His next call was to one of the few people he considered a true friend and who, he was sure, hadn’t either fucked his wife or tried to fuck her. Jimmy Brown knew he could trust him because he was one of the few people in Uranus who knew that his friend was gay; a secret he would never divulge to anyone. He asked him to keep an eye on things for him.
His friend understood what Jimmy Brown meant and agreed to do so. He also told him of my contribution to Friday night’s performance.
His third call was to me. He thanked me for speaking on his behalf and for defending him in a way that he would never have been able to do himself. He also thanked me for putting the wind up them. He said he’d been wracking his brain trying to work out how to exact revenge on those who had been cuckolding him for what he now realised had been many years.
“I wasn’t planning on ever returning to Uranus,” he said. “But now, it might be worth my while to pop my head up from time to time, just to keep them on their toes. I’ve asked a trusted friend to keep an eye on things down there. He’ll let me know when one of them either dies or is injured. That will be a good time for me to either send a card or show my face. Thank you.”
Before we finished talking, he asked my advice on a few financial matters. Never having gone through a divorce, myself, I gave him a few tips based on what I considered to be common sense. I suggested that he take half of what was in any joint accounts they might have and that he do the same with any money he might have in a savings account. I also suggested that he cancelled any credit cards he might have that Marleen could access.
My third recommendation was that he set up a new account — in another bank — to have his final pay deposited into. I also referred him to a lawyer friend in the nearby city of Warwick, who could help him with any information relating to a divorce.
Finally, I gave him the phone number of a friend who lived close to where he was presently located who might be able to put him onto a bit of work to tide him over until things settled down. I told him that my friend also had a property on the shores of the lake and would probably be happy to have someone trustworthy living on the place to look after it.
I told him to call me if I could help him with anything else. Apart from receiving a text that same afternoon, providing the details of his new bank account to be passed on to the council’s payroll officer, I never heard from him again.
Most of the information I’ve recounted — apart from those things that were discussed during our direct contact — I didn’t learn until much later.
—oooBJSooo—
As I’d promised my prick of a boss on Friday night, I dropped my resignation letter on his desk as soon as I arrived at work on Monday morning. Just to be on the safe side, I had a second signed copy ready to deliver to my employer’s Human Resouces Manager. As the council’s General Manager of Business and Financial Services, human resources fell under my control.