The Conspiracy, Part 9: The Co-Conspirator

My eyes felt like two tons.

As I struggled to open them, I heard a familiar voice.  But not the familiar voice I was expecting. 

"Are you ok?"

Danielle?

"You know you brought this on yourself."

What does she mean?  This was surreal.

I managed a barley audible "Why?"

"I know this is going to sound ridiculous."

"No, not really.  I have a talking dog who gets his kicks off playing mind games with me and a wife that just drugged me.  If I wasn't sane, I'd think this was an episode of 24"

"What do you want form me?  I panicked."  She actually said this in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I'll go back to my original question.  Why?"

"The drugging?  Or the other thing?"

My wife was not good at poker--she had already given away her down card because I had no idea there was something else.  But that last comment opened my eyes.  She was the reason behind why I had been so bored.

"The other thing.  I assume that will tell me why you drugged me."

"Not really--I drugged you because I had an extra needle and I thought it would be fun." Needless to say, she has the same twisted sense of humor as Chewy.  They were made for each other.  At least in a "Dog-Master" sort of way.

"What have you been hiding?"

"Ok, I guess you deserve that much since I drugged you.  If you must know, Chewy hypnotized you."

I shook my head.

"Like I said, it sounds ridiculous."

"No, it actually makes sense.  Any other explanation would have sounded ridiculous."

"Listen, we didn't want to do this.  But you had gotten out of control with this whole March Madness thing.  This is the 20th year your pool has been in existence which means it has consumed every March we have been together.  I needed to have at least one March filled with peace."

The pool! That was it!  That was what had been missing.

"How could you?  You know what that pool means to me every year...you had no right!"

"You have every right to be angry.  But you are burying the lead."

"How could there be anything more important than you taking away a part of my life?"

"What is the last thing you remember before you passed out?"

My name on the results!  Tied for the lead if Gonzaga beats North Carolina in the title game.  "But how is that possible?  I didn't make any picks.  I didn't even know the pool was in existence until right now."

"Chewy made your picks.  Revenge for all those years you tanked his board just for the sake of some stupid side game."

"Yet for some reason, that Board has a chance?"

"And it has your name on it.  As I see it, you should be thanking me.  This has always been your dream."

I knew her logic was twisted.  This was an accident.  The action was purposeful.  But the results were an accident.

I looked at the clock.  It was five minutes before the Gonzaga game.

TO BE CONCLUDED