Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 77663 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77663 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
They were already blaming me for Dan’s murder because someone had told them everything, from the pregnancy to my part in running off his wife. I’d forgotten how much they’d liked her. They were some of the ones who claimed that she was good for my son and how much she had done for him when they were younger.
It’s true she’d gotten my son to do his homework and pay attention to his studies, but so what? I was his mother; I was the most important woman in his life, not her.
I rushed home to find a mess. There were marshals and moving trucks all in the driveway, and my husband was on his phone. How had it come to this? How had everything I’d done in my life come to this?
I was almost seventy years old, and I had nothing left. No family no real friends, and now the last thing I had to hold onto in my old age had been stolen from me. I felt tired and alone as I watched my husband leave as soon as I arrived. Two guesses where he was going.
DIEDRE
“Jessica, what are you doing here?”
“Hello Diedre, long time no see.”
“How did you find me?”
“I didn’t, actually. The McCalls found me.”
“Who?”
“Thunder and Amanda, you know them.”
“How do they know you?”
“That’s an interesting story. How do you think the courts here know all about your past in Arkansas?”
“What’re you saying?” Amanda was the one who ratted me out? I always suspected her husband had something to do with the weed that was found in my house, but when I brought it up to the public defender, he’d all but laughed in my face and told me that if I wanted to get Thunder McCall involved, I’d have to find myself another lawyer, one that he obviously knew I couldn’t afford.
“Anyway, since you’re my son’s birth mother, I thought I should at least come and put your mind at ease that he’d be taken care of while you’re in here.”
“What do I care about your son? Wait, what did you say? Birth mother? What do you mean?”
“I mean the child you knew as Junior. I’m changing his name, by the way, since we now know that Dan was not his father. I won’t be telling the real dad either since you’re both a waste of space, which he never needs to know. I’ll tell him that you died in an accident.”
“You crazy bitch, you can’t have my kid. I didn’t sign my rights away.”
“You didn’t have to. The courts decided for you when they saw the videos of you drugging and abusing him.”
“What are you talking about? How did you….?”
“How did I know? Your ex had videos of you doing that and a whole lot more.”
“Dan knew?”
“Yes, and now so does everyone else. Looks like when you slept with my husband, you did me a favor; that seems to be your forte because, from what I’ve learned, you did the same thing to Amanda, and now she’s with someone who’s much better than the ex you stole. You always were a winner.”
“So this is where those looks you were so proud of got you. Then again, free room and board for the rest of your life is more than some people have. I hope every day in here is the worst of your life you deserve it. Meanwhile, I’ll be raising my son to never remember you or even know that you exist.”
She got up to leave, and I grabbed for her, but the chains that held me tied to the table would only let me reach so far. I screamed threats at her back as she walked away without a backward glance.
I slumped back down on the chair, defeated. Nothing had gone right for me in longer than I care to admit. The drug charges, the murder charge, I know that my life was pretty much over, that I would never see the light of day again, but I refuse to accept it.
It couldn’t all end like this. I deserve so much more in life. There was so much I wanted to do. The stupid lawyer kept going on about how lucky we were that Arkansas had waived extradition because of the extent of the two cases I was facing here.
When it wasn’t that, he was telling me how lucky I was that the state no longer had the death penalty. All while I’m telling him to find ways to get me out of here. I knew I had nothing to do with the drugs, and I could’ve come up with a reason for the murder even with the videos, but now, if Dan had kept video records, it was all lost. And that bitch Amanda was to blame.
THUNDER
I’m a mean bastard, I know. I could’ve chosen any day to hit her where it hurts, but I went for the most effect. Why? Because of her part in what happened to Amanda, that woman is a nasty piece of work and though my wife has no idea what I’ve been up to behind the scenes, at least I know that I’ve exacted vengeance on her behalf.