I Am My Brother's Keeper

In addition to being a computer geek, Austen was also an amateur thespian, and was well acquainted with makeup from college and Community Theater. In disguise, the next Friday night I followed Sam to what was probably his favorite watering hole. I made friends with him shooting pool, talking sports, and drinking his brand of beer. When he called it quits for the night I walked with him out to his car and Tasered him.

I put Sam in the back seat of his car, injected him with a knockout drug, and drove him to Austen's house. Austen spent a good hour making him up to look like he had had the shit kicked out of him ten times over; when Austen was done if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I never would have believed it was fake.

Austen and I then posed and photographed Sam. Austen followed me as I drove to an isolated area and parked Sam's car only inches from the edge of a cliff. While Sam was still in the back seat I injected him with an antidote for the knockout drug so that he would have full cognizance when he woke up in about two or three minutes, and left a note under his car keys on the front seat.

The note read: "Sam, if you ever so much as talk to Abigail Grimes again – let alone fuck her – you will end up the way you look now for real; that is if you survive the beating you'll get. A friend."

I had copies of the photos of Sam looking like he was near death hand delivered to Abigail at work during her shift on Saturday morning with another note: "This is what will happen to any guy you fuck besides your husband!"

Obviously that put an end to the Sam-Abigail hookups and scared Abigail enough for a while so that despite diligently keeping my fingers on the pulse of the situation for another eighteen months I had no further reports of suspected infidelity. Also, Abigail's demeanor seemed to have changed for the better when I saw her; she may have suspected that I was behind the photos delivered to her so she may have just been on her best behavior around me, I wasn't sure.

A little more than eighteen months after the Sam incident I got a report about Abigail and another guy. While she had probably fucked Sam a half dozen times before I got involved, this time I think that I got notice right about the time of the first fuck, primarily because I periodically illegally monitored Abigail's cellphone calls. While I wasn't in time to prevent it, I did see her leaving the garden apartment of Jason McMurray about ninety minutes after her Saturday shift at the hair salon was over.

McMurray was a very good looking but frail guy. Maybe he had a big dick that had attracted Abigail to him, but it certainly wasn't his muscle. I was afraid that if he was handled too roughly he'd be seriously injured or die. Becca had a devious plan.

One of our good clients was "Doc-In-The-Box," a medical clinic about two miles from Jimmy and Abigail's house. The business manager there we considered a friend in addition to a client, and we had bailed her out of half a dozen jams with bad employees, unruly patients, embezzlement, etc., and charged very reasonable fees.

A few days after Abigail's hookup with Jason, when I knew that Jimmy was working until ten that night, in disguise and pretending to be a health inspector Becca paid Abigail a visit.

"Are you Mrs. Abigail Grimes?"

"Yes. How can I help you?"

"I'm Ruth Bader from the Health Department. I'll get right to the point. There has been a gonorrhea outbreak and we're notifying people who may have had sexual relations with an infected person and asking them to get tested. Do you know a Jason McMurray?"

According to Becca, Abigail's face turned ashen.

"Uh, well... yes."

"He is one of the suspected carriers," Becca told Abigail with real concern in her tone. "I have no reason to pry into your sex life; I just want to advise you that you really need to be tested if you have had sexual contact of any kind with Mr. McMurray. Here is a coupon entitling you to a free, confidential, test at a local health clinic, Doc-In-The-Box, on Pinegrove Avenue. I suggest that you use it. If you have any questions you can call me at the number on my card and leave a message."

As Becca handed Abigail the coupon and a card with a secondary cell phone number on it Abigail almost collapsed.

The coupon said to specifically ask for our friend, the business manager, and to tell the receptionist it was about the "Free test." The very next day a distraught Abigail appeared at Doc-In-The-Box. Our friend put on a lab coat and led her into an examining room, pretending to be a medical technician. She drew a small amount of blood, took a vaginal swab, looked under a microscope and appeared to be rattled.

"It looks like you have contracted gonorrhea, Mrs. Grimes, but fortunately it is at a very early stage. I have to confirm it with your blood work but in the meantime here are pills for both you and your husband. Each of you should take two a day, with meals, for ten days. I'll call you when the test results come in and if the preliminary test was a false positive advise you to stop taking them."

