Featured Short Story: A Glutton for Punishment by Rebecca Benston (Chapter Four)

When Sissy answered the phone, Jane said only two words, “Go ahead.”
Sissy answered her with a very succinct, “Consider it done.” With that, she hung up the phone. It was too late to turn back at this point and truthfully, Jane didn’t want to. She just wanted Pete to get what was coming to him. A couple of weeks passed and Jane didn’t hear anything from anyone. She wasn’t sure what, if anything had happened. Maybe they hadn’t done anything. Maybe it had all been an exaggeration. After all, Pete had already stopped by twice to pick Emma up for his visitation and Jane had refused to let her go. His breath had smelled of alcohol and his new girlfriend had been waiting in the car on both occasions. There was no way Jane would turn him loose with her daughter.
He had filed contempt charges against her in court and she was waiting to find out what would happen next. His next visit was scheduled for this coming weekend and Jane was worried that the third refusal to let him take Emma might land her in jail. She had already racked up $500 in fines.
Emma was sleeping on the couch when Jane flipped on the evening news and sat down to watch. They covered a story about a local fireman who had rescued a toddler from a burning building and then the anchor started talking about a car accident that just occurred out near the edge of town. They flashed to a shot of a car that looked a lot like Jane’s old car. It was twisted around a tree and the caption that was running below the shot read, “Fatal crash takes the lives of two, alcohol and speed a factor.” Jane looked more closely and saw the bumper sticker on the back end of the car that read “Back Off, Sucker.” It was the same sticker that Pete had kept on his car for years. She thought for a moment and then shook her head. She turned up the volume in time to hear the anchor say, “The victims have been identified as 31 year old Peter Anderson and 26 year old Janice Turner.” Jane switched the television off and sat there for a moment. There was no way this was possible. Pete was dead and so was his new girlfriend. Just as she was starting to process the information in her head, the telephone rang. It was her mother, she was worried that Jane had seen the story and was calling to make sure she was okay. Jane assured her that she was fine and then she called her friend Sissy.
“Sissy, hi, this is Jane,” she said.
“Hey, girl,” she said in her usual upbeat tone, “how’s it going?”
“Well, I just saw on the news that my ex-husband was killed in a car accident,” she said numbly, “I think I might be in shock, I still can’t believe this.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” she said, “are you alright? Does Emma know?”
“No, no she’s sleeping, I hadn’t even thought about how to tell her,” she said, “What am I going to say to her?”
“I’ll be right over, hon,” Sissy said, “don’t worry, we’ll figure it out.”
Jane hung up the phone and waited. It was close to 8:30 p.m. and Emma would stay asleep for the rest of the night. Jane put on a pot of coffee and sat down to wait for Sissy.
When Sissy arrived, she came in and sat down with Jane. She took her hand and said, “Are you alright?”
“I think so,” she said, “I hadn’t expected something like this, I was just thinking that I was going to have to go to jail this weekend for refusing to let him take Emma again. My God, it’s my fault for thinking such awful things.”
“Now, honey, I told you we’d take care of things. We weren’t going to let you go to jail and we sure as hell weren’t going to let him take Emma. He really should’ve been more careful,” Sissy said, an almost imperceptible smile on her lips.
Jane looked at her and then it dawned on her. This hadn’t been an accident. Sissy had done something. She had really made something happen. For a moment, Jane didn’t know what to say to her friend. She thought she should feel bad but then as she thought back to all of the terrible things Pete had said and done to her over the last few months, she sighed.
She looked at Sissy, who was still staring at her with that smile on her face. It was so incongruous to the situation. Jane stood up and walked into the kitchen. She pulled two coffee mugs from the kitchen cabinets and poured two cups of coffee. She took one to Sissy and sat back down on the couch. As she watched her little girl, Emma, sleeping soundly on the couch, she felt a sense of calm wash over her. She didn’t need to worry about Pete anymore. It was over. It was finally over.
“What now?” she asked Sissy.
Sissy looked at her with a smirk and said, “Got any cake?”THE END

We hope you've enjoyed this short story by Rebecca Benston. You can find more by this author by visiting her website at http://www.rebeccabenstonwrites.com.

