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Roy and John soon found themselves at Roy's house, talking over cups of coffee.

"Where did it all go?" Roy sighed. "Tell me where Jo and I went wrong."

"I wish I knew, Pally." Johnny replied. "I'm still wondering where Angie and I went wrong."

"You mean?" Roy gasped.

"Afraid so." Johnny admitted. "We lasted all of three months. Three damn months!"

"Johnny, you two were so in love when you married!" Roy cried. "What the hell happened?"

"I guess we were married too fast." Johnny told his friend.

"The marriage was arranged, right?" Roy cut in.

"Yeah, when we were children on the reservation as is tradition in my tribe." John replied. "There was a difference in age, maybe that was the problem."

"How old is she?" Roy asked, sipping his coffee,

"Eighteen." Johnny replied. "How could my people expect an eighteen year old girl to have anything in common with a man twelve years older?"

"That is a huge age difference to deal with." Roy agreed. "You're a man who knows where's he's going. She's a girl, just starting out. You two would have nothing in common."

"We didn't." Johnny sniffed. "Tribal tradition dictates that once a girl is married, she spends the rest of her life tending to her husband's every need."

"Kinda sexist, isn't it?" Roy asked. "No man these days chains his wife to the stove."

"That's the way Angie was taught by her mother and father. I on the other hand, was raised to believe that a woman should be an equal, not a servant to a man." Johnny replied. "I don't want
someone who attends to my every wish! That's not marriage, that's slavery!"

"What else happened?" Roy asked.

"Roy, she wanted me to make love to her!" Johnny exclaimed.

"So? That's what newly married folk do." Roy shot back.

"Roy, what thirty year old man sleeps with an eighteen year old girl?!" Johnny yelled. "The very thought of that is repulsive to me!"

"Me too. So, what'd you do?" Roy inquired.

"I told her on our wedding night that until she was twenty-one, I wouldn't even share a bed with her. She broke down crying. Roy, was I wrong to do that?"
___________________________________________________

"Johnny, I can't advise you cause I know nothing of your tribe or it's traditions." Roy replied. "I can tell you of what happened in my own marriage. It all started when Joanne got it into her
head that she wanted to work outside the home.....

____________________________________________

FLASHBACK TO SIX MONTHS EARLIER.......

"Roy, I want to get a job." Joanne DeSoto stammered, fearing her husband's reaction.

"Honey, why? Don't I take care of you and the kids?" Roy asked. "The kids need their mother at home."

"Our kids aren't little anymore." Jo argued. "They can fend for themselves for a few hours each day."

"Jo, I don't want our kids left here alone! Teenagers left unsupervised will only find trouble!" Roy argued. "Honey, my paycheck covers our needs! You don't have to work!"

"Roy, I want to work! Cleaning house doesn't come with a paycheck! I worked before we were married!"

"But the kids weren't here then!" Roy yelled.

"Are you sexist, Royal DeSoto?" Joanne challenged.

"No," Roy stammered. "I just want what's best for my kids!"

"They are my kids too, Roy!" Joanne reminded her husband. "Roy, you're not king of the castle here! Roy, this is our house and our family! Roy, I'm getting a job, whether you like it or not! I'm not gonna spend the rest of my life as a housewife! Look what happened to Molly when Dick died!"

Roy paled at those words.

"You don't trust me to take care of you?" A hurt Roy whispered.

"Roy, what if something happened to you like it did Dick?" Jo answered. "Honey, what would I do if you died in the line of duty? What would the kids and I do?"

Roy just turned and walked toward the front door.

"Roy, talk to me!" Joanne pleaded.

"Why? In your eyes, I'm not a man! I'm just that dumb kid you married! You think I can't give you and the kids all you need!" Roy quietly sobbed.

"Honey, I never said that." Jo said. "I just think we need to be prepared in case the unthinkable happens."

"Jo, just don't!" Roy sobbed. "Go ahead and get your damn job! You don't need me!"

Joanne watched as her husband walked out.

"When you're ready to be a wife, let me know! I'll be back for my stuff later!" Roy sobbed, the slammed the door behind him as Jo cried.

______________

PRESENT TIME........

"Johnny, I just believed that Joanne's duty was to me and our kids." Roy sighed. "I think a woman's role when she brings children into the world is that of wife and mother."

"Roy, I'm sorry, but I disagree." Johnny replied. "I think if a woman wants to work, she should."

"Even if there are two kids that need her?" A disbelieving Roy asked.

"Roy, your kids aren't little anymore!" Johnny argued. "They are at the age where they should start fending for themselves. Roy, why shouldn't Jo want something for herself outside of
you and the kids? Why couldn't you do some of the housework and child care? It wasn't fair that Jo had to do everything at home!"

