Read Online An Absence of Principal by Jimmy Patterson - Free Book Online

mostly unsuccessful and he hadn’t rested well since he had become involved in the buying and selling of drugs.
    Buying and selling drugs. He still couldn’t believe he had fallen this far.
    The words played over and over in his mind, keeping him from sleep at night and keeping him nervous and restless during the day. His confrontation with Tony Nail hadn’t helped matters. Ben still felt an overwhelming sense that his life was caving in around him. Sometimes it was hard to pinpoint what was worse: The gambling. The sordid secretary sex. The impending failure of his marriage. His sudden decision to become involved in drug trafficking to try to make ends meet. Or all of it. Probably all of it.
    Ben tossed and turned to the sound of another Rangers’ baseball loss on TV. His slumber was interrupted by Angela.
    “Ben? Ben … wake up! Now!”
    He could tell from the sound of her voice she was troubled. Not just troubled, but mad. Really mad. As he approached consciousness he began to wonder what terrible aspect of his new life she had discovered now. Was it his new side job? His lover? Or did she somehow come across his gambling debts?
    “Sit up, Ben, we gotta talk,” Angela said.
    Oh brother, he thought. This can’t be good. It never had been good whenever Angela demanded they talk.
    “Ben, listen to me: Tawny answered the phone today. It was a woman asking for you. She recognized the number. It was Shanna. Why would she call you on the weekend, Ben? Are you having an affair?”
    “Say what?”
    “Are you sleeping with Shanna?” Angela asked. “Your secretary?”
    “Are you crazy?” Doggett said
    “Shanna never calls you on your cell phone from her cell phone. On the weekend. You’re gone all the time, at weird times. You don’t have any explanation for where you’ve been, you don’t go where you say you’re going, and … “
    “I would never sleep around on you, Angela. I can’t believe you would think so little of me,” Ben butted in.
    “ — and the emails, Ben. I found the emails you two have been sending each other. How you wanna try to explain these?”
    Angela threw a stack of fifty emails at her husband. He read over the evidence she had collected, but he didn’t have to; didn’t want to. He knew what they all said. In fact, just looking at them was painful, especially with Angela sitting right in front of him. Ben was busted. He searched the depths of his mind trying to figure out what he would say to her when he finally finished pretending as though he was reading them.
    Because he could think of nothing, he wisely chose to say nothing.
    Tears formed and spilled out of Angela’s eyes.
     
     
    “I want you out of here in an hour,” she said. “Take all your stuff with you and just get out. Act like you’re never coming back because right now, that’s how soon it’ll be before I’d ever think about letting your sorry butt in my home again. I can’t believe you would do this to our marriage. It makes me sick. You make me sick! I’m gonna leave here and go across the street to JoDelle’s and in one hour I’m gonna look out that window, and you better be out of here. You better get going. You’re wasting time.”
    Doggett could say nothing. He had no defense. None. He felt completely helpless and as low as he had ever been in his life.
    He walked down the hallway and passed his daughter. She said nothing. She didn’t have to. The look of disgust on her face said it all.
    Doggett walked into his bedroom, and began to pack his suitcase.
    “How could you be so stupid?” he heard the question come from behind him. It was Britton. “How could you pull apart our family like this?” his son asked.
    “I’m sorry,” Doggett finally said
    “That’s crap. You’re sorry you got caught. Just get out and stay away from Mom. Me and Tawny, we’ll keep you away from her.”

An hour later Ben had packed a bag and said his goodbyes, or whatever they amounted to. It was obvious Tawny and