Getting Burned Ch. 02

My friend Bill 'retired' to one of the far Denver suburbs two years ago and invited me up to see him and his wife Alicia. It was a second marriage for both of them and with this one, he got two grown step-sons, a grown step-daughter, their spouses and 3 step grand children with another one on the way. He was happy and I was glad.

It had been 3 years since my marriage blew up. We sold the house quickly and split everything like we agreed. I can't say that we were OK with what happened, but I was no longer as angry as before. Yes, she did wrong, but then again, yes she was seduced by a master. And finally yes, she owned what she did, and started to look at why. That was probably most important to me, and I'm still trying to figure out why it was important to me. I haven't talked with her or seen her since.

Tricia had a bushel basket full of problems that I knew were there. Our divorce made her realize that she need to deal with the issues of her life professionally. She would send me a summary of what she's found in herself in the Christmas card every year. In a way, it was gratifying and pleasing to see her finally get happier in life. It helped me with my pain too. So many things I could see, she was now able to see them too. What I didn't know was how well she dealt with them. Either way, it was a good thing she was 600 miles away from Overland Park.

For the 'wanna-be', he ran into a stretch of luck and it's been all bad. Billy kept up with his firehouse friends and he gave me the inside scoop on the parts I didn't know.

From our realtor, I found out he ended up putting in the highest bid on the house, by over $10 grand. He beat out 3 others in a second round of bidding. Something tells me that he really liked the garage. He got the house and Tricia and I split the money like we agreed. Her part was wired to her account in the Denver suburbs where she was living with her sister Sandy, the husband Ben and their two kids, Mary and Mike. I'm still trying to figure out why in the world would someone name bothkids with the same statting letter.

I know that I am a bit passive aggressive, and I really couldn't help myself on this. I did leave the 'wanna-be' a couple of little gifts in the house. In attempting to re-sweat a hot water pipe, I was able to create a slight drip in one of the walls and added some mold spores to keep the drip company. Replacing and repainting that entire piece of drywall, there was nothing to be seen.

There was flashing around the chimney that passed inspection and for some reason, failed again after the bid was accepted. A couple of loose 'wind damaged' shingles with the spores strategically placed below the leak will be a 'welcome to your new home' present from me.

I was having fun thinking of the common maintenance tasks that could fail and what the long term costs would be. I made sure that anything I would do would not kill anyone, just inconvenience or cost a lot. My pride and joy was damaging the flashing around the new windows and doors. Unless he got on a ladder, he'd never see the drilled pin holes that leaked water behind the vinyl siding into the wafer board below. With the rains we get, it'll take 5 years for the damage to become apparent. What I knew of the 'wanna-be', he did not believe in maintenance. I got a little creative in the garage, rewiring the 4 circuits to where a single circuit would cover 90% of the outlets. It was the only 15 amp circuit. The others were 20 amps. That was done just for fun.

But the best thing that happened to him started with a new inspection by the fire department. This is where I got the confidential info on the 'wanna-be'. Billy had just retired, and the new guy was following up on all previous known problems. "Wanna-be' was working like he always did, and the garage and grounds became another fire hazard. Once again, he was issued a citation and the garage and grounds were closed. Then there was another government visit and he was cited for operating a business in a residential area.

Two weeks later, there was a fire with the garage. It roared quickly into an uncontrollable blaze. Funny thing, it could have been a spontaneous combustions from the rags and summer temps, but the arson investigation ruled that out. The best they did was to find it started in the office on that futon. From there, did it spread to the rags on the floor and then the walls and rafters. Only a few people knew this detail. There was a hope to find out who started the fire by staying quiet. I was in the clear as I was fishing in the Ozarks and went to see a couple of shows in Branson.

The next part of the fire was that it was summer and 'wanna-be' never watered the grass, or even cut it. The 18" dry uncut grass took the flames to the house and the dryer vent. The non-cleaned dryer vent was full of highly flammable dryer lint and the plastic dryer vent hose flamed up in seconds. The fire department were able to partially save the house, but it was so severely damaged that it was totaled.

