Grave Digger

The food menu was heavy hors d'oeuvres but that's not the only thing was going to be served up.

The waiters had a hard time keeping all the glasses of Champagne and wine full. Rolando spent a lot of time with the ladies in their low-cut evening gowns. He hoped he could add a couple of new conquests before he left town with Carol in a couple of days. He also was looking forward to the verbal humiliation he was going to heap on that stupid ditch digger tonight.

The last items on the agenda included some comments by Carol, comments by Rolando, unveiling of the draped portrait on the main wall and then requests for continued funding for the Art's Commission. Gabe knew the schedule except for the portrait being unveiled.

He stationed himself near the front but to the side of the small podium that Carol would speak from. Carol always publicly thanked him for supporting her, he wondered if she would say that this year.

Carol concluded her remarks without recognizing Gabe. Rolando effused about all the wonderful people he had met and that would remain forever in his heart.

Carol and Rolando grabbed the corners of the veiled portrait as she told the crowd "Now, for the finale of our year with the artist Rolando Ramirez an original painting. They slowly pulled the cover off. At first there was gasps and whispers as patrons recognized the subject. Slight applause was followed by "Bravo, wonderful, excellent"

Rolando made sure he stepped to the limelight in front of the portrait and said "This is one of the most beautiful subjects I have ever HAD. (greatly emphasizing HAD to create double entendre)

"I want to thank her ACCEPTING husband Gabriel for letting me USE his wife for the past month. She was such a WILLING subject and would OBEY my EVERY suggestion. I will now GIVE HER BACK to the guy she calls her husband. Thank you."

At this point all eyes were on Gabe for the obvious implications of the relationship Rolando had with his wife. Was this mountain of a man that much of a cuckold?

While Rolando turned to bow to a tall blond who he had targeted for later that night, Gabe grabbed the microphone away from Rolando.

He stepped forward and said "Isn't he a fun guy to be around, always teasing and always doing or saying something outrageous. I call him my favorite little SPANIEL, just a silly guy."

Some people caught that he used the word Spaniel instead of Spaniard. Was he calling Rolando a dog to his face? They thought this is may be interesting.

"Our favorite Spaniel did not get to thank many of the local people that helped create this masterpiece. First off, I need to thank Best Buy for providing the app that allows a guy like Ro to convert a photo into the "paint by the number" format. Carol gave him a photo of herself that I took earlier this year. It really saved Carol a lot of time by not having to lay naked on a couch. Thanks to Bob at Tractor Supply who donated a piece of canvas to imprint the app on so Ro could paint it."

By this time the crowd had gotten into Gabe's patter and were dying of laughter. They had never seen anything like it from of this guy. He was funnier than hell with his dry wit. The more he talked the funnier it was.

Continuing he said "Mid-West Ace Hardware supplied all the paint for the "paint by numbers" portion. This was the only time that Ro and Carol had a disagreement. Ro wanted to use nipple pink but Carol demanded the more exotic areola rose. Of course, just like at our house Carol won the argument."

By this time men were bent over with laughter while the wives had handkerchiefs to their eyes so not to ruin their makeup.

When laughter died done a bit, Gabe started up again "Of course Ro did not use the whole gallon of areola rose so we are going to auction the remainder later this evening. Ladies, if you want to increase the libido in your bedroom, please consider an accent wall of areola rose to get your husband in the mood."

Howling laughter again stopped whatever Gabe was going to say next. Carol was actually smiling at him, glad that he was not having a volcanic fit of anger at her. Rolando was the one who was beside himself with anger. His face was red, his dark eyes were boring a hole in Gabe's back.

It took a few moments to quiet down as Gabe held up his hands to quiet the crowd. "All laughter aside, I want you to realize the amount of commitment Carol has to this organization. Just like Lady Godiva, this portrait displays total dedication to her cause. That is to remind people that we need the arts to complete ourselves. So, as you consider your generous donations for this coming year, please look at the portrait not as a beautiful woman, but as someone who really cares and is willing to put herself out for the cause. Carol Martin Digger please step up and let us thank you for pushing the envelope for a great cause."

At this point Carol stepped in front of the podium but was too overwhelmed to speak and choked up by love in her heart for her man. She bowed as the entire audience roared their approval. She lip synced the words "Thank you, thank you to the crowd and "I love you." to Gabe.

Still holding the microphone Gabe said "Now that your hearts have been opened, please open up your wallets to keep this great organization a jewel in our community. To start this off Grave Diggers Inc, will contribute $10,000 to our Art's Commission tonight. And thank all of you for your work and care for this organization. No matter how large or small it is, it is appreciated."

"Thank you for all you do and keep in mind: For all your cemetery needs, please remember Grave Digger Inc."

Once more the crowd roared at what the big quiet man had to say.

Gabe laid the microphone down, turned to Carol, gave her a kiss and said "You look lovely in that portrait."

"Thank you for what you said to the patrons."

With that, patrons came to Carol with checks and commitments to keep the Art's Commission a vibrant organization. Gabe walked away to get a drink and was approached by Rolando who offered his hand to Gabe and growled "I'm returning your used wife to you now. I spent a lot of time with your wife nude, sometimes painting, sometimes fucking."

