Second Chances Pt. 03

Peta walked to the door wondering what Marci was up to. Doing some ironing, taking the boys on an outing without being asked. Her mum was plotting something. Peta decided she'd have to get to the bottom of it when she got home.

Chapter 19.

Monday mornings were generally quiet at the store. When Peta walked in on this Monday something felt different. The young girl on the checkouts attention was being drawn to the back of the shop. Loud muffled voices could be heard coming from the direction of the staff office. The local gossip Marjorie Morrison hovered in the freezer section obviously trying to hear what was going on behind the closed door close by.

"What's up?" Peta asked Tina.

"Lucy is in there with Mr Paktani."

Peta raised her eyebrow encouraging Tina to elaborate but instead the girl pulled her phone out of her pocket scrolled through her messages then passed it to Peta. There was a screen shot of Lucy, naked on her knees. Peta pressed the play symbol and the screen came to life.

"Oh yeah give me all that young cum," Lucy voice moaned from the video.

The camera then moved to a penis being vigorously stroked off to one side. A moan came from off camera then a stream of semen jetted out onto Lucy's nose and eyes. There were more cheers from off camera then the view lifted and four young men could be seen giving each other high fives. It finished there, less than twenty seconds all up.

"It went viral last night. Every kid in town has got it. A fair few adults as well." Tina explained. "Marjorie must have phoned Mr Paktani last night."

"Shit," Peta mumbled.

She looked at the final still shot again. There had only been three guys when she'd left Lucy Sunday morning. Then she recognised the fourth one who'd provided the cum shot. He worked in the store, after school. Peta was sure he was eighteen but he was sort of her employee which only made Lucy's bad situation much worse.

Peta started towards the back of the store. Knowing Lucy as she did she needed to get Marjorie away. She'd just got to the old busy body when the office door was flung open.

"I don't want ya fucking shit fucking job anyway!" Lucy screamed as she exited. She started storming towards the exit then whirled around and returned to the open door. "And you can stick your fucking little brown pencil dick up your wife's fat arse from now on!"

"Easy Lucy," Peta said. "You could make it worse."

"Don't worry the only one it's going to get worse for is that over-cooked dickhead. He's looking at the mother of all sexual harassment pay outs after this." Lucy continued ranting this time in Peta's direction. Then she spotted Marjorie lurking behind Peta's back. "And you, you fucking old slapper." Lucy advanced towards her but Peta kept her body between them. "You need to keep you snooty nose out of other people's business."

"You need to stop broadcasting your sordid sexual proclivities for the whole world to see!" Marjorie retorted, suddenly brave when she thought she was protected.

"You fucking old cunt!" Lucy slipped past Peta and made a grab for Marjorie.

Marjorie squealed and stumbled backwards falling against a display of biscuits sending packages flying. Lucy continued her advance until she was standing directly over the cowering older lady.

"She's not worth it," Peta interjected worried about what Lucy might do.

"I'm calling the cops," Mr Paktani called out from the safety of his office.

Lucy raised her hand as if to strike then froze. Peta was pretty sure the old girl was wetting herself so she tried again to haul Lucy away.

"I'm not going to hit her although I should." Lucy started her voice noticeably calmer. "The old bitch would probably get a thrill out of it."

Peta eased her back and began edging her towards the front doors but even as she was hustled her away Lucy could resist a parting shot at the quaking lady on the floor.

"Fucking old bitch. The only thing you've had up your dry old cunt in the last twenty years has been pantry moths. No wonder Jimmy goes up the road to cut Daisy Wood's grass. Let me give you a tip Marjorie, he's doing a lot more than cutting her grass."

The woman behind Peta moaned.

"Jesus Lucy, give it a rest." Peta said as she shoved her towards the exit.

"Who's fucking side are you on?" Lucy shaped up like she was going to push back.

"I'm not on anybodies side." Peta said her exasperation showing. "Just get out of here and cool down before the police come."

Lucy shrugged. "Well, fuck you all then," she yelled before backing through the sliding doors with her finger raised in defiance.

Peta went back to Marjorie and helped her to her feet.

"Are you okay Mrs Morrison? Do you need to use the rest room?" Peta asked as politely as she could.

"No dear, I think I'll just go straight home."

