Getting Even

I was sitting in a small room reserved for prisoners to meet with their attorneys. It had a small metal table, about 3' by 4', in the middle of the room, and two metal chairs. There was one florescent light fixture, one steel door with a small window, and no outside windows. There would be one guard outside the door.

I had been escorted by a guard, from the automotive shop where I worked every day, to wait in this room for my attorney. Until now, I didn't know I had an attorney. The last time I had an attorney, I was on trial for domestic abuse and child endangerment. My fucking attorney rolled over and played dead, and I was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in the State Correctional Facility.

Well, what can you expect when your father-in-law owns the whole damn town?

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My name is George Masaroni. Mary was my wife, and we had a son, Bobby. I had been a mechanic in the service department at John Thomas Ford. If you think that means "Fix Or Repair Daily", I was the guy doing the fixing. I made a pretty good living at it, and I drove a new F-150 pickup.

I was raised in a lower middle class neighborhood in our town. We lived in a small frame house on a street of other houses just like it. They were all built after the war for the returning veterans, and bought with GI loans. The houses were clean and well maintained, the yards always mowed. My parents taught me responsibility and right from wrong. I learned to live by the Golden Rule.

I met Mary Sue Rogers in the sixth grade. Her family had just moved here from Chicago. Her father was some big shot at the bank, and he was taking over the local branch in our town. Of course they lived in the finer part of town, in a big brick house on "Silk Stocking Street". They had a one acre lot with a lot of trees and a swimming pool. Throughout school, the only time I saw their house was when I was delivering the newspaper.

In high school, Mary Sue was a cheerleader and stuck with the popular crowd. I think she dated Jim Flutey, the quarterback. I was moderately successful in football (defensive tackle) and baseball (third base). There was no risk that I would be offered an athletic scholarship. After graduation, Mary Sue went off to Northwestern on a full-ride "Daddy" scholarship, and majored in being popular. She was in the most prestigious sorority, and dated only the highest rated fraternity boys.

I joined the Army.

I learned a useful trade in the Army. I can get a job firing a cannon anywhere in the world now. Of course, I was sent to the Sand Box to ply my trade. I didn't get much of an opportunity to fire the cannon, that was a more specialized skill. I did spend a lot of time humping ammo, carrying 50 pound artillery shells from the back of a truck to the gun pit.

One thing I give the Army credit for, I was in the best shape of my life, no fat and all muscle. When I returned to the States, I was 6' and 205 pounds. Army strong and all I could be.

After I was discharged, fortunately with all my limbs still intact, I decided to use my GI benefits to go to an automotive mechanic trade school. I had taken auto mechanics classes in high school, and I seemed to have an aptitude for it. Before I even finished the course, I was offered a job at John Thomas Ford where I learned to work on big diesel pickups, F-350's and F-450's.

It was three years after I started working at Ford. Mom had passed from breast cancer, and Dad was in a nursing home with the final stages of Alzheimer's. I was living on my own in the same little white house where I had grown up. I never had brothers or sisters.

I still remember the day I dropped in at Joe's Bar after work to get a cold beer, maybe some chicken wings and fries, and to watch game 3 of the World Series. I had gone by the house first to clean up and change clothes to look more presentable.

I was sitting at the bar, minding my own business, drinking my beer and watching the game. The bar tender brought me another cold beer, and motioned toward a table with 4 lovely ladies, all giggling and waving at me. I raised my glass to thank them for the beer, and went back to the game. The score was 6-3 in the ninth, and the bases were loaded. I don't know why this pitcher was still in the game. He had walked the last two batters to load the bases, and the count was 3 and 2 on this batter. That's when Mary Sue Rogers got my attention.

After graduating from college, Mary Sue had come back to live with Mommy and Daddy. After four years of trying, she had failed to snag a rich husband despite all of her attempts. So she got her degree in business administration and came back home to our little town. It's better to be a big fish in a little pond than a little fish in a big pond, and Chicago is about as big as they come. Daddy got her a job with Robert Edwards Real Estate, and she found she could do pretty well selling real estate. She did especially well dealing with male clients. It had a lot to do with being 5'4", having shoulder length honey blond hair, and a 34C bust, showing an ample amount of cleavage. She typically wore short skirts, thigh high stockings, and 4" heels.

