Dead Men

by Derek Haines

  For the first time in his life, Tony fucked a woman violently. He fucked her with all the pent up aggression he had in him. It made him angrier that she enjoyed it. Not only had Tony’s life changed. His attitude to life was also now changing. His bitterness was surfacing. The uselessness was rising into his consciousness. Life had been tainted. What was worse, he was starting to understand Steven’s attitude. To understand that humiliation was Steven’s revenge on women. Tony had a passing thought that he hoped someone was humiliating his wife. She deserved it. The bitch.

  When Tony woke the next morning, he saw the pathetic creature next to him in his bed. He woke her up, and suggested she have a shower, get dressed and go home. Where she belonged. He was disgusted by her. He wasn’t disgusted with himself. The Tony of old would’ve been. Had he lost respect for himself?

  He put on a gown and went to have breakfast. He saw David asleep in his bed, with a woman asleep beside him. He found Steve in the lounge room, awake and fucking a very hung over young woman. ‘God, he never gives up.’ he thought to himself. He closed the sliding door after entering the kitchen and proceeded to make himself a cup of tea and some toast. He had a giggle to himself. He hadn’t paid Steve his thirty dollars. He’d pay him later. Steve had earned it. For all the fucked up ideas rolling around in his head, Tony liked Steven. He had from the first day he’d met him.

  David woke shortly after Tony, and wandered naked into the living room. He wished Steve, still fucking away on the sofa, a ‘Good morning’ on his way to the kitchen. He found Tony standing at the kitchen window drinking a cup of tea.

  ‘Do you think Steve’s gonna lead us astray?’

  ‘Probably. Does it worry you Dave?’

  ‘No. Only that I don’t think I’m fit enough to keep up with him. He’s still at it.’

  ‘Yeah I noticed. He doesn’t seem to mind where or who does he?’

  ‘Well, for one, I reckon good luck to him. And we can’t complain. Our social life wasn’t exactly on fire before the last two nights.’

  ‘That’s an understatement Dave. But that married one really got to me last night. What the fuck was she playing at?’

  ‘Who knows Tony. Maybe we’re all just fucking animals. Her included.

  ‘But she’s some poor bastard’s wife. What about him?’

  ‘What about him Tony? He’s just one of us. His turn looks like it’s coming. Just like ours. He’ll find her gone one day soon. Or if he’s unlucky like you, he’ll find her, in his bed, legs splayed welcoming another cock. Life’s becoming predictable huh?’

  ‘A vicious fucking circle if you ask me Dave. Wouldn’t it be easier and simpler just to do a swap after two or three years? It’d be less painful and disruptive. Is it just boredom that causes all this chaos?’

  ‘How the fuck would I know Tony. I’ve been through it twice now. It just happens. I can’t even really give you a logical reason for either event. So I have no idea how to answer you. Maybe I just don’t give a rat’s arse about it now. Why bother looking for reasons. It’s over, finished, kaput.’

  Tony let the subject go. He and David knew each other were on short fuses from time to time. They seemed to both know when to drop a painful subject. But little by little they were letting their anger out on each other. That was healthier than closing in on themselves, or worse, taking it out violently on their ex wives.

  David made his cup of tea and then opened the kitchen door. ‘Finished at last Steve?’ he joked.

  ‘Any more of that tea in there? I’m thirsty.’ He returned his attention to the woman briefly and just said, ‘Time to get out of here kitten. Get yourself dressed.’

  The three of them enjoyed their light breakfasts as three naked and hung over women moved around the flat trying to find their clothes.

  ‘Is this going to become a regular morning ritual Steve?’ Tony asked.

  ‘Would it bother you if it did?’ Steve asked back.

  ‘How many women have you fucked?’ Tony asked ignoring Steve’s question.

  ‘Not enough.’

  ‘Well, Steve. You do what you like. It doesn’t bother me. Nothin’ bothers me.’

  Steve looked at David.