Peta held her arm as she shuffled towards the front.

"Did you actually want to buy something?"

"Errr... well... of course I did but I've quite gone off the idea now." Marjorie said indignant at the implication of Peta's question.

"She is a nasty vicious girl that Lucy," Marjorie continued.

"Well it would take one to know one." Peta replied as she let go of Marjorie's arm.

"What? Well I never... the nerve of... how dare you..." Marjorie spluttered. "It will be a long time before I come into this shop again!" She finally got out a full sentence.

"And we'll all be happy about that." Peta added. "Excuse me, I've got to go and clean your piss off the floor."

Now it was Marjorie's turn to strut out the doors in a huff. Peta was sure that if she was of a younger generation she would have put her finger up as well. With the store returning to its quiet Monday morning routine Peta got the mop and bucket from the storeroom and began wiping up Marjorie's mess and resetting the display. Mr Paktani appeared at the office door.

"Hey Petie, carn ya come in when you've finished."

Peta nodded rather than replied. She always found the way he spoke weird. Both his parents were from the sub continent but he'd been born and educated in Australia. He had probably been teased about his skin colour at school. Now it seemed to be his mission to sound, dress and act like the most stereotypical Australian possible. So when she saw the small asian man sounding like Crocodile Dundee it always made her want to giggle. Once the mess was cleaned up Peta knocked on the door and waited for Mr Paktani to invite her in.

"Great Petie, come in and pull up a pew." Peta's boss said as he opened the door. "I skipped breakfast this morning so I hope you don't mind if I have a bit of nosebag while we talk?"

Mr Paktani pointed at some cake on his desk to help Peta decipher his slang. Remaining silent she sat down.

"Thanks for helping defuse that brouhaha this morning. I knew Lucy jumped the fence a bit but I didn't have a clue she went that hard." He stopped talking to stuff some cake in his mouth. "Now, I'm down a manager and you're next in the queue. Are you interested?"

"Well, I haven't got a lot of experience but with a bit of help I'd give it a go." Peta said measuring her words carefully.

"Great, we'll discuss the details after knock off tonight but there is one other thing I want to iron out."

Peta smiled trying to hide her nerves.

"I've heard that kiddy fiddler you were tangled up with is back in town."

"Umm he worked for me if that's what you mean and Richard was acquitted of all charges on appeal." Peta said on the defence.

"So you've spoken to him?"

"No, my mother saw him on the road."

"Oh yes I think somebody said she was there when he got old mate, umm you know the copper?"

"Ben Darby?" Peta interjected to help.

"Yeah that's him, Benny. When he got him booted out of the force."

"He did smash his face." Peta added.

"Still they should have let him keep going I reckon. Maybe given him a commendation, don't you think?"

Peta was perplexed. She felt she had to defend Richard but the sentiments being expressed by Mr Paktani were similar to her own forty hours ago.

"You can't just taser people whenever you feel like it."

"They should just string perverts like that up by there balls and leave them for the crows."

"But he was found innocent." Peta felt the colour rising in her face. "I read part of judge's decision he said there'd been a grave miscarriage of justice."

"Fucking judges and lawyers. They ought to string them up next to the pervs." Mr Paktani leant forward in his seat. "I've got to say Peta it sounds to me like you are still tangled up with this bloke. I don't want to replace one problem with an even bigger one."

"Are you telling me if I take this job you get to dictate what I do outside of work?" Peta's voice was getting louder.

"No I'm not," Mr Paktani raised his voice to the same level. "Because I'm not even going to offer you the job! In fact you can forget about the job you have now."

"What? You can't do that. I've done nothing wrong." Peta was shocked by how this was turning out.

"Ahh but you have Mrs Watter's." Mr Paktani said sliding back in his chair with a smile on his face. "I've got you on camera abusing one of my most valuable customers."

"Marjorie Morrison? You've got to be kidding."

"No, Petie. At four o'clock this afternoon you will walk out of here for the last time as an employee."

Peta jumped up fast and the chair she'd been sitting on slid back and clattered against the wall behind her.

"Be fucked if I'm waiting till four!" She snapped then she stormed out of the office.

"Wait, wait... for fucks sake we're short staffed as it is," Peta heard her ex-boss rant behind her but she kept walking.

