The Gift

Lisa asked "So what are you going to do?" Tom was unmoved.

He remarked "Me? I'm not doing a damn thing. She is no longer my problem."

"You can't mean that, you loved her once," reminded Lisa.

"That was a long time ago, things and people change." Tom countered.

Rose spoke up now. "I know you Tom. I have known you for five years now. I have spoken to Paul about you. Surprised? Don't be. You are highly thought of here. I have overheard stories told about you by your friends here in this bar. You have lots of friends don't you? Even when you had a falling out with one of them, if they needed something, you still helped out. Kathy was your best friend. Even though she hurt you badly you would still not desert her. Maybe it was the way you were brought up, or maybe your military background, but you don't let people down. You don't change Tom Holden, not you." Rose responded. Rose held Toms eyes while she spoke; now he held her eyes as he spoke.

"Rose, this is a family matter. This is something that should be settled in the courts. Frankly this is a problem that I have no way of helping. Some how I feel that this is her just reward. Chickens coming home to roost, if you get my drift. If she ever really needs me, in a way I can be of help, you can count on me to do my part. What I said to both of you that day in the parking lot still stands. If anyone hurts her, or tries to hurt her I expect for you to let me know. This does not fall into that category. He hurt her, but no less then she hurt me. Bottom line ladies, I will not get involved in her family dispute. Maybe they will be able to get past this. Maybe she will fight for this marriage, unlike what she did to me. Maybe he will realize his mistake and not do it again. Maybe she will forgive him. I don't know, but it is not my place to butt in here, not now." Tom insisted

An uncomfortable silence ensued. Tom broke the silence first remarking, "Ladies it would have been nice to see you under different circumstances, I hope if I do see you again we can have a few drinks and some laughs. Now if you will excuse me I have a date to get back to." Tom left the booth as he started to walk away he turned back and confirmed, "Remember if anything bad should happen, please, let me know." Both girls nodded in return.

They watched him return to the table and sit down. His date said something and he started talking. There came a point in the conversation that he started smiling and chuckling when the girl put her fork down and was obviously berating him. Lisa and Rose knew he had told her about the cheating and started laughing at Kathy's predicament that is when his date got mad at him. Tom put his head down and started nodding his had yes then no and finally he did not know what to do so just sat there staring at his plate. When she was done she placed her hand on his and smiled. You could just read her lips when she said, "I understand." Tom seemed to have lost his appetite and pushed his food away. His date had time to eat while he talked to Lisa and Rose. He got the check and they left. Lisa and rose were left wondering how Kathy fared when she went home that night to confront John. They paid their bill and left the bar. Neither woman left with a good feeling.

Kathy called in sick Monday and Tuesday. Lisa was concerned but did not want to interfere. Like Tom she felt it was a family matter. Besides, she had been burned once before for getting involved in Kathy's affair with John. It would not happen again. On Tuesday she called Johns office and it was open for business, the doctor was in. They obviously weren't home working on their problem. Lisa decided to call Kathy on her cell. Lisa left a message. Lisa was worried about Kathy and to please return her call. Kathy did not return her call. Lisa and Rose decided to go to Kathy's home if she did not return to work on Wednesday.

It was 9:05 and Lisa and Rose were deciding what to do when they saw Kathy's car pull into the parking lot. Feeling greatly relieved they went to their desks and started working. When Kathy walked through the door the women were horrified. The large sunglasses did nothing to hide the bruises around Kathy's left eye. The heavy make up on her right cheek suggested more facial damage. Lisa and Rose quickly ushered Kathy into the ladies room and locked the door.

Lisa ripped the glasses off her face and gasped. Kathy's left eye was black and blue. There still was minor swelling around the bottom of her eye. Lisa looked closely at her cheek and she could see the palm and five fingers where Johns open hand slapped her right cheek. Kathy was stoic. Apparently she was all cried out.

Rose asked "what happened." She started crying. She was not all cried out.

Kathy finally stopped and told the women what happened. John was home when she got there.

He immediately yelled at her "Where have you been? Who have you been talking to? What did you think you were doing throwing that disgusting food at us? That was an important client!"

