Jelly Bean Theif

"That's not what I mean," Carl snapped. "I just don't want incompetent..."

Molly walked out of his room.

At his home, Ryan grunted and cursed as he pushed the lawnmower through another clump of weeds. Bennie Gonzales, one of TAB Properties' landscaping managers had suggested a wee killer to him, but if anything, it looked like the weeds were getting even more aggressive.

"Ryan?" an attractive blonde woman asked, walking up his driveway.

Ryan turned off the lawnmower and pulled the ear buds out of his sweating ears.

"Ryan?" she repeated. "Ryan Thibodeaux? Went to St. Thomas Aquinas, right?"

"Uh yeah, like six, seven years ago," Ryan admitted, wiping at his sweating face with the hem of his tee shirt.

"Me too!" Tiffany Woods said. "Well, ten years ago, but..."

"Oh, okay, that's why I don't remember you," Ryan smiled.

"Don't remember you either, but..." Tiffany smiled and handed him a manila envelope. "You've been served."

She snapped a picture of him, and then walked back to her car, keeping an eye on him.

"I've been..." Ryan puzzled out loud.

He sat on the steps of the front door and opened the envelope.

He took a deep sip of the iced water he had on the steps, read the first page, then put the envelope on the steps, put the glass of water on top of it, and finished cutting his grass.

Penny Richards, his attorney was amused when he contacted her.

"I'm really not sure either but her attorney has scheduled a 'meet and greet' for tomorrow; how's eleven thirty for you?" Penny asked.

"Fine, I guess; do I really need to be there?" Ryan asked.

"Uh yeah, I'm afraid so," Penny said, almost unable to keep the amusement out of her voice.

When Ryan disconnected the call, Penny called Donald.

"He agreed to the eleven thirty appointment," Penny said.

"You do know this is nuts, right?" Donald asked.

"Uh huh," Penny agreed.

Ryan read through the papers again and was sure that half of what was written was pure gibberish. All he could understand was that Alida was suing him. But even after reading the papers through a second time, he couldn't figure out what grounds she was using, or what damages she was seeking.

As he lay in his bed, Ryan remembered how she had looked, standing nude in his back yard. Obviously, she had quit shaving her pussy; thin strands of black hair sparsely covered her prominent mound. Her breasts were slightly larger; there was a little bit of sag to them.

Ryan grabbed his cock and gave it a few hard yanks.

By morning, Ryan had masturbated three times. In the shower, he resisted the urge to jerk off again.

Ethel greeted him as she always did, with a wide smile.

"They're in the conference room; you want some coffee or water or..." she said, pointing to the open door of the conference room.

"Got my own," Ryan smiled, showing her his bottle of water. "But thanks."

Donald Pellichet greeted Ryan with a friendly handshake. Alida looked out the window with real interest, avoiding Ryan's eyes.

"So, rather than go through a long, drawn out court battle, we decided we'd see if we can just..." Donald intoned, taking his seat.

"Long drawn out court battle?" Ryan asked. "What? What is she suing me for?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought your attorney had apprised you of the situation," Donald said, looking at Penny.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought I had when we talked on the phone yesterday," Penny said.

"No, you said you were..." Ryan stammered.

"Well, let's see if we can clear this up, then," Donald said, taking his reading glasses out of his suit jacket pocket and putting them on.

He smiled, looking at them over the half moon glasses.

"First one makes fun of me needing glasses pays all fees," he said.

"They look great," Ryan said quickly.

"Anyway, the plaintiff, Mrs. Alida Betsingal, is alleging..." Donald said, picking up a sheet of paper.

"I ain't alleging nothing; I got proof!" Alida said.

"...that one Ryan Thibodeaux did knowingly seduce her, even though she was, at the time of the seduction, joined in marriage to one Carl Betsingal. This seduction did result in one pregnancy and..." Donald continued.

"True," Ryan said. "I mean, I didn't set out to seduce her; we went to school together and..."

"What?" Alida shrilled. "What? You didn't set out to... Did you, or did you not have jelly beans in your apartment?"

"Well, yeah, I love..." Ryan said.

"And were there black jelly beans in that jar of jelly beans?" Alida demanded.

"Well, yeah, they're the best but..." Ryan said.

"I was a married woman," Alida sobbed out. "Maybe I wasn't happy, maybe it was a shitty marriage, to a shitty husband, but I was married and you knew I was."

"What does jelly beans have to do with...?" Ryan asked.

"And you invited me into your apartment and fed me black jelly beans and..." Alida went on.

"Fed you? Alida, you STOLE them! I kept telling you leave them alone!" Ryan said.