I felt a hand on my arm. When I turned, there stood Mary Sue. Looking into her deep blue eyes for the first time, I completely missed the last pitch and the grand slam home run that won the game. She asked me if I would join her and her friends at their table, and I was led there like a lamb to slaughter. She and her friends were having a "girl's night", and had already had several drinks. Someone started putting quarters in the jukebox, so I had to dance with each of the women repeatedly as the night progressed. As the liquor flowed, the girls got more suggestive in their dancing, though none more than Mary Sue. As we danced the last slow dance, she had her hand on my crotch and I had my hands on her ass.

Mary Sue was in no condition to drive, so I offered to take her home. I had "borrowed" a new Mustang from the dealership since my truck was in the shop for a new water pump. Yes, I know, it's a Ford thing. Mary Sue was holding my arm and leaning on me as I guided her toward the car.

I drove Mary Sue to her upscale condo in the trendy part of town, favored by successful young professionals. I opened her door and helped her out of the car. I had to help her walk up the steps to her front door, as she was really in no shape to navigate them on her own. I had no intention to take advantage of a woman in her condition, and I was going to see her to her front door and leave. Mary Sue, however, had other plans for me. Taking my arm she dragged me into her condo, where she proceeded to attack me. Before I could close the door, she had her arms around me and her tongue down my throat. The rest of the night progressed in a manner you may surmise, and I woke up in the morning in bed with a beautiful, naked real estate agent.

We made love again, then got up for a shower. After coffee, and a breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast, we went back to bed for another round of hide the sausage. After another nap, followed by another shower, I was worn out. The Swedish Bikini Team wouldn't be able to get me aroused again. I dropped her off at Joe's to get her car. After making out like a couple of horny teenagers, she took her BMW and left to go have lunch with her parents. I went home to sleep all afternoon.

She called me about six o'clock, waking me from a deep sleep. She insisted I was going to take her to lunch Sunday at the country club to meet her parents. This seemed to me to be progressing way too fast. I spent one night with the girl, and now I was meeting her parents. I half expected that she and her mom were already planning our wedding.

If I had only known.

Mary and I dated steadily for the next two months, and then she hit me with the news. She was pregnant, and we were getting married. For a shotgun wedding, it was still an elaborate affair, befitting the daughter of a leading member of the community. The bride was given away by James Allen Rogers, President of the First National Bank. The service was held in the First Methodist Church, officiated by Reverend Joseph Franklin. The reception was held at the Columbia Hills Country Club. As a wedding present, her parents paid for us to spend two weeks in Hawaii.

When our son, Bobby, was born, I was as proud a father as you can imagine. For a child born supposedly a month early, he was surprisingly big and healthy, weighing 9 pounds. He had fair skin, blond hair and blue eyes like his mother and his grandmother. I found that interesting since I have a darker Mediterranean coloring, with dark hair and brown eyes.

We went home to our four bedroom house with three car garage, swimming pool and hot tub, in the Columbia Hills addition, a gated community. The owner of the dealership, my employer, did not have a house this big. Since Mary Sue was a real estate agent, of course she was able to get a special deal on a bank foreclosure. Did I mention Daddy was President of the bank?

We sold my parent's house for the down payment on our new McMansion. The mortgage payment was more than my paycheck, but Mary Sue was making enough to cover it. After the baby was born, Mary Sue took a year off, but the loving grandparents arranged for the house payments to be made. My paycheck went for the utilities and other bills. We had sold her BMW (after all it was 2 years old), and the Ford dealership let me have a new Lincoln as a demonstrator. When Grandma Rogers or Aunt Susie weren't watching Bobby, we had a nanny paid for by Grandpa. After all, Mary Sue had to keep up with her social group at the Country Club.

After a year, Robert Edwards called Mary Sue to come back to work. She had been his top sales agent and she had been sorely missed. That was the story she told me.