"But my husband can't know about this," Abigail pleaded, starting to cry.

"Just work the pills into his food – they break up and dissolve easily. He'll never know."

"OK," Abigail replied, somewhat relieved. "Can I give you my cell phone number to call me at; please don't call my home."

"This will all be confidential, don't worry," our friend replied.

The pills were sugar pills. Two days later our friend called Abigail and told her that she did have gonorrhea and to return to the clinic for a checkup the day after she took the last two pills. When she returned our friend pronounced her free and clear of disease.

At my request our friend did actually have Abigail's blood and vaginal swab tested just to be sure, and fortunately she was free of STDs.

The same night that Becca was paying a visit to Abigail, in disguise I paid a visit to Jason. When he answered his door I burst in, chloroformed him without hurting him, put duct tape over his mouth and hand cuffed him to a chair. When he came to I had a mask on, and a message.

"Jason, why did you fuck Abigail Grimes?" After asking I ripped the duct tape off of his mouth.

"Ouch! Uh, well, uh, to answer your question, I like her," he hesitantly replied.

"Did you know that she is married?"

"Uh, well, not really. She told me that she was separated and getting a divorce," he stammered, obviously terrified.

"Did you know that she has gonorrhea?"

"What? No, of course not. I never would have had sex with her if I knew that."

"Let me make this easy on you, Jason. She is married, her husband thinks happily, not separated or getting a divorce, and she does have gonorrhea. You need to go get tested tomorrow. Regardless of the test results you are to have no further contact with her of any kind – no phone calls, meetings, emails, text messages, absolutely nothing. If you do have any contact with her, gonorrhea will be the least of your concerns – GOT IT?"

"Yes, of course, absolutely," he mumbled, so frightened that he peed his pants.

"I'm glad that you understand. I'm leaving the handcuff key on your patio. Wait until sixty seconds after I'm gone then drag your chair out there and get it. I don't ever want to have to come back to see you," I growled.

"You won't have to, believe me," he squealed.

That took care of the Jason-Abigail tryst, and hopefully many other possible trysts in view of the gonorrhea scare.

There was still a major problem on the horizon. Its name was Jersey, who had tried to hook Abigail up with a number of guys. I felt that we really needed to get Jersey's bad influence out of Abigail's life. Fortunately she made that easy.

Jersey had no marketable skills whatsoever. While she did turn a few tricks they weren't enough to make ends meet. The local police believed that she was a drug dealer, mostly oxycodone and other prescription drugs, but since she was a fairly minor player they couldn't afford to devote the resources to her that were necessary to catch her in the act. My team could.

After only two nights of physical surveillance, and a planted bug in Jersey's trailer, we knew when her next "shipment" was due. Beyond our wildest hopes she was actually going to participate in the robbery of the drugs from a pharmacy with her "boyfriend" and a local hood.

I alerted the cops to the planned heist, gave them the name and address of the pharmacy, the date and suspected time, and the likely participants. Fortunately the pharmacy was one where a break-in had occurred a few months ago and was actually already on a "watch list" so that the cops had a legitimate reason to stake it out without using the "tip" that I provided.

The attempted robbery and capture went off without a hitch. Jersey couldn't make bail, already had a record, and had stolen thousands of dollars' worth of drugs in the heist. She was looking at five years of hard time, minimum, and no longer a threat to Abigail.

The "gonorrhea incident" probably did scare Abigail straight, at least for a while. She and Jimmy had a little girl, Bethany, a year after the incident. They also had some good luck; on a lottery ticket that Abigail bought they won about $400,000 after taxes. Being the kind generous soul that Jimmy is he insisted that it be put in an account for just Abigail "in case something happens to me." Of course she went along with it even though I suggested that they split it.

I really warmed up to Bethany quickly. Never having had a girl in our family I spoiled her every chance that I got. By the time that she was three she was tied with Jimmy as my favorite person in the world. That made me even more concerned when I got another report, just before Bethany's third birthday, that Abigail was likely up to her old tricks.

This time the guy was a low life named Joe Marley. While I could at least see her attraction to the first two this guy was a thug with a record, and on probation. I decided that it was time for a come to Jesus confrontation with Abigail, and no more kid gloves for her lover-boys.

