Habakkuk Pt. 02

The door was opened by the most beautiful and delicate little girl Habakkuk had ever seen. She stared up at him with a visage of intense concentration. "May I help you, sir?" the little lady asked formally.

Hak knelt down in front of her, bringing them eye to eye. "Possibly," Hak began. "Are you the lady of the house?"

The girl gave him that look that all little girls seem to master young, one that said, "Are you nuts, Mister?", before turning and yelling into the house, "Mom, some man's at the door!"

As Habakkuk stood up, the adult version of the little lady pulled the door fully open. "Can I help you," she asked suspiciously. Hak had thought that Eva was beautiful, that Gloria was sexy. Here was a woman, he thought, that put a lie to both those thoughts. He realized that he was staring and tried to focus.

"Are you Meredith Larkin?" said Hak as he offered his card to the lady.

A look of panic widened the woman's eyes as she looked at the card. The words "Attorney-at-Law" seemed to leap up at her. She hesitantly replied in the affirmative. "What's this about?" she asked with trepidation.

Habakkuk could feel the fear that was overtaking the woman and tried to be as reassuring as possible. "I'm not here to add to your problems," he told her. "In fact, I'm hoping that you will let me help you." He gave her his brightest smile.

"What do you mean?" she asked cautiously.

"Well, as you can see from my card, I'm an attorney. You're being sued by your former neighbor and tenant for adverse possession of your property. I'd like to represent you in that case." As she shook her head and began to close the door, Hak added, "Pro-bono, of course."

The closing door paused, and then reopened. "Why? Why would you do that?"

Letting his smile beam, he responded, "That's a fair question, but a long answer. Maybe we could sit down while we discuss it, either in the house or out here on the porch?"

Still suspicious, Meredith agreed to sit on the porch, unbending enough to offer Hak a coffee, which he accepted. Once she had returned with the drinks, Hak launched into his story. "The lead attorney on the plaintiff's side is a former friend, named Robert Garcia. I've vowed to destroy him in court in every case he appears in or to which he is connected. That's really the long and short of it."

"Why? Again, why would you do that? What's he done to you?" Meredith wondered how honest a vengeful man would be.

Habakkuk sat quiet for a moment. Then he said, "I can understand your suspicions and I can tell that you're going to ask, 'Why?' until I've told the whole story." He sipped his coffee. "Did you grow up around here?" he asked. When she replied that she had, he inquired, "Have you ever heard of Rita Mason? The Feminist Church?"

Meredith's face lit up in recognition. "The Castration Revelations?" She laughed. "Oh, God. I remembered that. That woman was nuts!"

Hak looked down. "She was my mother."

Meredith's face fell. "Oh, God, I'm sorry." Hak mumbled that she wasn't as sorry as he was. "But, wait," she questioned, "Your card says your last name is Jameson, not Mason."

"I adopted the name of the man who help me escape the hell my mother raised me in. He was my social worker." Hak began his story, telling of the steps his mother had taken to "save" him from toxic masculinity, about how she viewed him as the spawn of Satan.

"Your own mother!" Meredith whispered sympathetically. "How horrible."

Hak lead her through his life. The humiliations of childhood; the salvation afforded by Mr. Jameson; being an emancipated minor; college; Eva and his marriage (he left out the plastic and real Ernies -- it was a bit much to tell a stranger); law school while Eva got her master's; and the jealousy of Bobby and the destruction of his marriage.

"And she never loved you." Meredith murmured thoughtfully.

"So," Hak summed up, "I tried to raise above it. I'm not a violent man, but I can't be attacked and let it stand. So, I oppose Bobby in court, offering him the humiliation that will bother him the most. So far, he hasn't been in the courtroom, but when I find out he associated with a case, I make it my business to help the other side. I haven't won every time, but that's because I've basically been on the sidelines. The lawyers don't seem to like me butting in, even if it's to help." He shrugged.

"But this time he's going to court and I've heard that you haven't gotten a lawyer yet. Why is that?" He looked at the woman, seeing a sadness settle on her face.

