Randy hugs me tightly, looking at the woman, “Yes, that is definitely, Hugh.”
She comes over to me. She rubs her hand on mine. I look at her briefly. Why the fuck are you touching me? I want this woman and everyone else away from me!
“I am sorry for your loss,” she tells me with pity in her voice. I do not want her to feel sorry for me or give me pity!
We walk out with Randy holding me up. All of this is like a real bad dream. I think I am going to wake up and Hugh will be with me. I can hear him yelling at me - feel him hitting me!
CHAPTER 6
When we get back to my house we all head to the living room. You can tell Heather has something to say by that way she looks at me. She always gives me a certain look when she has something on her mind. Her eyes will look at me, the floor, back to me. She will clear her throat. Finally, she will say what is on her mind. She did it for years! I was used to it.
“Kris, do you want to start on funeral arrangements? I know this is hard, but it needs taken care of.”
Yes, she is right. I need to take care of. I shake my head yes but the more I think about it the sicker I get. I jump up running to the bathroom in my room. Once I get inside, I bend down and throw up.
Randy comes to the bathroom door, “are you okay, Kristy?”
I splash some hot water on my face. Taking a deep breath, I leave the bathroom, not feeling so well.
“I’m okay just feeling a little lightheaded.”
Randy helps me over to the couch so I can retake my seat. I put my feet under me to sit Indian style.
Heather comes to sit next to me, “Do you know if Hugh made any arrangements? A will?”
I look at Heather in bemusement, “I don’t know, Heather. He was so secretive with me. You know that he didn’t tell me much!”
She grabs my hand holding it. Running her fingers over my knuckles.
Randy leaves the living room going into Hugh’s office. He enters back in with a small safe, which he hands me. I look at it realizing I have never seen it before!
I look at Randy, “What is this? Where did you find it?”
Randy lets out a loud sigh shaking his head. He knows how Hugh was with me. They used to be good friends.
“It was under his desk drawer in his office.”
Heather squeezes my hand as she smiles, “I guess all guys must keep it there because, that is where Randy’s is hidden.”
Randy looks at Heather with shock on his face, “Baby, it’s everything you need when I die! How did you know about it?”
She smiles at him knowing she has totally caught him off guard. She enjoyed it when she could come up with something to surprise him. She knew everything he did and where he was! Although she would never tell him that.
“I saw you in it one night. I know I do not have to worry. That is why I never look in it.”
I smile at her. She did have so much trust in her husband. I did at one time with my husband! I run my hand over the safe. I cannot believe I never knew anything about it. I am glad that is where Hugh kept it because it was easy for Randy to find it. I would have never thought of looking there.
“I don’t know the combination.” I sadly tell Randy.
Randy smiles at me widely, showing his pearly white teeth. I cannot help but to think how handsome he is. Heather did great when she found him!
“You don’t need a combination it’s already unlocked.”
I hold my breath not knowing what I am going to find in there. I am almost afraid to open it. When I do open it, I find some papers, pictures of us in the early years and accurate amount of cash.
Randy takes the wad of cash out, moving to the floor to count it. Heather moves closer to me so she can see. I take out what looks like a document. I open it up looking at it. It is Hugh’s will. I did not know he even had one! I figured I would have died before him and it would have been his hands to kill me!
I start to read the pages carefully then look at, Heather. I am so surprised I start to cry again.
“What is it?” she ask impatiently.
I hand the papers to her. I want her to read them just in case I am mistaken. She takes them to check them. She sighs then starts to cry. She is just as surprised as I am!
Randy looks up, “what’s wrong?”
Heather loudly lets her breath out, wiping her eyes. She is so overwhelmed with joy. She is having a hard time regrouping.
“Hugh left everything to, Kristy! It says here he tore up their prenuptial agreement when they hit their ten years of marriage. He wanted her to have everything!”
Randy looks at us surprised, “It’s the least he can do after everything he has done to you.”
“I really didn’t think he loved me. He was so mean to me. He treated me so badly I thought he hated me!”
I wipe the tears away feeling so conflicted. I had no idea he did that for me. He probably did that knowing I would be dead before I had a chance to see the prenup was no longer good. That is how Hugh was. Only into himself! I know this is true because he would never leave me anything!
“Kris, I guess in his sick way he did love you. At least you out lived him. I am sure he probably thought you wouldn’t.”
I look at the pictures of us. We looked so happy. I wave my hand in front of my eyes. I am trying to stop the tears. I am trying to figure out what happened to us over the years. What had happened to him? He changed so much. I guess I will never know now!
“There is Twenty Thousand Dollars here,” Randy notes handing me the cash.
Heather gives a whistle, “Kris that can be considered all the money he wouldn’t let you have in your marriage.”
Why would he keep that much cash on hand? How could I not know about it?
“Did you get up the nerve to call his parents?” Randy questions as he returns to the couch.
It was strange how she reacted I thought but I knew why. I really did not blame them! His hitting me was bad enough, but to lay your hands on your parents! The people who raised you. That is completely rude!