"And then, when you had your way with me, a married woman," Alida said, ignoring Ryan. "You sent me away."

"Sent you... You ran out!" Ryan said.

"Classic case of 'he said/she said' I'm afraid," Penny clucked.

Ryan stared at his attorney.

"Thanks to you," I'm now a fallen woman," Alida said, climbing down from her chair.

"A fallen woman," Donald repeated.

"This is bizarre," Ryan complained.

"A fallen, pregnant woman," Alida said, walking around the conference table.

"Pregnant," Donald repeated.

"And my husband doesn't want me," Alida said standing next to Ryan's chair.

"All this over some jelly beans," Donald said.

"Black jelly beans," Penny corrected.

"I am so confused," Ryan said, holding his head.

"What choice did I have?" Alida asked him, resting a hand on his arm. "I had to sue you."

"Sue me? Sue me for what?" Ryan asked.

"Listen, I said some really shitty stuff and I'm sorry about them; I can't take it back," Alida said quietly.

"Is that my phone?" Donald asked and got out of his chair.

"Ethel, did you need me?" Penny asked, getting out of her chair.

"I am so, so sorry for saying thus hateful things," Alida said, rubbing Ryan's arm.

"But why are you suing..." Ryan asked.

"I'm not," Alida said. "But you wouldn't talk to me; I called like a million times and left you all kind of messages and you never answered and you never called back and..."

She pulled herself into his lap.

"Our baby's growing," she said and nuzzled the side of his neck. "She's growing and she needs to hear her Daddy talking to her."

Alida put Ryan's hand on her slight bulge.

"She needs to feel you rub her and tell her you love her," Alida said.

She kissed him on his cheek.

"And I need to hear you say you love me too, I need you to hold me and tell me I'm still beautiful, even though I'm getting all fat and ugly," Alida said.

"You are..." Ryan murmured.

"And I need jelly beans, lots and lots of jelly beans," Alida murmured back.

"So all of this..." Ryan asked.

"Miss Penny said she was tired of me crying all the time," Alida whispered into his ear. "So we had to get you so I could tell you I'm sorry and I love you and I want you to love me and hold me and rub my, our baby."

"You hungry?" Ryan asked.

"I'm pregnant; fucking right I'm hungry," Alida said.

"Send me the bill," Ryan said as he and Alida exited the conference room, holding hands.

"No charge," Donald said. "Just glad it worked."

"Aw," Ethel sighed as she watched the couple dash across Highway 19 to the Bombay Café. "Penny can we sue..."

"No, I am not suing Troy," Penny laughed. "You'll just have to rope him yourself."

In his hospital bed, Carl smirked as his mother harangued the hapless nurse.

"Ma'am, that is enough," Molly snapped from the doorway. "Ms. Gremillion, please leave. Now."

"Yes ma'am," the nurse said, leaving the room quickly.

"Ma'am, I do not know who you are..." Molly said, closing the door to the room.

"I'm..." Corrine snapped.

"...nor do I care," Molly said over Corrine's smug response. "My staff is not here for you to abuse and mistreat. If I hear you doing that again, I will ask you to leave and I will have you barred from returning; do I make myself clear?"

"You can't..." Corrine shrilled.

"I can, and I will," Molly said forcefully.

"What is your name?" Corrine hissed.

"Molly Dunham; I am the managing nurse on this floor; my immediate supervisor is Paula Lambert," Molly snapped. "Need me to write it down or do you think you can remember all of that?"

Sophia Coutre sighed as her personal assistant let her know that Mrs. Betsingal was on line two for her.

Standing in Ryan's kitchen, Alida used a refrigerator magnet and put the index card with the recipe for jelly bean pie on the fridge.

"I'm going to make that for us, hear?" she asked, smiling over her shoulder at Ryan.

"Uh huh; you going to make the pie crust from scratch too?" Ryan asked, reaching to the top of the refrigerator and pulling the lid off of his canister of jelly beans.

"Hey, give me them," Alida demanded.

"Get them yourself," Ryan said and hoisted her up in his arms.

"She grabbed the jar and held it tightly as he lowered her to the ground.

"Here; now it's right here where everyone can get it," Alida declared, putting the jar on the coffee table in the living room.

"I could get it just fine where it was before," Ryan teased her.

"Uh huh, I need to have Miss Penny sue you again?" Alida threatened. "You're supposed to give me lots of jelly beans, remember?"

Chapter 13

"He's what?" Ryan asked.

"He's fighting the divorce; asking for counseling," Alida huffed, plopping down into his lap.

He pulled her closer, rubbing the quite noticeable bulge in her belly.

