Love, Trust and Communication

I originally wrote this first piece as a humorous (short) flash story. I even specifically stated that there was no character development, nothing in depth, nothing serious, written just for fun. Then two things happened and I thought more about the characters, or who I thought the characters could be.

I attended a welcoming home party for a son of a friend of mine. That son had done two tours in Iraq. The reason that he enlisted in the Marines was that he had no purpose in life, no self control, no vision and more so, no hope or strength to change himself. He was pretty near a complete fuck up. I do believe that this kept him out of jail. He came back (alive) with a good head on his shoulders. It did save him to a point and now he has a good base to go forward. I think that he'll succeed in life.

When I wrote the initial flash story, it was about a young fuck up, and I didn't give him much thought. But I saw this Marine and other Marines over my years. I've known and met Marines from WW2, Viet Nam, Grenada, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq who were in combat. I've known others that were lucky enough to serve in peace time. Some of their battles tended to be with the bottle. I've seen parts of my initial character in them. Some of them came into the Corps with a stability and maturity that I am amazed at, others, the other end of the spectrum.

Going back to my original story, I thought about what kind of person would be that angry that would do something as outrageous to his lover as destroy her things. What came to mind, I put in the words of one of my characters, "a partially broken young man". Not all fuck ups are a complete waste of biological material. Some of them are in process of getting their lives back together. I choose to live with hope whenever I can. It's a choice I make.

There was one last thing that drove this story. In my extended family, I have a couple of relatives that married people from small towns along the Missouri and the Ohio river watersheds. It was always interesting to hear their stories and see them change as they lived 'in the big city or up North' longer. There was also a Marine or two in this batch.

So after saying that there would be no character development, this story popped up. I had to write it down.

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(The initial flash story)

This is a flash story: no character development, nothing in-depth, nothing serious, written just for fun. I have a sense of humor, twisted maybe, and this is gallows humor.

*****

In a small meeting room outside a courtroom in a county seat in rural Iowa.

Scott Jones and his three friends were talking with their court appointed lawyer before their hearing. Scott was excited and angry. "She was going to make me look like a fool. She was having 3-ways behind my back. I overheard her on the phone, that bitch. She was talking about it over 10 minutes three times. I heard her do it. Bitch kept saying that they knew how to do it and that they'd be completely satisfied. She put on her little girl voice, so submissive. BITCH. No way she could deny it. We aren't even married and she is cheating on me. I'm not going to be a fool in front of everybody. No way sir. Everybody is going to know not to fuck with me."

With only 5 minutes before this initial hearing, their lawyer attempted to reason with the 4 of them. "It is all in your best interest to be quiet, to look penitent and settle if we can. If you are quiet in this hearing, you can give me an answer on how to go forward when this hearing is over. If you say anything, it will not go well. You all need to make that decision." The bell rang and they all filed into court.

After everyone was seated, the Judge asked the clerk to read the charges. "Mr. Scott Jones is charged with damaging the personal property of Ms. Emma Riley. He vandalized her car, took all her personal property out if their common apartment and sprayed water over everything, including her extensive electronics.

"In a related manner, Mr. Bill Mayer, Mr. Bob Hinckley and Mr. George Bradley are charged with the criminal damage to the property of Max Contractors. They broke windows of his service truck, scratched and defaced the exterior of the truck and sprayed water into the dashboard and engine. Ms. Riley is the office manager at Max Contractors"

The judge looked down at the four men, then at their court appointed attorney. "Counselor, how do these men plead?" "Not Guilty your honor" was the response. Scott was about to speak, but two of his friends pulled him back and put a hand over his mouth. When he finished struggling, the judge asked Scott if he had something to say. With great restraint, Scott shook his head no. He was not happy.

At this point a lawyer asked to approach the bench. Genevieve Hansen, 75, with her walker and an oxygen tank walked to the bench. The judge looked down and warmly greeted her. "Gene, how are you doing? And what brings you out of retirement?"

