The machine finally stopped at a little over four hundred thousand.
Bev resumed his seat. “Karl Jaeger, your debt is cleared. You are also banned from all of my establishments from this moment forward. Now get out!”
I thought Karl was going to protest, but the goon moved forward, and guided him from the room.
Bev smiled at me. “Don’t worry. He’ll be waiting at his car when you leave. Back to you though.”
“What do you want to know?” I asked, more than a little trepidatious.
Bev leaned back in his chair again. “As I said, I did my research on you. Since that day, when the idiot tried to rape your sister– I did not order that by the way. If you hadn’t shot him I would have– the family dynamic of your household has changed. That change was evidenced here today. Not many people would follow the orders of their brother’s-in-law, as he followed your orders, though reluctantly. I’m told your sister sleeps with you, and not him– not that I blame her.”
It was disconcerting this man knew of the family dynamic of our household, when no one visited the house in ages.
Bev sat forward eagerly, “So how about it Kurt, are you cuckolding your brother-in-law? There’s no judgement from me, I just have this burning curiosity to know.”
As much as I thought this man was evil, I did believe he simply wanted to know, and he wasn’t judging me or my family.
Something within me, I think it was part of the change from when I confronted Karl, made me tell him the truth. “No. At least not yet. I don’t know what Catherine and I are going to do about him, and then who knows.”
Bev’s smile widened. “That is awesome! Truly it is.”
Leaning back, Bev regarded me for a moment. All of a sudden, he snapped his fingers, and leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. “I’ve got it. I’ve got a proposition for you.”
***
I watched Karl pull his car up to the house, then parked beside him. As promised, when I left the casino he was waiting at his car, and I followed him home to make sure he made it there.
Cat walked out onto the porch as soon as Karl started up the stairs. She walked right up to him and slapped his face. “How dare you! Not only did you lose your job, but then you hid it from us. What are we going to do now?” She slapped his face again, then pointed inside the house. “Go, I can’t even stand to look at you right now!”
With his head hung low Karl trudged into the house and up the stairs.
I reached out and pulled my sister into my arms.
She rested her head on my chest. “What are we going to do Kurt? Without Karl’s income, we can’t afford the bills.”
I took a deep breath, and gave her a squeeze. “Do you trust me?”
She lifted her head and looked me in my eyes. “Of course. You always take care of me.”
I smiled and kissed her soundly on her lips. “Good. I don’t want you to worry about what we’re going to do for now. I have a little bit of research to do tomorrow, but I want you to trust me, and let me take care of it.”
She studied my eyes, and finally nodded.
Together we walked inside, and again I was met by the delicious smells of Cat’s cooking.
wpDiscuz