When all was said and done, the insurance would not pay a dime to the 'wanna-be', not even for the cleanup. Cited twice for fire violations and operating an unlicensed business in a residential zone gave the insurance company enough cover to deny his claim due to negligence. The improperly stored chemicals and paints brought in the possibly of criminal charges. They were starting to push for insurance fraud when he withdrew his claims. 'Wanna-be' filed for bankruptcy and moved away to Florida. I don't know, but I guess that the mortgage holders went after the insurance company for something. I say, let the big guys fight it out. The neighbors were thrilled when the city leveled the lot and planted grass.

Walking into Bill and Alicia's back yard, I realized that he now had an large extended family. I know that it was the weekend of the 4th, but there must have been at least 50 family members of all generations hanging out, talking, playing games, eating and drinking. After the first 8 introductions, I knew I was lost. I needed name tags. That when I told them that I'm really good remembering things people say, just not names...So I'm going to nod and smile a lot.

I was staying two nights at the motel 6 and then going to the National parks for a little bit of tent camping. I made camp reservations and was getting into an area that I wouldn't have to worry about large carnivores. It would not be a relaxing vacation if I ws afraid of being thought of as a possible dinner.

For this party, I was going to enjoy myself and was going to hoist a few. Billy told me that he's got a pair of DDs to drive me the half mile back to the motel if I shouldn't drive. Then he told me he'd be upset if I wasn't enjoying myself enough that his DD wouldn't have to drive.

It was a couple of hours of good times when someone familiar came up to me. I didn't know her name. but I could swear that I'd seen her face before. When I wasn't around anyone, she walked up to me. Her first word was "Hi", but connecting that voice and her face was all I needed to know who it was.

"Hi Nicole." It was Tricia's sister. She had Tricia's accent and a strong family resemblance. We had met briefly at her the wedding 7 years ago when Tricia and I attended. I had not seen her since but Tricia did have a few pictures that came out once in a while, when our construction allowed.

"I was wondering if I could have a quiet chat with you? I know that this is probably at the top of your list. You know, right next to an unmedicated root canal?" She smiled and I chuckled.

"Sure, why not. I've just had my..." and I stopped. As a throwaway line, I've often said that my heart's been torn out and I obviously have lost my mind. But the serious look on her face stopped me. I knew that she was being real. "There's a couple of chairs over by the fence. Could I get you a refill on what you're drinking, and I'll do the same?"

"Why don't we both hit the coolers together." She paused. "Thanks."

"Thanks for what? What did I do? I did..."

"Glen, you're listening to me and I think you see my seriousness." She picked up a Coors light and I flinched.

"Bath water? I have to sit down with you and watch you drink bathwater?" She shook her head in laughter. "At the least, try the Fat Tire. It's Ft. Collins, that's local." She looked at the New Belgium Amber Ale I had in my hand and then reached for my suggested beer.

As we walked to the chairs near the fence, she asked, "Are you always so difficult?"

"Nah, not really. But I do have my standards in beer." and I chuckled. She sat down and I became serious. "How is Tricia doing? I get her Christmas cards and her notes on the things she's been finding out about herself. But there's nothing more I know."

"She's sending you that? She hasn't told me she's done that." Nicole paused and then continued. "First off, she doesn't know that you're here. Hell, I didn't know that you'd been here. She knows that Capt'n Billy is here, but that's about all.

"Since she came here, she's gone through a mass of changes. She's started dealing with the sexual abuse that happened when she was in high school and..."

"WHAT? WHAT SEXUAL ABUSE?"

"She never told you?" I nodded no and motioned for her to continue. "It was a teacher in the school. He played her real good, until a janitor found something in his trash can and he got caught. In those days, they allowed him to disappear and got counseling for his victims. There were two and Tric was the second one. She was 14."

"That would explain a lot about Tricia. Then married to her first husband that..."

"Beat her within an inch of her life."

My jaw dropped. "Nicole, she never told me that. She only said that he gave her a case of the crabs from his fucking around when they had a fight. OK, what else don't I know about her?"

"Well, she's gotten so much better that she's started to fight back." I nodded for her to continue. "At her work, she filed a complaint against a corporate officer for sexual harassment. She couldn't fully substantiate it in a court of law with their lawyers. They were going to sweep it under the carpet. That's when another 4 women came with their stories and it went to Corporate. He ended up with his walking papers and a golden parachute that ended up being lead. The company settled and also got rid of the idiots that were protecting him."