Kathy cut in "So important you had to screw her on your examination table?" John was livid. He reared back and punched Kathy in the eye. Kathy screamed and fell to the floor. She had never felt such pain. Kathy was almost knocked out. John grabbed hid wife by the hair held her head up and slapped Kathy across the face with his left hand. Kathy saw stars and then nothing.

When Kathy woke up John was going nuts in the house. He was breaking knick knacks and kicking furniture and the walls. When John noticed Kathy stirring he knelt over her again and pulled Kathy up by her blouse.

He thundered "This is the way it will be from now on. If I want to "work late" you would just have to put up with it. If you don't like it you can leave, if you dare. If you give me anymore problems you will get more of what you got tonight. He screamed at her, do you understand?" Kathy was terrified. She cowered away from him and nodded her head yes. "Good, he ranted. Now go upstairs and get yourself fixed up."

Kathy went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. Taking a good look in the mirror and her eye and right cheek were already swelling. Going into the kitchen Kathy took some frozen peas out of the freezer. Retreating upstairs to lie down she placed them on her swollen face.

The next morning Kathy woke up still in the same clothes she worn the day before. The peas had thawed out and were under her head. Kathy went to her bathroom and was surprised to see her whole face was swollen. She spent the whole day with something cold on her face to bring down the swelling. John was nowhere to be found. Kathy was relieved; she did not want to see him anyway.

John did not come home until Sunday afternoon. He offered no explanation of his whereabouts and she did not ask. That night John wanted sex. Kathy said no, she was too hurt for sex. He just left again. He came home Monday to take a shower and get changed, then left for the office. The girls listened silently, first in complete shock at her tale then getting angry at Johns callousness.

Lisa urged Kathy "Go to the police and have him arrested for assault and battery."

"No, Kathy cried. I want to make this marriage work. I want to work things out. I already screwed up one marriage."

The women exploded. "He beat you up! He did something despicable to you. Do you think this will be the last time?" yelled Rose.

"I know" replied Kathy, I just can't give up so quickly."

Lisa fumed "I don't know what to do. I give up." and walked away. Rose walked away too, but not before she took a quick photo with her cell phone. She knew exactly what she was going to do.

Rose left work one half hour early. She drove directly to Toms shop. She parked her car in front of one of the open bays and walked towards the shop bay door. Tom was working on a 1964 Jaguar XKE when he looked up and saw Rose pull into the lot in front of bay #2. He picked up a rag to clean his hands and smiled as Rose got out of her car. Rose did not see him at first as he was in the shadows of the shop at this hour of the day.

As he emerged from the shadows she took in the handsome man walking towards her. She was always impressed with his muscular body. As Tom walked confidently towards her with that big smile on his face made Rose think Kathy was out of her mind to give that up. Even the act of cleaning his hands with that white rag seemed sexy.

"Good to see you Rose, having car trouble?" he asked.

"No nothing like that. I need to speak with you in private, if that would be OK?" He looked at her puzzled for a second and said sure come into the office. Rose followed him where he sat behind a small cluttered desk and indicated that she should sit on the chair opposite him. They sat in silence for a while, he waiting for her to begin the conversation.

Rose wasn't sure how to start and she finally blurted out "Kathy is having problems with John."

The neutral look on his faced changed to anger then disdain. "Any problems in her relationship with that asshole are no longer problems of mine, and good riddance to that sl**"....He could not complete the sentence. Even if he felt that she was a slut, he could not talk about Kathy like that.

Wearily Tom began "Rose, I just don't care if they have problems. What does it have to do with me?"

"Do you remember the day you met us outside work? She asked. "When you gave her the box with the Beatles song inside it?"

"Yeah, I remember. It didn't work did it? Nothing seemed to work. Not even a phone call from that Bitch. She ripped my heart out. So now what? I'm supposed to care what happens to her? She didn't care about me, did she?" Tom ranted

Rose was taken back by his outburst. Maybe she was wrong. He might think this was what she deserved, getting beaten up by her lover. Had the love he had for her turned to hate, would he even care anymore?

She plunged ahead, "It's more than that." She pulled out her phone and scrolled to the picture she took this morning. She handed the phone to him. She tried to read his face but there was no emotion. No inkling of what he was going on behind the mask on his face.

"When did you take this?" he inquired?"

"This morning." replied Rose. He looked at it for a few more seconds and handed it back to rose.

