New Years, New Tears, New Start

Suddenly the light bulb began to light in Bonnie's mind.

"Francine is drugged?" she asked. He nodded.

He turned on the computer and started an application. The screen was bathed in a weird green light. "Sorry this isn't very clear, but there's very little light in that room. The night vision cameras make everything appear green."

"How could you do that to her?" snapped Bonnie. "I thought you were a nice guy."

Alex just laughed. "I never said I was nice," he said. "Your husband and his friends knocked all of the nice out of me ten years ago. Now I'm nice to people who deserve it. But, the people who deserve to get fucked or fucked up should stay out of my way. I don't go looking for trouble, Bonnie. But I don't avoid it either."

Bonnie was about to say something else when there was a knock at the door. Alex opened the door. The bartender from downstairs came in.

"Tom, fill her in," said Alex.

"Uhm, your friend Francine and your husband, that dickhead Ted, hired me to spike your drinks all night. You were supposed to get a date rape cocktail. I didn't want to do it, but my wife is expecting our first baby and I didn't have a job," he said. "Besides, according to what they told me, you were in on it. Ted said that you have an open marriage and wanted to try a gangbang but you needed the juice to loosen you up enough to go for it."

Bonnie's mouth dropped open. "Francine paid you," she said. "I thought she was my friend." Bonnie's face screwed up and she was about to cry. "And Ted," she said, now sobbing. "He doesn't love me anymore does he?"

"I'm sorry Bonnie. I don't know," said Tom. "Maybe he just has a funny way of showing it."

"But maybe they changed their minds," she said, looking up. "I don't feel drugged at all. I feel fine."

Tom shook his head. "Alex, paid me more not to drug you," he said. "And he got me a job. He had me put the stuff that was supposed to go into your drinks in Francine's. Francine and your husband fed you drinks all night thinking they were drugging you, but Francine was getting it."

"They arranged for you to get gangbanged by all of those guys. Ted is supposed to come up here soon with the rest of the class and open the door and find you getting rammed. This is supposed to happen in front of all of our classmates. I don't know why. I'm sorry Bonnie. You didn't deserve this. You were never like the rest of them." He nodded at Alex. "Thanks again for everything Alex," he said. "My part is done."

Alex closed the door after him and looked back at Bonnie. There were tears running down her face but she was still beautiful.

"Why?" she asked.

"I don't know why they'd want to do this," he said. "That one I can't answer. If I find out that Steve is in on it too, I'm probably going to fire his ass first thing Monday morning."

"No," said Bonnie. "I mean why did YOU go to all of this trouble to help me?"

"Simple," said Alex. "Payback, you went out of your way for me. I did the same."

"When did I help you?" she asked.

"Swirly," he said.

She looked at him strangely.

"Back in high school, Ted always expected the smaller kids to be afraid of him," said Alex. "I wasn't. I didn't put up with any of his shit even then, so he decided to make an example of me. Your then two hundred pound boyfriend wrestled my ninety six pound ass into the bathroom and was going to force my face into the toilet and flush it, while it was full of shit and piss."

"The only thing that saved me, though I fought as hard as I could, wasn't the crowd of our classmates who just stood there and watched. At the last instant, just before my arms gave out, Bonnie, you ran into that room. You told him that he could stay there and play with me, or he could give you a ride home. If he didn't want to take you, you'd find someone else."

"He let me go and followed you," said Alex. "If you hadn't done that, life would have been even worse for me. Can you imagine what the kids would have called me for the rest of high school if he'd done it? They already had a nickname for me. They called me..."

"Alexander the grate," said Bonnie smiling. "I can't believe it. Alex Anders all grown up and..." Bonnie stopped talking and just shook her head.

"Alex, can you get me out of here" asked Bonnie.

"Of course," he said. "But we'd better wait a while, so we don't get caught up in the scene that's about to happen."

"Oh yeah, " she said. Alex looked at her. The tone in her voice had changed. There was an edge to it.

He cracked the door open just a bit and peeked out. Out in the hallway, there was a group of people going from room to room looking at the classrooms and even the lockers. The woman guiding the tour had a key.

Alex quickly copied the video from the computer onto a portable hard drive. He started to wipe the files off of the computer when Bonnie stopped him.

"Can I have a copy of that too?" she asked.

"Sure," said Alex, looking at her strangely. Then he figured out why she'd want it and nodded.

