Don't Mess With Texas

I know the reputation, and the reality, of the South Side, but she was a hick town girl acting like she was better than most everyone else.

We had quite a few arguments about that attitude. Shortly after, she started the constant nagging to move to the North Side.

Three years ago we moved, sure the school system was better, but now Regina was experiencing the "North Side" attitude from her classmates. This was making her school life unbearable. She would say, time and again, that she wanted to go "back home". I did too, but Lilly would hear nothing of it. She was where she wanted to be.

The event that started the divorce was a night like so many others at the time. She called about 6:30 to say she was going dancing with some of the other paralegals from her work. This night, however, I tracked her phone and decided to go check up on her. I stood in the shadows watching her. Sure, she was dancing, but with guys from the club. They were passing her around like she was free for all. They were kissing, tonguing, groping, and doing everything but fucking on the dance floor.

At about 9:15 I had to go to the bathroom to relieve myself. As I was doing my business in the stall a guy walks in and starts taking a leak at the urinal. As he was finishing up another guy walked in. "Damn Joe, you're getting hot and heavy with Lilly on the dance floor. I thought you were going to whip it out right there."

"Yeah, she is one wild piece." The first guy said.

"Yeah, and she sure knows how to use her mouth." The second guy said.

"You know it! She told me she's coming home with me tonight. Finally, we can do some proper fucking, rather than the 20 minutes in the office or the back seat of my car."

"Yeah, that's nice for some immediate relief, but it's nothing like the whole sexual experience." The second guy said.

"Well, it will be an all-nighter tonight." The first guy boasted.

"Maybe next weekend it will be my turn." The second guy said as they both walked out of the restroom.

I know guys like to talk, but that sounded more real than just bragging. I walked out of the restroom a minute late to see her in one of the guys arms, kissing on the dance floor.

About 9:30 she texted me, saying she had a bit too much to drink and didn't feel comfortable taking the "L" this late at night in her condition. She texted me that she was going to spend the night with Paula, one of the other paralegals in her office.

I texted her back, "That is just as well."

Then she texted back, "Sorry"

She would be sorry. I watched her grab her handbag and walk out of the club, arm in arm, with a young lawyer from her office. I followed them out. They were so engrossed with each other that she didn't see me. They jumped in his Lexus and they kissed and groped each other for a few minutes. I was getting mad, but then my South Side vindictiveness took over and I calmed down, making my plans.

I followed them to his building. They drove into the parking structure so I took off for the 'Mansion'.

When I arrived I explained to Regina that we were leaving, and that she should pack anything she wanted, because we wouldn't be coming back. She was overjoyed, but asked, "What about Mom?"

"She's got other guys to take care of her now."

She understood exactly what I meant. It took us about 3 hours, but we packed everything in the back of my truck. Luckily, "our home" in Oak Forest had recently become vacant, so we had someplace to go.

About 11:00 the next day, Saturday, she called my cell. "Kurt, what's going on? Where are you?"

"Home" was all I said.

It took her only a couple seconds to figure out what I meant.

"Why?" She asked, knowing full well why.

"I no longer know you, nor want to."

"Where's Regina?"

"With me, she no longer wants to live with you in that house."

I know she wasn't sure if I knew anything about her fuck buddy or not, so she said, "Come on, Kurt, just because you don't like living in luxury doesn't mean you just leave, and take our daughter with you."

"No, Lilly, but having a wife that fucks around on me is a reason to leave, expect the divorce papers next week."

She gasped and then said in her now normal derogatory way, "You piece of shit Southsider. You don't know what hell you are bringing down on yourself. My firm will eat you up!"

"That may be so," I said, "but I will win in the end. You've never seen my full wrath."

Over the next 6 months she made no attempt at reconciliation. She would even call me to tell me she was going out with one lawyer or another. I couldn't give a shit, there was no going back. I did have to bring Regina back, however, she had to go back to school.

Regina informed me that Lilly was out almost every night until at least 12:00. She also told me that she kept cutting me down, saying I had no class and that Regina should strive to get one of the rich guys from her school as a future husband, "so that you can live in luxury for the rest of your life."

Regina would always defend me and tell her Mom she wanted to go back to Oak Forest.

