Chapter 9

One morning Garrett was sitting in the cafe visiting and having coffee with the regulars when Pete and Trevor came in again. After they ordered and joined the conversation, Trevor turned to Garrett and asked, "Hey, what's this I hear about Bitchy Bea getting married?"

"Don't know," Garrett said. I haven't seen or talked to her or mom in months. Who's the unlucky man?"

"Only one of the richest assholes in Neosho. She's marring into real money, she is. I heard she's marrying Geoffrey Godfrey. They're having a June wedding and everything. They've already dozed your grandpa's house down and are building a monster mansion in its place. You're gonna be neighbors looks like."

Kathy heard part of the conversation and said, "Oh, no. Does she know what he's like?" She turned to Garrett and said, "We have to warn her."

"I don't know if she does or not but us warning her won't do a bit of good. I suggest we get a copy of the article from his court dates for when he beat you and give it to her. I suspect it won't make any difference. You know he has a real line when he's trying to get something—especially from a woman. He's everything she wants probably. He's rich, or she thinks he is anyway."

That evening at Kathy's urging and against his better judgment, Garrett phoned Bea. After a none too pleasant greeting she said, "What do you want Garrett? I'm busy."

"Bea, I was in the cafe this morning and heard you were getting married to that Godfrey asshole. I wanted to talk to"

Bea cut him off and screeched into the phone, "You son of a bitch. He said you would probably try to spread rumors about him and break us up. You're just jealous of his money and position in life. He's the kindest, sweetest man around and everyone is so down on him it's not funny. Yes, I'm marrying him and there's nothing you or anyone else can do to stop it." She cut the connection after saying that.

Garrett's phone had been on speaker so Kathy heard everything. He looked at her and said, "Well, I tried. Let's forget it."

Garrett kept track of the construction on Bea's place as he drove past when he went to his land. The coffee shop rumors were right on. The house was not only a monster, but the money they spent on the entry gates and landscaping was outta sight.

Unsurprisingly, Garrett was not invited to the wedding. He did read about it in the local paper. It was billed as the largest such event in the last ten years in the small town of Neosho. The happy couple would honeymoon for a month touring Europe then make their home in the country outside Neosho, residing in a new house the groom's father gave them for a wedding present.

Life went on for Garrett and Kathy much as before except she was busier. Money was rolling in and Garrett had very little to do to 'earn' it. Every day saw him ensconced in a chair at the coffee shop for morning coffee, breakfast and most days, lunch. Locals wondered how someone that worked part time as a maintenance man and farmed such a small acreage could afford to eat out all the time. Most decided Kathy was feeding him for free since they were married and all. He was the talk of the town with most saying he was just like his grandfather. He farmed the little acreage and spent most of his time hunting, fishing or fucking off. Yep, a true ne'er do well for sure even if he was a nice guy.

Over the course of the summer and next winter Beatrice would occasionally drive through town or stop at the post office. She was seen much more frequently than before her marriage. She drove a nice Lexus SUV and was always dressed in designer clothes.

Shortly after Christmas her visits declined slightly and a time or two, her makeup didn't completely hide what looked like bruises on her face and arms. Once, she walked stiffly and seemed to favor her side when she moved. Kathy and Garrett talked to each other about her apparent plight but knew they couldn't do anything to help her at least until she asked for help. They just hoped the request for help would come before it was too late. Garrett didn't like her at all, but she was his sister and he felt bad about what was probably happening to her. No one deserved the beatings she was probably receiving.

One cold, damp March evening Garrett heard someone slowly climbing the stairs to their second floor apartment. He listened to see if it was one of the upstairs tenants before he returned to the story he was reading while he sipped on his Balviene. The outer door opened, then there was a timid knock at his and Kathy's door. Kathy was in the shower so he sighed, put his glass and book down to answer it.

When he opened the door Beatrice stood crying before him. She looked terrible. There was a bruise on her right arm and the side of her face was red as if she had been slapped. She looked at Garrett and said, "I know you don't have any reason to help me, but please, can I stay here tonight Garrett?"

On one hand, Garrett wanted to send the little bitch packing but he just couldn't. She was his sister even if she was a bitch and she seemed to be in some kind of trouble. He would help most locals if they needed it. All this flitted through his mind quickly but Beatrice slumped farther and started to turn away before he opened the door wider and said, "Come on in Bea. You can use the spare room tonight."

Kathy heard them talking and came into the room wearing her robe and drying her hair. She saw Bea and said, "Bea, what are you doing here? You look terrible."

Bea began crying and collapsed into a chair before she said, "You were right. He's an animal, a monster. He changed into a control freak on the honeymoon and then; after we got home he began hitting me. He said it was for my own good, so I would learn from my mistakes but it just kept getting worse and worse. I went to mom for help but she told me to suck it up, that he had money to take care of us and if I weren't such a spoiled bitch he wouldn't have to punish me.

"I went home today from shopping and he was in his office with that little floozy he calls his secretary. He had her bent over his desk fucking her. They just looked up and she said, "Close the door and get out of here, bitch."

"I didn't know what to do. Like an idiot, I closed the door and put my shopping away. I heard them laughing after I closed the door. Later I heard the little bitch leave, then Geoffrey came into the kitchen and pushed me against the cabinets. He slapped me and said I was to never interrupt him in his office again."

"I said he didn't have to worry about that, that we were history and I was filing for divorce tomorrow. He laughed and said, fine, now get the hell out of his house. I refused to leave and he actually picked me up and threw me out of the house then threw my purse after me. I went to moms and she told me to get my ass back home and patch things up with my husband, but I can't do that, I just can't."