“Linda said she was sorry! She did not really say anything else. She cried but really did not seem too upset. I don’t blame her; he was so mean to her and George.”
They both shake their heads in agreement. They knew what had happened. They also knew how his parents felt about him. We all felt bad for his parents. It was a bad situation!
Randy gets up to leave the room. He goes and makes a few phone calls. Heather is getting restless.
“I have to ask, Kris. Why are you so upset after what he did to you? I mean really, the way he treated you!”
“I stayed married to that man for twenty years! At one time, we were happy. I loved him! I may not have acted like it, but I truly did.” I start to cry again shaking my head, “Heather, I am sad, happy, relieved all in one. I don’t know how to feel.”
She holds me firmly while I cry like a baby! I know she hates him but give me a break. What am I supposed to do party?
“I contacted the funeral home,” Randy tells me reentering the room.
“We need to go down there to make the arrangements. Heather and I can have a wake for Hugh after the service.”
Heather jumps up. She is so excited Randy said that.
“Yes, we can do it at our house. I will take care of that part. There is so much to do.”
She already put the wheels in her brain to work. She enjoys entertaining. She does not get to do it often. She does not care what the occasion is along as she can have many people in her house!
“We can do meats, cheese, fruits, veggies, some wine,” she tries to continue.
Randy cuts her off, “we can talk about that at home!”
“Kristy, do you want to write the obituary for, Hugh? If not Heather or I could do it.”
“Yes Randy, I do!”
I pause for a minute thinking how it should go. Aloud I said, “I got it,” . . . “abusive husband who cheated on his wife dies…”
Heather starts laughin
g, “You can’t write that! That would be so mean. His friends are going to see that.”
I think to myself, I should write that. Why not? That is how he was. His friends and coworkers can see how he really was. Instead, he walked around acting like a saint. Fucker!
We all thought coming up with this: Hugh A Coleman 1962-2013, died in a tragic accident. Survived by his loving wife of many years, Kristy Price-Coleman, and his parents, Linda and George Coleman. That is about all we could think of. It was sad to me that I could not have come up with something more!
After we finish that, we leave to go to the funeral home. We make all the arrangements. His burial is on Friday of the following week.
I decide I am going to drop Coleman and use Price as my last name. Maybe the beginning to a fresh start!
When we get back to my house, it is getting close to seven. We are all tired and have not eaten all day.
“Do you want to go through his clothes?” Heather ask me yawning.
“Not tonight, maybe tomorrow.”
I give a yawn, a little sign so they know it is time for them to leave and give me a rest.
“Thanks so much for your help. I wouldn’t have gotten this far without you, guys.” I tell them walking over to give them a hug.
Heather comes over to say goodbye. She plants a kiss on me. Then gives me a big hug again.
“Anytime Kristy, if you need anything call. Please call!” Randy tells me.
They finally leave and I am so relieved to be alone! I go to the kitchen to pour myself a stiff drink. Taking a sip, I walk back to Hugh’s room. I stand in the doorway afraid of what I might find in his belongings. I sit on the bed rubbing his pillow. Bending down I take a deep breath inhaling how he smells. I used to love that smell but lost that feeling a long time ago!
I go over to his nightstand. On it is a picture of Hugh and me from last year. Someone at one of his work parties took that picture. Boy, did I look miserable!
Opening a drawer in his nightstand, it holds his wallet. There are Three Hundred Dollars, his credit cards and another picture of us. This one I looked happier. We were out for dinner with a couple from his work. He was holding me in front of him with his hands wrapped around my waist. I smile at the thought of that night. So long ago yet, I remember as if it was yesterday.
We danced, drank, and had fun all night long. Went home to make love. That was eight years ago. So sad I thought that we could not have stayed that way!
I put the wallet back noticing on the side of the bed some keys has fallen. I pick them up. One key looks like it is for a safe deposit box. I put those aside so I could use them later. I go to his closet. All of his clothes are hanging neatly. I move some aside to smell his scent. There in the corner of the closet holds another safe. This one is a lot bigger. I move his clothes closest to it away. When I try to open that one it does not open.
I try to use his birthday as the combination, but it does not work. I try our anniversary again nothing. I try things like the day he became part owner of the bank, his favorite numbers, and his mom and dad birthdays. Nothing!
I am getting frustrated. I sit on the floor thinking, “What could it possibly be.” I wish he had communicated with me more. It would have been a lot easier. I know this will not work, but I use my birthday. I will be damn it works!
I take a deep breath opening the safe. My mouth drops open when I look inside. There are Hundred Dollar Bills stacked in neat piles on the top shelf. The middle of the shelf holds some more money. The bottom shelf holds another small safe. Next to that are videos. I count six of them. I am so afraid to see what is on them!
What the fuck is going on? What was Hugh involved with I wondered. I take the small safe out. Behind it is two handguns. Hugh knew how much I hated guns. Maybe this is why he insisted on us having different rooms. I did not touch the guns. I left those alone.
I open up the little safe and see it is full of diamonds. My eyes bug out of my head. Shit, what is this? Whom do they belong? Now, I am so confused! We do not own a diamond shop. I do not know anyone who did. I shake my head putting them back in the safe. How can he have so many diamonds? Why does he?
