Twisted Endings 2: 5 Acts of Vengeance Read online

  TWISTED ENDINGS 2

  5 ACTS OF VENGEANCE

  Timothy D. McLendon

  ©2014

  For my son Zander Blaze,

  Life is full of mysteries. I’ll help you figure them out.

  BOOKS BY TIMOTHY D. MCLENDON

  Last Hero

  Twisted Endings

  Twisted Endings 2

  Twisted Endings 3

  Contents

  The Bedbug Conundrum

  Mama’s Cherry Pie

  Panhandled

  Feels Like Family

  Death Trance

  The Bedbug Conundrum

  MARCUS STARED at the fresh blood stains on the bed sheets. He didn’t know how they got there, but he had his suspicions.

  “Sasha,” he whispered. His wife groaned but refused to wake up. He gently shook her arm.

  “What time is it?” Her eyes were still closed. Her curly, brunette hair hid half of her face. Her slender legs extended from a short, lacy negligee.

  “It’s time for me to head out. Take a look at this.”

  Sasha opened her eyes and sat up. “Did you get breakfast?”

  “I had an apple.”

  She rubbed her eyes and sighed. “I’m sorry, babe. I’m just so tired.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” Sasha had made him breakfast every day for the past six months. She stopped a few weeks ago. She said she was tired. He pointed to the blood on the sheets. “What is this?”

  Sasha stared at the sheets. Sure, the spots were small, but it couldn’t be good. “Great. I think we have bedbugs.”

  Marcus couldn’t take his eyes off of Sasha’s side of the bed. There wasn’t any blood there. He pointed to it.

  She turned and looked behind her. “What?”

  “It can’t be bedbugs.”

  She looked at the sheets again. “Oh.” Her eyes shifted from side to side, the way they did whenever she lied. “Maybe it’s my blood type. I remember reading somewhere that bedbugs won’t touch some types of blood.”

  “Maybe.” He didn’t have time for her lies. He headed for the bedroom door.

  “You should stay home today,” Sasha said.

  He stopped and shook his head. She knew he couldn’t stay. When he turned to tell her as much, he saw her negligee was drawn up her legs. She stared at him with her mouth half open.

  “See you tonight,” he said.

  “Wait!”

  He heard her jump out of the bed and rush up behind him.

  “You don’t have to do this,” Sasha said. “What if I had a job?”

  Marcus scoffed. His mother hadn’t worked. His grandmother hadn’t worked. He’d be damned if his wife was going to work. “No.”

  “Marcus, please. You can’t keep doing this. You’re working 75 hours a week!” She wrapped her arms around him from behind. “I miss you. I never see you anymore.”

  Marcus rubbed his temple. All of their bills were behind because he lost his last job in IT and it took four months to find his current position as a computer systems administrator. The rent. The car. The electric. Everything was behind. “I’m sorry, babe. Three more months of this, and we’ll be caught up.”

  “I know,” she said. “I love you.”

  He looked at the dining room table, and saw she hadn’t made his lunch. He would have to go to the diner again. “Yeah. I’ll see you tonight.” He unlocked her arms and reached for the front doorknob.

  “We need to see someone,” she said. Her voice was somber. “A counselor.”

  Marcus turned and faced her. “We’re not going to see a counselor. The only thing that’s wrong with our marriage is you don’t do anything anymore!” He wished he hadn’t said that. But it was too late. He turned back to the door and opened it.

  “Hello, Mr. Marcus,” said his neighbor across the apartment complex hall. It was Juan. His hair was slicked back and he wore an Armani suit. He was a pretty boy who had a new woman at his apartment every week.

  “Juan,” Marcus said, nodding his head. “Have a nice day.”

  “It’s a beautiful day and love is in the air.”

  Marcus turned when Sasha brushed up against him.

  Sasha put her hand up in a friendly wave to Juan and smiled at him. She stood partially behind Marcus now, revealing some of her lacy negligee.