Kathy moved to Bea and wrapped her arms around the crying young woman. She just held her until she stopped then said, "Come on. Let's get you a hot shower then we'll put you to bed."

Things just got worse for Bea after that night. She did file for divorce and, after a rather fast trip through the courts was granted one, or rather, Geoffrey was granted a divorce from her. Unfortunately, the prenuptial agreement she signed at her mother's urging did her in. In the agreement she agreed that in the event the marriage ended in divorce she would leave the marriage with only her personal property and $1000 per month of marriage up to a maximum of $120,000.

Unfortunately for Bea, that resulted in Geoffrey being awarded the house and land even though Bea owned the land before the marriage. After the divorce wended its way through the court system Bea and Geoffrey had only been married for slightly under 13 months. Now Bea was starting over with nothing but her clothes, some jewelry and $12,000. She had argued over the missing $1,000 but didn't receive it because the wording in the prenup said "should the marriage end in divorce at any time the wife is entitled to $1,000 for each full month the marriage existed up to a maximum of $120,000." Beatrice had traded her land worth about $80,000 for a month touring Europe, 9 months serving as a punching bag and $12,000 in cash. She had no job and no education to get one. True to form, Wilma refused to help her and even wanted rent for her to live in her family home once again. She ended up being a permanent fixture at Garrett's much to his chagrin.

Just because she was beholden to her brother, living in his home rent-free didn't dull Bea's tongue. She still was a bitch. She complained about everything daily. The apartment and bedroom were too small. She resented having to go to the cafe for breakfast and lunch and the fact the food there was so 'common'. Above all, she hated being forced to associate with the smelly farmers and their dirty, ragged clothes.

Finally, one evening it all came to a head. Before Garrett even realized the shit was going to hit the fan, it had hit, gone through, and splattered. Said rotary device spread the feces far and wide before the evening ended.

Beatrice was at her best (or worst, depending on your point of view) when she came storming from the guest bathroom. She was in a robe and shaking a bottle of shampoo in the air. She threw the shampoo at Kathy and screamed, "You stupid bitch. You know this isn't the shampoo I use. I told you specifically what to buy and even where to buy it and you come home with this shit. Honestly, I don't know how you manage to get anything done as incompetent as you are."

Garrett jumped from his chair and grabbed Bea as she tried to hit a stunned Kathy. He held her arms to her side and yelled, "Shut your fucking mouth, bitch. I've totally had it with your attitude. We took you into our house when you were literally on the street and all you do is sit on your ass eating our food and complaining about the home we're providing for you.

"This shit ends now. You show Kathy and me proper respect from now on or you leave. If you can't speak with a civil tongue just keep your damn mouth shut. You will use whatever we decide to purchase for our home and, if you don't like it, you can get a job and buy your own things. At the very least, you will use what we purchase and keep quiet about it.

"Tomorrow you begin working for your keep or you leave. You can go help Kathy in the cafe or you can come help me at my job, but you will work. Also, from now on, you can help keep the apartment clean. You are no longer a guest here. You need to begin cleaning and picking up around here just like we do. If you don't want to do that, you better damn well find a job somewhere that pays so you can pay your way so you can get a place of your own."

Beatrice was so shocked she stopped struggling and stared at Garrett. Finally, fire came into her eyes and her face flushed. She said, "You're a fine one to talk, brother. You were so lazy you refused to help mom with expenses for our house, then moved out when she asked for money to help with the bills. You totally neglected to pay rent for the time you stayed in my house after gramps died and now you complain about helping me out? That's bullshit. And on top of that, we both know you would probably be on the street now if it wasn't for poor Kathy slaving away in that half assed little cafe. Hell, you probably haven't worked a full day in your life. You think I didn't see you when you were supposedly farming? Shit, you drove around on your little tractor for a while then headed for the river where you fucked off the rest of the day. I can just imagine how hard you must work at your little maintenance job."

Bea turned and flounced off. Soon they heard the shower running, then it stopped and the door opened. Bea never returned so they assumed she was in the room they let her use. Kathy moved to Garrett and let him wrap her in his comforting arms. Soon she wiped the silent tears off her face and leaned back to look into his eyes.

Kathy said, "I knew she was a bitch from going to school with her even though she was several years behind us, but tonight; damn, tonight was just unbelievable. I mean, the last several weeks she has been getting worse and worse but I can't believe she would just explode like that."

"Believe it. I think that is how she managed to get her way for so long. It was easier and more pleasant for people to give in to her so she wouldn't go off on them like she did tonight. Usually just a touch of Bitchy Bea would either bring the culprit into line or they would take off. I suspect at least some of her troubles in her marriage were because she is such a bitch. That doesn't give him the right to beat her but I can certainly understand wanting to. I know he is a serial cheater but I bet she drove him to it faster than he would have gone on his own.

"Now, what are we going to do when she refuses to help around here? You know she isn't going to willingly work either here in the house or with you or me."

"I really don't know what we'll do if she doesn't help some. I'm afraid if we don't more or less keep on as we are now she will do something to get even with us for 'dissing' her as she calls it. A time or two mom tried to get her to do something around the house before I left and it turned into a disaster. If she couldn't ignore mom's request, she actually went into the room as if she was going to do whatever it was and made a horrible mess. One time she was supposed to cook supper and she burned everything on purpose and left all the cabinets covered with slopped ingredients. Mom left the mess for two days trying to make her clean it up but she wouldn't. When it began to stink mom broke down and did part of it and made me do the rest."

"Crap, I'm sorry now I talked you into letting her stay here."