Roger made his way to the front door. This abuser certainly seemed bold, so cocksure self-confident like all men when confronting a lone and helpless female. He walked right up to the front door of 124 Mercer and calmly rang the bell.
“Sandy? Sandy, I know you’re in there. Open up! I just want to talk to you.”
The door slowly opened, inside was dark and no one seemed to be there.
No sooner had Roger walked inside when he was stunned by a sudden blow to the head. The door was slammed shut behind him and a dozen pairs of grasping hands pummeled him with baseball bats and fists. Blows reigned down on Roger mercilessly as he cried out in pain, pleading for them to let him go, to stop hitting him. His face was scratched bloody by long nails while hard blows beat him into submission and then unconsciousness.
* * * *
Roger awoke in a bed in Mercy Hospital—but by the looks of him his attackers had shown no mercy at all. He was in what amounted to an almost full body cast with multiple broken bones, fractures, sprains and contusions. His nose was broken, an eye was covered in gauze and oozed green pus, a feeding tube ran in his nose and down his throat while the ventilator was all that was enabling him to breath. That wasn’t the worst of it by a long shot. The doctors said the extent of blunt force trauma indicated serious internal injuries and he would be going back into surgery soon to stem more bleeding.
Sandy sat close by, looking down at Roger. Whether he knew she was there or not was unknown, so bad was the extent of his injuries. Sandy smiled for she could see that Roger was not long for this world. Once he kicked off, all his money would be hers exclusively. She couldn’t believe her good fortune. This had turned out so much better than the mere 50/50 split of the bitter divorce she had planned. Better yet, she now would be able to cut out all those annoying and expensive lawyer fees, $200 per hour bills for expert witnesses on abuse and victimization. Who needed that? Sandy didn’t know who had attacked Roger but she was thankful. Roger moaned painfully, Sandy whispered, “Don’t worry, honey, it will all be over soon.”
* * * *
The next day Janet and the sisters of L.O.V.E. received a visit from Roger’s sisters, Gloria and Cathy.
“We heard that Roger’s wife, Sandy, came to talk to your support group,” Gloria said with obvious distress and Janet didn’t deny the fact. “We wanted to tell you our side of the story. Roger is a good man, he was a wonderful husband, and Sandy made up all those vile accusations so when she divorced him she could play the victim and win a big part of his estate in the settlement. Now, it seems, it will all be hers.”
“You people should really be more careful who you believe and what’s told to you.” Cathy, the younger sister said in anger. “Do you verify anything? Do you just accept any wild, unsubstantiated story some woman having marital troubles or involved in a child custody dispute tells you? Women lie too and Sandy is a liar.”
Janet flushed angry then grew thoughtful. Had they made a mistake? She looked carefully at the two young women confronting her now. They appeared sincere, truthful…sane. “We did see the police reports, and Sandy had an order of protection against your brother. I can assure you Sandy’s fear was real enough, all of us here have gone through similar victimization from men and can relate to what she went through.”
Cathy laughed derisively, “Sandy faked the fall, she never wanted that baby. Roger was the happy one when Sandy got pregnant, he doted over her so, he wanted that baby more than anything in the world.”
Gloria said, “Sandy told me she hated what the baby was doing to her figure. I know she murdered that baby!”
“Now hold on!” Janet said trying to get control of the situation.
“Sandy’s ‘fall’”, Cathy blurted, “and other injuries were all made up. She got that broken arm and leg from a skiing accident shortly before she met Roger.”
Gloria added, “And you know any woman can go to any judge to have an order of protection granted. The mere fact one is granted means nothing. It’s only later during the trial that the man even has a chance to defend himself and demand the woman substantiate her accusations.”
Janet nodded to the truth of that but said nothing more, allowing the man’s sisters to talk through their anger and feelings. Of course they were bitter, she thought…but…
“And as for Sandy being so scared of Roger and fearful for her life—Roger, who by the way, wouldn’t hurt a fly—that was her usual excellent acting job. She is using you, just like she used Roger, and he didn’t want to believe it either.”
