RAPE-Serialized version
Hi Everyone:
I am pleased to publish
chapter 20 of my novel, RAPE. After
reading the chapter, I hope you will comment. As you know, your comments and
suggestions influence my revision. If you missed any of the previous chapters,
check the archives.
I encourage you to visit my website: joshswritingroom.com/ where you will find,
the current short story.
You can also check out my e-published novels. If you find one to your liking, you can
purchase it from Amazon.com, or from Barnes and Noble. You’ll find links on the
website taking you right to it.
PATH TO A PARDON,
THE EINDHOVEN
STRATEGY,
& PALM BEACH
STYLE.
All
three novels were written to deliver hours of reading pleasure and are modestly
priced.
As I publish each new chapter, the previous
chapter(s) should be archived, so you can easily catch up. For those who
prefer, here is an encapsulated version of the previous action:
PREVIOUSLY:
RAPE
Prosperous
executive, Gary Sanders, has an appointment at the home of Julia Walsh, the
reigning Empress of Palm Beach. Julia’s niece, Oscar winning actress, Miriam
West, is visiting and has jewelry to insure.
Miriam
accuses Gary of assault and rape. Chief Moore shows Gary a close-up of her
facial cuts and bruises. They await the lab report.
Gary’s
wife, Carol is furious. She moves him into the guest room.
Reporters
who publish stories favoring the actress surround Gary’s home and office. His
children are harassed at school and Gary loses his clients and his major
companies. Neighbors and friends shun Gary and his family.
Gary’s
lawyer, Joe Flaherty sends P.I. Jim Bosley to investigate, and then visits
Carol. He finds her parents have arrived and plan to take her and the children
back to Boston.
A
January court date is set. Bail is set. Carol tells Gary that she and the
children are going to Boston to live with her parents.
One
of Miriam West’s fans assaults Gary. A neighborhood committee offers money to
help Gary sell his home, if his family leaves Palm Beach within 60 days.
P.I.
Bosley learns that Consuela Arista was fired after Gary’s visit & Reporter;
Miguel Gonzales is already looking for her.
Miguel’s
editor helps him find an address for Consuela. He learns she has gone to visit
her mother in San Antonio.
Consuela
tells her mother that she was in the next room when Gary came to see her about
insuring her jewelry and she saw him leave. Now, Miriam is forcing her to help
bring him down.
Carol’s
parents make an appointment for her to meet with the family lawyer about a
divorce.
Bosley
meets with ex-girlfriend, Connie, who works for the same newspaper as Miguel
and learns the reporter has gone to San Antonio. He offers & she accepts a
job running his office.
During
lunch at the Sailfish Club, Miriam has too much to drink and thinks about how
she advanced her career and what she may yet have to do.
CHAPTER 20
Carol closed the impressive glass door to Henry Castle’s
tenth floor office and made her way along the carpeted corridor toward the
elevator. She paused there, trying to get the thoughts spinning in her head to
stop, or at least slow down. She liked Henry and had no doubt as to his
competence, nor did she doubt that he was both efficient, and ruthless; all
qualities one wanted in their divorce lawyer. She only had one problem and it
consumed her.
It hadn’t taken the attorney long to get around to the
subject. Either her mother, her father, or both had filled him in on Gary’s
status and their personal desire to see her end the marriage. They never fully
approved of him; after all, Gary came from Youngstown not Boston and a football
scholarship sent him to Penn State not Harvard. She liked that lawyer Castle
had made it clear that if he agreed to represent her, then she and not her
parents became his client and he’d take no action until she gave him the signal
to proceed. With great patience, he had laid out the pros and cons of acting
now versus after the trial. She only needed to give him the signal.
She shook her head and pushed the elevator button. She heard
the hum of the motor and looked back down the hallway at the door to the
attorney’s office, recalling her impressions. She found no fault with the
office; it had been clean and business-like. She had arrived on time, exactly
eleven-fifteen, and Cynthia, his Administrative Assistant had asked her to have
a seat.
The waiting area was comfortable, furnished with graceful Victorian
overstuffed chairs and several expensive books graced the coffee table. She had
barely touched one when Cynthia came to escort her into Henry’s private quarters.
She remembered how impressed she had been by the tasteful artwork, the well-padded,
deep blue carpet and the huge mahogany desk. The absence of file folders and
loose papers she always associated with business types and especially lawyers had
really grabbed her. These he’d replaced by a single I-Pad. Henry Castle, she
decided, might be in his mid-fifties but he’s certainly up-to-date.
Stepping
off the elevator she strolled toward the exit knowing that Charles, whom she’d
known forever, waited with her father’s Rolls Royce. It occurred to her that
Charles had to be about the same age as Mr. Castle. How odd, Charles is so tall
and Henry is short. Oh well, look how people mocked short Napoleon. No doubt,
the attorney has that same combative nature.
She settled into the back seat and waited for the chauffeur
to close her door. She sighed and thought; I don’t know if I’m anxious to get
back to the house on Louisburg Square, or not. Mother is sure to ask me what I
decided. What do I tell her? I doubt she’ll accept the truth, neither will
father.
Charles slid in behind the wheel, closed his door and half-turning
said, “Where to ma’am? Shall we go home?”
As Carol tried to decide, her cell phone rang. Holding up an
index finger, she answered. “Yes, this is Carol Sanders. He did what? Yes, of course. I’ll be there directly.” She closed
the lid of her phone and looked at her driver. “Sorry about that, Charles.