"Can you tape what's about to happen too," she asked. Alex hit the record button and nodded.

By that time, the tour had gotten to the teachers' lounge. The woman leading the tour opened the door which wasn't locked.

Ted moved forward past her into the room and turned the light on. "No," he screamed theatrically. "Bonnie, how could you do this to me?"

The rest of the tour group stared at the mass of copulating bodies. There were several men jacking off to the video screen while others did it over a knot of people locked together. Steve was being sucked off by a woman, while she was being fucked by two other men. Suddenly, before Alex could stop her, Bonnie ran out into the hallway.

"How could I what, Ted?" she yelled. "How could I not fall for your stupid plan with Francine? I almost did."

Ted, even in his drunken state realized that the plan had failed.

A couple of people in the crowd and in the room noticed that Bonnie was there and fully dressed.

"That's not Bonnie in there," said one.

One of the men in the room echoed the words. "This isn't Bonnie. Oh shit, I fucked Francine. No wonder she was so eager to get us to do this."

Another one said, "Hey, I thought Ted was okay with this. Why didn't he know that it wasn't Bonnie in the room? And why was he upset when he thought it was?"

Some of the people in the tour had begun laughing, while others started taking pictures with their camera phones. Steve looked around for something to cover his nakedness. He was red in the face and then he started to get angry.

"Close that fucking door, right now," he screamed. No one moved, more flashes went off as more pictures were taken.

Francine found herself dumped onto the floor and she yelled. "Don't stop." The drugs in her system were in full effect and she wanted more sex. "Somebody fuck me," she yelled. No one made a move towards her and the men in the room were all scrambling to cover themselves. As soon as they were dressed they started running out of the room. The woman who led the tour was standing there with her mouth open. She was in shock and didn't know what to do.

Then it happened, almost in slow motion. Ted, realizing that the plan had failed, got even angrier. He'd held his temper in for the past few days because Francine had convinced him that he needed to for the plan to work. But realizing that they'd failed and he might bear part of the responsibility, he snapped.

Alex came out of the room after getting the recordings, but he was too late to prevent what happened.

Ted screamed at Bonnie, "This would have been perfect. I'd have been done with your sorry ass. You fucked it all up, you stupid bitch."

He slapped Bonnie so hard she fell. Alex was across the room in an instant. He punched Ted in the mouth so hard Ted's head snapped backwards. In Ted's drunken state the blow didn't even faze him. All it did was make him angrier.

He swung a wild blow at Alex's head that Alex ducked. Ted roared in anger. Alex stepped forward and landed on both of Ted's feet. Then he pushed Ted backwards as hard as he could. Ted fell over onto his back and screamed as loudly and as high pitched as an opera singer. There was a sickening sound of cracking bones.

Alex's moves had been cold and calculated. When he'd landed on Ted's feet, it hadn't been an accident. Alex's weight had locked Ted's feet in place. When Alex pushed the big man backwards, Ted's feet remained rooted in place because of the weight on them.

When he hit the ground both of his ankles broke and several of the muscles and tendons around them were severely damaged. The best thing about it was that to anyone who saw the fight, it appeared that Alex had confronted Ted after Ted had brutally struck Bonnie. Alex had punched Ted and the punch only made Ted angry. Alex had then simply pushed Ted down and Ted started screaming. No one saw Alex attack Ted's ankles. Most of the witnesses later told the police that it looked like Ted had simply fallen over due to the fact that he'd been drunk all evening.

Ted was still writhing on the floor begging for someone to help him when Alex picked Bonnie up and started to carry her away from the carnage. Ted noticed it and got angrier still. He noticed Steve trying to sneak away unnoticed and called him.

"Steve, don't let him take Bonnie out of here," screamed Ted. "You owe me, anyway."

Steve turned to Alex. "Put her down," he said.

"No," said Bonnie. "Alex, take me away from here, you promised."

"You heard her," said Alex.

"You heard ME," said Steve. "This is between Ted and Bonnie. Neither of us belongs in it. You have two choices. Both choices involve you putting her down. You can put her down and walk away, that's the smart choice. Or you can put her down and fight me. That's the dumb choice. Because I'm smarter and faster than poor dumb assed Ted. Your tricks won't work on me. You're in pretty good shape, but I'm a lot bigger than you are. I could fuck your whole world up."

