Meet Carly
CARLY
Summit, New Jersey
“Goddammit!” Carly screamed at the computer for the third time that morning. It was dying a slow death and deleting every other line of the legal papers she was working on. It was infuriating. Two steps forward, one step back. She looked up and out over the treetops of her neighborhood from her third-floor office. Well, office was an understatement. It was their attic that Drew converted into an office space for her to be able to work from home late into the night without waking the kids. She worked for him, so really, it was more suited to his needs than her own.
She stood up from the desk, slammed the desk drawer shut and paced across the room. She couldn't stand being Drew's paralegal one more second. She worked so hard for her law degree and she was truly a gifted litigator, but she hadn't seen the inside of a courtroom in twenty years. She's just been stuck up inside this attic typing up briefs like some kind of litigious Rapunzel, and she was waiting hopelessly for her knight to free her - allowing her to practice from a real office not an attic office. But lately her knight in shining armor was more like an idiot wrapped up in tin foil. Drew had his head so far up his proverbial ass she asked his gastroenterologist to remove it if he happened to find it the last time he went for his colonoscopy. Drew was still sedated so he didn't hear her, but Dr. Marquette laughed and said she wasn't the first wife to make that request.
It was a beautiful day. Breezy and cool enough to keep the windows open, which she did as much as possible. She'd sleep with the windows open if she could but the neighbors across the street put a stop to that years ago with their nightly blow-outs. The Mosby's were a festering sore in an otherwise beautiful neighborhood. Such an odd pair. Greta was outgoing and nice on the surface but be careful if you got too close. She would not only stab you in the back, but she would twist the knife just to make sure you knew who was in charge. And her husband Zach? What a psycho. Super quietif you saw him outside his home but a raging abusive monster behind closed doors. In fact, the handful of times Carly ran into him in the supermarket or bagel shop his eyes would go blank and he would ask Carly her name even though they have been neighbors for nearly two decades. It's like he wants her to know she is not important enough to him to remember her name. But she knew his name alright. He's the pastor at the community church-cult as she and Drew refer to it and he regularly beats Greta. She has a black eye more often than not. As an esteemed pastor though, he is untouchable. Greta covers up for him and the police in town are all bought off. She won't file charges and when Carly did approach her about her rights, as a concerned neighbor, woman, and attorney, she was told in no uncertain terms to mind her business. On account of that, she avoids both of them at all costs. And since most of their battles seem to happen between one and three in the morning, on their front porch, she has kept her windows shut at night.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She knew without even looking that it was the school. This call came nearly every day. She answered and instantly heard the deep sigh of the high school's Vice Principal.
“Ms. Perry - it's Beverly Knudson from Our Lady of Perpetual Sorrows High School. I have David here in the office. He's been in a fight again. You'll need to come and pick him up.”
“Beverly, do I really have to pick him up every time he gets in a scuffle? I understand your zero-tolerance policy but if the kids are picking on him then he should not be punished for standing up for himself.”
“Ms. Perry, this was a bit more than a scuffle. He broke Garrett DeFino's nose. I'm sorry but there will be a meeting tomorrow morning. Your son will be expelled.”
“Wait. What? He broke the quarterback's nose? How the hell did that happen? Garrett is nearly a foot taller than David and outweighs him by at least 75 pounds. I don't understand.”
“Well, what he did goes beyond self-defense, it was premeditated. He apparently greased the floor in front of Garrett's gym locker. When Garrett walked up to get changed, he slipped on the grease, fell and hit the open locker door. The first aid squad has just pulled away with him en route to Overlook Hospital. I'm sorry, but you are going to have to come and pick him up.”
“I’ll be right there.” Carly stated before hanging up the phone while simultaneously dialing Drew from the home office phone. ‘You've GOT to be fucking kidding me’ she thought as she waited for Drew to pick up his phone.
“Hi honey, did you wrap up that brief yet?” Drew answered, not even giving her a minute to tell him what happened.
“No. I haven't finished it yet, Drew because the stupid fucking computer keeps crapping out. I'm not typing another word until we either get it fixed or get a new one. But that's not why I'm calling. It's David. We have a problem.”
Wanna read more? Check out Sol Sisters on Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZM7T4F2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_P2HEZ1GJ3RSQ7J0X1WZT