"Money! Why else?" She picked up a napkin she'd brought out with the coffee and dabbed her eyes. "When my husband died, we had more debt than savings, and working two jobs I just make enough to keep up with the bills. I can't afford a lawyer." Here the woman broke down and sobbed openly, the frustrations of the last year overwhelming her. The little girl, who had been listening through the window, threw open the door and ran into her mother's arms, hugging her fiercely.

Habakkuk silently vowed to save this woman and child, whatever it took.

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The divorce had been finalized in the last month. Habakkuk had held off his revenge until the divorce, and the financial decisions, had been made. As he suspected, his trust and investments made the court deny him spousal support, even though he was unemployed, and his wife still had her job. But the tape of his wife sneering as she told him how she had targeted him in college for his money, had him pay for her education (including student loans) and planned to fund her PhD when she raped him in divorce court, convinced the judge that what they had come into the marriage with was what they should take out of it. His investments remained his. Eva was as penniless now as she had been in college, although she retained her retirement from the school district. Hak had no claims on her income or benefits.

On the other hand, she had no claims on his house, so she continued to live with the Garcias. She bragged about how good the sex was in every face-to-face meeting they had with their lawyers. She also let Hak know that she was even bringing the real, human Ernie home, since Hak had destroyed her plastic "Ernie" dildo.

That actually pleased Hak, since she had made the mistake of bringing him in before the divorce papers were actually filed, allowing Hak's PI to gather evidence. The divorce filing was amended to include Ernest Johnson as one of the adulterous partners.

The only revenge that he had begun was against his old pal Bobby. Robert Garcia had been fired immediately from Jameson, Atkins, and Fisher once it was determined that he was the source of the emails "outing" Hak and his childhood traumas. He had finally been hired as a junior associate by an ambulance chasing firm, Stiller and Meyers. Hak, still technically unemployed (although he had helped Ed Fisher with some of the criminal cases, behind the scenes and unpaid), offered his service pro-bono to the companies being sued by Stiller and Meyers, if Bobby was assigned to the case. A clerk at the firm was willing, for a fee, to keep Hak appraised of Garcia's workload.

While Hak was working alone, Howard Jameson was happy to offer Hak the services his firm could offer in support. That help was considerable.

Hak had succeeded in successfully defending the companies in all the cases he became involved in. Two companies rejected his offer, and several more times he was rejected by the company's law firm, even though his services would have been free. When Stiller and Meyers finally realized that Hak Jameson had been instrumental in their defeats, they had approached him with an offer of employment.

He had laughed and rejected their first, and all subsequent, offers. When they learned that he was acting as an unpaid agent, they finally questioned why. When learning that they were being targeted because of Garcia, they made an offer he accepted: he wouldn't work unpaid against them if they released Bobby from their employment. He did reserve the right to go against them with any paying clients.

One of the law firms that had twice refused his assistance was Strum and Deutsch. Subsequently, they lost both cases, each with not only enormous judgements but added punitive damages. The companies, each of whom had wanted to accept Habakkuk's offer but had given in to the law firm's refusal, had each subsequently fired Strum and Deutsch.

The law firm blamed their dismissal on Hak and were only too happy to hire Garcia. Unlike Stiller and Meyers, S&D were a highly professional and well-respected group of lawyers. Their clients were huge firms who paid 6- and 7-figure retainer fees every year, above the actual cost of S&D's legal services. Still, the loss of a client stung, and they looked forward to humiliating Hak in court as punishment.

Garcia was relegated to the position of paralegal while the powers that be looked for a case that wouldn't endanger their large accounts. The case against Meredith Larkin fit the bill perfectly. The client wasn't one of their corporate clients but instead was the cousin of one of the senior partners. The case was being done as a favor to the cousin, who was trying to acquire Meredith's property for herself.

Bobby was overjoyed to be finally assigned a case, and as lead to boot. Finally, he would be able to show his bosses what a great lawyer he could be. His confidence waned when two junior partners were added as associate counsel, and it soon became clear that Garcia was only lead on paper.

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Gloria Garcia was put out. It had been fun, at first, when Bobby and she were taking Eva to bed, and she had even looked forward to Ernie joining the fun. But the reality soon became apparent: Bobby and Ernie were fucking Eva, and if she was lucky, they let her clean up the mess when they were done. Sure, they'd give her a toss occasionally, but Eva was clearly the main event. Gloria was in second place in her own home! Second place was an unfamiliar experience for her. Each night her resentment built.

