Ok; so, Julie. What about an update on her. Well, I guess the universe was waiting for the final chapter on that one to play itself out before I got around to updating you here. And, boy, what a final chapter. I think the fact that I didn't post before now says a lot about who I felt deep down. On some level I must have known that the relationship was wrong but didn't want to admit it to myself while everyone else around me could see all the warning signs.

But...I'm getting ahead of myself.

When I last mentioned her on here in January she was on her way back from Michigan. I don't recall now our first discussions but she did admit that she had done wrong in the way she handled things and felt very sorry. She said that as soon as she got there she knew she had made a mistake and took this long to see it. We talked for some time and both agreed that we should take it slow.

Most of my point of vew on that had come from one of my sisters. When Julie had called me from the road I called my sister who had been through two abusive relationships. I figured she would have the insight I needed to know where Julie was coming from emotionally and what I could do to make things work the best. My sister advised me to simply remain friends; nothing more than holding hands, in anything, for the first year. She also said, and these words would come back to haunt me, that she is not going to "feel as if she deserves the kind of relationship you are willing to give her". All of it wonderful advice. The only problem is I didn't listen to her.

We did take things slow. I held back more than I usually do; letting her make the first move on a number of fronts and never once used the "L" word. My approach, as it turned out was only half right and would eventually bite me in the ass.

Things were going fine through the spring and I was getting all kinds of unsolicited positive reinforcement of how our relationship was working. Out of the blue she would say how happy she was and how committed to the relationship she was. Her 4 year old, as toddlers will do, started hyphenating my name to "Jack-Daddy" and we both smiled at this. Things were going well.

Or so it seemed.

On one Saturday we attended my company cookout as a family unit and everything was sunny and beautiful. We were both a little tired out on Sunday, so we didn't get together. On that Monday I texted her and she said she was in bed with a bad migraine and that her mother was coming up to help with the girls and there was no need for me to make the trip. Sensible, I thought; and, knowing how bad migraines can be, I let her have her rest. Tuesday, no word. I figured she still needed rest. When I heard nothing on Wednesday, I called her mother to see what she had heard.

"We think you should know what is going on", is how her mother began the conversation.

Apparently, she had met this guy, the son of a neighbor, who had just gotten out of jail and had moved in and been staying there since Monday. I stammered a few words and thanked her for letting me know. I had to see this for myself so as soon as I was done with work I headed to her place. I had no idea what I was getting myself in for and kept trying to talk myself out of it.

"Guy just got out of jail", I thought to myself. "He's her age and probably built. What the fuck am I thinking?! I'm going to confront someone like him? I've never been in a fight....watch his shoulders....if he's going to throw a punch he'll pivot his shoulders ahead of a punch....then DUCK! At least I'd miss the first punch!" All of this rolled through my head as I drove through the rain to get there. Yeah, just for dramatic affect, it was storming!

I pull up and the girls are in the yard playing and one of them says.,"We're getting ready to go out to dinner with mommy's new friend!" Lovely...confirmation.

But, wait!

I walk in and there is a guy sitting on the couch just glaring up at me. Julie come in and pushes me out the door so we can talk. She proceeds to tell me it is the girls' father; he came down unexpectedly for an upcoming birthdays. I asked her why one of the girls said "mommy's friend", to which she responded incredulously and said she'd have to talk to her about that. I stepped back, believing what she was saying and told her to let the dust settle and let me know what was happening about the party the coming weekend.

I kept getting text messages saying how confusing things were and that we would talk soon. Then came the day of the party. They showed up at the park and the entire family and this guy pile out of the van. I immediately notice that Julie has hickeys all over her neck.

The fog begins to lift.

As she is unloading the van she says, "Maybe I should introduce you two."

To hold on to the benefit of the doubt and also give her some rope to hang herself, I say, "Oh, we met at the last Christmas party."

She averts her eyes, "Not really."

We had to get the party set up and as soon as I could I pulled her aside to talk. "I don't know where to start", she said.

"Maybe you can start with that skin condition on your neck!"

That's how most of the conversation went. She would say, "I guess I really fucked up this time" and I would simply respond, "Ya' think?!" She said that we seemed to be settling down too fast. I asked her what part about living to seperate houses two counties apart constituted settling down. I told her how,against all advice from friends, that I was holding out all hope for our relationship. Then she repeated the same words my sister had said months earlier; "I didn't think I deserve the relationship you were giving me". I guess I owe my sister a BIG apology!

The kids were circling and it got more difficult to talk. She then told me that she may be going to jail for 30 days due to some bad checks. I told her that would certainly give her some time to think things out and decide what she wanted. As it grew more and more difficult to talk we agreed to get together later, afte rthe girls had gone to bed. Of course, she blew that off later and, again, I didn't hear from her for days.

In the mean time I decided to do some fact checking. I called the county clerk and found there was no record of her appearing in court. I called the sheriff's office and found there was no current bad check case involving her. So, I finally decided to go to her house to see what was going on.

When I got there she again herded me outside to talk. As we started to talk the Knuckledragger, as I like to call her "new friend", came walking over and stood there glaring at me.

I stopped in mid-sentence with Julie and looked at him, "Excuse us, please, we're talking."

He rolled his shoulders back, set his jaw and deepened his stare, "Excuse you?"

"Yeah, this is between her and me".

"Well, she's with me now".

"Fine, but this is a private conversation between her and me".

"Oh, really",I was watching his shoulders VERY closely, "At the party did you say she was the whore you always knew she was. That she should be with you because your paycheck is bigger than mine. That I just got out of jail and am no good. That she only reason she is with me is because I'm better built than you? Didn't you call her a whore?"

Each statement hit me like a sock in the gut. I'd been in situations in my life when someone had stepped in and took control, set things in motion around me and spread gossip and lies all to have the upper hand. I took a deep breath and decided, not this time.

"Look, pal; first off, I would never call her anything like that. My paycheck ain't all that big. I have no idea why you were and jail, and while I haven't been in for anywhere near as long as you, I was in jail three times; so, I have no place to talk about anyone else ever being in jail. Do I have some issues with my body image? Yes. Do I wish I was built like you? Yes. Most important of all; on the graves of my dead parents, on the souls of these four children and," holding out my hand, "my hand to yours, I would never, ever say any of those things."

As I said each of these truths I watched him melt. The animal rage left his eyes, his shoulders slumped and he took my hand in his. Then, in an almost comical moment, at the exact same synchronized movement we both turned and looked at Julie. She stood there, silent, like a deer in headlights. Before she could stammer an answer a car plowed into the parking lot and she herded the girls inside. The Knuckledragger followed and they stayed inside for a few minuets. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall.

She finally came out and said, "My mother said those things to him after you left."

"Oh, wait!" I said, still keeping a hold on my control of this moment of my life, "That would be your mother, the one who told me the truth about what was going on here?"

"I just know that's what she said."

"Can you ever tell the truth?!"

In righteous indignation she spun around and said, "Of course I can tell the truth!"

That was enough for me for one night. "Look", I said turning for my car, "You have lots of stuff to figure out with him and you have lots of stuff to figure out for yourself. If you ever think you have it all figured out, give me a call".

And I left.

Oh, but wait! While that should be the end of the story there is more! However, my hands are getting tired writing all of this at once. The final installment of Final Chapter:Walking Tall next time.