Chapter 20.

Richard and Julia had just sat down for some morning tea when they heard the pup barking outside. With a grunt of frustration Richard went to look out the living room window to see what he was barking at. He saw Marci getting out of her car so he went out to greet her.

"G'day Marci, are you lost?"

"No, no. I'm taking the boys ice skating in Forbes and I thought I'd come here and see if Julia wanted to come along as well."

The offer was generous but Richard was wary of letting Julia go. She'd only met Marci once and didn't know the boys at all.

"I'm not sure, thanks for the offer but..."

"You might want to look behind you." Marci interrupted.

Richard turned around and his daughter was sitting on the step at the front door putting her good shoes on.

"Do you want to go?"

Julia nodded enthusiastically. "No offence dad but it's pretty boring here."

"Looks like I'm outvoted then." Richard said after an exaggerated sigh of disappointment. "Alright then, you go and tie your pup up and I'll get your booster seat."

He opened the door of Marci's car and greeted the boys as he put the seat in place.

"Why don't you come over to our house any more?" Angus asked innocently.

"I... I was just helping out during the harvest last year and... and... and then I went back home." Richard floundered to find the appropriate words. He didn't say their mother threatened to shoot him but part of him wanted to.

"Mum said you were a bad man." Murray chimed in leaving Richard speechless.

"But your mum had the wrong information Murray," Marci chimed in from the drivers seat. Now boys this is Julia. Julia, this is Murray and Angus."

The children said their hello's and Marci started the car. Richard leaned over Julia and made sure the seat belt was fastened then kissed her goodbye.

"You be good and do what ever Marci says. Here's some money to get in and there should be enough to buy yourself and the boys an ice cream for the way home."

Standing back Richard watched the car drive around the loop and set off back to the main road. He waved but Julia was engrossed in conversation with Marci. He felt the tears burning at the corners of his eyes as he remembered her watching as the police drove him away the night he was arrested. She had seemed so small then. She still was now but somehow she was so grown up.

Peta was still angry as she passed the town speed limit sign and planted her foot on the accelerator. The old four wheel drive wasn't used to this sort of treatment but it roared loudly in appreciation and shot off up the road. Shortly after Peta looked down and saw she was doing twenty kilometres over the speed limit.

"Shit," she cursed to herself.

Backing off the throttle Peta eased back to one hundred. The last thing she needed today was a speeding fine. Pressing the phone button on the steering wheel she called home. The ringing tone filled the cabin but it went unanswered. Peta hoped she might catch her mother before she left so she could go with them. There was still a chance she might catch them on the road she thought.

Turning into her front gate Peta resigned herself to a day of domestic drudgery. Marci must have left pretty much straight after she did as there was no sign of her on the drive home. Parking at the back gate to the house yard she shut the engine down and grabbed her handbag off the front seat. Inside the house she went to the kitchen first to see if it was tidy. Dropping her handbag on the table it fell open and the cheque book fell out.

"You'd forget your head if it wasn't screwed on sometimes," she muttered remembering Richard's bill.

On the way to work she'd thought up a plan to circumvent the slow postal service. The postal contractor who delivered the mail out on their road always came into the grocery store to buy some lollies on a Monday morning. She was going to give him the cheque and a few dollars to drop it in to Richard's mailbox.

'Oh well,' Peta thought, 'I'll just get mum to do it seeing she likes him so much.'

She turned towards the sink and began unpacking the dishwasher. Next she went to the boys bedrooms and made their beds. Then to the laundry with a load of dirty clothes. One look at the ironing basket was enough to turn her off that so she closed the door and went back to the kitchen. Pressing the button on the jug she got a tea cup out of the cupboard and put it on the table. The cheque book still sat next to her handbag.

I might as well write it out while I wait for the jug to boil she thought. Pulling the hand bag closer Peta extracted the bill then fossicked through finding a pen at the bottom. After writing it out for the exact amount she carefully noted the cheque number and date on the invoice for her records. The jug clicked off so Peta poured herself a cup and dropped a tea bag in. As she jiggled the tea bag in the cup she looked at the cheque.

"Fuck, your an adult. Just go and do it yourself." She said to the empty kitchen.

