Nothing As Cold As Ashes

A cliché riddled flash story. Deal with it.

This work was written on request of a reader to incorporate his theme. To all of the haters out there, if this one didn't ignite your flavor of hate, be patient, there are other stories in the works.

Thanks to all who leave meaningful feedback, and a special thanks to those who email suggestions.

Harry Chapin: "I guess we share the same old dream. Or maybe it's the same old lie. There's only one thing I'm sure of, babe. And that's our time keeps rolling by."

+ + + +

I listened to the audio and stared at the pictures the investigator supplied. He was able to get a useful video. The audio was sickening.

"We have to be more careful. I don't want Ted finding out. He might do something bad to you."

"Oh yeah right. That wimp? Ooooooo I'm so scared of a Walmart assistant manager."

Giggling "Knock it off. I thought I was pregnant and his surprise wedding proposal handed me somebody to take care of the kid. I wasn't pregnant but married him anyway."

"Well he obviously can't keep that pussy or ass of yours satisfied. Get on all fours, I'm doing your ass again."

I've heard some guys get off watching their spouse getting fucked. I'm not one of them. I watched in horror at the video. Who was this woman? She talked and acted like a whore.

"We arrive on Sunday night. You're going to come in Monday night?"

"You got it. I figured he might get suspicious if I was on the same flight as you. We can hook up Tuesday morning. Send him out boating or fishing for the day."

+ + + +

My name is Ted Smallhouse. I married Crystal almost five years ago. We are going to Costa Rica to celebrate our fifth anniversary. I have no desire to spend any more of my life with this slut. We have two kids. My son came along three years ago and my daughter last year. Crystal's parents are going to watch the kids while we travel. Crystal is a very caring and doting mother. These kids are her reason for living.

I guess I'm an underachiever. Although I always earned good grades in school, I'm an assistant manager at a Walmart Superstore. My dad, Howard, owns and runs a bar. It's been an Irish pub setting for as long as I can remember.

My mom was killed in an auto accident. The settlement left for her three children has payouts for each of us when we turn 25, 30, and finally the remainder when we turn 35. Crystal and I went through a lot of the money I received when I turned 25. She's really going to regret that we didn't spend it all.

+ + + +

The barefoot lad ran across the beach towards the cabanas. His t-shirt had seen better days. There were holes in the jeans he was wearing. These were not the jeans with the intentional holes the millennials liked, they were actual wear and tear holes in the knees. The small suitcase he was carrying had several smiley face stickers affixed to the front and back. The lad also carried an envelope with five hundred dollar bills in it.

He paused to locate unit C12 then knocked, softly at first but with increasing intensity. The door swung open and a large man looked down at the lad.

"What do you want?"

"Amigo, senorita wants this. Please give it to her."

The man looked at the suitcase and glanced around. He accepted both the suitcase and envelope from the lad, and then closed his door. He saw the airline's checked bag sticker with Crystal's name on it. 'Whatever' he thought.

+ + + +

On Tuesday morning, with Ted out on his guided fishing trip, Crystal strolled through the courtyard towards cabana C12. She was proud of her deception. Ted was so trusting. Once she had sampled Reggie's cock she was hooked. He wasn't any bigger than Ted. She found out she liked being treated like a slut. Ted would never treat her with anything other than complete respect.

Reggie heard the soft knock and found Crystal wearing a sexy bikini and smiling.

"Morning lover. We've got five hours. Think you're up to the challenge?"

"Only one way to find out. Let's get naked."

There wasn't much foreplay. They'd worry about that later. It had been a week since they last fucked. She'd given Ted all sorts of excuses to avoid sex with him.

She was on her knees with her ass raised high as he slammed his cock into her hot wet pussy. He didn't care whether she got off. He lasted three minutes and emptied his seed into her cavern.

Rolling off so she could use the bathroom he remembered "Some kid dropped your luggage off here earlier. There's an envelope too."

"What? That makes no sense."

While still naked the pair gazed at the contents of the suitcase. Eleven small vials with a white powder in each. There was an empty slot amongst the eleven. Reggie and Crystal each picked up a few of the containers. Crystal opened the envelope and pulled the hundred dollar bills out.

"What the fuck?"

+ + + +

"Yes sir, we saw that young boy hand him an envelope and run away with this container. It just looked suspicious to us, so my husband tried to stop him. The kid panicked, dropped the container, and bolted. The way the container is wrapped we thought it might be drugs so we brought it to you."

"If this is drugs then I'd bet it is cocaine. Do you remember which unit the boy bought this from?"

"C12"

There was no knock. The sound of the frame shattering startled the naked lovers. With commands screamed at them and staring down the barrels of automatic guns, the pair froze. When they looked at each other they could see several red laser dots on the face and chest of their lover. As directed they laid face down on the ground.

