Without a Scratch

Two weeks after Marc LeBlanc was laid to rest I was at home on a Saturday morning sleeping in, catching up on my sleep. I had my friend, Kandy, with me who'd slept over. We'd been up late dancing the horizontal mambo.

A knock, a loud intrusive knock, came on my front door. I answered the door naked, it was Brooke. She stood in my doorway looking at me standing there in the doorway looking at her. She was dressed, I was not. She looked haunted, her eyes ringed with red, her hair a mess, she was crying.

"You've gained weight! Get the fuck out of here you shameful cunt and do not ever come back here", I seethed at her, slamming the door in her face.

"We have to talk," she yelled through the door. "Open up Bill."

"Wait 5 minutes." I yelled through the door at her.

I went into the bedroom and got my night time partner up. "You have to leave, something bad is about to happen and I don't want you around when it does," I said.

I ushered Kandy out the back way, down the fire escape. I picked up my Springfield Armory 40 caliber S & W XDM, and, still nude, walked quietly to the front door. I listened for a moment and then suddenly opened the door.

Brooke was standing there with a revolver pointing right at me. I aimed and fired at the same time she fired. My round went through her left eyeball; her round missed me altogether, embedding itself into the wall over my left shoulder. She went down without a sound. How she could miss from just 4 or 5 feet away, I don't know.

I called 911. The police dug her bullet out of my wall and the medical examiner dug my bullet out of her brain. I told my story and after a few days, I was informed that no charges would be filed. They did not, however, return my XDM to me.

Nobody ever contacted me about the death of Marc LeBlanc, though I expected they would. I even wondered if I'd be arrested at some point. I suppose the lack of evidence went for me, though I do not know for sure. Over 2 years had elapsed between our confrontation in my bedroom and his death, so it was just overlooked, I imagine.

This is one of those things where life just goes on. There is no real ending, because I'm still here, still functioning, still working, still fucking occasionally, still eating and exercising taking care of myself.

I grieved. I did. It was terrible. It lasted over a year, but I did wake up one day and realize that the gift of life is still mine and it is mine to do with as I will.

I do not seek another wife, but I like an occasional roll in the hay. I have friends, but none close enough to hurt me emotionally. I interact, laugh, joke, empathize when necessary and encourage when possible.

I'm 40 now. A lot has happened to me in such a short life. My best friend is Luke, my Yellow Labrador Retriever.

I still have my job. I've turned down promotions that would have moved me to other parts of the country, but I received raises and live comfortably. I really got through all this without a scratch. When you consider all that happened, I could have died, should have died several times in the last 10 years. Not a scratch, anywhere. That is remarkable.

Thank you for reading my story.

-Pultoy

-- -- --

Note from Pultoy:

If you've read some of my stories, you know that I like heroes that have flaws, even fatal flaws. I also like bad guys that have good traits. I guess I like these things because that is how I see the world, full of good people who do bad things, and bad people who do good things. Many times neither is recognized and that is tragedy.

Spelling out plainly for those who will not see it, Bill thinks he got off without a scratch, but it should be obvious that he is well scratched emotionally, spiritually. He is stymied about why Brooke forsook him, he committed murder, and he'll never be the same. He's scratched all right.

In this story, Brooke wasn't really the focus so much as Bill. Tragedies are just that, tragedy. So, you may have thoughts that I didn't flesh out her character too well, it is on purpose.

Some, maybe many, will have sympathy with Marc, I imagine few will have much for Bill, even though the role of each is clearly defined as bad guy and hero, however flawed in their role they are.

It's just a story, has never happened so far as I know. There probably are legal flaws here, medical flaws, perhaps the flaws have flaws.

Thank you, -Pultoy