What She Taught and What She Learned, Part Ii

...At first he said, “It’s okay, babe. I work hard, I deserve my play. For several years he managed it, played to the masses in the pit. They lived the high life, best they could, for a good while it felt good, the party scene, a singer’s arm, a guy who won folks with his charm… But slowly things began to change, the band kept playing on, in vain, no matter all the clubs they played it seemed that they could not get made. No record guy brought them a deal, the internet just did not feel what they were selling, and her Chad came home in moods more and more bad. He slipped away more of the time, drugs a relief that he could find, but Carmena heard more rumors, that he was banging more than her. She’d ignored such thoughts in the past, convinced that she and Chad would last, but singers are a randy breed, always happy to spread their seed. As they both approached their thirties she’d still not had matrimony, Chad just seemed distant when sober, never seemed to have time for her. His band kept replacing people, they played to clubs a quarter-full, bills piled up, most were unpaid, she fought off phone calls everyday. Then one evening Chad just came home, and said, “I want to be alone.” The next morning just shocked her eyes, a groupie, somehow, slipped inside. She saw her lying with her Chad, still reeking from the sex they’d had, could no longer deny her doubts, started screaming at him, “Get out!” He went away, jonsing for hits, and didn’t seem to care one bit, to Carmena’s eyes came real tears, she was thirty, and she was here, abandoned, broke, and past her prime, the man she’d loved proving malign. Was this what feelings brought you too? Did love just leave you lost, and screwed? But then, strangely, she had a thought, and deep in her memory sought that time her parents had brought in young Oliver, she thought of him. He didn’t seem plain anymore, how could she seen him as a bore? Had he done something past the pale, and like her made his whole life fail? She doubted that, she understood that what you want ain’t always good, the stupid her back at eighteen had nothing of the real world seen. She felt if she had listened then she might’ve had more luck with men, at least the ones who’re worth a damn, she went online, armed with a plan. Scanning the social networks she found Oliver, quite easily, better yet he still lived near town, and better still, was not nailed down... CONTINUES IN PART II.