  ‘Who gives a fuck about anything,’ was David’s acidic reply. His mind had returned to his wife during Tony and Steve’s conversation. He was in one of his angry moods. The other two felt it. They all knew how it felt to be angry. It was becoming normal.

  All three managed pleasantries as the ladies left. It was Saturday. Nothing to do. David went back to bed. Tony read a book. Steve watched television. Quietly they all disappeared back into their lonely worlds of their own personal misery and bitterness. By early evening they’d decided to get some Chinese home delivered and pass on the four sluts. They’d had their fill of women in the past two days. They were all a little tired. They were all a little angry, a little bitter, a little confused and thoroughly bored with their lives. In just a few months, a hard working owner of a transport company, a well qualified and dependable accountant, and an innovative salesman had been reduced to this. To uselessness and boredom. Only a short drop to the life of dole bludgers. All three would have looked down their noses at three useless dole bludgers just a few short weeks ago. Now they were heading there themselves. Fast.

  Troubled Waters

  Tony could hardly control his anger. Edward Scarli showed him the court’s consent orders.

  ‘I’m having trouble coming to grips with all of this Ed. Really I am. Tell me I’m dreaming or something. How am I supposed to pay that amount of money? Surely she doesn’t expect me to be able to pay that after having to close my business?’

  ‘Tony, it’s been calculated on your last year’s income. And the formula for four children.’

  ‘But Ed, I’m not earning a cent. And the way I figure it, if I go and get a job, all I can expect to be left with is something like a hundred and fifty or sixty dollars. I mean she caused all this shit. Where does she pay for Christ’s sake.’

  ‘Tony, I know what you mean. But I’m afraid that this is the final wash up. You’ll get a small cash payment when the house is sold. That’s the best news I have for you.’

  ‘I didn’t stand a chance of winning custody, did I?’ Tony asked.

  ‘All I can say to you Tony is in the opinion of the court the children’s best interests were decided to be with their mother. I can’t argue that with you. It was the court’s decision,’ Ed tried to explain as passively as he could to Tony.

  ‘Where’s the fairness Ed? The justice of it all? She fucked up our marriage. Not me. What in God’s name did I do wrong here?’

  ‘Nothing Tony. I know. I sympathise with you, but at the end of the day, this is the law at work. I know it’s hard on you.’

  Tony left Edward Scarli’s office in a foul mood. He was livid at the result. Even though it was almost exactly as Ed had explained it to him right at the beginning, it only now sunk in as to how destructive the whole episode had been. In a blind fit of rage he headed towards his house. ‘My house,’ he thought to himself. He parked in the driveway, and hoped all the children would be at school. He walked in the back door for the first time since he’d packed his small suitcase. He saw the back of his wife’s head in the lounge room. She was sitting in an arm chair watching television. She seemed so relaxed, even though Tony could only see the top of her head over the back of the arm chair. He walked towards the chair. She was engrossed in her television program and had not heard Tony pull up or enter the house.

  As he neared the chair, he lost what little control he had. He grabbed her by the hair and heard her scream as he dragged her by the hair over the back of the chair. The chair tumbled as her weight was drawn up the back of the chair. She continued to scream as Tony, still with a firm grip of her hair dragged her through the hall of the house towards what had been their bedroom. He pulled her to her feet and slapped her across the face with an open hand. The force of the blow sending her reeling across the room. She fell near
the bed. He picked her up by one handful of her blouse and another handful of her hair. Then threw her on the bed. He sat on her and slapped her three more times across the face.

  ‘You slut. You miserable piece of shit. You have no right to be the mother of my children. You’re nothing but a cheap whore. Fuck you. Fuck you, you bitch!’ Tony screamed as he slapped her again. He tore at her clothes, and removed them violently, as he continued his tirade of abuse. He kept repeating, ‘Whore, whore, whore!’ and spat in her face which was now red and bruised from Tony’s blows. He grabbed her by the throat and had to resist every urge he had to break her neck. His rage was on fire. All the anger and bitterness he’d felt over the previous weeks now had a release. He waved his large hand in front of her face and then pointed one of his large fingers at her. He moved his hand quickly and stuck his finger inside her vagina. She winced at the ferocity in which his hand entered her.