"Larry, I'm doing fine, as fine as can be with all these medical devices. I tell you, the years of smoking when I was younger, well, I'm just paying for it now. You remember, both Curt and I had bypasses, and that was 10 years after we quit smoking. And it's been 10 years since that. Well anyway, that's water under the bridge. We're still attempting to keep active.

"Back to the matter of this case, I was getting some work done at the house to make it easier for Curt and me to remain in the home. Looking out the window, I saw the contractor's truck being vandalized. I called the police and then started recorded it on my phone. What did we ever do before smart phones?

"Let me get to my formal role here. I am here to represent my clients, Max Contracting and his receptionist, Emma Riley. We are asking for restitution for the damage that these men caused. Emma was a fiancée to Mr. Scott Jones when Mr. Jones and his friends, with no provocation or warning began to viciously verbally attack Ms. Riley and then physically attack the property of Max Contracting and Ms. Riley.

"We are asking the court to award Max Contracting $23,000 in compensatory damages and $30,000 in punitive damages.

"We are asking the court to award Emma Riley $8,000 in compensatory damages and $15,000 in punitive damages.

"In addition, we are asking for an order of protection is placed against these 4 men to not have any contact with any of the litigants or their families."

The four men were now in shock. Getting arrested in a small town is nothing new. Everybody knows everybody's business. But this kind of money? Order of protection? They were all caught red handed, all recorded with smart phones. This was not looking good.

The judge looked at the four men. "I will grant your request for an order of protection and will set bail at $10,000 each. That should be enough to keep you all out of trouble. Any questions? If you violate this order, you will go to jail and remain there until your trial." All four men shook their heads no. "Court is now dismissed."

Looking over at Gene, he waved her over to the bench. They started talking about old times while the defendants were speaking quietly to their lawyer. Just as the defendants were getting up to leave, the judge asked Gene what kind of work she was getting done at the house, and if she liked the contractors. He needed some work done and work of mouth means everything. "Well, Max Contracting is quiet and professional. The new windows are great. However, they did have some problems with retrofitting the family and kitchen room with a couple of 3-way light switches. They had to call me back three times before they got it right."

Scott turned white as a sheet, fainted and fell to the floor.

(End of Flash story)

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Getting back to work after lunch, I saw a message to call Genevieve Hansen. Mrs. Hansen was my and Max's lawyer when Scott viciously attacked my belongings and the company's property.

"Mrs. Hansen, what can I do for you?" It was the first time I spoke with her in 5 months. After Scott and his friends damaged my things and the firm's truck, somehow she got a settlement in days and the whole mess was over in three weeks. All the damages were compensated and I never had to speak with my ex-fiancé Scott again.

"Emma, please call me Gene."

"Ok Gene." It still felt funny to talk with a very mature adult, and a lawyer to boot. She would have been older than my grandmother, and to call her by her first name? "What can I do for you? Do you need any additional work done on your house?"

"No, Max has done all that we need for right now. You widened the doorways, installed new electrical, added air conditioning and replaced the windows. We're all set on that front. I'm calling you as your lawyer. Could you stop on by the house in the next day or so? There are some issues I'd like to discuss. The issues are nothing to be worried about. I'm home most of the time. Whats convenient for you?"

"I'll be there today at 5 PM after work if that fits."

I arrived at Gene's house just as it was getting dark. Winter would soon be here. I didn't even need to ring the doorbell as Gene met me at the door. She invited me in and proceeded to feed me dinner. I wasn't expecting this at all. Finally after dinner, we went into the living room. She wheeled her walker with her oxygen tank to one end of the sofa while I sat at the other end.

"Emma, I got a call from Bill Brooks." She paused, "From the look on your face, you have no idea who he is. He's an old friend of mine at the county seat. He is a social worker that does individual and family counseling. We worked with some of the same clients for several years."

At this point I'm really confused, and I guess that it showed on my face. "Let me continue. He has been seeing a client for the past 6 months, and this client wanted to give you a letter. But he can't. The client has given Bill and me permission to speak with you about it." She looked directly at my eyes, "His client is Scott."