"That's too bad. What do you want from me?" he asked. Rose was shocked by his lack of concern.

"Aren't you going to do something? What about what you said to Lisa and me? You said tell you if somebody tries to hurt her. She has been hurt. Was what you told us just so much bullshit?" she yelled.

"Call the cops Rose it looks like assault and battery to me."

Rose was incensed "That's it! That's all you have to say?"

Tom responded "What do you want me to say? Do you expect me to protect her virtue? She has no virtue. She had her affair. She broke her vows. She didn't care about me. She didn't care about my pain. Give me a good reason why I should care about her pain? Just give me one reason Rose? Just one good reason." begged Tom.

She looked into his eyes. She could see the pain in them. "Because you love her, I can see it on your face. Isn't that a good reason?" Rose stated.

"Sorry Rose, you're wrong. I loved her once, back then, but not now. The feeling I have for her is definitely not love. Not anymore. Tell her to call the cops. I'm not getting involved." Tom stated flatly.

Rose looked long and hard at him, finally shaking her head. She stood to leave, as she walked out the office door rose turned and spoke to him. "You've surprised me today. I thought better of you. I never thought you would let some man beat your wife."

Abruptly he stood. For the first time today she could see anger flash in his eyes. "And that's the crux of the matter. She is not my wife. If she were I would have to be dead before I would allow some asshole to lay a finger on her. She chose that asshole over me. I was her husband. Yet she picked him over me! I guess she wanted to trade up, be a doctor's wife, not the wife of a mechanic. She made her bed, let her lie in It." an agonized Tom roared.

Rose replied "I'm sorry Tom; I did not realize how you felt. Not that I blame you. She must have hurt you deeply." Rose commiserated.

"Tell her to call the authorities Rose. Tell her to get a divorce. She already knows how to do that. Sorry if I disappointed you today Rose, but I just can't." he replied. Rose walked through the doorway and out of the shop. Tom followed after her.

He stood in the middle of the bay watching her. As Rose opened her car door she apologized to him saying sadly "I'm sorry to have bothered you today. I hope I didn't ruin your evening." He did not reply. Before starting her car Rose looked through the windshield into his face. The expression on his face was hard to read. Pain, anger disdain, hatred, Rose couldn't tell which. Maybe it was a mixture of all those emotions. Whatever his emotions were he decided not to help. Rose started her car and drove away. Kathy, you really screwed it up she thought as she drove away. She had failed today, when she was so sure Tom would help. As Rose drove away she had no idea how to help her anymore.

Kathy came to work Thursday and Friday. There were no bruises that could be seen but she was definitely becoming more and more rattled. The girls did not know about any physical violence but they were sure she was being sexually abused. Monday morning brought a change in Kathy. Everybody could see it; sense it when she walked in the door to work.

She said "Hi" to everyone and even smiled. Something Kathy had not done in a while.

Lisa and Rose dragged Kathy to their sanctuary, the ladies rest room and locked the door. "What's going on Kathy, what happened?" Lisa asked.

"John got beat up Friday night outside his office. He got beat up really bad. Whoever did it made him promise to apologize to me. John said that the assailant told him that if he did not apologize to me he would know and come back and finish the job, whatever that meant. John doesn't know it but I know who it was." sang Kathy.

"How do you know?" Rose said.

"I heard him talking to himself in the shower this weekend and he was cursing out my ex husband Tom." giggled Kathy

"How could he find out about this?" Kathy asked.

Rose said "It was me. I told him about it Wednesday after work." Kathy hugged Rose and thanked her. Kathy told her friends that she had made up her mind and was leaving John. She would see a lawyer tomorrow about getting a divorce. Kathy thanked Rose again for helping.

Rose said "Don't thank me. I didn't kick the shit out of your husband."

Kathy mused "maybe your right, I should go and thank him myself."

"I don't know about that Kathy, he is not too fond of you right now. You didn't hear the way he was talking about you when I went to see him." warned Rose.

"I know Rose, after what I did he probably hates me, but I still need to thank him in person. That's the least I can do." asserted Kathy. Both women agreed.