Further, in the safe is another video. I do not want to but I have to see what is on them. Taking them to the living room, I put the first one in the player. I sit on the couch hitting play. When I see what is on the tape, I run to the bathroom to throw up.
The video is of, Hugh with a young girl, maybe nineteen years old. They were making love. I look a little more on the same video to find him with a teenage boy. He has had sex with teenagers. I really do not want to but I have to look at the other ones.
The next one is the same thing. Young girls who seem to be in their late teens. This time it looks like he is in a basement of some sort. Maybe not a basement. Wait, I know that room. His mom and dad have a house in the woods they never use. Hugh took me there once for our anniversary. It is close to Mount Rainier. What the fuck? I know over the years he said he had to go on overnight business but he has not done that for at least four years if not more.
I continue to go through the videos. They are all pretty much the same. When I get almost to the last one, I find the one of Hugh’s birthday. I probably blacked out or been fucked up. I did not remember how much had happened that day. Actually, I do not remember anything! I must have pushed that day out of my mind. Looking at the tape everything is so new to me. Hugh is standing right next to the bed taping it. You can see everything so clearly.
I am laying in the bed with, Dewayne. He has my hands tied to the bedpost. My legs spread wide open. My ass is up on some kind of pillow. He is ramming me deep with a dildo the size of a zucchini. I am screaming so loud. I have tears pouring down my face. When he pulls it out, I am bleeding. After that, somehow they are both butt fucking me. Again, I scream and cry! They are getting off on my pain. It seems the more I scream the more they do to me. I shut that one off. I must have been in shock not to remember that!
When I finally get to the very last video I am expecting the same thing, but it is not. This one he is with a young woman. Maybe thirty or so. He has her tied up to a bed. He is using a dildo on her. In others parts of the tape, he is hitting her with a whip and she is enjoying it. He hits her with his fists and she is enjoying that. Later on in it, she is doing the same to him. Yes, he is enjoying it. She is shoving a dildo in and out of his ass. Screamin’ in pain, he continues to enjoy it.
I shut it off going into the bathroom to throw up all over again. How did I not know about this? How could I have married someone like him? What the hell! I am beyond sick. I think I am going to die. How can this happen? What the fuck!
I close the big safe but leave a little gap, so I can get to it easier. Standing up I feel very weak in my knees. I lay on Hugh’s bed, falling to sleep.
I wake in the middle of the night thinking Hugh is standing over me holding a knife. I sit up to look across the bedroom. Of course, nothing is there. Lying back down, I put his pillow into my stomach, hugging it. I close my eyes, but never really fall back to sleep.
I lay there trying hard to piece everything together. It takes a while but vaguely I start to remember his birthday, not that I wanted to. I do remember waking up the next morning with blood on my sheets. I remember I could not walk the pain was so much. That would explain why he never checked on me. He got off on me being in pain! That definitely was not real love. I cannot believe I let him do that to me and did not leave. I really would have been better off dead than having to go through any of that again!
CHAPTER 7
The bedroom door quietly comes opens with, Mandy walking into the room. I forgot to call her! Coming over to the bed, she sits down next to me. Mandy rubs my hair away from my face.
“What are you doing in here, ma’am?”
I sit up, the tears rolling down my cheeks. I am an emotional wreck! I cannot believe how bad my life really was with Hugh.
“Hugh was killed this weekend. The police said it was a h
it and run.”
She shakes her head back and forth coming over to hug me. She tries to comfort me but it will not work. Nothing will make me feel better!
“That would explain why two of them are at the front door wanting to talk to you!”
She helps me to get out of bed, hugging me, not sure what to do. I know she feels sorry for me but I guess in some way I did it to myself!
“Ma’am, I am so sorry that he had to die. Although, I am not sorry he is gone!”
Mandy worked for us for a very long time. I knew she did not like him. However, like everyone else she was afraid of him. No one knew what to say to him. They did not want to feel his wrath!
Walking into my living room, I see the same two officers that were at Heathers.
“Good morning, Mrs. Coleman.”
Looking over at the officers, I know I do not want to deal with anything today. Let me go back to bed, is all I can think!
“Officer Harris, what can I do for you?”
Turning I go to sit on the couch. I feel very, very weak. I am so tired.
“We wanted to see how you are holding up or if you needed anything? If you could think of anything else that might help?”
I shake my head no. Knowing I am lying to them. “I started to go through Hugh’s things and found nothing out of the ordinary.”
I say that because I am not sure what to do yet. I will probably need Randy’s help on this one.
Officer Smith comes over to me. He bends in front of me on the couch, “Ma’am, we talked to the people your husband was working with. They believe he had a side job. Although, no one knew what it was. They believe it has something to do with his death. They also believe it might have something to do with the beating you took. Did he mention anything to you about what he might have done?”
I honestly thought I knew my husband. I guess I was very wrong on that one! Yeah, he had secrets but I never really realized how deep they were.
SCREAMIN' in Pain Page 5