Chapter 14

HOW MANY TIMES DID YOU MAKE MY WIFE...?

Judy and I were married in a simple civil ceremony with only Odell and Mrs. Criswell in attendance. Neither of us wanted a lot of hoopla, with well-meaning friends offering a lot of unwelcome advice. We wanted to start our marriage simple and uncluttered, and work up from there.

Richfield buzzed for a week about Estelle Brown walking out on Odell and taking the children with her. It came as a tremendous blow to Odell, who was given no warning until the day she left.

I went to see him that evening. He had been drinking. "Why did she walk out like that ... without giving me a second chance? I know as a lover I've been a flop, but don't the other things, count for something?" He buried his face in his hands and began to cry. He was a very lonely, dejected figure.

"Odell, would you like Judy and me to come and stay with you for awhile," I suggested.

He looked up at me with tear-stained, bloodshot eyes, then reached out for my hand and gripped it firmly. "Oh, kid, would you do that for me? This house is so big ... and without the kids ... and without Estelle ... well, I just don't think I could stay here alone. I'd go nuts."

Judy and I moved into Odell Brown's house, taking the back part of the house on the first floor for our own private use. Odell moped around for about two-weeks. He got very drunk every night and I generally had to pick him up off the floor and carry him to his bed. I was glad to do it. At last I was paying my debt to Odell.

Then one morning I got up and found Odell already up, shaven and making breakfast. "Today my boy," he announced with his old enthusiasm, we will begin your story."

After we had breakfast, we sat at the table discussing the project while we sipped a second cup of coffee. Judy was in the kitchen doing the dishes.

"Odell," I said, "why are you so interested in this particular project ... my story?"

"Only by doing your personal confessions can I arrive at the truth," he answered.

"The truth about what?"

"How many times did you go to bed with my wife?"

We looked at each other and we both started to chuckle.