Taking a sip of the hot tea she contemplated her next move. She took another sip then got up and poured it down the sink. Tea just wasn't going to cut it this morning. Opening the cupboard she took down her favourite glass and the rum. Poured in two fingers worth and slugged it down. Without the coke she normally added it burned all the way to her stomach causing her to lift her head and gasp. She looked at the clock, it was ten thirty. A little early but this was a stressful situation. She poured again and contemplated the brown liquid in the glass. Taking a sip next time she rolled the viscous liquid around her mouth savouring it before swallowing. Putting the glass down she put the cheque in the empty envelope then the envelope into her bag. Picking up the glass for the last time she chugged the rest down.

"Ahhhh, that's better. Okay it's showtime."

Lifting her hand bag onto her shoulder Peta strode out to the Prado. The closer she got to Richard's house the more nervous she became. At his gateway Peta realised there was no post box. She contemplated doing a u-turn and going back home. Instead she opened the gate and drove to the house. A young pup tied up under the shade of a tree barked an enthusiastic welcome as she opened the car door. At the front door Peta could hear a radio playing loudly inside. She reached out to knock just as a voice inside let loose a string of expletives. Peta froze her knuckles inches from the door. Doubts returned about whether this was a good idea. Taking a deep breath she rapped loudly on the wooden door.

Chapter 21.

"Oh you son of a motherfucking slutfaced whore," Richard roared as the pry bar slipped and his knuckles smashed into the wall.

Throwing the bar down in disgusted he inspected the backs of his hands. A couple of bits of loose skin hung off where some blood was weeping from grazes. The morning wasn't going well. It had seemed an easy task. Dismantle the cupboards in the kitchen. They were as old as the house by the look of them and that was the problem. Unlike modern cupboards made from chipboard and tech screws these were solid timber. The main frame work was Cypress pine four by two's mitred together, nailed green so that the joints were practically welded. The main back supports had been secured with half inch bolts embedded in the wall during construction.

Sitting down for a moment Richard studied the cupboards again trying to work out a different approach to brute force. The pup was barking outside but he shut that out as his brain ticked over. Then there was a knock at the door. Reaching for his phone Richard looked at the time. Marci had only been gone an hour so it couldn't be her. Walking to the door his mind still on destruction he heard firm knocking on the door again.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming," He said perturbed by the intrusion.

Opening the door he came face to face with Peta for the first time since the night at the hospital. Richard was struck dumb. Such was the emotional turmoil it felt like he'd been hit by a physical blow. Peta had changed since that night. He couldn't put his finger on it exactly but she gave off a harsh, abrasive vibe. Her hair was obviously lighter, verging on bottle blonde except for the tips at the back which were jet black. Her face was thinner, sharpening her features. All up she seemed harder, yet brittle. Like there was a thin veneer of normal coating on the outside but if it cracked everything would implode.

For her part Peta was lost for words as well. Even though seeing Richard wasn't an unexpected outcome when knocking on his door his appearance had changed. The thinning hair was gone, cropped short now only 1 or 2mm long. However it was his size that was the major difference. He was half the man. Peta guessed he was ten or fifteen kilos lighter, maybe more. He was still thick around the middle but there was no bulging stomach hanging over his belt. It was now easier to see the individual muscles of his arms. His face had slimmed down as well and he looked ten years younger. Tearing her gaze from the man in front of her Peta looked down and was reminded of the reason for her visit by the envelope in her hand.

"Your wages," Peta said holding the envelope up in front of her.

"Don't worry about it." Richard said more abruptly than he intended.

"I've written out a cheque and bought it over. The least you could do would be to take it." Peta felt a fire within her that had been smouldering for nine months grow.

"I'm not going to cash it so there's no point. Take it home and rip it up. I don't want your money Peta." Richard felt like closing the door but didn't.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Peta exploded, "just take the fucking money."

"I'm sorry you wasted your time and ink on a worthless pedo cunt." Richard swung back his own verbal barb and started to close the door.

Peta hand shot and she thumped the door back against the wall.

"No fucking way! You don't get to play the victim here. You take this cheque and then you owe me..."

Richard cut Peta off. "I owe you nothing. You told me to stay away and that's what I've done."