“Well your highness, if someone bails me out I’ll fucking track the bitch down and kill her with my bare hands. Understood?”
Bail was revoked. Landon now faced additional charges.
No one called in sick for Landon, but several of his co-workers had seen the story on television so his superiors understood why he hadn’t called. Landon was placed on unpaid leave.
Wendy did call in sick. During the day she vacillated between heartsick and extreme regret. It wasn’t supposed to turn out this way. She even called the police to see what would happen if she refused to testify. Wendy was told that they had all the evidence they needed. Landon would go on trial for attempted murder and now additional charges for making threats to commit murder.
Rather than risking outright rejection, Wendy had her mother approach Landon to see if he would be willing to talk with Wendy. The net effect of his profanity laced tirade was ‘NO!’
By Wednesday Landon came to realize that he had children. His emotional state had pushed them completely out of his mind. He finally used his one call. Living several states away, his parents were unaware of his situation. Although his father couldn’t get away, his mother could and did.
By the following Monday Landon was represented by a friend of a friend of a friend of his father. Bail was denied again but this time pending a psychiatric evaluation.
Sitting with her eyes pleading, Wendy waited for Landon to enter the visitor’s room.
Walking towards his seat, Landon shook his head no.
“Well look who slithered in. Did you bring me any booze?”
“Hello Landon. No, I didn’t bring anything. I wanted to talk with you.”
“What makes you think I could give a shit about ANYTHING you have to say? You wasted your fucking time coming her so go spend your time fucking your boyfriends. GUARD get me out of here!”
“Landon! Wait! It wasn’t supposed to turn out like this!” didn’t make any difference as Landon stood impatiently for the guard to escort him away from Wendy.
Wendy had tried to visit again, but Landon refused to see her. Landon’s mother visited with his kids. Honesty took a back seat. This wasn’t the time to tell them that daddy wanted mommy dead and was willing to do the time.
With that mindset, the judge again denied bail. Landon was laid off from his job. Worker bees are expendable especially if they could embarrass a company.
+ + + +
“Mr. Mitchell, my name is Mrs. Martin. I’ve been assigned the task of doing a mental evaluation of you. You may call me Mary if you prefer. How should I address you?”
Wearing shackles, and tethered to a chair, Landon sized her up. A little older than himself. More professionally dressed than Wendy. Light makeup made her a naturally good looking woman. ‘Aren’t they all’ crossed Landon’s mind. Wonder if I’ll ever date someone like this lady again?
“Dumbass works” came his reply.
“And why would I call you Dumbass.”
“For ever thinking that that bitch was worth wasting ten years of my life.”
“I see. Do you understand the charges against you?”
“Well yes and no. I’m told I used the slut for target practice. I’ll have to defer on that one as I have no recollection of doing that or anything else that day. However, I’m not sad about it if in fact I did do that. The other charges are because I pissed off the judge. Apparently you can’t tell the truth if you’re charged with a crime.”
“How about you tell me what happened that broke you down.”
“Well we were out celebrating my overtime bonus check. We’d sent the kids to her folks as I’d reserved a suite with a Jacuzzi and we planned on spending the night.”
“Sounds romantic.”
“Whatever. So we’re sitting there listening to the band and watching people dance. We’d boot scooted a few but drank a few too many. We agreed to sit a few out now. Then this dude in a fancy suit recognizes Wendy. Without being asked he pulls up a chair and those two start making eyes at each other. Apparently this guy owns a business that Wendy’s company does work with. By the way they were flirting with each other I’d have to say they knew each other much too well. At first it didn’t bother me, but when Wendy said ‘Let’s dance’ and grabbed HIS hand, not mine, I objected.”
“Definitely a lapse in judgement.”
“Whatever. After about twenty minutes I went out on the floor and tried to break up the party, and then Wendy told me she was going up to his room for a nightcap. I don’t remember much after that. I wanted to kill both of them so I got the hell out of there. How I got home is beyond me. After downing some booze and smoking a joint, I got my gun out to kill myself. Then I thought about my kids, so I didn’t. However, I did put bullet holes in the middle of her forehead in every picture we had hanging on our walls. Next thing I remember is waking up in a hospital handcuffed to my bed.”
Mary was madly scribbling notes and then addressed Landon again “Looking at the second set of charges, you told the judge that you would track your wife down and kill her.”
“What? Should I have lied about it? When the memory of what happened returned, the rage was overwhelming. It’s still there but lurking now.”
“You’re that mad?”
“Mad doesn’t begin to describe it. Bitches like her deserve to have their necks wrung. Is that something you’d ever do Mary?”
“This isn’t about me.”
“So you would ditch your husband if the right guy came along?”
“Mr. Mitchell, I’m here to evaluate you, not for you to evaluate me.”
“Well I just want to know if all women are wired that way. Sell me a clue. I’ll never get serious with another woman if you think you’d all act like my slut wife.”
“Mr. Mitchell, I do not personally believe her actions reflect my beliefs or those of the majority of married women. That’s just my opinion so you are free to agree or disagree with me. My report to the court is going to be that you have a firm grasp on reality and are not insane. I will also let the court know that you have been severely harmed emotionally by your wife actions and are in need of anger management therapy.”
“Finally, a woman who says something intelligent. I’ve been around way too many of the other kind recently. Tell the mister he has a special lady.”
It’s tough to fight back a blush, and Mrs. Martin failed.
“Thank you Landon. I hope you find inner peace before it costs you your children.”
Landon’s eyes watered a bit, but he wasn’t about to let Mary see that.
“Guard! Get me out of here.”
+ + + +
By the end of the fourth week, money was getting tight. This would be the only mortgage payment Wendy could make from savings so she skipped sending the payment in and kept the money for more pressing things. Wendy’s parents were willing to watch their grandkids, but couldn’t help financially. ‘It wasn’t supposed to turn out this way’ was often whispered as Wendy cried herself to sleep nightly.
With Landon on the loans, only a court ordered division of assets in a divorce, would allow Wendy to sell the house and cars to free up some funds and stop the bills she was unable to pay. Her fancy car seemed so insignificant about now.