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Featured Short Story: A Glutton for Punishment by Rebecca Benston (Chapter Three)

Jane’s attorney, Angela Nelson, had assured her that she had nothing to worry about. He wouldn’t be able to take her car or the money she had in her savings account. She had also said that he might not be able to get visitation if he continued to threaten her as he had that day in the parking lot. When they sat down in the courtroom, Pete was already there with his attorney. He smiled at Jane as though nothing was wrong and then started whispering to his attorney. Jane looked at Angela and said, “Please tell me they won’t give him custody.”
Angela patted her hand and smiled at her, “I’m sure everything will be fine, just relax.”
The hearing went on for about an hour as the two attorneys spoke with witnesses and then with both Jane and Pete. By the time it was all over, Jane was exhausted. She couldn’t take anymore. She went home and threw herself down on the couch, staring up at the ceiling as though she were in prayer. She might have been, but for the feelings of resentment towards Pete that kept her from thinking “good” thoughts. Emma was staying at her mother’s for the night so she was on her own.
The night passed slowly and Jane found herself watching old rerun sit-coms at three in the morning. Somewhere between Barney Miller and Alice, she drifted off to sleep. She awoke to the sound of someone knocking on her door. She shook her head to regain her consciousness and then headed over to the door.
“Jane Anderson, you need to open up, Sheriff’s office,” a voice said from outside.
“Just a minute, I was asleep,” she said, nervously, “hang on.”
She was wearing sweats and other than having a serious issue with her hair, she looked normal. She opened the door to a Deputy Sheriff and her husband, Pete.
“We’re here to collect the car,” the officer said, holding up a copy of an official looking document. Jane noticed that there was a document taped to her door as well. She pulled it off of the door and opened it quickly. It was from the court and it stated that Pete was entitled to the car and to standard visitation with their daughter, Emma. She read on quickly until she came to the part that said Pete would be able to take Emma every other week and then for an entire month in the summer.
“What the hell?” she said, “How did this happen?”
“I’m not here to speculate, ma’am, I’m just here to make sure that he gets his car,” the officer said. Pete just stood there smirking at Jane. He was taking her vehicle and he intended to leave her with nothing, no way to get around. This meant there would be no way for her to get a job, even if there was something out there that she could get. With no transportation, she had no way to get Emma to appointments and no way to make sure that they had what they needed in the house. She would be crippled by this and Pete knew it. He was planning to use it against her so that he could get custody of Emma. This couldn’t happen.
“What am I supposed to do for transportation?” she said to the officer. “He’s not supposed to be able to do this, I want to speak with my lawyer before you do anything.”
“I’m sorry, Miss, the car needs to go today,” the officer said, “I’ll need the keys.”
“This is bullshit,” Jane said, on the verge of tears. She reached to grab her purse from the hook by the door. Angrily, she reached inside and grabbed the keys. Without thinking, she flung the keys at Pete hitting him in the jaw. The officer put a hand up and said, “Miss, that’s not necessary.”
“Just get out of here,” she said and turned to slam the door in their faces. She waited until the officer and Pete had pulled away from the building’s parking lot. Once they were gone, she picked up her phone and punched in a number. There was only one person she wanted to call right now. The person who could make all of this go away.



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Featured Short Story: A Glutton for Punishment by Rebecca Benston (Part Two)

Jane sat up straight in the seat, “What do you mean, a solution?”

“She means that we can help you with your situation,” Lola said from the passenger seat. She turned and looked at Jane sternly. “Your situation with Pete.”

“How do you mean? Do you know a better attorney or something?” she asked.

“Well…kind of…not exactly, but well, yes,” Sissy said.

“Do you remember me telling you about the trouble I had with my divorce a couple of years back?” Sissy asked her.

Jane nodded.

“Remember how I told you that all Ted talked about was getting the house and how he was going to take all of the money out of the bank accounts so that I’d have to struggle to keep my business going,” she continued.

“The business you started with your own money?” Jane asked her. She was getting very curious now.

“Yes, that’s the one,” she said, “Do you remember me telling you that Ted had passed away just three days before our final hearing?”

The pieces began to fall into place and Jane nodded, “I remember, what did you say happened to him?”

“I didn’t really say, but they think it was some kind of electrical problem,” she said, throwing her hands up in a practiced show of naivete. “He was just driving along one night and his car sort of burst into flames.”

“Oh, my God,” Jane said, “That’s horrible.”

