Pay for Services Rendered

Now, it is important to understand that at that point, I had decided that I was going to try to save my marriage. I know all of the reasons why I should just dump her cheating ass but I just couldn't bring myself to end it that way. I can't tell you why, but I just felt that I couldn't live without her in my life. I was not going to tell her what I knew and I was going to forgive her and go forward. That's how I felt and I went to work the next day with high hopes. Things were going to be OK.

At work, things went to hell in a hurry. We were working on a strip mall in the southern part of the city and we were on a deadline to open before the seasonal rush. Things were tight but we were on schedule. Until that day. Suddenly, our deliveries of cement, building blocks, lumber and other supplies were being delayed, misrouted or cancelled. Suddenly all our truck deliveries were delayed. It continued all day and into the next day without any resolution. I spent most of my time on the phone to suppliers and contractors but they all said that they weren't responsible. They had loaded the trucks but they had no idea of why they never made it to the site. I was confused and angry until I suddenly remembered what Conrad Menkous did for a living. He was in Transportation and owned a fleet of trucks and delivery vehicles. He controlled shipping and transportation around this area. Now, it made sense!

Now I knew what had happened. Conrad was not happy that I had messed up his arrangement with his mistress. He was content with the setup and he was not going to let me change it. The son of a bitch was using his trucks to blackmail me. Well, I was not going to let him do this, but I was not sure what I could do without proof. As I was sitting there stewing and trying to decide what steps to take, my secretary buzzed me to tell me there was a Mr. Menkous to see me. I was really taken aback by that but decided then and there to deal with him. I told her to show him in.

Conrad Menkous was a big man. Taller than me and heavier by a good 50 pounds. He had a deep tan and his hair was long and wavy with a good deal of gray mixed with black. He was dressed casually but I could tell that his jacket and slacks cost more than I brought home in a month. He moved to the desk and reached to shake my hand as I stood up. I left my hands at my side as I told him to sit. The angry flash in his eyes told me he got the message. He sat and began immediately without any small talk.

"You know who I am and you know why I am here. I'll be blunt. I want your wife to return to work for me under the present agreement. I will increase her 'salary' to $1000 a week from the $500 I'm now giving her. She continues to do as I wish and your business will go back to its previous schedule but with the added advantage of having preferential treatment during scheduling. I'll see to that. This way, you have your wife all but eight hours a week and we both get what we want."

He stopped to see if I had anything to say but I kept my mouth shut. I wanted to see what this son of a bitch would say next.

"Now that we understand each other, I may wish for her to attend certain gatherings at my home, with a bonus for each one of course. If you prefer, I can have the bonus paid directly to you. I won't expect your answer today. I want Polly to be at my home Thursday just as before. If she doesn't come as scheduled, I will have to take further action. Do I make myself clear? Good."

With that, he rose and left my office. I just sat there for the next 15 minutes, thinking of what he said. There were a lot of things to take into consideration. First, Polly told me she was getting $150 a week. Conrad said $500. So money was part of the motivation for Polly, and she lied to me from the very beginning. That certainly changed things and put things into perspective for me. Second, it was clear that he could ruin my business and put my people out of a job. Finally, he was content to have her part time leaving her to me for the rest of the time. That was pretty much it.

At home that night, Polly was unusually quiet but I didn't mention my visit from Conrad. She didn't mention going back to work so I was curious as to what it was that I was supposed to do. I avoided any conversation with her that night and pretended to have a contract to work on that would take me most of the night. She didn't push it so we ended up going to bed at different times. She pretended sleep when I came to bed and I simply rolled over and pretended to sleep. It was clear that something had to be done but I had no idea of what.

The next day at work was a revelation. Suddenly all of our deliveries were on time and several extra runs got us back on schedule. The power Conrad had over my business fortunes was made clear to me. Without question. Fine, that was that. I completed my work schedule that day and looked forward to going home to face Polly. This was Thursday and Conrad expected her that night. I had not said anything to her so I would have to decide tonight what to do. I still had no idea what I was going to do, but one thing for sure was that I was going to divorce Polly. Now that I knew that she was just a paid whore, I felt a little better as I drove home.