"Are you saying you'd help out at home?" Roy asked.

"You bet I would!" John replied. "I would not have the high and mighty attitude you seem to! Roy, I'd do my fair share! I wouldn't leave my wife to do it all!"

"Johnny, The man should be the breadwinner!" Roy argued. "Any wife that loves her man would stay at home and care for his kids and the home! It's the proper thing to do!"

"Roy, come out of the 1950's and into the 1980's!" Johnny said. "Alot of women are balancing jobs and families and they do okay!"

"But they're not Joanne and I though!" Roy yelled. "When I was a boy, I swore that when I grew up and got married, that my wife wouldn't have to work and she'd want for nothing!"

"Roy, every man dreams of that, I did! I finally faced reality when I married Angie." Johnny told him. "I realized that a wife wasn't my property or my possession and that I had no right to tell her what to do or how to behave. A man does not try to own any woman, instead he tries to love her."

"I wasn't trying to own Joanne." Roy replied. "I was trying to make sure that our kids were the first priority."

"Roy, your heart was in the right place, but your mouth wasn't. You were trying to play king of the castle and Joanne didn't want that! She just wanted to be able to do something on her own, is that so wrong?"

"It is when your kids fall between the cracks like mine did." Roy replied. "After the fight that night, I went to headquarters."........
___________________________________

SIX MONTHS AGO, LACOFD BATTALION
HEADQUARTERS.......

Roy was still crying when he arrived at headquarters later that night. Going inside, Roy bumped into Chief Hank Stanley.

"Roy? What are you doing here?" Hank asked. "Your shift is a long way off."

"Chief, Jo and I had a fight." Roy sobbed. "She wants to get a fucking job!"

"Come in my office, Pal." Hank invited. "Let's talk like we used to in the old days."

Roy wiped his tears as Hank led him into his office and shut the door.

"Sir, my wife doesn't wanna be a wife anymore!" Roy sobbed. "She's got it in her head that she wants a job!"

"Times are changing, Pal." Hank told him. "Alot of women are entering the work force now. My wife works now that my kids are in school."

"But is she there when they come home?" Roy asked.

"No, they go to a baby-sitter after school," Chief Stanley replied. "It's only until she or I can pick them up."

"Chief, kids should not be raised by strangers.!" Roy protested.

"Roy, I don't think you're upset because Joanne wants a job. I think you feel threatened by the possibility of Jo working. You feel that if she works, she'll become the provider because she'll get a paycheck once a week or every two weeks, unlike yours which comes once a month."

"Chief, we live okay on my salery. Jo doesn't need to work." Roy sniffed.

"No, but she wants to and you should be supportive." Hank replied. "Your kids are how old?"

"Fifteen and seventeen." Roy replied.

"Roy, your kids don't need mom or dad at home all the time now. They can fix their own meals and look after themselves for a few hours." Hank told him. "Roy, you can look after yourself too. It's high time you grew up and stopped depending on Joanne to take care of you and the kids all the time."

Roy just sat there as the Chief's words sank in.

__________________________________

PRESENT TIME.........

"I knew that the Chief was right." Roy told Johnny. "When I returned home that night, I told Jo she could get a job."

"Was she happy?" Johnny asked.

"Yes and no." Roy sighed. "That night, she said I could sleep on the sofa, but I was not allowed in our bed until I was ready to admit I was a sexist pig in front of Chief Stanley."

"I hope you told her no." Johnny replied.

"I told her that if she wanted me out, that was fine with me. I packed the rest of my things and went to a motel." Roy told Johnny. "I wasn't gonna stay where I wasn't welcome and I would not humiliate myself to satisfy her."

"Then what happened?" Johnny asked.

"Joanne took a job as a private secretary at a large company. She made good money, but her boss demanded that she work increasingly long hours. The kids spent more and more time at her mother's." Roy shook his head. "I never got to see them. Jo blew up at me when I tried to talk to her about it."

"Some jobs are pretty demanding." Johnny reminded his friend. "Ours is."

"I know, but I felt like the kids were being put on the back burner and so was I!" Roy stated. "Everytime I tried to call Jo, she'd hang up on me. It was like me and the kids no longer existed to her! I got so fed up, I just said the hell with her!"

"What'd you do then?" Johnny inquired.

"I gave Joanne's mom full custody of the kids." Roy replied. "I just thought the kids needed more stability then they were getting at home just then. With my schedule and Jo's, neither one of us had the time or energy for them anymore."

"Roy, how did Jo take it when she found out?" Johnny asked.