As soon as Marley and Abigail entered a cheap motel room – that she paid for – Brett and I went into action. We literally smashed down the door. I hit Marley in the jaw with everything I had knocking him flat, then Brett dragged him outside. Abigail was putting her blouse back on as she looked at me with fear in her eyes.

"Abigail, this shit is stopping now," I yelled. "I'll not have you disrespect Jimmy and Bethany again."

"This is the only time I've strayed, Will, you've got to believe me," she moaned.

"Don't give me that horseshit. What about Jason McMurray and Sam Hastings, and who knows if there have been others," I screamed.

"What are you going to do," she shuddered with a deer-in-the-headlights look on her face. "Please don't tell Jimmy, it would really hurt him."

"Suddenly you're worried about hurting him?" I laughed. "Let me tell you, slut, I'm going to make you do something to be sure that this shit never happens again since I know how difficult it is for you to keep your knees together."

Glaring at her while intentionally exposing my Beretta, I laid it out. "You are going to enter into a contract with me. If you cheat on Jimmy again you will relinquish all claim to your lottery winnings and it will automatically go into a trust for Bethany with me as the only trustee. You will never let that account get under $350,000 without my approval. You will agree to psychiatric counseling. If you don't agree to my conditions, or stray again you will promise not to try for custody of Bethany or any other kids you have, and I will tell Jimmy about all of your affairs and get him the best damn divorce attorney in the state."

Abigail went from looking scared to resigned, her eyes down.

"If Jimmy does decide, with my encouragement, to divorce you I'll do everything in my power to see that he gets sole custody of Bethany, offering perjured testimony if I have to. Got it?"

Abigail started crying. "I don't know if I can help myself," she sobbed. "I need more sex than Jimmy can provide; I hate myself for it, but I can't help it."

"You better figure out a way," I said with steely resolve. "I'm having the contract drawn up and you'll come to my house to sign it next week, or the shit hits the fan."

As I turned to leave I quipped, "By the way, in case you're interested, your fuck buddy Marley has had the shit kicked out of him and he'll never be around again!" In fact I knew that by then Brett had beat him senseless and left him with a bus ticket to Las Vegas and the message to get out of the city or he'd be killed – an empty threat but one that Marley was likely to take seriously. Within three days the word on the street was that Marley had left for Nevada, and had sold almost everything that he owned.

When I had Abigail over to my house the next week after an attorney had prepared a first draft of a contract between Abigail and me I realized for the first time in my life that I had underestimated her intelligence and resolve.

When Abigail arrived she was dressed smartly, and her hair and makeup were perfectly done. There was no doubt that her body was still in the 9.99 range even after having had a kid, and now that her look was no longer trailer trash I believe that 99% of heterosexual men would find her very attractive.

I got us each a soft drink then sat down opposite Abigail at my kitchen table.

"Here's my attorney's first draft of the contract I told you about," I courteously said, handing it over to Abigail.

"Thanks, Will," she said smiling, touching my hand as she took it from me.

"It looks like you went through a lot of effort and expense having this drafted," she said with a smile as she was reading it.

"The attorney owes me a favor," I smiled back, "so it's just costing me tickets to a ballgame."

"I know that this is a stupid questiont, but you really love Jimmy, don't you?" she remarked as she got near the end, this time with an even bigger smile.

"He and Bethany are my two favorite people in the world," I replied with resolve in my voice.

"I know that you have never particularly liked me, Will; why is that?" she continued, with a knowing grin.

"Do you really want to know, and do we really need to have this conversation?" I asked.

"I think it would be very helpful, Will," she said, pushing the contract toward me and again brushing up against my hand. "Be completely honest, because I'm going to be with you."

"OK," I said after taking a deep breath. "Actually, in High School I didn't like you because I thought you were tawdry, crass, and slutty. Trailer trash, good for fucking and not much else. I tried to convince Jimmy not to marry you but he was in love with you. Because he loved you I decided that you must have some good qualities, so I re-evaluated."

Abigail almost blushed – almost.