“Yes, it was horrible,” Sissy said, holding her hand in front of her, admiring her French manicure. “Such a shame.”

“It’s odd, really,” Lola said, “but the same kind of thing happened to my ex-boyfriend, Greg.”

Jane’s brow furrowed, “It did?”

“Well, not an explosion, but a freak accident with his ATV,” she said, “He was an avid sportsmen and one day, he was out riding around in the woods, doing whatever it was he did when he went out in the woods. The policeman who came to see me said that he had lost control of the four-wheeler and flipped over the handlebars. He died instantly.”

“Jesus, you guys must be bad luck,” Jane said, and then her hand flew to her mouth. “Bad something…I guess.”

“We’re bad something, alright,” Kate chimed in, “Bad ass women who don’t take shit from men who try to hurt us. That’s why we want to help you.” She had been quiet during the rest of the conversation, but Jane knew why. Kate had been attacked by her former boyfriend, Steve. He had beaten her severely and left her to die in the parking lot of their apartment building. She had managed to drag herself to safety and from there, she had taken steps to get him out of her life. The process had been a difficult one from what Jane had heard. Kate hadn’t been able to get a restraining order because there had been no witnesses to the beating and because Steve had somehow managed to get himself beaten up before going to the police and claiming that Kate had been the one who hit him.

Jane hesitated and finally, after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, she said, “I don’t know what to say, what can you do for me? I just can’t imagine…”

“All you need to do is tell us a few things about Pete, we’ll take care of the rest,” Sissy said. “You won’t need to do anything and we’d rather you didn’t know more than that.”

Jane turned it over in her mind. She had wished that Pete would just disappear. She had also wished that he would drive his car into a tree or something along similar lines. Now the opportunity for relief from this jerk was right in front of her. She would have been skeptical, but in light of what she knew about her friends she felt like they might actually be able to help her. None of them had ever been in trouble with the law. None of them had been questioned by the police at the times of their significant other’s deaths. In fact, they had actually been treated very well by the local law enforcement officers. Sissy had even started dating a policeman recently and was supposedly thinking about marrying him. She thought about Kate and her situation with Steve.

“So whatever happened with Steve,” she asked her, “He just disappeared?”

“That’s what they say,” Kate said, winking her eye. “He just disappeared.”

“Can I think about it?” Jane asked, “I mean, can I get back to you on this?”

“Jesus, Jane, we’re not selling you a car here,” Lola said, “We’re offering you a special solution to your problems.”

“Now, Lola, let’s not put too much pressure on her,” Sissy said, “this isn’t an easy decision and if she isn’t sure, I don’t want her to jump into anything.”

“Thanks, Sissy,” Jane said, “I don’t mean to sound unappreciative, but I just don’t know. I mean, we have a daughter together and how do I deal with telling her that he’s gone?”

“How have you been dealing with it?” Sissy asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jane thought for a minute and then started to tell the ladies about Pete’s habits.
She told them where he liked to eat, where he liked to shop, and where he liked to hang out after work. She gave them the address where he was living with his parents. She told them about his tendency to overeat and how he loved a good meal. She told them how he liked to go fishing at night and drink beer on the dock while he fished. When she was done, she asked them if they could give her some time to make up her mind. She assured them that she only wanted to make sure she was doing the right thing. After all, what if he decided to come back to her and everything went back to normal. Not likely, but it crossed her mind. The ladies agreed and she told Sissy that she would call her in a couple of weeks to let her know what she had decided.

When Jane got back home that night, Zsa Zsa was asleep on the loveseat. Emma was sleeping in a little sleeping bag on the floor near the couch. Jane looked at her daughter and then leaned down to brush the hair away from her precious little face. Tears rolled down her face as she thought about her discussion with Sissy and the girls. How could she take Emma’s father away from her? Would it solve anything? What was she going to do? She had a court hearing the in a couple of days and she would find out where things stood. She picked Emma up and carried her to the bed, tucking her in and kissing her goodnight. Zsa Zsa had already awoken and headed home to her own apartment. Jane changed her clothes and got into bed beside Emma.
She held her close that night as she fell asleep. She hoped that the right decision would come to her soon so that they could get on with their lives.

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Featured Short Story: A Glutton for Punishment by Rebecca Benston

Jane Anderson sat in the kitchen looking out the window of her small, third-floor apartment. She had been looking out at the parking lot where her car had been just two hours earlier. Everything had been okay two hours ago. Or at least, it was as okay as it could be under the circumstances. Jane was going through a divorce.

