Middle school Valentine's dance, and my oldest son was excited to go.  He didn’t want his dad to chaperone, but he did anyway.  I was sick and asked my ex to stay home with our other two children and me.  He refused to.  I was in so much pain but couldn’t leave my kids alone, and this was the age before cell phones, although I doubt my ex would have come home if I had been able to call.

When my son and ex finally returned home.  I asked him to take me to the emergency room, and he refused.  He said he would stay home with the kids and I could drive myself.

 I thought maybe I had a kidney infection since my mom and one of my sisters had kidney stones.  The first thing I was told was I needed to be checked for STD’s.  I told them I was married, and they said it was procedure.  No kidney infection, no STD, no reason found for the extreme pain.  I was sent home and told to check with my primary doctor.

 What I discovered in hidden notes between my ex, who was a schoolteacher, and his principal was that they were having an affair.  One of her notes said I would rather fuck you than dance with you.  But she had danced with him the night I was sick in plain view of other teachers, parents, and students, and no one knew what they were doing.