Suzy, Gary L Beer [story reading txt] 📗

me out to be some kind of mad monster, just like was done to you.” replies Suzy as the memory makes her angry.
Lewis feels the same anger and recalls how lies had been said about him; how supposedly he had been violent and aggressive during his divorce and of even been accused by his now ex-wife of molesting his own daughter!
The memories make him very angry but also very sad; he had loved his daughter in the same way that he had loved his son. There were no sexual feelings or perversions towards his family; it was the love of a father for his son and daughter. There had been no aggression on his part either, a year previously he had his lung collapse (which made aggression very difficult to perform) and was why he found himself getting divorced.
An invalid was no good in supplying a wife with a prosperous future!

Looking at Suzy he feels his heart go out to her. People you thought were your friends were so eager to believe anything nasty said about you; especially if told by a good liar. Feeling the anger flow out of him like water out of a tap Lewis smiles reassuringly at Suzy; “I know where you are coming from, I remember how most turned against me; people who I had been friends with for years and who so readily believed the outrageous lies said about me.”
“What am I going to do Lewis?” asks Suzy helplessly.
“Is Doug out there in the garden where you have put the bean poles?”
Suzy nods her head saying nothing staring deeply into Lewis's eyes.
“By telling me that you put me in an awkward position, you are now making me an accomplice.” Lewis says with disapproval in his voice.
“I know you will not go to the police,” replies Suzy; “you are the only one I can trust and it was fate yesterday when we met at the shop.”
“The timing is strange I have to admit, as I have not been to that shop for about two years so it does feel more than a coincidence.”
“You will help me then.” Suzy says it as more of a statement than a question.
“Tell me what happened.” Lewis demands.
Suzy looks down at the table and tells Lewis of the accusations and Doug getting rough, of her grabbing the letter opener and plunging it into his neck. As Suzy relives the moment her face turns pale and she starts to cry, burying her head in her hands she starts to sob again.
“He cannot stay there; we will have to get rid of him properly.”
Suzy looks up her face streaked with tears; “Why not? I can keep an eye on him there.” she says smiling weakly with a touch of madness in her eyes.
“People will come looking for him, have you contacted his work?”
“They phoned me this morning and I told them he had gone to live with his fancy bit in Manchester and would not be back.”
“He has been there a long time, if they do not hear from him they will be back.”
“You think so?”
“Yes I think they will, first off we had better sort you out some carpet for your front room.”
“That sounds good, I have always wanted new carpet for in there.” smiles Suzy.
“New is out, will be best if we can find some old carpet or a big rug.” advises Lewis.
Suzy's face drops, “Old carpet? I do not think I will like that.”
“Comes down to choice, if you get new carpet it will be noticed if the police ever come round investigating.”
“Investigating, what are you going on about?”
“Just thinking ahead, if his works report him as missing then you can be sure the authorities will be round.”
Suzy stares down at the table her face pale, she had hoped that with Doug dead and buried that would be the end of it. Lewis is right, the authorities and friends and family are likely to call looking for him and every trace of him must be destroyed or hidden.
“Got a tape measure? We will measure your carpet and get that sorted now.”
“I have already done it.” says Suzy as she gets up and walks out of the kitchen, returning almost immediately with a piece of paper in her hand she puts on the table in front of Lewis; “I measured it a bit over but the room is three metres by three and half metres.”
“Have you pulled all the carpet up?” asks Lewis.
“No not all of it mainly the area where he made a mess.” answers Suzy looking in the direction of the lounge.
“My thoughts are; if we cannot get a second hand carpet then we will have to get a big rug, got plenty of money?”
“Not a lot, Doug kept hold of the purse strings and rarely let me have money of my own.” replies Suzy in an angry voice.
“Grab what you have got and we will go have a look round, is that Doug's car parked out front?” smiles Lewis hoping Suzy's anger will soon fade.
“Yes, it's his.”
“We'll get rid of it on the way.