"Mmm," Alida sighed as Ryan eased her tee shirt up and rubbed, bare flesh to bare flesh.

""Yeah, Penny thinks he's trying to get me to drop the charges," Alida murmured, Ryan's soft, gentle rubbing soothing and calming her.

"Quit," she giggled as he rubbed higher, rubbing her bare breasts.

"Oh, okay," Ryan said and rubbed lower, working his hand underneath the waistband of her shorts.

"Sex, sex, sex; that all you think about?" Alida murmured, kissing him on his neck.

"With you? Yeah, afraid so," Ryan admitted, wiggling his finger over her slit.

"But we just..." Alida giggled softly.

"Uh huh, and who had to stop so she could talk to her lawyer?" Ryan asked, easing her shorts and panties down to the tops of her thighs.

"Damn it; why I even bother getting dressed?" Alida asked, struggling to raise her hips so he could slip the panties and shorts completely off.

"Beats the shit out of me," Ryan said. "Waste of time you ask me."

He twisted around and lay her on her back on the couch. She spread her legs wide and sighed as he eased his cock into her.

"Sex, sex, sex, that's all you think about," she murmured.

At his parents' home, Carl Betsingal paced back and forth.

He needed to complete his residency, but St. Elizabeth Parish trauma Center refused to let him complete his residency at their facilities. Because of his bail, he could not leave the state of Louisiana. The only facility in Louisiana that agreed to allow him to complete his residency was the free clinic on Banks street.

He was loathe to work at the facility though. The majority of the clientele was low income African-Americans and Hispanics and the majority of the services they provided was abortions.

He had no moral objections to performing abortions; in fact he considered it a necessary procedure. The bulk of people that requested abortions had no business procreating in Carl's opinion.

'If you can't afford a real doctor, you shouldn't be having children in the first place,' he often said aloud.

But administrations tended to look at where a person went to school, where they did their internship and where they did their residency. His schooling and internship were above reproach, Tulane Medical and Hotel Dieu.

Sophia Coutre, his lawyer, had mumbled something about if Alida were to drop the charges of domestic violence and aggravated battery with intent to cause and abortion, St. Elizabeth may be inclined to reinstate his residency.

"Just keep her around until you complete your residency then divorce the little bitch; I cannot believe that little trailer trash is doing this to you," Corrine had spat. "You would think she'd be grateful took her out of that dreadful place."

Face tight, Sophia had suggested they petition for counseling.

"Dr. Hooperstein is who I recommend to those clients that are seriously trying to patch up..." Sophia had said.

"A Jew?" Corrine had sniffed with disdain. "Well, I suppose, if no one else is available..."

Now, Carl, tired of pacing, flopped down and found the remote control for the television. Channel 12 was showing the Cast Iron Stomach cooking show.

"Going to the Dead End for lunch," John, his father said. "Stuffed pork chops today."

"All right," Carl said, deciding his lawyer probably wasn't going to call today.

They settle din John's sports car.

"Everyone says that Sophia's best lawyer around but I just don't know," John said as he revved his car's engine. "I mean, she is a woman, you know?"

"Uh huh; takes her sweet time, that's for sure," Carl agreed.

"I mean, not that women can't be smart, but damn; you see the tits on her?" John asked as they pulled up to the bar.

"Dad, big tits doesn't immediately equal low IQ," Carl laughed.

"Uh huh, just kind of seems the bigger the tits the dumber the cunt," John said, climbing out of the low slung automobile.

"Watch," the man said. "The girls in here? Big tits, dumb as shit. What you want to bet?"

Inside the bar, Brooke Robertson, one of the two waitresses on the floor, hoped that the two Betsingal men would sit in Julie's section; they were rude, presumptive, and lousy tippers.

She smiled as the men did take a seat in Julie's section.

"Oh fucking great; those ass holes," Julie spat when he spotted the new arrivals.

"Hey, I almost had a fist fight in my section," Brooke reminded the girl.

At the offices of Richards, Pellichet, and Richards, Ethel, the receptionist let Penny know that Ryan and Alida were there.

A moment later, the two entered the comfortable office.

"I really got to..." Alida yelled when Penny brought up the latest demands from Carl.

"Look, go to the counseling, let Dr. Hooperstein know there is absolutely no way you'll reconcile and we'll get the divorce moving again," Penny advised.

"How many sessions you think that'll take?" Ryan asked, placing a restraining hand on Alida's thigh.

"I don't know," Penny admitted. "Most judges like to order eight one hour sessions; it make take as many as eight."