At home, Polly was not there. I looked around and found her briefcase missing and a note on the table. It simply said, 'Went to work. See you tonight, Love Polly.' I read it twice to be sure I had read it right. She had gone back to him! Without talking to me, without a word and without any explanation. She had gone back to her master to perform as his paid slut! She just assumed that I was her pimp now. That was the last straw. I knew what I had to do.

Just after 7:00 that evening, I knocked on the door of Mr. Conrad Menkous' lovely home. The door was answered by a young lady dressed as a maid and she inquired as to my needs. I told her my name and that Mr. Menkous had invited me to his home to discuss a business proposal. She gave me a strange, sad look but invited me into the foyer. She asked me to wait while she notified him that I was there. I thanked her and moved into the waiting room just off the foyer, but as soon as she left I followed her back into the house. She moved to a phone on the wall and pushed a button. After a few seconds, she spoke agitatedly with someone and seemed to be explaining something. She finally hung up shaking her head and moved away, into the house. I walked further in to find the stairs leading up to the bedrooms. I waited at the bottom, just back so as not to be easily seen. I heard a door open and I saw Conrad come out tying a bathrobe about his waist and I heard Polly's voice, seemingly quite agitated, saying something I couldn't make out. Conrad seemed angry and shut the door on her comments. I stepped further back so as not to be seen as Conrad came down the stairs.

As he moved toward the foyer I stepped in behind him and followed silently as he went into the waiting room, looking around for me. As he turned, he saw me standing there. He smiled and came toward me, his voice booming in welcome.

"Welcome Mr. Holland. I'm glad to see you and I know Polly will be glad that you came to your senses. She and I have been enjoying each other's company this evening. I'm so glad you agreed to our arrangement. You'll have to forgive me but I anticipated you told her that you had accepted my offer. But, it would be rather uncomfortable for you to stay so I'll say goodnight now."

With that he smiled and went to the foyer and the door. He intended to open it to see me out but I pulled out an old and battered .38 revolver and told him that I wasn't ready to leave just yet. He stopped in shock but quickly regained his composure. I expect he was used to smoothing people over when they were angry or upset. I was to be no exception. He began to speak in a soft soothing voice as he came toward me, obviously to talk me down. I watched him come, impressed by his cool composure under stress. I wished I could do that. I told him so, just before I shot him three times in the head and neck.

I watched his face contort in shock and pain as he took the first bullet in the face. The second took him high on the forehead, between the eyes and all expression left his face. The third shot hit in the neck but wasn't really of any consequence. The first two had done the job. Mr. Menkous would no longer need my wife's services. As he fell, I stepped back out of the way. I could hear screaming from close behind me but I didn't turn. I think I heard Polly's voice screaming my name but I can't be sure now. Certain that Conrad was dead, I turned the gun on myself and pulled the trigger.

************

The last thing I remember was putting the gun to my head and pulling the trigger. I just don't know why I'm not dead. Maybe I am really dead. At least, I woke up in the hospital with a headache that made me think I was dead and in Hell. Maybe I had succeeded and this was my reward. Well, no doubt I deserved it.

Now it is for sure. I am alive. They tell me it has been several weeks since I shot Conrad and myself. The doctors explained to me that apparently someone grabbed my hand just as I pulled the trigger on myself and deflected the gun enough to cause the bullet to slide off my skull and exit just below my chin. He told me I was lucky. That's a matter of opinion to a man who was trying to kill himself, telling him he was lucky he failed.

Once I was well enough to have visitors, my doctor told me that my wife, my son and my daughter were all here and wanted to see me. I had been unconscious for the first three weeks and conscious for only the past three days. He had allowed no visitors during that time since he was worried about my mental state. He told me I had been shouting in anger at someone but he couldn't make out who, so he wanted to wait until I was alert enough to talk to him. That was good since I told him then that I didn't want to see or talk to my wife. I did want to see my son and daughter. He made notes and told me that it was entirely up to me. He left, saying he would send Peter in first.