Please drive me to the Parker Hill Elementary. I’ve just been summoned. Robert
is in trouble.”
He started the car and merged into the on-coming traffic; “Well,
ma’am he’s pretty young; what, about eight?”
Carol sighed, “Seven, going on seventeen.”
“Youngsters can find all kinds of ways to get into trouble.
Sometimes that’s okay. My oldest boy almost never did, and it worried the heck
out of me until he became twelve. Then he and one of his friends played hooky
and got caught. I remember breathing a big sigh of relief just knowing I had a
normal child.”
“I wish Robert’s crime only amounted to playing hooky. I’m
afraid this is more serious. He’s being accused of bullying.”
Charles stopped right in front of the entrance to the private
school and hurried to open the door for his passenger. Inside the building,
Carol walked beneath the banner that read: Boston’s
Finest Students, and made her way to the administrative office.
After identifying herself, a young woman ushered her into the
office of the Headmaster, Wilson Ford. His oversized spectacles rested on puffy
cheeks, and his huge body overflowed his chair reminding her of the Pillsbury
Doughboy.
The doughboy pushed himself to his feet, held out a beefy
hand, and smiled. She shook the hand offered and said, “Mr. Ford, I can’t begin
to tell you how your call shocked me. I just enrolled both of my children in
your school yesterday, and today you say that Robert is acting up. I assure you
he’s never done anything like this before. I can’t imagine what got into him.
Is he physically all right?”
“Yes, Mrs. Sanders, he is fine. I can’t say as much for the
little girl that he assaulted.”
“Assaulted? I thought you said he—Robert bullied the girl?”
Wilson Ford gave her a knowing nod; “Yes, that’s correct. In
this case, he didn’t simply try to intimidate her into giving him her lunch;
according to Miss Clark, the lunchroom supervisor, he actually pushed and
punched her. The girl became extremely distraught. We contacted her mother,
Mrs. Von Sprole, and she has already taken Angela home. I don’t think they will
press charges but we must do something about Robert immediately.”
Carol felt the blood drain from her face; “You can count on
my cooperation.”
The Doughboy gave her a quick smile; “I understand that you
have just arrived from Palm Beach. If it were anywhere else in the south I’d
suspect that the boy had been raised to a rougher standard of behavior. In any
event, I’m afraid I have no choice but to suspend him, at least for the rest of
the week. If Mrs. Von Sprole is satisfied, I’ll reinstate him effective Monday
unless, of course, you prefer keeping him home until after the holidays.”
Carol nodded; “May I call you on Friday?”
“Yes, I think that will be appropriate. In the meantime I urge
you to have an in depth conversation with Robert and have him see a child
psychologist. It is apparent that he has some unresolved anger issues and we
must separate Robert from our other students until they are resolved.”
Carol rose from her chair; “I’d like to take Robert home
now.”
Within minutes she had her son by the hand and marched him
out the front door to where Charles stood holding open the car’s rear door.
Sliding in behind her son, she waited for Charles to close the door before
turning to look at the boy’s downcast expression. Here’s another problem I
don’t need right now. When am I going to get a break? This is all Gary’s fault;
if he hadn’t gotten himself in a jam with that damned actress there’d be no
need to consider divorce, no need to listen to my parents opinion. As things
are, I have to answer to both of them and I have to deal with Robert and his behavior.
Yes, Robert is certainly Gary’s fault. Like father, like son. Damn you Gary!
Why do I have to be the one to discipline the child? Why in hell can’t I figure
out what you’d do if you were here?
She took a deep breath, and then taking a firm grip on her
son’s chin turned his face toward her; “Robert, what happened between you and
Angela?”
His face, a miniature of his father’s, looked pale; “She had
chocolate pudding and I wanted it. I asked her for it, but she said no, so I
pushed her and took it off her tray. She said she’d report me to the teacher,
so I told her she better not. She said it again and that’s when I hit her.”
Carol heard Charles chuckle. “Robert, if you wanted chocolate
pudding, why didn’t you get it when you went through the cafeteria line?”
“I didn’t see it.”
Carol pursed her lips and shook her head in disapproval. “So
you just stole Angela’s?”
“I asked her for it, but she’s stingy.”
“And then you pushed her and you hit her.”
“Well isn’t that what daddy does?”
“Young man, you have a lot to learn. When we get home, I’m
going to call your father and you’re going to have to explain that to him. And,
so help me, if he tells me to take a belt to you, that’s exactly what I intend
to do.”
Within minutes, they were in the Beacon Hill section of town.
Charles parked the car and opened the door. His face became serious as he
looked at Robert, but Carol felt certain that he smirked as he closed the door
behind her.
She marched Robert into the house and up the main staircase
to his room without encountering her parents. Closing the bedroom door, she
pulled out her cell and speed dialed Gary. He answered on the second ring.”
“Hi Carol, how are you?”
“I’m okay, but we’ve got a problem. Yesterday, I enrolled
both kids in one of the finest private schools in Boston, and today they called
me to pick up Robert.” Carol proceeded to relate everything she had learned at
the school and finished by saying, “He can’t return to school until next Monday
at the earliest.”
“I see. It sounds like you have a handle on it. What do you expect
me to do?”
“I want you to talk to him. He thinks that everything you do
is okay, so here you talk to him.” She handed the phone to her son and commanded,
“Talk to your father!”
“Hi Dad”
“Robert, you mom tells me that you hit a girl.”
“I know, but she wouldn’t give me what I wanted, so I did
what you do.”