"Excuse me, this is Tricia? This is the woman that would fade into the background if there was any arguments with anybody?"

"Well, it's not all roses. But it's been a big start. She also paid back Eric for what he did to her and you. She set fire to that futon and he lost everything from that."

"How do you know that for sure?"

"Silly, I drove her there. Then I watched her do it. Setting up one of his spare cigarettes and oily rags on the futon started it quickly. She used the spare key you gave her after the locks were changed so she could get some of her stuff that was in the garage. I bet you forgot about it. That asshole never changed the locks."

"You do know that there is an arson investigation going on? The case remains open."

"You realize that you are the third person in the entire world who knows who did it? "

"What else is going on with Tricia?"

"She's been a great Aunt and baby sitter to my kids. She goes to therapy religiously, and she goes to religion for therapy." She chuckled, "Does that help?" She chuckled and I smiled. Then I motioned her to continue.

"Because you are here and you've been honest and open with me, I'll say a little bit more." She took a large swig of the beer and then made a questioning face. No unpleasant, not happy, but questioning. "I don't know, but you may have changed my mind about beer."

Putting the bottle down, she continued. "When she was abused by that teacher, she was an 8 out of 10 on the 'Fucked Up Scale' of 0 to 10. With her first husband, it was 9 out of 10. When you first met her, she was number 7 on out of 10. " I nodded. "When you got married and until that asshole rented your garage, she as a 5 out of 10. You were pretty good for her. I don't know if I ever thanked you for that. I loved how she changed for the better."

I know that my face became tense. I could feel the pain well up in me. That's when Nicole reached over and took my beer away from me and held my hands. A couple of tears rolled down my scruffy beard covered cheeks.

"It's OK Glen. Just hang with me. Please?" I nodded yes, and waited. "On the day that you both were at the fire house and agreed to split, she told you briefly what happened. She told you that Eric was evil. It appears that he was using the same techniques that were used on her in high school by that teacher. We both know that she was fragile, and that son of a bitch was a master to plug right back in. It is amazing how they do it, but ..." At this, a tear rolled down her cheek.

"That fucking bastard preyed on her for those three months. He was subtitle, cunning a real big...well, anyway. Both of you guys were getting the house together and kind of lost sight of each other." I raised my hand when she put it back down.

"I know, I've been there too. Ben and I spent 6 months rebooting our relationship with an LCSW. I was the bitch wife and he was the abused husband. People do wrong. Sometimes we can do better together. Sometimes we can do better apart. Ben and I did better together. You and Tric needed to be apart."

I thought about what she had said, and where she was leading. "What do you want out of me is the $64,000 question. Isn't it?"

"I don't know. I didn't know you'd be here. You weren't on anyone's radar. Tric never said anything about contacting you. To be honest, I really don't know. All I know is that when I saw you, all I wanted to tell you that my sister is not the same.

"With Eric she went back to a fucked up 9 out of 10. It's funny.. as in funny strange...she was a 6 out of 10 when she arrived here. I really believed that you treating her right...well as right as you could. Helped to reset herself. The three years of therapy and getting back into church has made a difference."

"What do you want out of me?"

"I still don't know and I doubt that I ever will. The important thing is that because of you, I getting my sister back. She's been fixing a lot of her issues. So what I'm really saying is thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart."

We sat there in silence when I heard another familiar voice. "I'd like to thank you too." It was Tricia. She was standing there with tears in her eyes, and trembling.

I immediately stood up and knocked over my beer and Nicole's too. "Oh fuck" slipped out of my mouth before I knew I was going to say it. I reached over and held Tricia's hand. "How long have you been standing there?"

"About 30 seconds after you both sat down. Ben wanted to stay home with the kids and since the dogs can't handle the fireworks, he told me to go to the party."

"Tricia, could I interest you in any one of the New Belgium beers. I suggest a fine Fat Tire, but there are others. I appear to have corrupted you sister to drink much more flavorful beers and I would like the chance to do the same with you." Without waiting for an answer, I grabbed her hand and we marched over to the coolers. It was two people willing to see where it would lead.