The people in the crowd started to back away. They wanted to watch but they didn't want to get hurt. Finally Byron stepped forward. "I'll hold Bonnie for you while you fight him," he said. A couple of other guys stepped up too.

"You mean while WE fight him," said one. "You've been standing up to these assholes by yourself all night. But the thing is they fucked with all of us back in high school. I, for one, would like to finally get a piece of their asses myself."

After that, even more people started to step forward. Alex laughed.

"What's so funny?" asked Steve.

"There isn't going to be a fight," said Alex. "Steve claims to be smart, but he isn't. He said he could fuck my whole world up, but he can't. Yeah, maybe old Steve could get in a few good shots. He might even be able to kick my ass. But in the end, I'd be the one who fucked his whole world up."

"I know who you are," said Steve threateningly. "My bitch of a wife, Jessica, sent you here to embarrass me and ruin my evening. She probably wanted you to catch me doing something that she could use against me if I divorce her, right."

Alex laughed again. "Still clueless, huh, Steve?" he said. "I don't even know your fucking wife but I've been taking care of her and your kids for a while."

Steve's eyes narrowed.

"Steve, I'm Alex Anders," said Alex.

The people in the crowd started murmuring. Bonnie, whom Alex was still holding, wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled at Ted. She stuck her tongue out at her husband who was trying to crawl painfully closer to them.

"You're Alexander the grate?" asked Steve. "You got bigger, and you're not a nerd anymore, so what."

"Steve, remember that long boring assed speech you gave a little while ago? It was all a crock of shit. You're not even close to being the most successful member of our class. Pull out your phone and call your boss. Call the CEO of your company."

"Why would I do that?" asked Steve nervously. "I don't have his home number."

"Bonnie, reach into my pocket and get my iPhone," said Alex. Bonnie pulled out the phone.

"Give it to Steve," said Alex. Steve took the phone.

"Don't play with him, just beat his ass, Steve," yelled Ted.

"Shut up, Ted," said Bonnie.

"Open my contacts and find your boss," smiled Alex. Steve looked through a long list of numbers.

"Why the hell do you have all of my contact numbers?" Steve asked. "You have my office phone, my cell phone and even my home telephone number."

"Just call your boss," said Alex. "Bonnie is getting heavy."

Steve called his boss. "Hello sir," he said. "I hate to bother you at home, but do you know Alex Anders?"

Steve's face went white. "He is," he said. "I...I didn't know that." He looked at Alex. "He wants to know if everything is okay."

"Tell him I said Hi," said Alex. "Tell him he's doing a great job."

Steve relayed Alex's words and handed the phone back to Bonnie. Alex turned and started walking away.

"Wait," said Steve. "What happens now?"

"Hm," said Alex. "Bonnie, can you walk to the car?"

"No," she said smiling. "My face really hurts. It just feels better when you carry me. But you can put me down for a few minutes to rest your arms."

"Thanks so much," said Alex putting her on her feet. She immediately latched onto his hand.

"Steve, you're good at your job," he began. "I have nothing against you except your taste in friends. You're stuck in a really shitty marriage and I feel bad for you. Talk to my lawyers when you come in Monday and maybe we can figure out a way to shield some of your assets. In the meantime, I want you to pay to have Byron's car fixed and painted. I also want you to tell the police that you saw Ted hit Bonnie. You also need to tell them all about Francine trying to sucker you into her little gangbang for Bonnie. Lastly, I need you to do one more thing for me and you're not going to like it."

"What is it?" asked Steve nervously.

"One of the guys who work on the loading dock at one of our facilities has been engaging in some activities that I find not in keeping with the profile of our employees. I want to you fire his drunken ass. He is not to receive a severance package or any benefits."

"No problem," said Steve. "I can be the bad guy in a heartbeat. Who is it?"

Alex smiled, picked Bonnie back up and said, "Ted."

As Alex walked away carrying Bonnie, Francine yelled out from inside the lounge, "Hey, isn't somebody going to fuck me?... anybody?"

* * * * * *

Just as Alex started his car, he looked over at Bonnie. She smiled at him as she leaned back in the soft leather. Alex pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road. "Okay where are we going?" he asked.

"Don't you know?" she asked smiling. "You've known or planned everything else that happened tonight, I was sure you'd have a plan in mind for this too."

"I guess I didn't get that far," said Alex. "My plan only went as far as making sure you didn't get hurt."