I immediately became angry. "Is that why you invited me here? To talk about that jerk? I wanted to be finished with him and he is popping up in my life again?" I was really pissed, but I needed to be respectful. I could cuss like a truck driver, but I needed to be respectful.

"Emma, I understand that you are angry with Scott. He did an awful thing to you, and it was without provocation. I get that. But as your counselor, and as a woman who has seen 75 years, over 40 in court, please hear me out."

I was always taught to be respectful, not necessarily be a patsy or a pushover, but to be respectful. "Yes ma'am."

She grimaced at me for that one, but continued. "Scott has been seeing Bill Brooks since the day after the first hearing. He's been religious about it and hasn't missed a session, even when the tornado hit a couple of months ago."

This was something new to me. Scott only finished things that were very important to him. His history is littered with half completed projects.

"Emma, from what Bill has told me, Scott has been very serious and has been working hard. Part of this working hard is to apologize to the people that he has wronged. Normally I don't get much involved with these matters after the cases are settled, but two people changed my mind. One was Bill. The other was Scott.

"I've never told you what happened after that first hearing. I was visiting with the judge, an old friend of mine. He asked me about how Max was for getting work done. I mentioned the great window work, then having to call back three times because of the three way switches."

I remember those switches. The worker was great with windows, but replacing a three-way switch requires some thought. The wiring is different and he just couldn't get it right.

"You know that Scott fainted at the courthouse. What no one knows is that he heard me, this 75-year-old-with-a-walker-with-an-oxygen-tank me talk repeatedly about three ways." She paused and looked me directly in the eye. "Emma, he thought you were being unfaithful to him."

I froze. Now it started to make some sense. I thought he became unstable and just started to attack me. I had no idea it was about anything else.

"Emma, the letter he wrote is an open letter and both Bill and I have read it. With the order of protection and your history, there was no way that he could have approached you. This is why I asked you to come here. I cannot and will not pressure you read the letter, but as a 75 year-old that has seen the good and bad of life, I counsel you to read it. Just the little bit of discussion that we had today I think has done some good."

Gene pulled an envelope out of the basket and handed it to me. "Emma, it will not hurt you, I promise."

I reached out and took the letter from her hand and slowly opened it. It was in Scott's handwriting. Actually, it was his speed printing, that I could read. I could never read his writing. It was dated 2 weeks ago.

"Dear Emma,

I hope with all my might that those two people will be able to get this letter to you to read. I have to trust to their goodness, and yours.

First and foremost I need to apologize to you for my inexcusable behavior. I do mean "not able to be excused". I acted like a real jerk and you were completely right to do whatever you did or could do to protect yourself from someone like me. I caused you significant and needless grief that I am sorry you went through because of my thoughtlessness and disregard for who I knew you really were.

I thought you were being unfaithful to me, and we were not even married yet. It flipped a switch in me and I went off the wall. I damaged you and you did not deserve anything that I caused to happen to you. There is no way that I can undo that damage.

I have destroyed the only person that I really cared about, because I was stupid. I should have spoken with you, I should have trusted you. Instead, I flew off the handle. I felt like I was being abandoned again. I never spoke about it, but I have no idea who my father is, and my mother abandoned me when I was 10. That is why my grandparents raised me. The death of my grandmother last year shook me to the core. These are issues that I have been working on in counseling the past several months. Trust and communication.

After I realized that I had made a totally wrong assumption as to what I thought you did, I did my best to immediately make financial amends. Amends to both you and Max, as well as my friends that believed me. The only assets that I own were the farmland that my grandparents left me. I immediately went to the bank and tried to take out a mortgage to cover the complete cost of the damage I was responsible for, the actual and punitive. I had my lawyer present my complete offer to Mrs. Hansen.

I want to thank you or whoever did not totally accept my offer. You and Max accepted actual damages only. I was able to only borrow the funds I needed from the bank. The leases on the farmland will cover the cost of the mortgage and taxes. I cannot thank you enough for that. I did not deserve any kindness from you.