  “Hello, Ms. Sasha,” Juan said. “It’s always a pleasure to see such a beautiful woman. I hope Mr. Marcus is treating you right.” He winked at her.

  Sasha chuckled in her cute, girlish way Marcus hadn’t heard in months.

  Marcus leaned in close to her and whispered, “Get back inside. And cover yourself up.” He couldn’t believe she was exposing herself to this man.

  “Goodbye, Juan,” Sasha said, smiling at him again.

  “Goodbye, beautiful lady.”

  She chuckled again as she went back into the apartment.

  Marcus pulled the door closed. It looked like Juan’s eyes were following Sasha when she walked away. “Juan,” Marcus said, “if you go near my wife I’ll kill you.”

  Juan laughed. “Mr. Marcus, you’re always joking! I would never touch another man’s wife.”

  Marcus knew that was a lie. He had seen the librarian Mrs. Farber go into Juan’s place more than once. She never came out until the next morning. None of the women did. “Don’t play with me.”

  Marcus walked to his car and headed to work. He wished he could rearrange pretty boy's face.

  “I DON’T know what I’m going to do,” Marcus said to his coworker Jim. They were at the downtown diner for lunch. “My rent is due tomorrow. My car is about to be repossessed. And I don’t have any of the money.”

  “I don’t know what to tell you,” Jim said from across the table. “I offered to loan you the money, but you’re too stubborn.”

  Marcus shook his head. “That would be one more thing I wouldn’t be able to pay back. Thank you for the offer, but no.”

  “Well, I think it’s your lucky day,” Jim said. His head was turned toward the cashier’s desk. He was staring at a sign. “They’re hiring for an overnight shift.”

  Marcus couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I need.”

  The waitress stepped over and looked amused. “What can I get you boys?”

  “Let me ask you something,” Jim said to her.

  “Yeah, baby?”

  “My friend here,” he said, pointing to Marcus, “is only working 75 hours a week. I see that you’re hiring for an overnight shift. That’s perfect! Will you please hire him?” He redirected his attention to Marcus. “You’re already getting what? Five, six hours of sleep a night? There’s plenty of time for that when you’re dead.”

  The waitress’s eyes grew wide as she smacked a wad a gum around her mouth. She looked at Marcus and said, “Don’t be foolish, baby. Live your life.”

  “Come on,” Jim said, looking at the waitress’s nametag, “Rita. He lives four blocks from here. He could take the walk of shame here every night.”

  “Don’t listen to him, baby” Rita said, looking at Marcus. “Besides,” she said, looking back at Jim with her hands on her hips, “that position was filled weeks ago. Fools around here haven’t taken the sign down.”

  “Sorry buddy,” Jim said to Marcus. “There goes a lifetime dream of flipping burgers and hanging around sweethearts like Rita. I’m ready to order now.”

  Rita rolled her eyes. “You’ll have a burger and fries. And you’ll like it.” She turned to Marcus. “What can I get you, baby?”

  “I’ll have the lunch special, and an iced tea, please,” he said.

  “Please?” Rita looked at Jim. “That’s how a real man
talks.” She flipped her hair and walked back into the kitchen.

  “I think she wants me,” Jim said.

  Marcus couldn’t help but ignore Jim. He had more important things to think about. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

  “Yeah, you already said that,” Jim said. “You need, what? Four thousand dollars?

  “Something like that.”

  Jim leaned into the table. “I think I can help you. Do you still have that baseball bat? The one signed by Mantle and Dimaggio?”

  “Yeah.”

  “It’s gotta be worth, what? Three thousand, four thousand dollars?”

  “Five thousand and five hundred.” Marcus knew where this was heading. At the Christmas party at his house last year, Jim had hovered over that bat.

  Jim whistled. “That’s pricey. But, man, I would love to have that thing.”

  “It’s not for sale.” Marcus’s dad had given him that bat when he was eight years old. His dad died the next year.

  “Think about it. You’re killing yourself at work. It’s gotta be putting a strain on your marriage. You could end all of that. Start sleeping again like a normal human being.”