Chapter Four

Three hours later Lewis, tired and a little irritable pulls up outside Suzy's and switches the engine off; “That was hard work, best leave it in here until it gets dark in case the neighbours are looking.”
“So what if they are? It is none of their business.” replies Suzy angrily. The looking around the carpet warehouses and second hand shops had been hard work. Tired, dusty and dirty from looking at dirty carpets all Suzy wanted to do was sit down and sleep for a few hours.
“Yes, but they might mention your new carpet if the police ask them.” warns Lewis.
“You think of everything, have you done this sort of thing before?” asks a smiling Suzy, glad that Lewis is with her.
“Yes loads of times, especially to pretty young ladies who won't get out of my car.” replies Lewis in a monotone voice as he opens the driver’s door.
“Suppose you want to come in for coffee?” asks Suzy as she opens the car door.
“Only if you want me to, I could go home and come round later.” laughs Lewis happy that Suzy is cheering up.
“You had better not.” warns Suzy as she gets out of the car and slams the door shut; “I will put the kettle on.” she says as she walks along her path to the front door.
Lewis shuts the car door, locks it and hurries after Suzy; “Two sugars please, I need the Loo.” he tells her as he follows behind her into the bungalow and shuts the door behind him.
Suzy gives no answer as she walks wearily along the hall and into the kitchen. Putting water on to boil she sits down at the table and holds her head in her hands and closes her eyes.
Lewis looks down at Suzy as he enters the kitchen; “Why not get your head down for a few hours? it must have been a while since you slept properly.”
“Yes you are right there, sure you do not mind?” asks Suzy as weariness fills her body.
“As long as you do not snore, then I might.” smiles Lewis.
Suzy stands up slowly using the table for support; “It would be nice I feel so tired.”
“Do not worry about me I will be here on guard and will let you know if anyone shows up.”
“Thanks Lewis, help yourself to food or whatever.” invites Suzy as she trudges out of the door.
Lewis washes a mug in the sink and makes himself a coffee, hearing Suzy's bedroom door close he carries his coffee outside and sits on the bench next to the shed.

Thick cloud covers the sky and Lewis can feel the rain on the air. Looking at the runner bean patch he realises that Doug should be moved and hidden tonight. If the police were to call, they would not fail to notice the freshly turned soil.
Going back to the kitchen he finds the shed key on a hook and goes and unlocks the shed. Taking out a rusty metal rake and equally rusty spade he goes outside and leans the tools against the outside of the shed. Grabbing hold of the bean poles he pulls them out of the ground and also leans them against the shed.
Taking hold of the rake he starts to scrape the soil gently away, not sure how deep Suzy has buried Doug he takes his time scraping away the soil and only scrapes a little at a time. When he has gone down about sixty centimetres the rake catches on a black dustbin sack and Lewis pulls it out of the ground.
Lewis is puzzled as he expects to find Doug's body in one piece and is shocked when he picks up the plastic sack and sees that it contains Doug's right arm and hand. Putting the arm in its plastic sack next to the shed he bends over and throws everything up that he had eaten that day.
The feel of Doug's cold arm in his hands remains even after he has put the arm down on the ground and he retches repeatedly and painfully on a now empty stomach.
Returning to his grim task when the retching has stopped and the pain eased, he scrapes away with the rake revealing more of Doug. His left arm is next and deeper below that are Doug's two legs. After repeated retching as he puts the arm and legs next to the shed Lewis stops for a breather.
His stomach is now extremely painful from the retching and he sits on the bench and doubles over, holding his stomach. Five maybe ten minutes later as Lewis loses track of time he reluctantly stands and walks back to the now quite large hole in the garden.
He admires Suzy for digging such a deep hole as it must have been very difficult as the ground is dry packed and hard. Scraping away with the rake he soon unearths Doug's torso and head, bending down he takes a firm hold of Doug's head and pulls him out of the hole. Dragging the body over to the shed he sits down on the bench shocked and exhausted.
Imagining Suzy cutting Doug into pieces makes Lewis shudder at the macabre scene and he wonders if he is doing the right thing. To cut someone into pieces like that would take a strong constitution and stomach; and Lewis was not so sure that he could do such a thing.