"I believe, Abigail, that you're a much better person now than in High School. You're no longer cheap, you're affectionate toward Jimmy, you don't boss him around like a bitch, and from what I've seen you're a good mother. I can truthfully say that I 'almost' like you now. In fact I would like you if it weren't for you fucking other guys behind Jimmy's back, including giving him gonorrhea."

"How did you know about that?" she asked, completely surprised.

"I have contacts everywhere. Getting back to the issue, this contract is designed to change the one thing I don't like about you, cheating on Jimmy."

"You know, you really are a fine person, Will," Abigail said with a different type of smile than before – one I couldn't quite place. "Jimmy has always been lucky to have you as his protector because as we both know well there are some battles he can't fight and you're the ultimate fighter."

"I get as much back from Jimmy as I receive," I retorted, "maybe more. He makes me believe in people."

"Yes, he does," Abigail laughed. "There is no doubt about that, which is why I love him."

I bent over the table, held Abigail's hands in mine, and said "If you love him why can't you stop fucking around?"

"Before any further discussion I need to tell you something else, Will. You are the main reason why I initially got out of my trailer trash life, enough to attract a fine man like Jimmy," Abigail said, very seriously.

"What?" was my brilliant response.

"When you rejected me in High School despite the fact that we had had the best sex imaginable I realized that I needed to change. Otherwise any guy worth having a relationship with wasn't going to be interested in me, even with fantastic sex. That started whatever metamorphosis I had," she replied with complete sincerity.

"Wow!" was my next stellar observation.

"Will, we need to have further discussions before I completely open up to you, so that we can reach an agreement. Just so that you know that I'm not stalling, or have some ulterior motive, I want you to know that I will be signing some version of the contract you showed me, although we likely need to make a few changes," she said, squeezing my hands. "In the meantime I swear, swear, swear, that I won't so much as flirt with another guy."

"That's a good start," I smiled.

"Tell you what, Will; tomorrow Jimmy is doing one of his normal charity stints from six to ten. Why don't you take Bethany and me out to dinner?"

I was surprised by that, but any time that I could spend with Bethany I'd take. "Great," I replied. "When should I pick you up and where do you want to go?"

"Pick us up at 6:15, and we'll go to Bethany's favorite restaurant."

"Sounds like a plan," I replied standing up.

Abigail stood up too and we chatted as I escorted her to the front door. When we got there she turned to face me, unblinkingly stared into my eyes, and then said in a sultry voice "Before we conclude our contract negotiations you're going to have to tell me if I'm sexually attractive to you, so think about that." She got on her tiptoes, kissed my chin, then turned and scurried out the door, her consummate ass jiggling back and forth as she went out to her car.

"What the fuck was that?" I asked myself. Then I felt something at my midriff, looked at my groin, and saw that I had tented my pants. The fact that my body betrayed me did not make me happy.

I took Abigail and Bethany out to dinner, as planned. Bethany had a great time, played herself out, and I ended up carrying her to the car, and from the car to her bed. Abigail was upbeat and cheery the entire evening and confirmed my opinion that she was a very good mother judging by how she and Bethany interacted.

Abigail thanked me profusely when I left and gave me another kiss on the chin; and damn it, I tented my pants again although I'm sure that she didn't notice.

A week later Jimmy called me. "Hey, Will, I have a big favor to ask."

"I can't imagine one big enough for me to refuse," I chuckled.

"I hope so, bro. Listen, Gail and I had planned to take Bethany to the Storyland Amusement Park for little kids this Saturday, but we just lost a Technician at the hospital and until she's replaced I have extra shifts, including Saturday. Would you please take Bethany and Gail there?"

I thought for a second; this was a little perplexing, but I saw no reason not to. I had no steady girlfriend, no plans on Saturday that couldn't be canceled, and I loved being with Bethany, so I said, "Sure, Jimmy, that's hardly a big favor though. You know how much I love your little girl!"

"When I told her I couldn't go she asked if 'Unca Will' could. She'll be thrilled," Jimmy laughed.

That started a succession of times where I would go someplace with Abigail and Bethany. I gradually started to like Abigail more and more since she no longer had the personality traits that made me dislike her – I guess a leopard can change its spots. There was still that damn problem of trusting her to keep her thighs together, though.