but it was on fire in multiple places. I got the one fire out but the others were out of control. Julie was getting our clothes and her jewelry out of the house. It was totally engulfed when the fire department arrived. They called in a second, third and fourth alarm, but there was no saving the house. It burned to the ground. Then of all things to happen, the fire marshall found evidence of arson, and it pointed directly at myself and Julie. We weren’t arrested, but were told to not leave town.
All Julie’s neighbors looked down their noses at us. We were guilty in everyone’s mind.
The bathhouse had not burned, so we were reduced to living in it. We brought in mattresses and food from the pantry and made it work.
I was just glad that my kids had not been here. I knew that Ralph had done it, but couldn’t prove it. I began to work on a plan to get even with him, but had little information about him. Julie refused to talk about him. She hated him worse than I did.
Then the second bad thing happened. Julie found out that she was pregnant. We didn’t have insurance and couldn’t afford the lawyer to fight Ralph’s lawsuits. We were virtually broke. Julie tried to find jobs as a model, but no one seemed interested in her. She couldn’t really diet since she was pregnant. We were in a mess. It was clear to me that Ralph had won. He had broken us and I wanted to kill him too.
Julie was having to go to a free clinic for pregnancy exams. We couldn’t afford to have my kids anymore. I had taken a second job on the weekends. I was helping an accountant do people’s taxes. I had no business working there, but the pay was good. Julie had gotten a job as a waitress and was making more money than I was. She couldn’t work the weekends. She had to sleep and rest.
In the little spare time that I had, I found out that Ralph had married his secretary. Her name was Shelley. I would follow her some and learned her routines. She was very predictable. The other thing about her was that Ralph really seemed to love her. The thought of kidnapping her entered my mind, but I told no one about it. I began looking at ways to take her and keep her alive. The more I got into it the more difficult it became. I gave up on the idea.
Julie actually went to the attorney that represented her and made some sort of deal with him, and he began to represent us again. She wouldn’t tell me what the deal was.
We went to court and the Judge read all the documents. He looked at Ralph. “You clearly owe your ex-wife twenty million dollars. Why haven’t you paid her?”
His attorney stood up. “My client’s wife signed a prenuptial agreement where she agreed to not have any male partners. I have evidence here that shows she was living with her future husband prior to her marriage. That is a break of her covenant with my client and violates their agreement, so she gets nothing per the agreement.”
Our attorney stood up and said, “Your honor, Mr. Testerman took his secretary and openly lived with her. What is the difference?”
Ralph’s attorney stood back up. “Your honor, my client signed no such agreement.”
The Judge looked at the papers and looked at our attorney and asked, “Any comment?”
Julie stood up and walked out of the court room. I followed her out. She kept saying, “Dammit, dammit, dammit.”
I asked, “What is it, honey?”
She said, “I made a deal with the attorney. If we won, he got forty percent; if we lost I would sleep with him. I was certain that we would win. Now I have to break my wedding vows.”
I went back into the courtroom and asked to speak to the Judge. He asked for objections. There were none, so I stood in front of the Judge. I felt stupid, but I knew something that Ralph didn’t. I said, “Your honor, before I was married, we did not live together, we did not sleep together. Julie did not break her wedding vows. She is an honest woman who was married to a shoddy shyster.”
Ralph’s attorney was up on his feet. “Your honor, we have photos to show that this man is lying.” He brought out his folder and showed photos of us going in and coming out, but that was all. He also had irrelevant photos of us in restaurants and in automobiles. Even some photos of us holding hands and kissing.
I spoke up again, shrugging my shoulders. “Yes, your honor, these are all true, but not one of them proves that his wife ever broke her vows.”
The Judge looked at Ralph. “Any comment?”
His attorney went through the photos again, then looked at Ralph. “No comment, your honor.”
The Judge said, “I will be back in fifteen minutes with my decision. Please wait for me.”
When he came back in, he said, “I have reviewed all the evidence and find in favor of the defendant. You, sir, owe your wife twenty million dollars. I would like very much if you would pay her today. If not, I will find you in contempt of court.”