Of course, Robert had not missed Mary Sue, since they had continued to get together three or four times a week since Bobby was born, usually at the Marriott. Their affair actually began shortly after Mary Sue went to work for Robert Edwards. Did I mention that Robert Edwards had a fair complexion, blond hair and blue eyes?

Bobby had just turned two years old when the shit hit the fan for me. I was at work when two police officers entered the service bay. They asked me if I was George Masaroni. I told them I was, and they told me I was under arrest. They cuffed me, read me my rights and put me in the back seat of their cruiser. I was put into an orange jumpsuit, my picture was taken and I was put in a cell at the police station. So far, no one had told me what I was charged with.

I was brought into an interrogation room where two detectives read me my rights and proceeded to explain the charges filed against me. My wife was accusing me of domestic abuse, and child endangerment. I recovered from the shock enough to tell the detectives I did not want to make a statement, and I wanted to see a lawyer. I knew I couldn't call the family lawyer because he would be representing Mary Sue. After all, he did work for her father. I went back to my cell to spend the night. I tried to occupy my time through the night by organizing cockroach races. They're fast but hard to get into the starting gate.

I used my one phone call to call my boss, John Thomas. John already had two ex-wives, so he was very understanding of my situation when I explained it to him, even though I barely understood myself. John told me he would take care of things, and within an hour I had a lawyer representing me.

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Three years later.

What happened, how did I end up here?

'Here' is the minimum security unit of the state prison system. Even though there was no evidence to substantiate their claims of domestic abuse and child endangerment, Mary and Robert convinced the judge that since I had been in the Army and in the war that I must have PTSD. Therefore I would be a danger to my family.

That was a load of BS, since the closest I ever came to the enemy was 10 miles down range from a cannon barrel. I've never had nightmares from combat, but I have plenty of them now. I dream every night of seeing my wife and her lover in the courtroom, smirking at me and lying their ass off to the judge that I needed to be locked up for my own good.

The judge didn't hide the fact that he empathized with my wife. Even with no evidence, and no psychological profiles, I was sentenced to 5 to 10 years in prison. Mary wasted no time filing for divorce. She took everything, and got full custody of Bobby.

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My only contact with the outside world is with John Thomas. He came to see me once a month, and caught me up to date. As soon as Mary Sue had filed for divorce, Robert moved in with Mary and filed for divorce from his wife, Carol. Robert and Carol had been married for 10 years, and had an eight year old son, Roger. Robert produced a prenup that he alleged Carol had signed before their marriage. Carol could not afford a lawyer, and she got nothing from Robert, not even child support or alimony.

Robert and Mary Sue got married as soon as their divorces were final. Mary sold the house, and they bought a new house in Columbia Hills, close to Daddy of course. Robert played golf with Daddy at the Country Club every weekend, and Daddy's bank was quick to approve real estate loans for Robert Edwards Real Estate. In three years time, Robert owned some very lucrative commercial real estate, even if some of the deals wouldn't hold up to close examination.

I was never notified when Robert filed papers to adopt Bobby, and it was approved without me. It turns out the judge plays golf with Daddy too. So with the stroke of a pen, Robert Masaroni became Robert Edwards, Jr. Robert bought Mary a new BMW to drive to her tennis lessons at the country club. She was upset when John Thomas Ford repo'ed her Lincoln, since it was a demonstrator. At the age of 5, Bobby was enrolled in kindergarten in Columbia Hills Academy, an exclusive private school, so he wouldn't have to associate with children beneath his social level. It was where all of Mary Sue's country club friends sent their children.

Carol and Roger lived in a subsidized apartment in the projects. Robert had sold their house when he married Mary Sue. He couldn't expect his new wife and child to live there; it didn't even have a pool. Carol got a job working in the Big Town Thrift Store, barely making enough to get by. Her parents helped when they could, but they were retired and living on a pension so there was not much they could do. Her Dad gave her his 15 year old Oldsmobile. It was barely running, and she could only afford gas to drive to work. Roger was able to get free lunch and breakfast at school, and she supplemented her grocery shopping by going to the food pantry, and using food stamps.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

I'd never had the pleasure of meeting Carol Edwards, or her son Roger, but I was able to convince John Thomas that he could find something she could do at the dealership to support herself and her son. John found she had some experience as a bookkeeper before her marriage, and hired her to work in the dealership accounting department. She made enough that she and Roger could move into a nicer apartment. John Thomas gave her a new Ford demonstrator to drive to work.