"Well, I can't go home," said Francine. "So I guess you have a house guest. Tomorrow you can take me to pick up my son. We'll stay with my parents for a while."

Alex started driving towards his house in the hills. A few minutes later, Bonnie sat straight up in the seat and told him to pull the car over. Alex hit the brakes and the car slowed. Bonnie got out of the car and stood by the side of the road. "Hurry up," she called.

Alex got out of the car and went to her. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Look," she said. She pointed at the big clock on top of one of the buildings. "We've only got ten seconds left before midnight and the start of the New Year."

"Oh, Okay," said Alex looking at her strangely.

Bonnie grabbed Alex's head and pulled his mouth to hers. It was as if electricity poured through both of them. Behind them, the bells in the church chimed midnight and the beginning of 2012. Neither Alex nor Bonnie paid them any attention.

A few minutes later, Bonnie felt as if she'd been the one who got drugged. "I have a feeling that this is going to be a great year," she said. Alex nodded.

"I had a dream about you...well, about us," she said. "I see US as living happily ever after."

"Okay, tell me about this dream," said Alex.

* * * * * *

Three weeks later, Francine and Ted arrived at a lawyer's office downtown. They were arguing as they got out of her car. Ted opened his door and waited.

Francine got out and went to the trunk and pulled out a wheel chair. She unfolded it and rolled it to Ted's door and then helped him into it. Both of Ted's ankles were still in heavy plaster casts that extended up his legs for about a foot.

They went into the building and went past several armed security guards. They were ushered into an office on the 10th floor after taking an extremely fast elevator.

They sat down at a table and waited. As soon as the man who'd seated them left the room they started arguing again.

"This is all your fucking fault, you whore," snapped Ted. "As soon as this is over, I'm leaving your stupid ass."

"Where are you going to go?" asked Francine. "You're unemployed, in a wheel chair and a drunk. You might even end up in jail for assaulting Bonnie in front of all of those people. And who says I wanted you to stay with me anyway. You're a fucking loser. I see no reason why I should support your drunken ass. As soon as this is over I'm throwing you out. We need each other for now, so we can both avoid jail time, but that's a temporary situation. The only thing good about you was sex. I was getting tired of you anyway and you haven't fucked me in weeks."

"Make that never," snapped Ted. "Who knows what kind of diseases you picked up? Everyone we know saw you fucking what, ten guys, and still begging for more. No thanks. You give whores a bad name."

Just as Francine was about to reply the door opened and Alex stepped into the room carrying Bobby in one arm and holding Bonnie's hand with his other. He looked up and saw Ted and smiled.

Alex and Bonnie took seats. Bobby stared running around the table holding his favorite toy car. He alternated between loud "vroom," sounds and saying, "Muttang."

Francine looked over at Bonnie and had never seen her so beautiful. Bonnie had on a nice, obviously new dress and had her hair done again. There were no traces of the bruises on her face and she was actually smiling for the first time that Francine could remember. She looked...happy.

Francine decided to test the waters and say something, "Bonnie, I'm s..." She was cut off by Alex shaking his head.

Ted looked over at Bonnie and Alex. He couldn't meet their eyes. "I'm in AA," he said softly.

Alex looked at him coldly. "Assholes Anonymous, I thought you were a lifetime member," he said.

"I'm talking to her, not you." Ted snapped. "We're still married." Alex just laughed.

"Depending on how this meeting goes," said Alex. "Your marriage might get thrown out in court."

Ted looked at him angrily and asked "How? What grounds?"

Alex smiled and said, "Bigamy."

"What the fuck are you talking about, nerd?" snapped Ted.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't use those words in front of Bobby," said Alex. "He's at that age where he repeats things."

"Why are you trying to tell me what to do around my own God d...I mean my own kid," snapped Ted. "And I didn't do bigamy. I wouldn't marry Francine for a million dollars."

"Who said anything about Francine," snapped Alex. "While your ass is in jail for assault and battery, domestic abuse, and all of the charges for the attempted kidnapping, drugging and rape that you and Francine planned for Bonnie, your life and your sexual orientation are going to change. I'm going to make sure that you have the biggest, meanest, ugliest, nastiest mass murderer they have as your cell mate. Within a couple of days you'll be married to him. So think about it. You can't be Bonnie's husband and HIS wife at the same time...bigamy!" Ted gulped loudly.