  ‘Don’t worry my little slut. I’m just looking for a gardener. He was here last time I saw him.’ He squeezed his hand tightly around her crutch, with his finger still firmly implanted. She screamed as his grip tightened. He slapped her face with his other hand.

  Tony dragged her from the bed. She was whimpering and in a daze from the blows. He dragged her out to his car and forced her into the passenger's seat through the driver’s side door. He loaded her like a sheep carcass. As she tried to resist, he started the car and reversed out of the driveway. He drove towards the town centre. About a half mile from the centre of Camden town, near the bowling club, he pulled to a halt. He dragged her from the car and threw her bodily to the ground into the grass verge by the side of the road. He spat on her yet again.

  ‘Rot in hell you selfish slut!’ were his last words before driving off and leaving her naked and bruised by the side of the road.

  As he drove back to the flat he wondered whether he had made her suffer enough. But he felt a relief from a build up of anger and frustration. He wasn’t sorry for what he’d done. ‘She got what she deserved,’ he thought to himself. He laughed to himself at the thought of her naked, trying to get home.

  Tony arrived back at the flat to find his two friends engaged in a discussion about football.

  ‘Had lunch Tony?’ Steve asked as he walked through the door. ‘There’s some ham and fresh bread in the kitchen if you wanna make a sandwich.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Tony said as he made his way to the kitchen.

  ‘How did it go at your solicitor?’ David bellowed to Tony from the small living room.

  ‘You don’t want an answer do you Dave?’ Tony yelled back. ‘Surely you aren’t expecting me to say bloody wonderful, are you?’

  Tony joined his two mates in the living room with his sandwich.

  ‘Well, why’re you looking so bloody happy?’ Steve asked.

  ‘I had a win,’ Tony answered.

  ‘At the solicitors?’ Dave asked.

  ‘Nope. At my house,’ Tony announced with a wry smile.

  ‘Shit Tony. What the fuck’ve you done? You didn’t clean out the place?’ Dave asked.

  ‘No, I just taught the bitch a lesson. At least she knows that there are consequences now.’

  ‘Geezz, Tony. What did you do?’ David asked. Now concerned at what Tony may have done.

  ‘I just taught her a lesson is all Dave. It’s done now. And I feel better for it. She couldn’t get away with what she did.’

  ‘You didn’t do anything stupid, did you Tony?’ Steve asked, now also concerned as to what Tony may have done.

  ‘Nope. I did something perfectly sane Steve. Perfectly sane. I just delivered something she should’ve been expecting.

  Tony didn’t want to go into details. He knew his two friends were concerned for him, and that especially Dave would not understand his actions. But Tony was satisfied. He’d punished her for humiliating him. He had now humiliated her.

  ‘God Tony,’ David exclaimed. ‘You didn’t give her a hiding?’

  ‘Something like that Dave. Let’s just leave it huh. It’s done now,’ Tony said.

  Tony returned to the kitchen and made himself a coffee.

  David and Steve looked at each other. They were both concerned as to what Tony had done. David in particular. He’d learned a great deal about Tony in their time as flatmates. About his personality and attitudes. His belief in family and family loyalties. The strong Latin influence in his upbringing gave Tony a far stronger set of values to what David and Steve had been raised with. Tony felt a great responsibility as head of his family. To provide for them and protect them. He only wanted the best for his wife and his children, and had worked his guts out to ensure they had the very best he could offer. To Tony, his wife had not only betrayed him, she had ridiculed him as well. David had an idea of what Tony had done today. His only real surprise was that it had taken him this long. He knew Tony had wished to punish his wife since the day he discovered her in his bed with the landscape gardener. The sense of loss and shame he had suffered over the past few weeks only heightened his want for retribution. It was now the consequences of Tony’s action that David knew could trigger Tony to go over the edge. Later that afternoon, it was no surprise to any of the men that the police knocked at their door.

