That's not all, he completed the task himself, even after all of that," Lyle said. "The guys around here always stand when he comes in, not one of them stay seated. For someone to complete what he did, by himself, after seeing your squad torn to shreds, that's some deep mental shit."

I nodded. "I didn't hear a thing," I said as I stood up.

"Shelly, if you're being real this time, get him back on his meds, he might not think he needs them, but he does," Lyle said.

I nodded again.

I quickly drove across town and showed up at the Drayson's house. I saw Andrew working on their garage door.

"Hi," I said.

"Hi," Andrew nodded.

I stood still and looked at him.

"I didn't go back to the store," Andrew said as he looked back at me.

"What's going on?" I asked.

I knew Andrew liked being direct, so I was straightforward with him.

"With what exactly?" Andrew said as he turned to face me.

"This," I said as I stared up at him. "Us?"

"I don't know," Andrew shrugged. "Was leaving that up to you."

Andrew picked up another tool and started working on the door again.

"If it's what I think it is, then I need to know things," I said.

Andrew nodded as he put the tool down. "Okay, like what?" he asked.

I grabbed his long sleeve, pulled it up, and looked at the long scar that started at the wrist and went up to his bicep. I pulled on the other arm, and he stopped me.

"Shelly, there are some things best left unsaid," Andrew said as he held my hand.

"Not to me," I said as I stared up at him.

I tiptoed and kissed him. "I am not leaving," I said as I looked at him.

"Fine," Andrew said. "You really want to know?"

"Like I said, not going anywhere," I said, folding my arms.

Andrew told me everything about what they were doing there, what the intel had told them, and that it was supposed to be a walk in the park, get some hostages, and return home.

Everything was wrong, they were ambushed from all sides, and the night turned into day with ammunition fire. They had nowhere to hide and were pinned down.

I didn't bat an eye even though inside, I was bawling. He told me that after the firing stopped, they walked through the bodies of his squad to ensure everyone was dead.

Andrew pulled what was left of his friend over him and lay still. They passed over him. He said he still saw their faces when he went to bed.

Then he got up and went one by one, slowly knocking them off. Rescued the hostages and returned.

His face told it all. As he talked about it, it was like he was back there, his hands trembled, and his face shook.

"Andrew," I said as I held his head. "I'm still here," I smiled. "See, not going anywhere."

He hugged me, and I took his hand. "I will come back and finish up," I nodded at the two old couple standing inside the garage. I am sure they heard everything.

"What are we doing?" Andrew asked as I pulled up to the VA bar.

"Getting you help," I nodded as Lyle came out of the bar.

"I got it," Lyle nodded. Lyle and a few others walked Andrew back inside.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jacob's truck came skidding to a stop as I was back at the Drayson's house.

Jacob climbed down and came over. "You have no clue what you are doing, do you?" he asked as he saw me looking at the garage door.

"Not a fricking clue," I smiled.

"I'll help," he said, taking off his button shirt and throwing it to the ground.

We got to working on the door together.

"You made me proud today," Jacob said as he worked on the door.

"Wasn't my intention," I said as I handed him another tool. "It was the right thing to do."

"He's going to be okay, thanks to you," Jacob said as he looked at me.

"Hope so," I smiled.

We both laughed for a bit. "Who knew the whore of Windsor High School had a soft spot?" Jacob laughed.

"Hey! All of that happened after I graduated," I said, smacking him.

"Uh-huh," Jacob smiled. "Keep telling yourself that," he laughed.