So, on several Friday nights, she had made the excuse that she was going out with some girls from work and then would head to Sappho's, her favorite lesbian bar. To hell with men.

That night, she downed her first shot of tequila quickly, then signaled the barkeeper while scanning the room. She was surprised to see a familiar face, one that lit up when they locked their eyes. It was Regina -- one of her Junior class students from two years ago. Regina smiled broadly, coming up to Gloria.

"Mrs. Garcia! My favorite teacher!" Regina planted a wet kiss on Gloria's cheek. Gloria remembered Regina well -- the girl oozed sexuality. Gloria had had dreams about the girl. She hadn't known that she swung in Gloria's direction.

"Call me Gloria, Regina. You're not my student anymore." Gloria patted the stool beside her, and Regina happily plopped her delicious ass down.

"Gloria, I've got to tell you -- I've always had the biggest crush on you! You were the sexiest teacher at St. Boniface." She laughed. "Of course, the competition wasn't much, considering how many teachers were dried up old nuns!"

Gloria ran her finger down Regina's cheeks and over her lips. "Do you still have that crush? You're 18 now, aren't you?" she asked huskily, lust pumping through her veins. Dreams do come true!

"My sister's out tonight. We'd have the house to ourselves..." Regina tilted her head and raised her eyebrows with the unspoken question.

"Let's go," Gloria didn't have to think twice.

Their affair lasted exactly two Fridays. The second week, Gloria went directly to Regina's house and was soon scissoring with the young woman. Right at their climax, the bedroom door swung open, revealing Regina's sister Ronnie and the camera in her hand. Gloria jumped up, pulling the sheet off the bed to cover herself. "Stop that filming! You've got to erase that, now!" she demanded.

Ronnie laughed, and said, "Sure, no sweat. I wasn't really filming. I'm just fucking with you." She looked appraisingly at the teacher. "But Mrs. Garcia, you look good enough to eat! How about making this a sister act?"

Gloria smiled and dropped the sheet. Ronnie was a different ball of wax, a much more exciting version than her sister. Tattoos and piercings adorn the body of the woman that was rumored to be the head of the Twisted Sisters, a lesbian motorcycle gang. This would be a whole new experience.

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"When Ralph died," Meredith began, "I was a wreck. It was just Ruby and I," kissing the girl on her lap as she related her story to Hak. "Ralph had no family, and neither did I. And he had handled all the bills and savings. I'm hopeless at those things. So, when Martha, my neighbor, came over to help, I thought she was a lifesaver. Ruby wasn't even one year old at the time, and I was overwhelmed.

"Ralph had been proud to have me as a homemaker. I'd never worked outside the house; so, raising Ruby and making a home for my family was to be my only job. But when Ralph's cancer manifested and suddenly," she stopped and hugged Ruby as another sob escaped, "suddenly, Ralph was gone. And so was our income. I thought he had a life insurance policy, but I could never find it.

"Martha seemed so helpful. She straightened out my mail, babysat Ruby while I went to work, first at McDuffy's Burgers, then to a second job at PriceCo, just to earn enough money to keep the roof over our head and food on the table.

"The real problems started when Martha suggested that she move in, that it would be easier to take care of Ruby without having to go back and forth between houses. When I worked nights stocking at PriceCo, she could go to sleep in the guest room. It seemed to make sense, and she was being so helpful, I agreed. We actually became a family, I thought.

"Then, when the tax bill came, she paid it before I even saw it. She said that she knew I didn't have the ready cash. I was just starting to work so it took several months for me to earn enough extra cash to pay her back. I even had to sell some of my jewelry to raise enough money. Then she asked for it in cash. She said it would save her a trip to the bank." She laughed ruefully. "Save her a trip to the bank. What bullshit."

"Let me guess," Hak interrupted. "Good old Martha is living here and paying the taxes. She probably worked a way to pay them the next few years as well, didn't she? Just saving you the trouble. And you paid her back in cash." Meredith nodded sadly.

The lawyer looked at Ruby. "You're a big girl, aren't you, sweetie. Let me guess -- I bet you're five, aren't you?" The little girl smiled proudly and nodded.

