Chapter Ten: Exploding:

I found myself in a trap. I was witnessing my hostess having an affair with another Marine. I know I have cheated before, but I at least had the decency to do it with Andi completely out of the apartment. I have never cheated on her inside while she was asleep in the next room. This… I don’t even want to try and put into nicer words what I thought.

So now, I had a problem. Should I wake Michael up and tell him? But, he seems so excited to be a father. I don’t want to break his heart. But then, another thought crossed my mind. What if the child’s not his?, I thought. I felt my stomach turn. Oh this just keeps getting ugly.

Suddenly, I had the feeling that someone was watching me. I glanced up and saw the Marine’s eyes on me. Oh shit! He saw me. The man tilted his head down to Julie.

“I see you have a little dessert treat for me tonight,” he whispered loudly. Julie paused and turned her head. I pushed my feet to start backing away, but no dice. I felt glued in place. Julie looked as if she had been caught breaking into someone’s house.

“Miho!” she squealed. My jaw just dropped. The horny pervert blinked.

“I’m guessing no?” he asked.

“Shut up,” Julie hissed at him. He put up his hands in response. In a couple of minutes, the three of us sat at the kitchen table. I felt like the parent who caught her daughter having sex in my house with her boyfriend. Julie kept her eyes lowered to the table below her.

“What’s going on here?” I asked. Neither one spoke at first. Julie kept her eyes lowered as she struggled to find an explanation. The Marine grabbed her by the hand.

“I love this woman!” he whispered aloud. I shot him a “shut up dude” glare. I turned back to Julie. I wanted to hear what excuse she had to come up with herself. As an ex-cheater, I used to tell Andi every excuse for my behavior in the book to try and lessen her rage. Let me tell you now; it never works! So what will Julie-san say?

“Is this true?” I asked. Julie didn’t speak for what felt like the longest time. I kept my eyes on her the whole time. Come on, I thought. Say something! Julie shuffled her feet under the table.

“It’s true,” she mumbled. I leaned in closer for a better listen.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “Look up when you talk to someone.” Julie looked up with tears welling up in her eyes. Hm, I’m not feeling so sympathetic as I thought I would.

“Yes, he loves me!” Julie whimpered.

“And?” I asked.

“And what?” she asked.

“Do you love him back?” I asked. She didn’t answer me. Instead, she just pressed her lips together to suppress a whimpered. My stoic face didn’t change. She didn’t run with any clichés or lies so far. It still doesn’t make any sense to me.

“Then what are you doing with Michael?” I asked. Julie started to look down again.

“Keep your eyes on me,” I told her.

“Lay off of her,” the Marine cut in. I shot him another “shut up dude” glare. He complied this time. I turned back to Julie.

“Well,” I said. “Why are you with Michael?” Julie still didn’t speak at first.

“It’s really complicated,” she said at last.

“Try me,” I said. “I have cheated before. It’s just annoying and mess. You might as well just get it out now.” I could hear her exhaling what was left of her dignity.

“I used to love Mickey,” she tried to reason. “We grew about and then I met Keith here.” I didn’t let up on her.

“So?” I asked. “Why not leave Michael for Keith?”

“Life happened,” she said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Michael’s father died last year and I got pregnant,” Julie summed up. “So, I ended up staying with him.” I frowned at her.

“And the baby?” I asked.

“It’s Mickey,” she confessed.

“You sure about that?” I asked. Keith opened his mouth to speak, but I shot him another “shut up” glare. He tightly shut his mouth. I turned back to Julie. She nodded. We all stayed silent. I sat back some.

“You have to tell him,” I said. Julie’s eyes shot wide open.

“What?!?” she cried.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “This is the only way.”

“But… But… I can’t!” Julie pleaded.

“What kind of life do you think you’re going to let your baby into if you keep playing with Michael like this?” I shot back. She went quiet there. The pregnant woman lowered her eyes.

“Can I at least wait until morning?” she whimpered.

“Can you do what now?” I asked. “Look up when you are talking to somebody.” Julie directed her eyes up at me.

“Can I at least tell Mickey in the morning?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “He doesn’t deserve disappointment this time of night.”