The whole thing had come as a complete surprise to her. She had been sitting home with her two year old daughter Emma one day, doing her normal daily routine when her husband had come home from work. He’d moped around for the better part of the evening and after a few hours; he had disappeared into their bedroom. When he reappeared twenty minutes later, he was carrying a suitcase and a duffel bag. Both appeared to be full and he headed straight for the coat rack by the apartment door.

“Where are you going?” she had asked, puzzled at this turn of events.

“I’m leaving, I don’t want to be here anymore,” he had said. And that was the extent of the explanation she was given. He had disappeared into the night and she didn’t hear from him for several days. She was confused. They had a good life together. The apartment was average, they had two cars that ran, they were able to put food on the table and everything had seemed fine.

He called her three days later on a Friday to tell her that he would be dropping off some diapers for Emma. He said that he hadn’t changed his mind and that he wanted to get a divorce. Jane was devastated. The two of them had just celebrated their third anniversary a couple of months back and everything had been fine. She asked him what had caused him to make this decision and he replied that he simply wasn’t in love with her anymore.

Jane was a nervous wreck. Aside from the fact that she had virtually no work experience, she was often ill and she had no way to support herself and her young daughter now that her husband was gone. Her counselor listened attentively during their sessions and even gave her information about support groups that she could attend. It didn’t help though. Jane still felt like the rug had been pulled out from under her.

One evening, Jane’s friend, Sissy Duncan called her to say that she was back in town and that she wanted to get together. After some consideration, Jane called her neighbor, Zsa Zsa Dresback and asked her if she wouldn’t mind looking after Emma.

Jane dressed in a simple black pantsuit with low heeled shoes and a few pieces of costume jewelry. Nothing gaudy, just a little something to give her some sparkle. When Zsa Zsa knocked on the door, she told Jane to have a great time and to stay out as long as she liked. Jane thanked her, and then kissed Emma’s cheek before heading out the door. She headed downstairs. She hardly ever went out and she really needed some advice from them. She got into her car, a newer sedan that she and Pete had purchased only six months back, and drove in the direction of downtown.

She was headed for the Tiger Lily Lounge, a local hangout for singles. Sissy and her friends had been meeting here for drinks every other month or so for the last ten years. Jane was new to the group, having met Sissy at the local gym during a last ditch attempt at keeping her last New Year’s resolution. The two had hit it off immediately and Sissy had invited her to meet the rest of the girls. Jane had immediately liked Kate and Lola. They were just average, middle-aged women trying to make sense of being single in a society that was overrun with substandard dating material. When she arrived, she saw the group sitting at a table near the bar. She headed across the room and took a seat at the table.

“Hey, ladies,” she said, halfheartedly. She was on the verge of tears. Just the sight of a friendly face had nearly crippled her. She didn’t know what to say to them. They only knew her as the married one who didn’t say much about her home life.

“Hey, how are you?” Sissy said, getting up to come around the table and give her a quick hug. “Are you holding up okay?”

“Yeah, hon,” said Kate, “what can we do to help?” Her southern drawl made Jane feel as though she genuinely cared, even though they had really only spoken to one another a couple of times.

“You know, we can help,” said Lola, “What’s been happening?”

Jane looked from one to the other and took a deep breath. “He’s threatening to take our daughter, and everything else he can get. Our final hearing is set for next week and from what they said the last time, he’s got every right to take the car and anything else he wants. What about my rights, damn it? I don’t work outside the home, so I don’t have any rights, I guess,” she said. The words poured out and as she laid out the details of the separation, the ladies faces grew dark and she noticed that Sissy’s smile had turned into a scowl. Sissy laid a hand on top of hers and said, “Let’s all take a ride.”

The ladies went out to the parking lot and got into Sissy’s shiny, new SUV. Once inside, Sissy drove them to a secluded spot just outside of town and parked the vehicle. They were parked at the edge of a local reservoir park in one of the lots that overlooked the water. Sissy turned around and said, “Listen, you’ve known us long enough now and it really seems like you need our help. Can I trust you to keep this just between us?”

Jane shrugged and said, “Sure, what are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about a solution to your problems,” she said and the smile returned to her face.

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