Now I lie here in jail and Lilly was probably thinking she had won. I was in jail, but I would be productive. I wonder if she thought anything of how the mortgage was going to be paid, along with her health insurance and of course her spousal support. She, of course, would think that a few days in jail would make me "come to my senses". No, they would just give me more time to plan and execute my revenge.

On Thursday afternoon something happened that would change the lives of many people, some of them I would never meet.

I was ordered by the two original guards to "come with us". I was taken to a video conference room. I asked, "What's this about? If I am going to speak to the Judge then I want my lawyer present."

They shoved me in the room and said, "Sit your ass down! You're not talking to the Judge, but you are going to get some judgement."

They slammed the door and I started yelling at them to let me out. About 10 minutes later I was pacing the room when the door opened and the guards let 6 fellow inmates into the room. I knew what they were going to try to do, and I was going to do my best to insure it didn't happen. "You don't want to mess with me!" I declared. "You'll regret it!"

One of them came at me and I punched him square in the nose. I heard it crack. Then they all rushed me. I was swinging, kicking, elbowing, and slamming them against the walls. Then the biggest one, fully 6 inches taller than I am, got me in a choke hold. I kept thrashing until I blacked out.

I woke up in the infirmary. I was bloody, bruised, and my ass was on fire. I knew what they had done. They needed to establish dominance, and this is how they did it.

I could tell by the light coming through the window that it was morning. I had been out all night.

As a nurse came up to me I looked at her with hate in my eyes, hate for the whole system that could take away my child, make me pay so my ex-wife could continue to live in the 'Mansion' and finally, put me in jail to "teach me a lesson". The nurse looked at me. I was bound, so I couldn't move my arms and legs. Seeing the hatred in my eyes she said, "I'm here to help you, not to hurt you. You've been beaten up pretty badly. They said you were in a fight, but we both know the truth. I can either help you get better, or you can lie there in pain. It makes no difference to me." I could tell she had said the last words, but actually didn't mean it. She wanted to help.

I tried to smile and said, "Sorry."

"You've been through a traumatic event. I can only imagine your rage."

She went away, but came back with a plate of breakfast for me. She unbelted one of my hands.

"Thank You." I said.

"You're welcome."

As I sat there eating, I knew what I was going to do. "Can I ask a favor?" I said.

"That depends." She responded.

"One of the inmates, Randall Turner, is a friend I grew up with. Could I have him come see me?"

"I'll see." She said in a non-committal way.

It turned out that she was able to get permission for Ringer to visit me. Later that afternoon he walked in. When he saw me he said, "Oh Shit."

He knew I wasn't going to let this go.

I described the 6 guys and 2 guards that did this to me. Then I said, "I need to know the full names of all 8 of them, not their nicknames."

"Oh Shit." He said again. "What are you going to do?"

"An eye for an eye, with a twist."

He saw the look in my eyes and knew what that meant. He knew it was not going to be pretty and that "innocent" people would pay.

"I'll try to get them." He said. "What do you need me to do."

"Just that, I'll take care of the rest."

We talked for a little longer and then he was escorted back to his cell. Sleep that night was restless. I just couldn't get comfortable strapped to the bed. The next day Ringer came back with the list. He again asked, "What are you going to do?"

"The less you know the better." I told him.

"Oh Shit." He said.

The next day was Sunday and I got a good and a bad surprise. Lilly had come, and had brought Regina. Lilly was the first one to talk to me.

"So, I see you've been getting along with your fellow scum." She said.

"What the fuck do you want?" I growled.

"Regina insisted we come to visit you. Are you ready to apologize and be reasonable yet?"

"No fucking way! And what's this shit about me and Regina. You know I would never do anything to her."

"How do I know. She does have an unusual attachment to you." She said.

"You piece of shit! Why don't you go back to your fuck buddies and have them fuck you in the ass so you can see how much shit you're full of."

"Just so you know. I've given them my ass, and they loved it." She gloated.

"Get the Hell out of here and send Regina in. I'm done talking to you!"

She smiled in that way only a slimy cunt could. She thought she was getting to me, and she was, she was just adding fuel to the fire that would burn her ass.

When they brought Regina in, she started crying, seeing me lying there all bandaged up.