  Marcus thought about it. He didn’t want to admit it but he knew Jim was right. That baseball bat was the ticket out of this mess. “How much will you give me for it?”

  Jim smiled. “Well, if you take it to a dealer, you might get four thousand. So let’s say four thousand.”

  “Five thousand.” He wanted to get Sasha something nice. He had a lot of making up to do.

  “I’ll have to move some things around,” Jim said, “but okay. If you bring me that bat tomorrow in mint condition, I’ll give you five thousand. No scratches. No dings.”

  “Don’t worry. It’s in mint condition.” It hadn’t been touched by human hands in twenty years. It had always been in a protective display case.

  Marcus jumped when Rita threw a plate with a hamburger on it in front of Jim.

  “If you want any ketchup or mustard, there are some packets on the counter over there,” she said. She set a plate with today’s special and a glass of iced tea in front of Marcus. “Can I get you anything else, baby?”

  “What the hell?” Jim said. “No fries?”

  Rita glared at him. Then she walked back into the kitchen.

  Jim looked under the hamburger bun. There weren’t any condiments. “I’m telling you, she wants me.”

  Marcus was tired of listening to Jim’s nonsense. He wanted to tell him as much, but he couldn’t piss off his buyer now.

  “What’s going on with your arm?” Jim asked.

  “What?”

  “Your arm, dude. You’ve got bites or something all over it.”

  Marcus looked at his right arm and saw the bright red splotches for the first time. There were four of them just on his forearm. Sasha hadn’t lied after all. “Bedbugs.”

  “Oh boy. I grew up with those blood suckers. They don’t care if you’re the President of the United States. They’re gonna bite your ass.”

  “You’re wrong about that,” Marcus said. “They haven’t touched Sasha at all. Something about her blood type.”

  Jim raised an eyebrow. “I grew up in the country with four brothers and sisters. We all had different blood types. I’m telling you, those monsters don’t care what your blood type is.”

  “That’s not possible. There’s got to be a reason why they’re not attacking Sasha.”

  Jim put a hand on his chin and leaned forward. “You’re working a lot of hours. I bet you’re exhausted. You probably go straight to bed when you get home. Then you get up and go straight back to work.”

  “That pretty much sums up my life. What are you thinking?”

  Jim looked away. “Nothing. It was just a silly thought. You know what? I think I will get some of that ketchup over there.”

  Marcus shifted in his seat. He knew Jim was hiding something. “Tell me or you won’t get the bat.”

  Jim cleared his throat. “I don’t think your wife is sleeping in your bed.”

  MARCUS SAT in his apartment complex’s parking lot for more than ten minutes when he got home that night. He sipped on the energy drink he had picked up at the local pharmacy. It tasted like shit.

  He had a plan. He would stay awake in bed, and wait until Sasha left. He had to see it with his own eyes. If Jim was right about Sasha sleeping somewhere else, then Marcus would sell his baseball bat to him in the morning, and leave Sasha high and dry. She wouldn’t be able to pay the rent and she didn’t have a car. Screw her.

  “You’re just in time,” Sasha said when he walked into the apartment. “I made your favorite dinner!”

  Marcus felt sick looking at her. She seemed so innocent. “Thanks.” He sat at the dining room table and started eating the barbecue chicken, mashed potatoes, and rolls smothered in trans fat. Everything tasted like the energy drink now. It tasted like shit.

  Sasha sat next to him. “Is everything okay?”

  “Yep.” Hell no it wasn’t okay!

  She reached over and put a hand over his. “I made us an appointment for next week.”

  “For what?”

  “What we’ve been talking about,” she said. “Marriage counseling.”

  Marcus set his fork on the plate. He couldn’t breathe. “I’m gonna go to bed,” he said. “You can throw the food out.” He stood up and headed for the bedroom.

  Sasha didn’t say anything. He didn’t expect her to.

  He waited in bed for an hour before she came into the bedroom. He kept his eyes closed. He felt the bed vibrate when she lay next to him.

