Charlie's Wife's Husband

I bet you weren't expecting
To hear a story
From Charlie's ex-wife's husband

From the stepfather
Of his child

But, I do have a story
And I'd like to tell it

I was in recovery
When I met my wife

Charlie's ex-wife
Callie's mom

I hadn't set foot inside a casino
For years
And so I...

I didn't tell her
I didn't tell...my wife
That I had ever had a problem
Because it was in the past, you know?

It was done

And then, one night
We went to a concert
And I didn't realize
That the venue
Was inside this...

I don't know
I wasn't paying attention
When my wife told me
Where we were going

And so when we got there
I just sort of told myself to calm down
And that everything would be fine

And it was, I mean, we went to the concert
It was fine

But then she wanted to...

She wanted to stay and play for a little while
And what could I say?

We'd been married for years at that point
I couldn't say no

So I figured, you know
Just the slots
That should be fine

Famous last words, you know?

I won two hundred bucks
The wife was all proud

We go home
And as soon as she's asleep
I'm back in the car
Headed to the casino

It went on like that for a few weeks

I'd go after work
Or after everybody was asleep
Or I'd say I was playing golf or something
You know?

I lost five grand in three weeks

Part of that
Was the money
We were going to use
To buy Callie a car

Her father had offered
But my wife turned him down

'We're buying her that car,' she said, 'I'm not taking any gifts from Charlie.'

So I think to myself
Okay, I just have to win it back

I've been lucky
I can get lucky again

So I go to the casino
One night after work
And I'm on a roll

I mean, I am raking it in
And then...

You know, it starts and it stops

And it stops
And you think
It's just a setback
It's just a small setback
And keep going
Because you'll get it back
You'll make it all back

And then you lose more
And more
And you're sweating
And shaking
And you feel like you're going to throw up
And then it's gone

It's all gone

Another two grand

Gone

That was bill money
That was savings
That was money we were going to take on vacation with us

I...

I didn't know what to do

So I drove to Charlie's

When he answered the door
He actually looked past me
To see if maybe I was dropping Callie off or something
Like maybe he'd forgotten
Because what would I be doing here
By myself

I asked if I could come in
And as soon as I sat down on his couch
I just unloaded

I just spilled it all out

Seven grand--gone

Just gone

I remember sitting on this guy's couch
Thinking about all the things I'd heard my wife say about him
Over the years

The drinking
The nasty comments
Throwing shit across a room
Not showing up for visits with Callie

I was there for some of it
And you know, I had my ideas

But right then all I remember
Was something my wife said
When she told Charlie
She didn't want him
Buying his daughter a car

'I know you have money, Charlie,' she said, 'But we're not taking your money.'

Yeah, well...

We took it

She never knew
But we took it

Charlie cut me a check
All seven thousand
Provided I go get help
Which I did

I did

So Charlie bought his daughter a car
And Charlie paid my bills for a month
And Charlie's the reason
We could all go to Disney World
Like one big happy family

And my wife never knew
That her ex-husband
Was the only reason
I didn't just crash my car
Into a ditch that night

And I didn't keep it from her to save my own ass either

I kept it from her
Because Charlie asked me to

Because he didn't want her leaving me
Like she left him

He wanted Callie
To have a family

That's what was important to him

But I said when Charlie died
I'd tell her what he did

And I'm going to

Not many men will hear this
From the husband of their ex-wife
But here it goes--

Charlie, you were my hero