Lisa walked in the Easton Ave. Pub first, followed by Rose with Kathy bring up the rear. They sat at a table only a few feet away from him. Tom was sitting at the bar immersed in thought while drinking his second gin and tonic. He never noticed them come in. Lisa gestured for Kathy to get on with it.

A nervous Kathy trembled slightly and walked to her former husband. She sat on the empty seat next to him and saw the bandaged and swollen right hand. She could see that his left hand had scratches on it but was not hurt badly enough to not pick up his drink with it. He still had not realized that someone was sitting on his right. His mind must have been somewhere else that night.

Kathy reached out and placed her hand tenderly over his bandaged hand and said "it must be very painful". His head never moved but his eyes moved to his right and he could see her.

"It is not too bad, it will be better in a few weeks. What do you want Kathy?" he asked in a not too friendly tone of voice.

"Please, implored Kathy, I just want to talk, not fight, is that OK?" He nodded his head. Kathy noticed that he had not removed her hand from his bandaged one. He did not because he actually still craved her touch, no matter how it hurt him. Kathy began "I want to thank you, for what you did on Friday. I know it was you. After all I did, you still helped me when I needed someone. I felt I had to come, to thank you in person. I owe you that." She looked at his handsome profile, without a blemish from the beating he gave to John. Kathy put her hand on his chin and turned it to her saying "Cant you even look at me?" His face was clear and unmarked. "He wasn't able to hurt you at all, was he? Kathy asked. He thought you were a pussy or a wimp but you knew that didn't you? I was worried about you. I guess I shouldn't have been."

"I guess he was wrong about me' Tom said with a sad smile.

Tom wrenched his head out of her grasp and turned back, lifted his drink to his lips and took a swallow of the clear liquid.

"I am leaving him Tom. Kathy confided. I will be moving in with Lisa until I get a place of my own. I will be getting a divorce from John. I want to start seeing you again if you will let me. I realize that what I did was stupid. I finally found out who my real love is and it is you. I want desperately to recover what we had. I want you back if you will have me."

He finally turned to face Kathy, pulling his bandaged hand out from under hers as he moved. "You wanted to thank me? He replied angrily. It really wasn't necessary. I would have done the same thing if I saw a man beating a stray dog on the street. You were worried? Not likely. Were you worried that morning when you left me alone in the house, to go with the asshole? Did you care about my pain, what I was going through? No! You only care about yourself. Why do you care now? You got what you wanted. But I get it. Why be stuck with an ordinary auto mechanic when you could be a doctors wife. Isn't that it? So you used me, didn't you, all of you. You got what you wanted from me. What did I get? I get more pain. My hands hurt like hell. My girlfriend is mad enough to dump me for helping you. I might still go to jail for my actions. Tomorrow you will have another long lost lover in your bed keeping you company. The only company I will have is my pain. Why don't you go, all three of you, leave me alone." Kathy had been shaking her head no during his verbal onslaught. Looking directly in her eyes he said, "Just go."

Kathy's face paled under his onslaught. She had not realized how much pain he was in. The pain was easy to see in his eyes. It was written all over his face. Before the abuse she received from John she never thought too much about what he went through. Now she finally understood. John had done the same thing to her as she had done to Tom. Now she understood the pain, the betrayal and the humiliation. Yes now she knew, but what to do now? Kathy started to speak but he silenced her with a wave from his bandaged hand. "If you won't leave then I will." He spat. He quickly slipped off the bar stool and was off in a flash, giving Rose and Lisa a disapproving look as he walked by and out the door.

Kathy was visibly shaken. She looked at the women with a bewildered expression on her face.

"Go after him Kathy," Lisa implored. The women ran out the door only to see Tom drive off in his pickup truck. They went to Lisa's place to discuss what happened that night. None of them were happy with the way things had played out.

Kathy took out the last of the blue boxes. She opened it. There was no note in the box. She slipped it into the player and listened as Randy Travis started singing "I told you so." As she listened to the song she remembered.

It was a Wednesday evening. Lisa and Kathy stopped by the mailbox to bring in the mail. One of the items inside was a small package addressed to Kathy. From the handwriting Kathy immediately knew what it was and who it was from even though it had no return address. Kathy tore the brown wrapping paper off to reveal another blue box. Nothing was said as they walked to Lisa's apartment. Each woman was lost in her own thoughts wondering what was inside the box.