I talked to Peter first and we went through all of the initial assurances that things were going to be OK and that he was fine and that mom was fine and that Becky was fine. All of that garbage until he finally asked.

"Pop, why won't you see mom? What happened? You have to tell me because she is yelling and crying and in general making a nuisance trying to get you to see you. Tell me. I have to know."

I looked at my son. He was almost a college graduate and I was going to ask him to take over the business. He was going to have to take over the family as well because it was a sure bet that I wasn't going to be around. In order to make the right decisions, I decided to tell him the truth and to let it fall as it may.

"Peter. Things will get quite a bit worse before they get better. I'm in serious trouble and I am very likely going to prison for a long time. It's very important that you be willing to take over the company and take control of my assets. I want to transfer everything over to you. In order to do that, I'm going to tell you the truth about what happened, I'm going to give it to you like a man. You have to let me tell you the whole story first before you argue with me. Can you do that?"

"Go ahead, pop. I'll listen and I'll wait."

"First, your mother has been a paid mistress for Conrad Menkous for the past seven months. He was paying her for sex twice a week and he was paying her $500 a week. I found out about it and told your mother to quit. I didn't tell her I knew what she was doing but maybe she suspected. Anyway, when she quit, Mr. Menkous tied up my business with his trucking concern and almost ruined our strip mall project just to put pressure on me. Then, he came to my work to tell me what he did and to insist that Polly come back under the same conditions but at a higher salary. He was going to pay her $1000 for sex. I refused but Polly apparently couldn't resist the extra money and the night I shot Conrad, she had gone to him without discussing it with me. I went to his home, found them together and I shot him and tried to shoot myself but someone stopped me. That's the whole story."

Poor Peter. I had time to come to grips with the whole thing but poor Peter had to take it all in one single bite. I felt sorry for him. His mother a whore and his father a murderer. Way too much to deal with. I watched him struggle with the whole thing and just let him have the time he needed. There was nothing else I could do. I watched the struggle and the tears fall from his eyes. It took him a good five minutes before finally telling me it couldn't be true. I told him to look for my wallet in the night stand. He pulled the drawer open and got it out. I told him to look behind my drivers license for a picture. He found it. He turned it over and read the inscription. No more need be said. The tears came then and he cried as he hadn't cried in years, ever since he had grown into a fine man. Now, they came.

We sat together for a while longer before he said he had to go. I told him to take the picture and do with it whatever he wanted. I let him leave, making him promise to come back later. He just nodded and left. I felt bad for him but as I said, he had to take over for me. I needed to prepare him.

Becky came in afterwards and visited but all I would tell her was to speak with Peter. He could tell her why I wouldn't see her mother. She was not happy but she was more concerned with me and my condition so we spent the time trying to just love each other. I needed that. She left after about 15 minutes promising to come tomorrow.

Well, that was that. Now all I had to do was to get better so that I could be tried for murder. The doctor said that would be another month or so. I simply wanted it over.

For the next three days, both Peter and Becky came to visit and each time they told me that Polly had come with them. She was waiting to see me but so far, I had refused. It finally came to Peter to insist that I let her in to see me. At least once, he complained so that she would stop the constant crying and wailing and wringing her hands. He said it was becoming irritating. I asked him if he had told her that he knew and he said no. Well, then, I told him to let her in the following day but only if he came in with her. That way, she would be limited in what she would feel she could say. Peter agreed, but reluctantly.

The next day at visiting hours, Peter followed Polly into the room. I was now able to sit up and most of the bandages were removed from my head and face. I had a few bandages on the side of my head, and my lower face and neck was still almost covered and I still had a drainage tube sticking out of my neck, but all in all, I looked very good. Almost good enough to go to court. Polly walked into the room and stopped dead in her tracks. I watched her face go from the smile she began with to a frown and then into tears. She saw me as I was and began to cry. How about that? Remorse at this stage? Hah!