Sophia Coutre was very surprised that Penny's client agreed to the request for counseling. Dr. Sylvia Hooperstein had a vacancy for the next morning. Sophia called Penny and gave her the time of the appointment then called the Betsingal home and left a message.

The next morning, Alida pulled in front of the small building and got out of her car. Ryan had gone to one of the used car lots and bought her a baby blue mini-cooper, a car of her own. He had wanted to come with her to the counseling session but Penny had strongly advised against it.

Alida smirked when she saw Carl's Toyota; as usual, Carl had parked as near the door as possible and had also parked across the yellow line, taking up two spaces with his car so that no one could box him in.

Carl looked up when Alida yanked open the heavy glass door of the office.

She looked very attractive, dressed in a loose dress that ended just above her knees, long black hair hanging loose. She looked quite mature, quite adult as she swept into the room.

Alida pushed her sunglasses up to the top of her head and approached the receptionist's desk.

"Don't even talk to me, cock sucker," she hissed when he stood.

"Hi, Alida Irvine, I have an appointment with Dr. Hooperstein; you probably have it down as Alida Betsingal, though," Alida to the receptionist.

Carl's face tightened as he heard her give the receptionist her maiden name.

"Oh yes, yes ma'am, if you could just fill this out?" Marnie Vogel, the receptionist asked, handing Alida a two page intake form and clipboard. The pen was taped to the clipboard by a long string.

Carl attempted to take the seat immediately to Alida's left so she got up.

"Ma'am, I'll be back," Alida said and left the building.

She locked herself in her car and filled out the two sheets of paper, double checked it, then brought it back in.

"Thanks; last person actually walked out and never came back with that clipboard," Marnie smiled when Alida handed the clipboard back to her.

Again, Carl attempted to sit next to Alida so she got up and sat in a different seat.

"Sir, take a seat; it is apparent she does not want you sitting next to her," Marnie snapped when Carl lumbered to his feet again.

"That is my wife," Carl snapped at Marnie.

Sylvia smiled and ushered the two combatants into her office.

"Have a seat; any where is fine," she smiled.

Alida waited to see where Carl would sit first. Carl stood, waiting to see where Alida sat first.

"Um, anywhere is fine," Sylvia said again.

Finally, Alida took a seat in a solitary chair and Carl took the one next to her.

"God, what you been eating; you're getting fat," Alida sneered.

"Right back at you," Carl snapped.

"Okay, so this is not a happy couple," Sylvia said out loud, taking a seat facing the two.

"I'm getting fat because I'm six months pregnant," Alida snapped at Carl. "You pregnant too?"

"So Alida, that's an unusual name, Alida," Sylvia said. "Why don't you tell me why you're here?"

"I'm here because shit for brains thinks I'll drop the charges against him; he almost beat me to fucking death and he's looking at some serious fucking jail time," Alida said.

"But you are not looking to reconcile?" Sylvia asked.

"No, why the fuck would I want that?" Alida sneered. "So he can finish the job?"

"I'm sincerely sorry for that," Carl intoned.

"You are?" Alida gasped. "Oh Honey, give me a kiss!"

Carl looked puzzled but leaned over and pressed his lips to hers. She shoved her tongue into his mouth and aggressively rubbed her tongue around in his mouth.

"Oh, did you like that?" she asked when she broke the kiss.

"Uh yeah, that was nice," Carl admitted, shifting so that his erection was less obvious.

"I sucked Ryan's cock right before I got here," Alida sneered. "I had a mouthful of his come; you just sucked all that sperm out of my mouth.

"You fucking bitch!" Carl screamed, struggling to his feet.

"Got a real nice load of his jizz in my pussy; want to eat some of that too?" Alida taunted, jumping out of her chair.

"People, please, this is..." Sylvia said, getting to her feet.

"God damn cunt!" Carl bellowed, swinging at her.

"His cock's twice as big as yours and he shoots a shit load more come," Alida jeered as she sprayed him directly in his face with a can of wasp repellent.

"Marnie, ambulance and police, please," Sylvia called out as Carl lay on the floor screaming and thrashing in agony.

"Let him fuck me up my ass too," Alida continued to taunt. "Remember how you wanted to do that? Man, I love when Ryan sticks his big fat cock up there, right up my tight squirmy little shit hole."

Alida told Officer Vernon Brown that she did want to press charges of attempted aggravated assault against Carl Betsingal. Sylvia Hooperstein reluctantly affirmed that Alida had acted in self-defense.

Sophia Coutre could not help but burst out laughing when Sylvia Hooperstein called and told her what had happened.

"Damn it, Sophia, it's not funny," Sylvia said, giggling as well. "You weren't there! I swear, I thought he wanted to kill her."