Read Online Before He Wakes by Jerry Bledsoe - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Jerry Bledsoe
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Barbara’s sexual appetites. “She was tremendously aggressive,” another lover recalled years later. “I thought she was a nymphomaniac to some extent. She wanted to go all night long. It was incredible, like a machine or something.”
Knowing the strain that Larry’s marriage was under, his parents were surprised when they learned before Christmas of 1973 that Barbara was pregnant again. Larry said little about it, and at the time Doris and Henry could only surmise that he and Barbara had worked out their problems.
Larry finished his student teaching just before Christmas and was awarded his degree and teaching certificate in February. He was promised a job teaching in the Randolph County schools starting in the fall. Meanwhile, he had to look for other work, and a far more lucrative opportunity presented itself. He got a job as office manager at Prehler Electrical Insulation Company in High Point, a division of the 3M Corporation. The job turned out to be better than he had hoped. It provided good benefits and paid more than he ever had made, more than he could make teaching. Once again teaching would be put on hold.
Barbara’s second child, Jason Andrew Ford, was born July 27, 1974. He would be her last. After the delivery she underwent a tubal ligation to prevent future pregnancies.
The baby offered no relief from the strain of a faltering marriage. Relations between Larry and Barbara continued to deteriorate. Larry fell into an even glummer mood and remained in it as fall arrived. His parents didn’t know how to help him. One weekend they took him to the mountains, as they had when he was much younger, for a hike along the New River, hoping to revive happy memories. Nothing seemed to help.
The estrangement he felt was redirected into a new-found passion. The year before, he had signed up for tae kwon do lessons taught by Lou Wagner, a financial consultant and fellow Marine reservist. The classes were held weekly at the High Point YWCA. Tae kwon do is a Korean martial art that espouses self-awareness and detachment, and Larry became absorbed in it that fall, drinking in the philosophy and working out hard.
Barbara was directing her passions in different directions.
Butch Hazelwood still came to the bank, still chatted with Barbara, but her coworkers had detected a distance between them since Barbara’s pregnancy. She had not tried to hide the troubles in her marriage, and since she had returned to work following Jason’s birth, her coworkers had noticed that she had become much closer with another of the bank’s customers.
Joe Albright*, who was Barbara’s age, worked for a car dealership and brought his customers to NCNB for loans. Barbara, who had been handling his account for a year, always greeted him with a big smile, was always especially nice to him. After her baby was born, she became even friendlier. Late that summer, he later would claim, Barbara told him that she was separated.
He asked if she would like to come to his house and go for a swim in his pool one afternoon. She accepted, and their swim led to sex on her first visit. After that, Barbara came regularly to his house, sometimes even bringing Bryan with her. Albright was astonished at her sexual hunger.
Her desire, Albright soon realized, was not only for him. Word reached him that he might be treading in dangerous waters. Barbara, he was told, was also involved in an affair with Clement Wilson*, described by those who knew him as a “high roller,” a “big-time operator.” Like Butch Hazelwood, Wilson was eleven years older than Barbara, a man accustomed to getting what he wanted. He had a loan at NCNB, but he came to the bank far more often than was needed to attend to it, and he always ended up talking and laughing with Barbara. Years later, Wilson would deny having an affair with her, saying that he came to the bank frequently because he was selling his business and getting ready to move from High Point, but he wouldn’t
Knowing the strain that Larry’s marriage was under, his parents were surprised when they learned before Christmas of 1973 that Barbara was pregnant again. Larry said little about it, and at the time Doris and Henry could only surmise that he and Barbara had worked out their problems.
Larry finished his student teaching just before Christmas and was awarded his degree and teaching certificate in February. He was promised a job teaching in the Randolph County schools starting in the fall. Meanwhile, he had to look for other work, and a far more lucrative opportunity presented itself. He got a job as office manager at Prehler Electrical Insulation Company in High Point, a division of the 3M Corporation. The job turned out to be better than he had hoped. It provided good benefits and paid more than he ever had made, more than he could make teaching. Once again teaching would be put on hold.
Barbara’s second child, Jason Andrew Ford, was born July 27, 1974. He would be her last. After the delivery she underwent a tubal ligation to prevent future pregnancies.
The baby offered no relief from the strain of a faltering marriage. Relations between Larry and Barbara continued to deteriorate. Larry fell into an even glummer mood and remained in it as fall arrived. His parents didn’t know how to help him. One weekend they took him to the mountains, as they had when he was much younger, for a hike along the New River, hoping to revive happy memories. Nothing seemed to help.
The estrangement he felt was redirected into a new-found passion. The year before, he had signed up for tae kwon do lessons taught by Lou Wagner, a financial consultant and fellow Marine reservist. The classes were held weekly at the High Point YWCA. Tae kwon do is a Korean martial art that espouses self-awareness and detachment, and Larry became absorbed in it that fall, drinking in the philosophy and working out hard.
Barbara was directing her passions in different directions.
Butch Hazelwood still came to the bank, still chatted with Barbara, but her coworkers had detected a distance between them since Barbara’s pregnancy. She had not tried to hide the troubles in her marriage, and since she had returned to work following Jason’s birth, her coworkers had noticed that she had become much closer with another of the bank’s customers.
Joe Albright*, who was Barbara’s age, worked for a car dealership and brought his customers to NCNB for loans. Barbara, who had been handling his account for a year, always greeted him with a big smile, was always especially nice to him. After her baby was born, she became even friendlier. Late that summer, he later would claim, Barbara told him that she was separated.
He asked if she would like to come to his house and go for a swim in his pool one afternoon. She accepted, and their swim led to sex on her first visit. After that, Barbara came regularly to his house, sometimes even bringing Bryan with her. Albright was astonished at her sexual hunger.
Her desire, Albright soon realized, was not only for him. Word reached him that he might be treading in dangerous waters. Barbara, he was told, was also involved in an affair with Clement Wilson*, described by those who knew him as a “high roller,” a “big-time operator.” Like Butch Hazelwood, Wilson was eleven years older than Barbara, a man accustomed to getting what he wanted. He had a loan at NCNB, but he came to the bank far more often than was needed to attend to it, and he always ended up talking and laughing with Barbara. Years later, Wilson would deny having an affair with her, saying that he came to the bank frequently because he was selling his business and getting ready to move from High Point, but he wouldn’t
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