Further, because you both dropped the charges, I was able to immediately enlist in the Marines. I will be in California in a week from today.

I want to thank you for all that you have done for me, as ungrateful as I have acted toward you. I will respect your privacy from this point on and do not plan to contact you again. You will be free of me.

Take care,

Scott"

I was wiping tears from my eyes when I finished and looked up. Gene was wiping her eyes too. "Gene, he's been gone a week, hasn't he?"

"Emma, it was his request. He didn't want to give you a chance to see him before he left for boot camp. He said that you were starting a new life, he just had to close the chapter on his old one.

"What are you feeling now?"

"That filthy bastard, that f..." then I caught myself before I could finish the f word. "That jerk. He writes me a letter, runs away and doesn't even leave a return address so I could b..." then I caught myself again.

"Listen Emma, just say what's going to come out of your mouth. I've heard it all, I've said it all. OK?"

"I don't get a chance to even bitch him out for being a fucking jerk. No god damn forwarding address."

"Emma, what else is going on inside of you?"

"He never told me about his parents. He would just fluff it off saying he never remembered them. I always wondered about why he was raised by his grandparents."

Then I looked Gene straight in the eye. "What is this about accepting damages only? I didn't know anything about this."

"Emma, after I saw Scott faint at the court house, I called in my sources. I found all about Scott, the whole story - Grandparents, mother, finances, who he really is and his history. Remember, I know each and every school teacher in these three counties, all the judges and most of the cops. I didn't find a jerk when I looked. I found a partially broken young man. When his lawyer came back with the offer, I called the bank and found that he would have to sell everything, and he'd still be in debt. He was not shirking his responsibility. He wasn't trying to get out of anything.

"He went to counseling on his own. Well, I did have someone he trusted suggest it to him. This is small town America, we know each others business. We also don't play hardball. By the way, I also know about you too. You're a great person and I could not see you wanting to take advantage of this. Would you?"

She had me there. She had me there in spades. "Ok, you got me to not rake him over the coals financially, and by dropping the charges, he got into the Marines. I still have unfinished business with him. We're not talking about getting back together, just some unfinished business."

"Emma, do you know what you want to say?"

Once again, she had me and I took several attempts to say something, but I always stopped after a word or two.

"Emma, why don't you think about it? You don't need an answer today, or ever if need be. Just think about it. I'll find a way to get his address and at least you can send him back a letter if you wish.

"I want to share something about my life. I look like an upstanding country lawyer. I used to be 22 also. Curt my husband and I had a pretty lousy relationship for a while, not unlike you and Scott. What I learned was that when people own who they are and what they do, you can have a relationship. It may be friendship, it may be love, and it may be tolerance or an accepting of people that are very different from you. I don't know. Scott did something real stupid, and he owned it, he attempted to fix it and he is respecting the distance you wanted from him. I can give you dozens of names of people in these counties that didn't do anything like that."

Now it was my turn to feel guilty, and I didn't do anything wrong. Gene was right. I needed to think about all of this before I did anything. For one thing, with him in the Marine Corps, he was going to have 3 to 4 years of deployments over the US and the world. There was going to be little chance for me to see him, unless that is, he flunks out of basic.

It took me several weeks to get my head around what I was feeling now. Scott was hot-head about some things, but he was pretty calm about most. He is a standard guy, doesn't talk much.

But I do know that he cared about me. Gene was right, he owned what he did. Right away he attempted to fix things. Even to the point of bankrupting himself.

He fainted because he realized he was so over the top wrong? How can I be around a guy like that, being so wrong and acting on it? When we were living together, he was considerate to me. I remember Gina telling me about her boyfriend Mark. Beers, smoking weed, PlayStation, and never helping around the house. Scott was not an 8 and recreate guy. But does any of this matter? He is gone for 4 years now. Anyway, I'm not talking about getting back together. Still, it really hurt what he did, and I can kind of understand what he was feeling when he went off the deep end. Can I ever trust somebody like that?