  “I love you,” he heard her whisper. She sounded sad, lonely.

  Five minutes later Marcus felt the bed vibrate again. The bedroom door opened and closed.

  He opened his eyes and sat up. He didn’t want to believe it. Maybe she was getting a glass of water. A Hot Pocket. It could be any number of things.

  Marcus heard the front door squeak open.

  “Hello, beautiful lady,” said a voice from outside.

  Marcus heard Sasha do her girly chuckle. Then the door squeaked closed.

  He had a plan. His plan was crap. He couldn’t leave Sasha behind. She was the most amazing woman he knew. She was his soul mate.

  This wasn’t Sasha’s fault. It was Juan’s fault! The pretty boy always preyed on innocent women. Juan is the one who needed to pay!

  Marcus stood up and paced around the room. He hands trembled and his heart raced. He could barely breathe. This couldn't be happening. He had committed his life to this woman. She couldn't throw it all away. Not for that pretty boy!

  He stopped and stared at the drywall around the closet. “Hello Juan, I’d like you to meet my fist,” he said to the wall. It wasn’t as pretty as Juan, but it would do. Marcus cocked his fist and put it through the wall.

  Time for a new plan.

  He opened the bedroom closet and pulled the Mantle and Dimaggio signed baseball bat off of the top shelf. He removed it from its display case for the first time. He stared at it. This was the last piece of his dad he had left.

  “Forgive me,” he said. Jim wanted the bat without any scratches or dings. Marcus needed the $5000. It didn’t look like either one of them was going to get what they wanted.

  He threw on a pair of khakis and marched to the front door. Before he knew it, he was banging on Juan’s door. It was midnight.

  “Mr. Marcus, is something wrong?” pretty boy Juan said when he opened the door. His hair was disheveled. Lipstick was smeared on the side of his mouth.

  Marcus had never played baseball. But he swung for Juan’s gut and hit a line drive.

  Juan crumpled over and fell back.

  Marcus stepped into the pretty boy’s apartment and closed the door behind him. “Where is she?”

  Juan was bent over. He looked like he couldn’t breathe.

  Marcus put a hand under Juan’s chin and held it up. “I’m only going to ask you once. Where’s my wife?
”

  Juan’s face scrunched in confusion. “What?”

  “Wrong answer!”

  Marcus swung for Juan’s left knee cap.

  Juan fell to the floor, screaming, holding his knee.

  Marcus stood over him now. “I can do this all night.”

  “She’s not here,” Juan cried. “I would never touch your wife.”

  Marcus sighed. He was never going to get the truth out of Juan. Sure, he could look around the apartment himself. But this was more fun.

  Marcus noticed movement from the corner of his eye. He looked down the hall, and saw light pouring from the bottom of the bathroom door. Two small shadows danced around the light. Someone was pacing in the bathroom.

  Marcus looked down at Juan and laughed. “I never liked you. You moved in across from me, and you flaunt beautiful women all the time. And I asked myself, why do women want a guy like you? And I know the answer.” Marcus swung the bat back and forth, then pointed it straight to the floor. “It’s because you have a pretty face.”

  Marcus lined the bat up with Juan’s face, like a professional golfer.

  Juan whimpered. “Please don’t, Mr. Marcus.”

  Marcus swung as hard as he could.

  Juan twitched a few times. Then he didn’t move anymore.

  Marcus spit on him and stomped to the bathroom. “Sasha, get out here now!”

  There was no response. The shadows disappeared.

  She couldn’t hide from him anymore.

  Marcus kicked the door down.

  She screamed for her life.

  He stepped inside the bathroom.

  She was huddled in a corner, crying.

  Marcus froze. He dropped the bat. This wasn’t Sasha. It was the librarian Mrs. Farber.

  “Please don’t hurt me,” she said. “I’ll do anything you want.”

  “Get up.”

  She cried as she stood up.

  “Go home to your husband,” he said. “Don’t ever come back here.”

  She stared at him and wiped the tears from her face. She wouldn’t move.