"Honey, don't cry, it looks worse than it is."

"Oh Daddy. I was scared seeing you lying there like that. You look like you were in a car accident."

"Don't worry about me, honey. I'm tougher than I look."

"Dad, I hate Mom for doing this to you. I hate her for making me live with her, and I hate her for saying that you did inappropriate things with me. That is just total bullshit."

"I know Regina." I said, trying to console her.

"Don't call me that anymore!" She said.

I looked at her, puzzled.

"I'm Gina from now on. I don't want to be associated with Mom or any of her family. In fact, I told her that and then told her I would not talk to her again unless I absolutely had to. I haven't either, not since Monday. She keeps trying to be nice to me, but I keep ignoring her."

"Gina," I said, using her new chosen name. "You are more like me than you know."

"I couldn't be prouder about that." She said smiling.

We talked some more about little things. Then I asked, "Could you do something for me?"

"Anything! Dad."

I handed her the list Ringer had made for me, and she immediately put it in her bra.

"Give that to Uncle Ken and tell him to come visit me ASAP."

My brother, Ken, was 3 year younger than me. He grew up with the same abusive drunk of a father, but I shielded him as much as possible. I also took the brunt of the abuse to spare him. He had all the brains. He really got into computer games, and from there it was a short jump to computers themselves.

We sat and talked for a little bit longer until Lilly came back and said, "Regina, we have to go."

Gina didn't say anything to her, just got up, hugged me, and then walked out.

Lilly said to me, "Your daughter is as stubborn as you are!"

I just smiled at her and she turned and walked away.

On Tuesday, Ken came to visit. He was shocked by my appearance. "It looks way better than it did last Friday." I said.

"I'm glad I waited." He said jokingly. Then he started talking to me in our own made-up language. We had created it when we were young so we could talk about Mom and Dad without them understanding. Now, whenever we need to speak privately, we use it.

"Regina ... I'm sorry, Gina" he said in our language. "She gave me the list. I've done some preliminary research, what are you looking for?"

"Addresses of wives or steady girlfriends."

He looked at me and then in English said, "Oh Shit."

Speaking in our own language I said, "That's all you need to do, then give it to Gummy, and ask him to visit me, without the list."

Gummy was the nickname of one of my "gang". Ken knew that he was still living in his parent's old house in the Lansing neighborhood.

"I can do that. Anything else?"

"No, that will be enough. Don't be a stranger though. I could use a familiar face now and then."

"Aren't you going to get out soon?" He asked.

"Not if I don't apologize, and you know me better than that."

"You always were the stubborn one." He stated.

"Yeah, and it kept you from getting the brunt of Dad's drunken wrath." I said.

He knew I was right and just smiled.

"I'll stop by within the next two weeks, see if you need anything else."

"That would be great."

Later that week I was back in my regular cell and Ringer had spread the word that shit was going to go down, and that there would be Hell to pay. They just didn't know what. The looks I got from the two guards, as well as "the 6", were looks that said, "You'd better stay in your place, or it will happen again." Little did they know, they would be the ones that would be put in their place.

Gummy came to visit and said to me, "Ken gave it to me. What do you want?"

"Did you hear what they did to me?"

"Yeah, I heard." He said. Ken must have told him.

"Return the favor, but to their loved ones. No DNA though, use Steely Dan or his more flexible cousins." I said.

He nodded. He knew what I meant.

Then I said, "All on the same day, preferably at the same time. Make sure their told to tell their loved ones 'Don't mess with Texas.'"

"I'll get some friends to lend a hand." He said, and then left.

Sometime soon he would exact some revenge for me. He knew how to do it so that there would be no way they could identify anyone. They would know the reason for it though.

A week went by and I heard nothing. I was also waiting for another visit from my daughter. I didn't want to see Lilly, but I knew she would have to be here if Gina was to come.

On Tuesday morning I noticed that the two guards weren't at work. Tuesday was not normally a day they had off. Also, one of 'the 6' was distracted and seemed upset. "It must have happened yesterday." I thought to myself.

I spoke to Ringer and told him to spread the word, "Don't mess with Texas." Soon, a number of the inmates were calling out to me, "Hey Tex!"