"Johnny, she was delighted! She told me she was tired of being a mom and wanted her freedom!" Roy remembered. "I should've known then that she was tired of me too. When she
did come home for a weekend, I tried to be loving, but Jo made that impossible."
_________________________________________

SIX MONTHS AGO, THE DESOTO HOME...........

Joanne quietly entered her home briefcase in hand so as not to disturb Roy. It had been a long week at work for the tall skinny woman with the pageboy haircut and all Joanne wanted was
peace and quiet. Roy, however, had other plans.

"Hi," Roy said as he came downstairs. "About time you came home!"

"Roy,-" Joanne began.

"How can you do this?!" Roy sobbed. "How can you live hurting me this way?! I don't have a wife or family anymore! I might as well be single!"

"Roy, don't you understand? Honey, I need this! I need a life of my own. without kids, without demands! Roy, I love the feeling of accomplishment having a job brings." Jo replied. "I love the
sense of independence my paycheck gives me."

"But where do the kids and I fit in?" Roy cried. "I've had to eat and sleep alone on my two days off! I have no clean laundry! The house is a wreck!"

"Roy, you're gonna have to learn to do some things yourself now." Jo soothed. "Honey, you've got to learn to fend for yourself. What would you do if something happened to me?"

"Honey, I just want us to have time together!" Roy pleaded. "I wanna hold you, make love to you! Please, Honey!"

"Roy, I'm bushed! It's been a long week for me too." Jo answered. "I promise, the weekend will be yours."

Roy watched as Joanne went upstairs to bed. He then went in the front room and picking up the telephone, dialed Rampart emergency. He was delighted when Dixie answered.

"Dix? Roy DeSoto. Remember that dinner I promised you last week? I think I'll pay up now." Roy said into the receiver. "Good, I'll cook for you. Eight's fine. See you in a bit. Bye, Dix."

Hanging up, Roy grabbed a light jacket and left for Dix's apartment.

_____________

When Roy got to Dix's place, Dix immediately saw that Roy was upset.

"Roy, what's the matter?" Dix gently asked as they seated themselves on the couch in her living room.

"Dix, I've lost my Joanne!" Roy answered as he burst into tears. "Ever since she started working, I no longer feel I exist to her! All that matters is her job!"

"Roy, have you tried talking to her?" Dix asked.

"She told me I had to fend for myself now!" Roy sobbed. "Am I wrong to want to come first?!"

"Roy, no." Dix soothed. "Honey, Jo is adjusting to working as you are to not having her home so much. Roy, you have to adjust to being alone for part of the day. You have to stand on your own two feet and take care of yourself some."

"Dix, Jo hasn't been home at all this week!" Roy sobbed. "When she did come home tonight, she just told me she was tired and tomorrow would be mine!"

"You sound like you don't believe her." Dix answered.

"Would you in my place?" Roy sobbed.

"Honey, you feel neglected and unwanted." Dix soothed. "Most of all, you feel forgotten."

"Dix, How do I make Joanne see my needs?" Roy asked.

"Roy, you need to remind Joanne that you exist and that you have needs like any man does." Dix advised. "Tomorrow morning, start with a romantic breakfast in bed. Spend the day pampering her."

****************************

PRESENT TIME.............

"Did you do that?" Johnny asked.

"Boy, did I!" Roy laughed.

******************************

THE DeSOTO'S, SIX MONTHS AGO.......

Roy snuck into his and Joanne's bedroom, a tray containing a breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon in hand. Roy sat the tray on the table beside the bed. He then laid down beside his wife
and kissed her cheek, softly.

"Joanne, Honey, please wake up." Roy whispered. "Let me see those beautiful, loving eyes."

Roy watched as Joanne stirred and smiled at him.

"Morning, Love." Jo purred. "You did this for me?"

"Honey, I just want to love you today. Please, Babe." Roy begged.

Jo reached over and slid her hand under Roy's undershirt and ran her fingers through the soft hair on Roy's chest.

"Ouch!" Roy hissed as Joanne playfully tweaked his chest hairs.

"Roy, Darling, my boss called today wanting me to work." Jo purred as Roy's smile faded. "I told him to go to hell, then hung up!"

"You're kidding!" Roy laughed.

"Nope, I told him that from now on, my husband came first or I was outta there!" Joanne grinned.

"How'd he take that?" Roy giggled.

"I hung up before he could get another word out!" Jo snickered. "I just hope I won't be out of a job Monday morning!"

"Honey, it won't matter if you are." Roy purred as Jo stroked the bald spot on his head lovingly.

"I love your bald spot. It makes you even more sexy." Jo whispered as she kissed Roy all over his face.

END PART 6: Memories of lost love