"Gertrude," my only true friend in my former neighborhood, was as old as I am now when we met. ( I am in my early 60's) At the age of 30, Gertrude was married briefly for 6 months. It was such a traumatic experience she never wanted another husband!
"He was handsome with dark curly hair, just like Tony Curtis," she told me. "We dated 2 years. And he treated me like a princess! Anything I wanted was fine with him."
"But didn't you tell me he was another woman's reject?" I asked.
"He was recently divorced and hurting when we met. Because his ex-wife cheated on him. I thought, poor guy. He's so sweet... I remember," Gertrude continued, "Whenever I worked late at the bank, he insisted on picking me up. He was so worried about me coming home alone in the dark."
"So far he does sound like a prince," I said.
"Well he changed into a completely different person after we got married!" she stated with a sniff.
"How soon after?" I was curious to know.
"Immediately after the wedding! He left me inside the car in my gown as he partied in a bar with some other men. He said he'd only be a few minutes. But it was far longer. Then, on our wedding night he told me if I ever got pregnant, he'd take off and I'd never hear from him again!"
"Egads, he was a lowlife!" I exclaimed.
"My parents bought us a nice house as a wedding gift," Gertrude told me. "He was eager to sell it and move to Montana. I said nothing doing, forget it!"
I have seen photos of Gertrude's house up north. It's a beautiful two-story with bay-windows.
"Every time I asked him to go anyplace or do anything with me," she continued, "he'd tell me to do it with a girlfriend. I explained to him that I didn't get married to hang out with girlfriends! And he'd better be careful, or I was going to get a boyfriend just like his ex-wife!"
"Glad you told him that!" I said.
"One night after I worked late at the bank, I came out to the parking lot to discover my car missing! Our new house was only a few blocks away. So I decided to walk and report it stolen from there. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it parked in front of the house! Inside, curly hair was asleep on the sofa."
"I think I would have suffocated him with a pillow!" I told her.
"He claimed he needed the car to meet up with friends earlier. Then he just FORGOT ABOUT ME!" She fumed. "The following Monday, I didn't come home from work. I went straight to my parents house. Then I filed for divorce! -- He was furious!!!
"I'm surprised it took you that long," I said. "The wedding night would have done for me."
"Well he didn't want a divorce! Everything was great as far as he was concerned. And I was a terrible person! He even showed up at my work and created a scene! The police were called to remove him."
"And he was so sweet during the courtship!" I pointed out.
"He got himself an attorney. Then, he demanded my wedding and engagement rings back! Even his own attorney thought that was going too far. -- However, if that's what it took to get him out of my life, I was willing." She sighed.
"Did you ever see or hear from him again?" I asked.
"Just a few years ago, he contacted me. He wanted to meet for lunch. Friends advised me against it. But I was curious."
I know what I would have said to him!
"Actually it was a pleasant lunch. Because I knew we were never getting back together... And that beautiful curly hair was mostly gray. He was sweet, just as during our long ago courtship."
"Today I was going to give you your rings back," he cooed as he took my hand. "But I lost them."
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