Gabe smiled and said "Well if you did fuck her, I doubt she would remember it as small as your dick is. She's used to much larger, stronger and long lasting one than what you have to offer."

Rolando could not take that direct slur and swung his left hand to hit Gabe's face. Gabe saw it coming and clamped down hard on Rolando's right hand, making him crumple in pain. His left hand did not touch Gabe, so he stumbled off to find an ice bucket.

Gabe had been home for a while when Carol came roaring into the house. With flaming eyes, she said "Big strong guy like you afraid of being slapped by a frail artist. You're just a bully and you took advantage of your strength."

Gabe tried to hold her and explain but she snarled "Leave me alone, I have to pack for my trip"

"That's not going to happen." He left the room as a shoe flew by his head.

On Thursday afternoon he saw on Rolando's locator he was at the warehouse while Carol's was at her office. He thought it was time to pay the artist a visit. Rolando was walking out of the warehouse with his briefcase when Gabe slugged him in the stomach. He carried the gasping painter to his truck as if he was sick, zip ties were put on his hands and feet then he was shoved to the floor. Gabe saw the FedEx box that contained Carol's portrait that was ready to be shipped to New York, he picked up both the portrait and the stranded briefcase.

Once he gained his breath, Rolando started to berate Gabe but a sharp slap to the face restored the silence. At their farm Gabe carried Rolando by the belt like a suitcase to one of the recently dug holes. Rolando was once again cursing him but Gabe completely ignored him. Instead, he threw him head first into the grave.

All of a sudden Rolando's voice and tenor changed. Unknown to Gabe, Rolando was claustrophobic. He was now whimpering and crying like a baby to be in such small confines. There was a wood railing all around the bottom of the grave that Gabe put a 1/2 inch thick sheet of plywood on. It covered all of Rolando except his face. Gabe crawled into the hole, sat on the plywood and looked at the weeping artist.

The large man said "My wife is my life. If she leaves me, I have no reason to live. To prevent me from dying you are going to have to die."

This set off all kinds of wailing by Rolando.

When Rolando quietened down Gabe said "You have six foot by three foot by two foot less your body, of air supply. This should last you about a week. Here are two bottles of water, that should last you a week. I have taken off your watch so you have no way of telling time. You'll be in pitch black the entire time, wondering when the air will run out. Or when you will die of thirst or maybe die of starvation. Doesn't matter, you will die in this hole. A hole that is in a cow pen and these animals will shit and piss on your grave until your bones turn to dust."

He let that sink in for a few minutes then said "Do you know why you're to die like this?"

Rolando whimpered "No, I never fucked Carol, never got close."

Gabe laid a trap by saying "You mean she was only going to set up your one person show at The Met?" Nothing else? No sex?"

Rolando said "There was no exhibit at the Met. I thought if I got her out of these back woods shit hole into the vibrance of The City I could fuck her. She has too much sophistication to be wasting her life here."

Gabe snarled "And ruin my marriage and my life like you have so many others, casually going around destroying good people. How many marriages have you broken up in your life? How many men have lost the love of their life to your seduction of their wife? Those men lie awake at night and wonder "Why?". Children losing parents to separation, divorce, poverty and despair. You have destroyed so many lives with no regard for others. I know that murder is a mortal sin. I hope the Good Lord forgives me for your murder in exchange for of all the lives I will save by your death. What a sad situation."

Gabe put a precut plexiglass sheet on the makeshift coffin to cover Rolando's head and shoulders as he started to shovel dirt onto the plywood. When there was three feet of dirt on the plywood Gabe lifted up the plexiglass to look at Rolando's face one last time. Gabe was met with the stench of Rolando pissing and shitting himself from fear. He said "You caused this. You." Then he shoveled dirt onto the plexiglass covering his face. Unknown to Rolando, Gabe put a 2" PVC pipe near his feet to make sure he did not die of suffocation. It took another foot of dirt before he could not hear Rolando's screaming. He was laughing as he walked back to his truck.

Happily he thought "That's scaring the shit out of him. I'll go back sometime Saturday, dig him back up and tell him to never come back. If that doesn't cure him of destroying marriages for his personal pleasure, I'm sure some despondent husband will kill him."

He giggled and laughed as the locator on Carol's car went back and forth to the warehouse and to his apartment, apparently trying to find Rolando. Funny he thought, when she gets home tonight, he'll be right under her nose.

Gabe was in a good mood that evening and disregarded any snide remarks by his wife. It appeared to him she was wanting to fight with him to justify her going to New York. She even mentioned Rolando's name a couple of times but she could not draw a cross word out of him.

Surely, she thought her husband still cares for her and wants her back. Maybe he's doesn't want me back if I have sex with Rolando. What if her rejection of his strongest feelings is enough for him to no longer care for her? She really did love him but wanted to go to New York. She had no plans to have sex with the Spaniard, but it might happen because of his charm. They did spend a lot of time naked with each other and sometimes she was aroused by him.

She was concerned that she had not talked to Rolando since lunch, he said they were going over travel plans that afternoon.

