Vic's Story, part 4...

When we last left our intrepid hero, Vic and M were finally legally separating, he was dating a fellow police officer, and he was getting ready to look for a place to live. Vic and his little woman in blue, otherwise known as Cheryl the Psycho Bitch from Hell, had gone out to eat one night and he was talking about needing to spend his upcoming day off looking at rental places. The Psycho Bitch from Hell or PBH for short batted her eyes at him and said "Since we've been getting serious and have been dating for a while, I thought maybe you'd like to move in with me. After all, I own my house." Now Vic, even though he'd deny it, is a hopeless romantic at heart and when he invests in a relationship he doesn't hold anything back. So, the next few weeks were spent preparing to move in with PBH. Vic decided that since he and PBH would be starting their life together that they should start it with some new things for the house. Vic bought a new bedroom suite and a kick ass stereo system for the house. PBH even talked him into cosigning on a loan for a brand new Mustang for her to drive. Move in day came and that's when PBH started showing her true colors. When Vic got there, PBH announced "I'm not quite sure I'm ready for this. Why don't you move into the room down the hall?" So there Vic was. He had a place to live with a backyard for his dog and was relegated to the spare bedroom with the second hand furniture while PBH enjoyed the new furniture in her room. But, Vic still took her statement at face value...she wasn't ready YET. They continued going out, having fun, and he continued taking care of her and paying for all kinds of things when she screwed up her money. PBH helped herself to Vic's credit cards whenever she felt the need. PBH definitely had a sweet deal going.

A few months later, PBH got injured during physical fitness at work. Because of typical workman's comp bullshit, there were questions about whether the injury was covered and, if it was covered, how much they would pay. Despite the sudden cut in PBH's income, the household still had bills to pay. So, Vic stepped up. He was working full time as a firefighter (when Chapel Hill split the PD and Fire Department, Vic went with firefighting) and was putting in full time hours at his normal part time job, 911 dispatcher. The poor man was working his ass off to make sure the bill were paid. Mean while, PBH was recovering from her injury and started running all over the place with friends while Vic was at work. Sure, they still managed an occasional night out or an occasional dinner in together but she was out having fun while he was working. One evening, Vic finally got home to spend a quite night in, just hanging out with PBH. PBH had another agenda planned. Vic was greeted with the pronouncement "You are gone too often. We don't ever get to spend time together anymore." He was kind of dumbstruck. PBH knew he was working to cover the bills. She continued "I can't stand not having someone around so I've gone back to my ex-lover and her name is Amy." Vic was stunned. He'd given PBH everything. He thought they were trying to build something together. He just couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that she was so upset about him working extra FOR HER that she went back to her ex.

This started a spiral that Vic almost didn't recover from. His first two wives had left him for other men. His current significant other left him for a woman. If you thought he was burnt out and cynical after his second marriage broke down, well honey you haven't seen anything yet. He drank too much. He smoked way to damned much. And, he never went to bed without his gun on his bedside. Vic was definitely at the bottom of that deep, dark pit known as depression.

To Be Continued...