"Mitch, you look terrible. I don't know what I expected but not this. I didn't realize it was so bad. How do you feel? Are you in any pain? Oh, God, what have you done to yourself?"

Well now, that was a clever switch. What did I do to myself? As if she had nothing to do with it. I looked at this woman who had been my life for so many years and searched for something, anything, inside me. I found nothing but contempt.

"Well, hello to you too, Polly. Thanks for the compliments. I feel just great. No pain from the wound at least. I guess I should thank you for ruining my shot and preventing me from killing myself. At least, they tell me it was you. I won't however. I just wish I had succeeded. You know why."

Polly reacted to my words as if I had slapped her. Either she had no clue that I felt that she being a lying, cheating slut was wrong or she hadn't expected me to mention anything with Peter present. I couldn't tell which. I just watched her as she struggled with my words and her response.

She looked at Peter and then back to me. There was a little flash of anger in her eyes.

"I don't know why you would want to kill yourself Mitch. You knew what I was doing and you told Conrad that you had agreed to his terms. Now that isn't an issue anymore, you have everything to live for. We want you to get better so that we can be a family again. We can get you a good lawyer and we can get you off with self defense. I'll testify that Conrad threatened me and you tried to defend me. We can get you off. I promise that I'll testify on your behalf. Just tell me you'll try to beat this thing and come home to us. Promise me!"

"I don't know what that son of a bitch told you but I never agreed to anything, When I came home to talk to you about it, you had already gone back to his bed. You couldn't wait to get your next paycheck. For your information, I have no intention of going to trial. I told my attorney to plead me out. I'm guilty and I'll pay for my crime. It's just too bad that you weren't there a little sooner. If you had been, we could all three have been dead. You first, Conrad second and then I would have been successful. It would have been over. Now, you get off scott free and Conrad and I pay the price. Congratulations."

Peter reacted first by reaching over to grab his mother by the arm just before she fainted. I guess my words had hit a nerve, but I was not the least bit moved by her performance. Peter moved her to a chair and sat her down. Her head slumped onto her chest and she sagged but remained upright. Peter looked at me with anger on his face and let me have it.

"Why in the hell did you do that to her in front of me? You have every right to get into it with her but not in front of me. OK, so I know what happened but she didn't know that and you sand bagged her. That wasn't right. You were the wronged party but that doesn't give you the right to be cruel in turn."

"You're right Pete. I'm sorry for doing that to you. But you have to know the pain that just seeing her causes me. I let her in because you asked me to but I never wanted to see or speak to her again for this very reason. I hate her for what she's done to us and I can't get past it. If I could, I would never have done what I did. Now I'll pay for it."

"But you heard what she said! She'll back a story of self defense. If both of you go with that, you can get off with maybe probation. You have to go that way. For Becky and me, if not for mom."

"Not a chance. I want nothing from her and I will pay my own way. She couldn't give up the easy money so she sold her body for cash. I'll accept nothing from her, ever again."

Polly had heard this last and she rose from the chair and stumbled out of the room. She was unlikely to ever come back. I was happy with that. Peter stayed for a few more minutes to discuss some details of the business but left almost as quickly. He would have to deal with Polly now. Now that she knew that Peter and probably Becky knew of her cheating she would have to live with that knowledge. I hoped it choked her, but I knew she was capable of much more than I ever gave her credit for. She would survive. I had no doubt.

I met with my lawyer several more times over the next two weeks and we were ready for the preliminary hearing. I had finally made him realize that I would plead guilty. All he had to do was determine what charge the ADA would go for. He could go for murder one, murder two or manslaughter. There were several degrees of that, too, so it was up to him. We were as ready as we could be: him with a client that wanted to just get on with it and me with a lawyer that was court assigned and getting almost nothing for his time. I had refused any lawyers from my kids or Polly. It was in the hands of fate now.