“What about me?” Keith asked. I glanced up at him as if I had just remembered that he was there.

“What about you?” I asked.

“Don’t I get a say in this?” he asked. I smiled as I shook my head.

“No,” I said. “In fact, you were just leaving.” Keith looked at me, dumbfounded.

“What?!?” he asked.

“You heard me,” I said. Keith looked over at Julie.

“Go Keith,” she pleaded. The Marine sighed.

“Fine, fine,” he mumbled. He got from the table and headed out through the kitchen. Julie and I watched him.

“Go out the back way,” my hostess whispered to him. Keith nodded and dashed outside. I put my arms behind my head. That did it. I just need to wait and see if Julie here does the right thing in the morning.

Sunrise came and the setting put itself together for the showdown building up in my mind. Michael was in the kitchen cooking breakfast. Sappoto-san and I sat at the kitchen, watching Julie. Her hands were pale and trembling. My traveling buddy leaned in close to my ear.

“What’s wrong with Richards-san?” she asked. I only smiled to myself.

“You’ll see in a minute,” I whispered back. Julie kept looking over at our host in the kitchen. I could only guess what she was feeling at the moment. I knew because I had been there before one too many times. Just tell him, I thought. It will be much easier on both of you. Michael walked into the dining room with a fresh tray of pancakes.

“Morning girls!” he said. “I made your favorite, Julie! Strawberry pancakes.”

“Oooo!” Sappoto-san cheered. My eyes trailed to the pregnant woman. Her lips began to tremble as her face went pale. Julie’s eyes began to well up. Michael noticed her face.

“What’s wrong, baby?” he asked. Julie clinched her fists on the table.

“I have been cheating on you with Keith,” she admitted. There was a long pause of silence. Michael looked at her in a funny way.

“What?” he asked. His girlfriend swallowed in a bitter way.

“I have been cheating on you with Keith,” she repeated. I saw the joy drain from the marine’s face. Oh, this is going to get ugly; I can tell. Michael was fighting to keep it together on the outside.

“This is a joke, right?” he asked. Julie shook her head. Michael’s face dropped as he clenched onto the tray tighter.

“How long?” he asked with gritted teeth.

“I’m so sorry, baby,” she whimpered.

“How long?” Michael asked again, this time a little bit louder. Julie lowered her head.

“Seven months,” she said. Michael dropped the tray onto the floor.

“Seven months?” he asked. “Seven months? Seven months?!?”

“I’m so sorry baby!” Julie cried. Michael stormed over to her. Her grabbed her by the arm.

“Ow! You’re hurting me!” she screamed.

“COME HERE!!!” her boyfriend shouted. Sappoto-san and I watched as they went down the hall. Angry voices and whimpering broke through the peaceful morning air. I turned to a pale-looking Sappoto-san.

“You want to get out of here?” I whispered to her in Japanese. She nodded at me as if her neck was strings.

“Hang on,” I whispered. I quietly disappeared the hall. I have mastered the art of quick packing. This is all thanks to years of taking trips to the beach with my family. That skill will come in handy at the moment. I packed up my bag and snuck some things for Sappoto-san and dashed back down the hall as the fight got louder from the master bedroom.

“IS THE BABY EVEN MINE, YOU WHORE?!?” I heard Michael yelling.

“YES, IT IS!!!” Julie screamed back.

“LIAR!!!” he shouted. I ran all the way back to the dining room. I tossed a bag to Sappoto-san. She caught it in her arms.

“Let’s go,” I whispered. Sappoto-san nodded and leapt up from the table. We rushed out of the house and kept on running. We found our boat right back at the dock where we left it yesterday. I persuaded the guy to untie the boat to let us go. I even had to pay him to do so. Sappoto-san and I got to rest once we were out to sea again.

On the second part of our ride, Sappoto-san looked up at my back.

“Miho-chan,” she spoke up.

“Hm?” I asked.

“What was that all about this morning?” she asked. I pushed my lips together as I flipped the boat to automatic mode. I turned around to her as I breathed out.

“Sappoto-san, my dear,” I said. “Some things should just be left unanswered.” She blinked at me.

“Huh?” she asked. I only shook my head at her.

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