Friday morning after kissing the Kim and Kerry good bye, she asked Gabe to take her bags downstairs and to the car.

"No need, you're not going anywhere." He replied.

Disgustedly she grabbed the handle and dragged each suitcase down the wooden suitcase by herself, making as much noise and scratches as possible. It took her several trips but she was finally loaded and went back into the house.

She walked up to him as he was refilling his coffee cup and said in a very dead pan manner "Goodbye, I'll see you when I get back. I love you."

He held her arm and said "Remember I have always and I mean always, loved you and only you. Everything I do is for you. Please don't forget that. We complete each other." He had a tear in his eye as she kissed him, then walked away.

Here came the hardest task for Gabe, he was going to go through Rolando's cell phone and laptop to research correspondence between his wife and the Spaniel. He only looked for her calls or texts on the cell phone, he didn't care about any other conversations. A small booklet of passwords fell out of the laptop case, making his job easier. Neither the texts or emails disclosed any sexual activity nor any flirting with Carol. There was however, a running conversation with someone listed as X1X, no name, just X1X that intrigued him.

What he read chilled him to the bone. X1X asked him: "What is the plan for this girl you got knocked up down there?"

His response was "I'll bring her to New York, put her in the house and wait until the kid is born. The slut is very good looking and we can sell the baby for at least $15,000. We'll let the girl heal up a week or two then we can either put her in the porno stable or sell her outright to Africa or the Middle East. Twenty year old natural blonds can bring us at least $45,000.

X1X emailed: What's the plan on this Carol bitch?

Rolando emailed: This is a personal vendetta. I am going to fuck her until she can't stand, then send the videos to her cuckold husband. She is perfect for the MILF/BBC video trade. We can keep her drugged up for about six months doing at a couple gangbangs a day, then we drop her as no one wants to see a big dick in an even bigger sloppy pussy. Of course, hubby will get the full collection of videos. That is when I send her back to hubby, but not before I have her tattooed with "Fucked by Rolando" on both front and back.

Gabe went wild "My God what a horrible person. How many mothers cry themselves to sleep at night worried that her daughter is now a sex slave. There is no way he can be allowed to continue this type of decadence."

In a rage shouted into the PVC air tube "You demented devil; you think you are going to do that to my wife. You will die a long slow death on your way to hell. He pulled out the air tube, completed the filling of the hole and scattered the combination of dust and dried cow shit over the grave to make it look undisturbed. He copied the incriminating email about Carol and brought the computer and cell phone to the local sheriff for transferal to the FBI. After review of the horrible emails the sheriff asked if Carol and Cloe knew of their plans.

Solemnly Gabe said "No, I think it would be best if you contacted both of them."

Late that afternoon Carol dejectedly drove into their yard, her plans were blown to bits. Both Rolando and her trip to New York had vanished. The sheriff showed her what that despicable Rolando had planned for her and Cloe. She could not believe he could be so cold heartedly evil. She knew that Gabe had been right the entire time, she had ignored and berated him for his opinion.

As she parked her car, she saw a change in the yard, one of the holes in the cattle pen was filled in, just like it had never been there. She thought it odd but she needed to go to their home and make up with Gabe. As she looked toward the house, she saw the shadowy frame of Gabe in the doorway, the large man loomed ominously in the evening light. The giant did not wave to her but turned and walked back into the house, out of sight.

The house was quiet as she entered, too quiet. She took a few steps and saw Gabe sitting in his office, drinking a scotch, wordlessly looking at her. Then she saw it, the portrait, her portrait, on the wall in Gabe's office. Rolando was to ship that to New York today. Why does Gabe have it?

Then her hazy confused brain started to have some clarity. She looked at the filled in hole, or is it a grave. Who's grave? There's only one person missing, Rolando. Then she turned to Gabe and her portrait on her wall, back and forth her head spun between the variables in this equation. Suddenly it was crystal clear Rolando was buried in the cow pen, how demeaning.

Wild panic swept in; "Who's to be buried in the other grave? There's no one left in this shit storm but me. Am I going to disappear in the grave next to Rolando? Did he think I had sex with Rolando and now I am to disappear?

She cried as she hugged his chest and said "Oh My God! I have been so wrong about Rolando, I never had sex with him. You know that don't you? Cheating on you would be the last thing I would ever do."

Solemnly he said "That's right Carol, it would be."

EPILOGUE

The FBI used Rolando's cell phone and computer to capture and incarcerate the deviants that had created the sex trafficking operation. They could not locate Rolando and surmised he had gone "underground".

Carol's portrait remained in Gabe's office; however, the door was usually locked, preventing Kim and Kerry's friends from admiring Carol's portrait.

The Art's Commission used the generous gifts from the gala to plan a larger children's program for the next year. The priority will be to use local talent rather than utilize the Traveling Artist program.

Carol and Gabe didn't go in to work the next day; they needed to reconnect and refresh after a very troubling week. Gabe filled in the empty grave and hid a camera to see if Carol would go to the pen, she never went anywhere close to it.

A week later Gabe and Carol left for a few days in New York City, hiring a doshen for a two-day private tour of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Carol later fondly referred to it as their "second honeymoon".