Within a couple of days 'the 6' were giving me evil looks. The two guards were back at work and they were staring at me. Ringer's friends, however, had my back. As one of 'the 6' approached me, 8 of my new friends came up and surrounded us. The guy said, "You're a piece of shit. I don't know how you did it, but my girl dumped me. She told me that she didn't want to take a chance that she might get hurt again. Then she said, 'I was told, "Don't mess with Texas."

I just looked at him, smiled, and said, "That sounds like good advice. I told you all that you didn't want to do what you did. Now your women know how it feels. 'An eye for an eye, with a twist.' The twist is, you hurt me, I hurt the ones you care about. Tell them all that the next time it will be their mothers."

His eyes grew large and he returned to his buddies.

Shortly afterwards, the two guards came up to me and said, "Who the fuck do you think you are? We're going to make your time here a living hell."

"Well, then I guess your wives better get used to taking it up the ass. They might even learn to like it."

With that one of the guards came at me to punch me. I didn't resist. After a minute or two of letting him beat on me he was pulled off by another guard. A lot of the inmates witnessed it. I'm sure the cameras did too.

I was brought back to the infirmary and was met by Beth, the nurse who helped me the first time.

"So, we have a trouble maker here, huh?"

"I didn't throw any punches. The guard just started hitting me." I said.

"Well, there will be an investigation this time. There were too many witnesses. He'll probably lose his job because of it."

"One less asshole guard." I said.

"Those guards keep you safe, whether you believe it or not."

"He sure didn't keep me safe the last time. In fact, he let it happen." I responded.

She bandaged me up and said I would need to stay overnight for observation. I wondered if she just wanted to look at my pretty face, banged up as it was.

The guard was put on suspension, pending an investigation. The other guard kept giving me harsh looks, but he was hesitant to say anything to me. Perhaps he got the message, "Don't mess with Texas."

It had been 3 weeks since Gina had come to visit me and I was wondering what was going on. Finally, Ken came to visit and told me that Lilly was refusing to bring Gina down for a visit. That pissed me off even more. My ex-wife was keeping my daughter from me.

At the end of the month Lilly came, she had almost left Gina home, but Gina wouldn't get out of the car no matter how much yelling and screaming she did. Lilly had come in to see me and she was already pissed off. "Your daughter is being impossible! She hardly ever speaks to me. She's as stubborn as you are!"

"You said that last time you were here. Why don't you get the Judge to reverse his decision and give custody of her to me? I'll gladly take her off your hands." I told her.

"You aren't getting her! She needs to go to a good school so she can make something of herself."

"Oak Forest is a good school, and she liked it!" I told her.

"It doesn't even come close to Wilmette. She is getting a great education and meeting people that can help her in the future." She retorted.

"Our daughter will make her own way in life. She doesn't need to ride anyone else's coattails." I countered.

"You're just so stubborn you can't see the good that it can bring."

"Lilly, we've had this argument hundreds of times. You're never going to change my mind and I'm not going to change yours. What did you come here for anyways? I know it wasn't to bring Gina to me."

"Her name is Regina, not Gina!"

"Well that's not what she wants to be called. Don't you want her to be an independent woman?"

"You mean stubborn." Lilly said.

"No, I mean independent. Able to think for herself, decide what is right for her, not be swayed by a guy with money or power, or maybe a big dick."

She looked at me and sneered. She knew that last comment was meant for her.

"So, anyways." She said, "I need my spousal support payment. I have things I need to buy and bills to be paid."

"Well, you'll have to afford those on your own paycheck. While I'm incarcerated, I can't receive checks from my S-Corp, nor should I. No work, means no pay. That is how it works in the real world."

"What do you mean? I can't afford all the bills on my salary."

"Well, you should have thought about that before you took me back to court." I responded.

"Well, you were being an ass, making the payment with change."

"Well, now you get no payment, because I'm in jail."

"You have to!" She said.

"No, I don't. What are they going to do to me, throw me in jail if I don't?? ... Oh, I'm already in jail. Wouldn't be very wise of them to take me out, just to throw me back in."

"What am I supposed to do about the bills?" She whined.

I looked at her and said, "Get one of your fuck buddy lawyers to pay the bills. I'm sure you're worth it."