Oh, I forgot to mention that on May 19, she had sent him a birthday card, which he told me about. It was one of his last few reliable actions before Part II.

By June 22, I was well along in my thoughts of organizing another Plan B. One of my posts mentioned that AJ was very upset that I was trying to get on birth control pills, apparently not liking the idea that then I could do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. Well, that is how it was supposed to work. He must have thought the whatever and whenever might also include whoever. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

Upon checking the call details for his phone, thoughtfully provided by the phone company, I was able to see a pattern. There would be a short, 1 or 2 minute call to Gargamel, followed immediately by an incoming call from a blocked number, which would last for much longer. Of course I knew it was her, but AJ later confirmed that she simply dialed *67, rather than getting a whole new blocked phone.

Several days after the first incident, he also tried to 'show' me how his phone could accidentally scroll down through the list, then if a certain number was bumped, it would make the call.

I asked him to show me how to block numbers. (No reason he should be comfortable, right?) He pushed buttons around randomly for a minute before saying that he just couldn't remember, and had to get to work anyway.

As at the first confrontation, he denied having EVER spoken to her since Cinco de Mayo.

When I looked more closely at his phone, I found that it actually did call numbers if that button was pushed, but the only list it would scroll through was the list of numbers he had recently called. Even though I didn't need it, I had enough proof to satisfy the most demanding critic.

Over the 23rd and 24th I wrote more letters that were scrapped by the pros. TMI, the curse of every writer! The unanimous advice was to keep it very short, and maybe include a couple of Bible verses.

The morning of the 24th I indicated that I intended to talk to AJ that night. It is too much water under the bridge, and I can't remember why I didn't. I am guessing that because of whatever happened, I was going to wait until he had a day off, when there would be time to sit down for a while. Who knows? I can guarantee I wasn't dragging my feet without a very good reason.

What I do remember is that certain events necessitated moving a little more quickly.


A smooth sea never made a skilled mariner.
~ English proverb



Neak's Story