+ + + +

I returned from my fishing excursion to my cabana. The damn keycard didn't work. I trudged to the front desk and showed my ID.

"Please wait here sir" cooed the very pretty young lady behind the counter. Her dark eyes and flowing black hair made her smile even prettier.

"Mister Smallhouse, please come with us."

I didn't have a chance to turn to see who was speaking to me. I felt very strong hands grabbing my arms. I didn't resist. They took me to a private room behind the front desk.

"Mister Smallhouse, let me show you a picture. Do you recognize this?"

"I think my wife has some luggage like that. Why do you ask?"

"Where were you today?"

"On the guided fishing tour. I just got back."

"Can someone vouch for you?"

"Definitely. I spent a few hours talking with the owner of the boat. His name was Jaime Rodriquez. I've got my receipt in my wallet."

I fished out the receipt "What's this all about?"

"Your wife was arrested for dealing cocaine."

"No way. You've made a mistake. We don't do drugs and she certainly isn't a dealer."

"I'm confident in my arrest. It's you who seems to be uninformed. Do you know a Mr. Reggie Harmon?"

"Yeah that's someone she works with."

"Crystal and Reggie were arrested in his cabana around 10 am today. They were naked and that suitcase contained the cocaine. We also seized some cash."

I sat digesting what he said "I didn't know."

"Didn't know what Mr. Smallhouse?"

"She was having an affair. You can FUCKING lock her up and throw away the KEY!"

"Calm down Mr. Smallhouse. I think that's all I have for you right now."

The front desk cutie gave me a new keycard. I immediately changed my reservation to return on the first available flight. Howard met me at the airport. We high fived and headed to his bar.

"It was fucking perfect dad. They're locked up in a foreign country. If they piss off the judge they could get twenty years."

"No problems with the police?"

"They didn't tell me I couldn't leave. I'm glad to be out of there. Your guy was worth it. Twenty grand to get rid of a cheating slut. And now I get to make her squirm as she tries to stave off a divorce while locked up behind bars."

"I imagine by now she's been the target of some unwanted attention. And him too!"

We both broke out laughing. Howard has met some pretty shady characters. One was purportedly involved with smuggling drugs using speed boats. Our plan was to put some cocaine in Crystal's luggage and then tip the police on possible drug dealing. I took Crystal's little suitcase with me to the dock on that morning. I placed a few of those smiley face decals on the luggage. As worked out previously, I had an envelope with five thousand in it, and a smaller envelope with five hundred. If this hadn't worked I'd have been out the ten thousand I'd paid to this point. Since it worked I owed another ten grand.

+ + + +

I contacted the divorce lawyer I'd been in touch with before my aborted vacation. He confirmed he would have her served in her jail cell in Costa Rica.

I immediately placed an ad looking for someone to work as a live in nanny. The third woman I interviewed, Heidi, was my age, single, and sterile. She really wanted to be a mother and this seemed like a perfect fit. In less than a week we were sharing my bed and bodily fluids.

I put together two cards with a smiling face decal affixed to the inside of the card. I addressed one to Crystal and the other to Reggie. There was no return address on either envelope. My notation inside was 'Ooooooo I'm so scared of a Walmart assistant manager'.

I was actually looking forward to Crystal's trial. I wanted her to see me smirking in the courtroom. I felt a little trepidation that the police would somehow know I was involved. Common sense won out. I couldn't risk some Podunk detective in a foreign country fucking my slut wife and then pinning the drug shit on me. I had no reason to believe that, but why risk it. I did the next best thing. When I paid the final ten grand, the guy agreed to have the courtroom filled with people holding up smiley face placards. He said it would be a pleasure and there was no charge. I gave him a roll of the Walmart smiley face decals.

I have no idea who was recruited to spoof the police, but they even testified to the supposed drug deal. Crystal and Reggie were convicted and given ten years with no parole. The photos Howard received showed about twenty people in the courtroom holding up smiley face placards.

I put together two cards with a smiling face decal affixed to the inside of the card. I addressed one to Crystal and the other to Reggie. There was no return address on either envelope. My notation inside was 'Ooooooo I'm so scared of a Walmart assistant manager. Did I see smiling face decals on the luggage?'

The divorce was uncontested. We had proof of service and Crystal failed to make any of the court appearances. Obviously I was awarded custody. I was somewhat surprised that Crystal's parents didn't intercede. Perhaps it was Crystal's father who vetoed helping her. He had taken the drug overdose death of Crystal's brother pretty hard.

+ + + +

I moved five hundred miles away to take over as the manager in a small town Walmart. Heidi and I are married and loving life.

At Christmas time I took a photo of myself with Heidi and my kids. I made a copy for Crystal and put a smiley face on the back along with my note.

"Crystal, I hope you are doing well. The kids love Heidi. They call her MOM. You're probably going to have several babies over the next ten years. You might not get to keep any of them either. Merry Christmas."