"Five years -- Martha's claiming adverse possession, isn't she? She's lived here and paid the taxes for five years, and you never objected." He shook his head.

"I never had a chance to object. I was out working all day and she got the mail. The first I would hear of the taxes was when Martha would ask me to reimburse her." She wiped her eyes. "I thought we were a family. She had been so helpful. I never realized that she moved in with me because she rented next door. She moved in to save that rent money, but I was grateful that she was so helpful with Ruby. It felt like a fair exchange."

"Well, California has a 5-year period before you can claim adverse possession. Martha obviously knew that and targeted you. The challenge will be proving that you repaid her for the taxes. It's undeniable that she's resided here for those five years, and I'm sure she has checks to show she paid the taxes." She nodded. He continued, "And she arranged that you have no way to show that you paid her back. Cash usually leaves no traces. Hopefully, she made a mistake and deposited your cash into her account. If we can subpoena her bank records, we'll have a case. Without that, it's going to be tough."

Meredith sniffled. "I don't know what I'm going to do. I managed to get Martha out of the house, but I can't afford to change the locks and she still has her keys. And I can't go to work -- I have nowhere to leave Ruby."

He pulled out his phone as he smiled at the distressed woman. "We can fix all that." As he called a locksmith, she objected, saying that she couldn't allow him to do that, that she wouldn't be able to pay him back. He held up his hand to stop her objections while he gave instructions to the locksmith, who promised to come right out. When he hung up, he told her that she didn't have to pay him back, that he just wanted her to be safe. When she still objected, he thought he understood.

"Look, people help me. People who didn't have to help me, paid for things, and one," his eyes teared at the memories, "one very special man left me his estate. Believe me, this is no problem.

"And if you think I'm another Martha, looking to take advantage of you somehow, I'm happy to write up an agreement that will state, 1- I'm taking your case pro-bono, with all cost and expenses being solely on me, and 2- Your safety and Ruby's are considered an important part of the case, and so, will be ensured at my sole cost." He smiled as he called up Rosa, who had been his paralegal at JA&F. She was a mid-50's Hispanic woman who had 8 children, the youngest only 10. I explained Meredith's childcare problems and asked how she handled hers. Fifteen minutes later, the agency she used had promised to send over several potential sitters over the next day for Meredith's approval.

Meredith was weeping now, in frustration, saying she couldn't pay for this. "Okay," offered Hak. "I'll tell you what. We'll countersue Martha and you can pay me back from the proceeds when we win."

"What if we don't?" she asked.

"That's my worry, not yours. I'm happy; you'll be able to return to work and Ruby will be cared for. Isn't that what we're hoping for?" The argument was tabled by the arrival of the locksmith. Two hours later, the locks were all changed and Hak took his leave with the locksmith, promising to return for the childcare interviews.

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Eva and Ernie found themselves out of a job as pictures of their relationship and that of Eva's and the Garcias were provided to the school board. The photos Hak's PI had obtained with a camera hidden in the classroom's supply closet of the pair fucking at work were enough; the other photos turned out to be gratuitously overkill. However, the male board members appreciated the overkill (Gloria was glorious as was Eva), as secretly did a few of the female members.

When Eva was informed that the reasons for her dismissal would be included in any recommendation package the school was asked to provide, she realized her career in education, which she had enjoyed, was probably over. On top of that, she would never be able to afford her PhD.

Ernie, the idiot, tried to console her by suggesting they retire to his house for some one-on-one comforting. As she angrily pushed Ernie away, she cursed him and told him they were through, that she never wanted to see him again.

She also cursed her ex-husband and vowed vengeance. It was bad enough that she had lost everything in her divorce, had lost the lifestyle that her husband's wealth had provided. She was aware that she had provided her husband with the ammunition he needed when she stupidly revealed that she had used him, had married him, solely for her financial advantage. But still, the asshole didn't have to be so vindictive.

Thank God the Garcias were still willing to provide her shelter. She didn't have enough money for her own place. She wondered how she could cement her relationship with Bobby. He'd finally gotten a job with a great law firm, not like that ambulance chaser firm Hak had gotten him fired from. Again, he didn't have to be so damn vindictive.