Chapter 4: The Gang's All Here

I pulled the business card from my wallet and reached for the phone. I dialed the number of Detective Johnson who was working my case. He wasn't there but I left a voice message that my wife had just shown up at my door. Then when I wouldn't let her in she left and was probably headed to her mother's house.

Hanging up, I massaged my temples with my fingers and tried not to come unglued over Kim's sudden appearance. Why did she come back here? Does she really think I'm stupid enough to believe her cock and bull story about always loving me and trying to save me?

I saw the look on her face as that asshole screwed her on our marital bed. She loved it. She moaned and groaned like the two-bit whore she is. She didn't hesitate to smear his cum all over the golden wedding band of love and fidelity on her left hand and leave it with her cum covered engagement ring on the bed in front of my battered face.

She'd done everything the asshole had told her to and never hesitated. She had humiliated me and left me dying or for dead. She had stolen all our money. She had entered the porn industry and sold her body to provide money to him. She had become pregnant with his baby. She had left her family behind without a word for ten months after telling her mother not to try to find her.

I took my bourbon to my easy chair and sank into its soft cushions. For the next two hours, I sat and sipped my drink and pondered on just how screwed up life is.

The phone shook me from my reverie. It was detective Johnson. They had arrested Kim at her mother's home. Apparently, Kim had gotten into a fight with her mother. She had demanded to know where Angie was and her mom refused to tell her. Her mom told her she couldn't see Angie until Kim cleaned up and went through rehab. Kim had started calling her mom names and started shaking her. Her mom tried to protect herself by pushing Kim away. Kim had fallen and yelled obscenities at her mom. When she got up she came toward her mom in a threatening manner and her mom had run from the house yelling for help. The neighbors had called the cops who responded quickly and arrested Kim.

Detective Johnson said that Kim was in a state of complete exhaustion and was hysterical. The cops had been forced to restrain her and she was now tied down to a bed at County General Hospital's psych ward. They figured she would be in withdrawal from the drugs for the next week or so. At that time she would be brought before a judge to plead on the charges facing her from my debilitating ordeal with her and her boyfriend.

As far as I know, nobody went to visit her while she was in detox. Her mother was terrified of her at this point and I certainly had no use for her.

Detective Johnson stopped by my house on the eighth day after her arrest to let me know that she would be entering her plea in court the next morning. I stood by the kitchen sink making dinner and asked if I should be there. He simply shrugged and said, "That's up to you. There is no legal reason you need to be there."

As he turned to leave, he stopped and turned back. He looked me square in the eye and said, "Look. It's none of my business, but I think you should eventually talk to her. The story she has told us pretty much checks out. I think it's quite possible that she was caught in something from which she saw no way out. I really think she thought her actions would protect you and your daughter from harm."

"What differences does it make?" I asked him. "What she did to me was reprehensible. What she did in walking away from our little girl without a word was beyond reprehensible. She became a whore for that guy. She degraded herself and is having his baby. What possible difference would the original reason for her actions make to me at this point?"

He shook his head, "I guess no difference. She is one fucked up woman right now. Plus I think you are still pretty screwed up over what happened. I just thought both of you might heal faster if you talked it out."

"I've got nothing to talk to her about, detective." I replied in hoarse voice. "We're finished."

I saw Johnson out and returned to making my dinner. I took all of the preparations and stuffed them back in the refrigerator. I'd lost my appetite.

I slept fitfully that night. I kept thinking about the last thing she had said to me that day when Eddie had all but killed me. As she was leaving with him she had bent over my head and whispered, "I do this for love. Goodbye, my husband. I will always adore you."

I had tossed and turned as questions ran through my head. Did she mean that she had done it for her love of Eddie? Or did she mean me? Why would she say she would always adore me? Why did she call me 'my husband'? She had to know that screwing him in front of me and participating in the acts of humiliation Eddie had heaped on me would end our marriage? Was there any truth to that story she told me about Eddie drugging her? And that crap she said about Eddie's buddy taking pictures and blackmailing her and Mary. Was there any truth in that?

I sat up on the edge of the bed and glanced at the clock. The clock's amber digits indicted it was five in the morning. I rested my elbows on my knees and stared at the door of the closet that had contained Kim's clothes.

I made my decision. I'm going to see Mary and see what she knows about Kim's story.

I knew Mary very well. She and her husband, Carl Cramer, were our oldest friends in the neighborhood. They lived across the street from my house. I couldn't believe that she would be any part of this and keep silent all this time.

Getting up from the bed, I showered, and dressed. Having made up my mind to do something had taken a big weight off me. I was ravenous and fixed myself a huge breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast.

I walked into the living room and opened the drapes. I stood at the window with my coffee sipping on the hot liquid as I watched the Cramer's house. Carl came out and got in his car. He was dressed in a suit like most detectives on the local police force wore. He had been on the force for almost ten years.

He drove off to work. I waited a few minutes and then walked across the street to the Cramer's front door. I rang the bell and waited.

I heard her yell, "Hang on Larry! Geez, you're a half hour early! I'll be right there."

Mary answered the door in very nice looking yellow and black sun dress and sandals strapped to her bare feet. She looked surprise to see me standing there. "Sam? What are you doing here?"

She seemed a little nervous as she cut her eyes back and forth looking up and down the block.

I said, "Mary, Kim came home yesterday."

She sucked her breath in and replied, "Kim? Back home? Is she all right? What happened to Eddie?"

I raised my hand to cut her off from more questions. "Mary, can I come in? I've got some things I need to find out from you."

She glanced up and down the street again and looked at her watch. "Okay, come on in. I've got a few minutes."

I could see she was nervous about something. I wondered who Larry was. She had called out his name when I had knocked. She obviously wasn't wearing a bra because her nipples stuck straight out in the cooler air of the home's interior. Hmmm, maybe little Mary is still playing with Eddie's friend.

She sat down demurely on the couch and placed her hands into her lap. She looked over at me waiting for me to say something.

"Mary, Kim told me that Eddie and his pals had blackmailed you and her into having sex with them." I asked her point blank.

She gasped and stuttered, "W-w-what! She's lying!"

"Mary, I'm going to go see Trish after this and ask her, too. I know she'll tell me the truth because she has no husband who will get mad at her for fucking those guys. And, I plan to be here when Larry arrives and ask him, too!" I took a shot at that last statement. I didn't know what Larry and Mary's relationship was, but I had to take a chance that he was Eddie's friend.

Mary seemed to wilt. "Oh God, you have to be out of here before Larry arrives. He's almost as much of a badass as Eddie!"

Eureka! I was right! I thought as she fell back on the couch and began to weep.

"Please don't tell Carl. It would kill me for him to find out!" Mary sobbed, wringing her hands.

"So? Tell me what happened that caused Kim and you to turn into whores!" I said angrily.

She stood up and swayed as if she was light headed. She placed a hand on the arm of the couch to steady her. He began in a hesitant voice, "It all started while you were on the long trip to California. Kim was tired of staying home alone and needed to get out and let her hair down. Carl was out of town at a police symposium on crime prevention. So I was alone for five nights, too."

Mary stopped and glanced at her watch, "I've got to tell you fast because Larry is due here in less than twenty minutes. He'll put you back in the hospital if you're still here when he arrives. I can control him most of the time, but he would probably think you were trespassing on his property."

"Why does he leave Carl alone, if he is so possessive?" I asked already knowing the answer.

Mary snorted, "Larry doesn't mind fucking a cop's wife, but he doesn't want to fuck with the cop."

"All right Mary. Tell me everything."