“Roger didn’t deserve that evil Sandy, or that beating. He will probably die from it. Sandy probably hired them, she’s just the type to do that sort of thing.” The other sister said. “If my sister and I ever find out who did that to Roger we’ll see to it they’re in prison for the rest of their lives.”
Janet didn’t say much when the sisters left but they had given her a lot to think about. Had her valiant band of over-zealous sisters been duped? Was Sandy the aggressor and the abuser, while Roger was the true victim? It seemed impossible to Janet but the thought nagged at her inner and most basic instincts. Had they made a terrible mistake? Janet resolved to find out.
* * * *
Janet met Sandy alone a few nights later at the empty L.O.V.E. offices where she hoped to get some answers.
“It’s just the two of us here, we’re alone,” Janet said, offering the younger woman a seat at the conference table. Sandy stood, nervous, anxious.
“You said you had something important to tell me?” she asked.
“Yes,” Janet said, taking a deep breath, for she knew once she began this, who knew where it might lead. Perhaps prison for her and the girls and the end of L.O.V.E. itself? “I spoke to Roger’s sisters the other day and they…”
“Those witches!”
“They told me quite a different story of the relationship between you and Roger.”
“I’ll bet! It’s all lies,” Sandy said carefully. “Why are you asking me these questions anyway? You’re supposed to be my support group, you’re supposed to be on my side!”
“We are on your side, Sandy. More than you could ever know.”
Sandy looked at Janet deeply, curious, “Well then, why don’t you act like it!”
Janet said it short and simple, “It was my ladies—L.O.V.E.—that put Roger in the hospital.”
Sandy looked back at Janet with genuine shock and then began to laugh wildly at the admission. “And here I thought it was just a mugger, or some guy Roger owned money to for gambling! So it was you and the L.O.V.E. girls? That’s precious!”
“So you see, Sandy, we really are on your side.”
Sandy smiled, this was just too good to be true and better yet, Janet’s admission placed her and all of her girls under Sandy’s thumb now. “This is priceless!”
“Yes, I thought you’d be happy to hear the truth about how Roger caught his beating.”
“Well, good, I’m damn glad to hear it. I just hope you made the little wimp squirm. Did he cry out? Was he in pain?”
“Yes,” Janet said softly, “he cried out and he was in terrible pain.”
Sandy’s cold and bloodthirsty laugh was terrible to hear. “Did he ask for… mercy?”
“Yes he did,” Janet replied soaking in the younger woman’s words and demeanor and not liking any of it one bit. But Janet still had to get to the bottom of this, she needed to hear it all from Sandy’s own lips.
“Good,” Sandy said confident now. “That’s the only kind of support group that’s really effective. The revenge type. So now that I know what you and the girls did…”
“It’s truth time, Sandy. Now I want to know if any of what you told me and the girls about Roger was true?”
Sandy laughed boldly confident. She shrugged unconcerned, “Sure, I gues
s I can tell you now. It was all made up; none of it was true. I planned to get a large chunk of Roger’s wealth all along, but now, after your attack, he’s not expected to live much longer. Now I’ll get it all. But don’t think I’m not appreciative, and I’ll keep your little secret, if you keep mine. I’ll even give L.O.V.E. a sizeable donation once I get my money.”
Janet smiled, “Well, then, that’s all I really wanted to know, Sandy, because you know it’s important that the good work we do here at L.O.V.E. continues. I hope you agree.”
“Absolutely,” Sandy replied. Then the two women shook hands and went their separate ways.
* * * *
Sandy proved as good as her word. A month after Roger passed away, Janet received an impressive five-figure check made out to the Ladies Overcoming Violent Exploiters non-profit organization.
That night as Sandy took the private elevator in her new apartment building down to the garage where her new Mercedes was parked, she was surprised to see a woman she recognized standing beside her car.
“Janet? What are you doing here?”
“Unfinished business, my darling,” then Janet withdrew a stun gun that shot a massive bolt of electricity into Sandy that quite painfully incapacitated her. Sandy collapsed, helpless, unable to speak.
“Alright ladies,” Janet called.
From out of the shadows, from behind parked cars, came Roger’s sisters, Gloria and Cathy. Both of whom were holding baseball bats, as they closed in on Sandy.
The Walt Whitman MEGAPACK ™ Page 38