  ‘We believe a Mr Antonio Pilletto resides here,’ the female constable asked David after he had opened the door.

  ‘Yes he does officer.’

  ‘May we come in?’

  David stood back and the two police came through the door and directly into the living room. The policewoman was a senior constable and her partner a young male constable.

  ‘Are you Antonio Pilletto?’ she asked addressing Tony.

  ‘Yes I am m’am,’ Tony politely replied.

  She introduced herself and her assisting constable. Tony introduced David and Steve. Tony was the most relaxed of the three of them.

  ‘Mr Pilletto,’ she started, ‘We’re investigating an incident that occurred earlier this afternoon. Would you prefer to discuss this matter privately?’

  ‘It’s ok,’ Tony said. ‘I have nothing to hide from my friends. I’m sure you’re here regarding my wife. And yes, I did assault her this afternoon. Do you arrest me now?’ Tony asked in a matter of fact manner.

  ‘Well, Mr Pilletto, I believe this may be better handled at the station. We would like to ask you a few questions about the incident, and take a statement from you. And no, you’re not under arrest at this point, but I would ask you to come with us now to the station.’

  ‘Fine,’ Tony said. ‘Let’s go then.’

  As Tony stood up, David asked the policewoman, ‘Is there anything we can do? Should we come with Tony?’ David was far more nervous than Tony. Steve was also concerned.

  ‘Mr Holdsworth, this could take some time. It may be better if you and Mr Sharp wait here. I’ll call you when we’ve completed our initial investigation. Could you give me your phone number please?’

  ‘Sure,’ David said. He grabbed the note pad near the phone and scribbled down the number.

  ‘If you’re ready Mr Pilletto?’ she asked. The two police officers left with Tony.

  David and Steve sat down quietly and waited.

  Tony was taken to an interview room. The police officer read the detail of the events earlier that afternoon. His wife had obviously reported the incident and had made a statement to the police. His wife had been found by a police patrol car, shortly after he’d dumped her.

  ‘Do you have anything to say regarding this account of events Mr Pilletto?’

  ‘That’s pretty much what happened.’

  ‘You do realise that this is a very serious offence Mr Pilletto?’

  ‘Yes. Yes I do. But not as serious as adultery in my opinion,’ Tony responded calmly.

  ‘Mr Pilletto. Adultery is not a criminal offence. Assault is.’

  ‘I understand what you’re saying m’am,’ Tony started, ‘But surely you’re not expecting me to find my wife, and the mother of my children, committing adultery in our b
edroom, and act as if nothing’s happened. Her act of adultery has cost me everything. Everything I’m worth. Every last ounce of my self esteem and pride. And you say it’s not an offence. If someone had perpetrated so much damage on my life and business by committing fraud or theft it would have been the same result. But then you would’ve classed it as a criminal offence. I’m afraid I see what she’s done as not only offensive, but also an offence. If not under law, at least under the eye’s of God. She’s an adulteress. You can proceed to charge me now. But I would ask you not to look for any regret from me in what I’ve done.’

  Tony sat stony faced. Protecting within himself his right to his feelings and morals.

  ‘Mr Pilletto, I need to take a statement from you, detailing the events of this afternoon. Could we go through the events as they happened and we’ll prepare a statement for you to sign. Ok?’ she asked, hiding any emotion or feelings for Tony. She was not sympathetic to his actions, but she could see the resolve in his eyes as to his belief in what he had done was justified.

  ‘Yes, that’s fine. Where do you want me to start?’

  It was nearly eleven o’clock when the phone rang. David answered it. It was the police. Tony was free to return home, and the police asked him if he would come and pick Tony up from the station. David said he would. It was after midnight when David and Tony arrived back at the flat. They had driven home in silence. Steve was waiting up for them.

  ‘Are you ok Tony?’ Steve asked immediately.