I turned and saw Julie standing at the back of the courtroom. She had a smile on her face that lit the entire building up. She went up to her attorney. “You didn’t win the case, my husband did. I will give you what we originally agreed on.”
Ralph wrote the check and handed it to Julie. She smiled all the way to the bank.
I smiled at my young bride. “Don’t be making any more deals like that without consulting me.”
She gushed, “Don’t worry, I won’t.”
We deposited the check and had to wait ten days for it to clear, then we began paying bills and getting caught up with loans that we both had. My life had improved drastically, and I was a lot happier. I was seeing my kids every other weekend. Julie was like a second mother to them. Johnny loved to play with her. Rachael was becoming a daddy’s girl, and I loved the interactions that we had. She would call me nearly every day and tell me about how she was doing in the second grade.
More good news: the fire marshal decided not to pursue action against either one of us on the house fire. The fire marshal was looking at Julie’s husband and the insurance policy that he had secretly purchased.
We had been married seven weeks to the day when Marilyn called me while I was at work. She said, “Brandon, I don’t know who to talk to. I still trust you and I need advice and help. I am in financial trouble. I need twenty-five hundred dollars today. Can you help me out?”
I smiled. “Sure I can, honey. How did you get so far behind?”
She started to cry. “Baby, I have been gambling. I am really in a bind, I have a bet tonigh. The odds are three to one. I can bet twenty-five hundred, and when I win I will get seventy-five hundred. I can pay you back the money that I owe you and pay the five thousand that I owe the bookie.”
I was gritting my teeth. “Honey, where did you find a bookie?”
She started, “Gilbert introduced me to him. He is also the man who gets Gilbert his drugs.”
My cheek muscles flexed. “Honey, I will give you five thousand and you pay the bookie off and you stop gambling. Those guys will break both your legs, and well, anyway, you just shouldn’t be doing that anyway.” I was scared for her and I was rambling, so I just shut up.
She hesitated. “Baby, I like to gamble, I have just been on a losing streak, but I can catch up and be even. Why do I have to give it up?”
I smiled. “If you want me to help you, you have to stop. I will give you the money and you don’t have to pay me back, but you have to promise to stop gambling.” I wasn’t going to give her the money if she didn’t agree. If she did she wouldn’t have to pay it back.
There was a long silence, then she said, “Okay, I will stop, but....”
I said quickly, cutting her off, “Marilyn, there are no buts; you have to promise me right now that you will stop. Say it or hang up. I won’t help you if you don’t.”
She seemed to smile. “Okay, you win. Want to meet me somewhere? I need cash.”
I smiled. “Say it, Marilyn. Promise me that you will stop.”
She said, “Brandon, I promise to stop gambling if you give me five thousand. Is that good enough?”
I said, “Yeah, that is good enough. Mee
t me at the park where the kids play. Bring them with you; I want to see them.” The thought of seeing my kids made my heart happy. I didn’t get to see them often enough. But then something stirred my brain. I should be careful here. I wasn’t sure why, but a cold chill went down my spine.
I called Julie and told her what I was doing. She wasn’t happy, but gave me her blessing. The money actually came out of Julie’s account.
I went to the bank and got the money. I had my gun in my jacket pocket.
I drove over to the park and scoped everything out. I didn’t see anyone who might be a problem. Marilyn drove in and I could see another person in the car with her. The kids were not with her. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. I was expecting it to be one of the three guys, but it was an older man that I had never seen before. I put my hand on my gun and was ready to defend myself.
Marilyn and the man got out. I got out slowly and walked up to them.
She introduced the man as Sean Smothers. He was her bookie. Sean was a very big, powerful-looking man. I wondered if he was the bookie’s muscle. Usually, I thought, bookies were rather small men.
Marilyn was in much more danger than she had let on. She was in a situation where she had to pay today, or else. The “or else” meant that her life was in danger. I wasn’t certain if she understood that or not. I handed Sean the money and I didn’t get a receipt. He put the money in his jacket pocket and I