A year later, Carol had to quit her job at the Ford dealership. John didn't want his new wife to have to work, especially when she was expecting his first child. After they were married, John filed to adopt Roger. Robert signed it without hesitation. On a visit to me in prison, John proudly showed me the pictures of his new family, Roger Thomas, Carol Thomas, and Alice Elizabeth Thomas.

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Everyone in prison has to work. I was lucky that I was able to be assigned to the automotive shop, doing the same work I've always done. If you don't have a usable skill, you could end up working in the laundry or making license plates. The prison auto shop works on state, county and municipal vehicles. Even some of the prison employees get their private vehicles fixed there. It is also part of the inmate education system, so some of the inmates are learning a trade they can use on the outside. With my experience, I worked with a lot of the inmate apprentices. I made a lot of friends that would be useful to me later on.

I eventually was able to start working on heavy earthmoving equipment. This was new for me, and I learned a lot about hydraulics and bigger diesel engines. On occasions I was allowed to go out with a crew to work on equipment on road construction sites.

My first cellmate was Leroy Green, better known as Bubba. Before you jump to the wrong conclusion, Bubba and I were not friends with benefits. Bubba was 6'6, and 320 pounds. He was a gentle giant, a friend to anyone who knew him. Even though violence and prison gangs were practically unheard of in the minimum security unit, being a close friend of Bubba would help insure your safety.

Bubba had already served 10 years for robbing a convenience store when he was sixteen. He was tried as an adult and sentenced to 20 years. He was implicated in the robbery by his two uncles, who used the young man as a decoy. He never saw a dime, and spent 10 years of his life in prison. On the plus side, he did get to complete his high school education. Bubba was released on parole, and 5 years later so was I.

My next cellmate was James Jones. Jimmy was a computer nerd that was arrested for possession of a controlled substance. Jimmy was not an addict, nor did I believe he was a dealer. He said he was set up (doesn't everybody) and I believed him.

While he was still in high school, Jimmy got interested in the dark arts of cyber magic. He started by learning to hack into the school computer system. He soon found that some popular girls would be quite willing to show their appreciation for changing a few grades to allow them to stay on the cheerleader squad. After high school, he learned he could pick up some extra money by fixing credit scores and erasing late payments. He set up networks of computers across the world, mostly Russia and Eastern Europe, to cover his tracks if anyone tried to trace back his transactions.

While using the computer lab in the education center, Jimmy was able to break through the system security and get into the dark web. He set up a portal that allowed him to get in any time he wanted after that. He made a connection to the personal computer of the snake that had set him up, and downloaded 3000 child pornography images from a server in Hungary. He then anonymously notified the authorities.

Robert Grafton had an MBA, and 10 years experience in banking and finance. He was serving 5 years for some shady investment deals that had gone wrong. Bigger fish got away with the money, leaving Bobby G. holding the bag. But Bobby was an expert on anything to do with money and banks and investments.

After three years in prison, I was not the same man. Prison life made me tougher, bitter. If I could see my ex-wife and her lover, I would kill them with my bare hands. I spent all of my spare time, and I had a lot of spare time, thinking of ways to get even with Robert and Mary Sue Edwards for destroying my life and stealing my son.

Over time, Jimmy, Bobby and I discussed my situation, and tried to come up with ways to get even. The common weakness of the assholes was money. Greed drove every aspect of their lives. The best way to get even would be to take away their money. We put Jimmy to work to find out everything we could about where their money was coming from.

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James Rogers came to our town from Chicago as the Vice President and General Manager of the First State Savings and Loan. He is now the President and Chief Executive Officer of the First National Bank. His income has increased tenfold, but his net worth far exceeds what he would have made. Where is the money coming from?