Chapter 37: Michael

Michael Farmers worked at the steel mill, and everyone there would agree- Michael was one strange individual. His mind worked differently than others. He could do his job well enough; pushing hot steel bars into a machine, all part of the company’s affirmative action program. What he couldn’t do was carry on a conversation with anyone. Though his mind was smart, he comes across as a simpleton, lacking any kind of social skills. He was a big guy too. 6’ 1”, 330 pounds. Though he was mostly just overweight, he did have some upper body strength from working with the steel. His odd facial expression, never changing, caused many to wonder if he was even there, mentally. Mostly he just stare straight ahead, mouth slightly open.

Michael was smart enough to know when people were making fun of him, or treating him like he was stupid. He hated that, but mostly he managed to keep any anger or emotion inside himself. He’d be angry for hours after though. This week, Michael had missed taking his daily medications three times, and now he was on the fourth day and feeling the effect. At the supermarket, there had been two young cashiers when he checked out. They kept looking at him, whispering, giggling, laughing. They even laughed when she counted out his change like he was a little kid. He heard one of the girls say “Duh!”

Michael pocketed the change, picked up his bags and left, trying to ignore them. When he got to his car, he sat there, very upset. He tried to calm down, but without his meds that wasn’t going to happen. His mind, though, was actively thinking of ways to get even. He remembered it was nearly 9 o’clock. The store closes at nine. He felt under his seat. A guy at the mill had sold him a revolver; said it would protect him if he needed it. Well, tonight he needed it. He sat in his car, watching. The store closed, and about ten minutes later several people walked out, including one of the snotty cashiers. She was walking near others, so he couldn’t get close. As everyone drove off, he was about to leave when, wait! Michael saw the other girl, one of the cashiers who had laughed at him, come out and walk across the parking lot to her car, alone. He slowly drove around, then decided she must be going to the blue Prius. He pulled up alongside just as she got to it.

Karen Ann Perdue had just turned eighteen last month and was working her first job. Her friends worked there, it was easy work and it gave them some spending money. She’d been teaching a new girl, Tracy, when the ‘strange man’ came through. He was fat, looked like a dork, always staring straight ahead, never at you. They joked around a little when he checked out. Not long after, the store closed. Everyone checked out, then Karen stayed behind to ask Mr. Struthers if she could work the morning shift on Saturday. She then left and walked across the nearly empty lot to her car, texting with a friend as she did. She hardly noticed the car pull up beside her as she opened her door.

Michael felt like a different man when he pulled up beside her. No stopping now! He threw open his door, jumped out as quick as he could. The young girl stood there, back against her car, door open, surprised by his sudden appearance. He held the gun in his left hand, shoved it in her face. She said, “Hey!” He grabbed her arm, pulled and pushed her into his car. Damn it, now she’s in his driver’s seat! “Move it! Get over there! Move!” He kept shoving, yelling at her to crawl over to the other side. She kept trying to get back out, yelling “No!” a couple of times. He put the gun in the door pocket; it was just in the way. He grabbed her ass, and sure enough she moved much more quickly to the other side. He threw his right arm across her as he jumped in, put it in gear with his left hand and drove away. She kept trying to open the door. He kept yelling at her, being as threatening as he could be. One thing was certain- when he put his arm across her, it was like putting an iron beam across her chest. She wasn’t going anywhere.

Karen struggled to get away, in a complete panic, not thinking of anything except getting away from this madman. He forced her to get farther into his car. She tried to open the other door, but couldn’t find the handle. Then this big, very strong arm reached across her and pinned her flat against the seat. She couldn’t move her upper arms, anything. She couldn’t reach down far enough to bite him. The car was driving away, driving who knows where. She tried to grab the hand brake but the man held her so hard she could hardly even breathe. He was holding the armrest; all she could do was yell.

“Let me go! Let me go! Let me out! Stop! Stop! You have to stop now! Let me out!” she screamed. The windows were up; nobody outside could hear her. They turned right onto Overton Road. As they went past her sub-division, he forced her to bend down. She had to put her head down between her knees; she couldn’t see a thing. She kept on yelling, saying how he had to let her out.

Karen was dressed for work with a white bra and panties, a white polo shirt and red shorts. In fact, she’d been in such a rush she still had her apron on. Karen was, what most people would call, well endowed. Any guy would take one look and say “Boy, I’ll say...” Not overly huge, but a bit more than normal for an eighteen-year-old, probably because she was about ten pounds overweight. They were balanced by her long, brown hair and just-as-nice butt. That ass was really tight in those shorts. Michael thoughts were of revenge. He couldn’t comprehend a different way. Everything he thought of was always so complex. Then this opportunity came up, and suddenly he had a plan, or so he thought. What he hadn’t realized yet, was he’d just scored a 9.8 in teenage hotness.

Michael drove out of town, to a new sub-division under construction. It was Saturday, so the place would be empty until Monday. He picked the house that looked most complete. He pulled in the garage, still being built. He dragged the girl back across the console, out on his side. As soon as she was out, he closed the door and dragged her along with him. Into the house, down some stairs, over to the far corner of the new concrete basement. It wasn’t hard. With one arm he carried her; with the other he covered her mouth. He found a light, plugged it in, turned it on. He grabbed her jaw, holding her face in front of his. He was about six inches taller. So far, he hadn’t done anything sexual; just kept her from running off. Now he held her face close to his.

“You, you gonna stop talking right now,” he said angrily. “You gonna shut up and not say anything unless I tell you to. You understand me? You keep your mouth shut or you get hurt.” He let go of her jaw, then slapped her hard across her face, twice. He growled at her menacingly, holding her face again. “Shut the fuck up, girl. I know who you are. You laughed at me at the store. That made me mad. I’m going to show you how much that hurts.”

The man stepped back a step. “Take off that fucking apron. Give it to me.” Karen stood there staring at him, wondering what to do. She knew in her mind she was going to get seriously raped probably. She knew she just had to survive. This man was disturbed, you could see that. And very, very strong. She couldn’t stop him. She tried to get past him, but he shoved her back. She tried again, then one more time. He kept throwing her back into the corner against the concrete. He was big, fat, slow, but he always managed to grab her arm and throw her. He grabbed her a third time, then punched her in the side of her head. Wham! Everything went blurry, her head ringing. He hit her again.

“You do what the fuck I say! Now stand there and take off that fucking apron!” Karen’s hands were shaking way more than she wanted, but she got the work apron untied and off. Carefully she handed it to him. He took it. He told her to take off the shorts. Oh crap. Oh crap. Shit, here goes. Slowly, Karen undid her shorts. She didn’t want to. She kept talking, trying to be nice, reason with him. “Please, I, I don’t want to do this. Please, you seem like a nice man. Maybe we can be friends. Just, just don’t make me do this...” She moved as slowly as she could. She didn’t dare stop; his fist really, really hurt. She kept looking at his face, trying to smile, be friendly, maybe he was as dumb as he looked. She got the shorts undone, then slowly slid them down, looking up as she did. She stepped out and he took those, too.