Amelia's Difficult Choice By Anonymous An Amazonian social worker teaches abusive parents a lesson The ringing of the telephone snapped Amelia Vasquez out of her reverie. She been sitting at her desk thinking about the events of the last few weeks. Amelia had just about single-handedly saved the neighborhood from the Warlords, the gang she had belonged to when in high school. An astute teacher had seen something special in Amelia, gotten her started on the right path, and helped her get into college. Amelia had become a social worker and wound up back in her old neighborhood. She had wanted to contribute something back to her community. The Warlords had changed from a neighborhood gang whose main activity was defending their "turf" from rival gangs to racketeers, controlling the drug and protection markets in that area. Amelia had defeated the leader and his two henchmen in a violent fight and had turned over records of their drug activity that she found on their computer to the police. Now they were in jail for a long time, and peace had come to the community again. Amelia had now been working the usual type of cases that social workers handle. As she came to attention and answered the phone, an angry look crossed her face. An eleven year old boy, Adam Sales was in the hospital emergency room. This was the third time in a month that he had 'fallen down the stairs' and hurt himself. The pediatrician who saw him told Amelia that he thought that Adam had been beaten. His step-mother had brought him in. His father had left for work. Amelia immediately got in her car and drove to the hospital. She first met with the pediatrician. He showed Adam's record to her. It was not a pretty picture. His father had divorced his mother three years before. He had gotten custody of Adam. Shortly after the divorce he had married his girlfriend Anna, an aerobics instructor and part-time dancer. They had started to ignore the boy. Later, they had started to resent him. They had wanted to be alone, party, and travel and he was in the way. The doctor suspected that both parents had taken out their frustrations on Adam. In the last two years the trips to the emergency room had become increasingly frequent, and the injuries more severe. The doctor wanted Amelia to have Adam taken from Tom, his father, and Anna before he was severely injured. The young pediatrician was vitally interested in the case but he had a hard time concentrating with Amelia standing next to him. With her long black hair and sparkling dark eyes, he found her very attractive. her strong jawline probably prevented her from being considered truly beautiful, but her looks and her pleasant personality had definitely captivated him. His eyes ran down from her face to the rest of her body. She was not tall, only about five-five. She was wearing a business suit today, but her shoulders seemed to be wider than normal even without shoulder pads. The cut of the suit showed off her slim waist. Her legs were magnificent he thought. Too muscular for some people, but the doctor an athlete himself, thought they were perfect. He did a double take however when he saw her arm bend as she reached for Adam's chart. Her biceps appeared to totally fill the sleeve of the suit. "My kind of woman," he said to himself. "I'll bet she was an athlete in school. Just look at that body. On her, those muscles look good." After reviewing the history of the case Amelia agreed with the doctor. She went in to interview Adam while his step-mother was in the waiting room. Adam finally broke down and told Amelia everything. About the withholding of food, the constant verbal abuse, and finally the beatings which were becoming routine. Amelia left to get a court order to remove Adam from the custody of Tom and Anna. She had discovered why they kept him even though it was obvious they resented him. Adam's maternal grandmother had passed away a little over two years ago. She had left Adam a significant amount of money in a trust fund. The custodial parent controlled the income from the trust. That money was more than Tom's income. It was supposed to be spent to take care of Adam, but it was apparent that they were spending it on themselves. To lose custody of Adam would essentially kill their cash cow. The next afternoon, Amelia showed up at the Sales house to pick up Adam. She had been successful in obtaining all the proper documentation with the evidence that she had presented. She was met at the door by Anna. She was dressed to go to her aerobics class. A blue leotard that left nothing to the imagination showed off her body. She was taller than Amelia by three inches. Her stomach looked flat and hard. Her arms looked vascular and defined, and her legs were slender but firm muscle could be seen. She sneered at Amelia when she opened the door. Amelia wasted no time in explaining exactly what was going to happen. She wanted Adam and some of his clothes. They would return later to pick up the rest of his things. Anna could see the dollar signs floating out the door with Amelia. She decided that the old saying that possession is nine tenths of the law might apply here. If she let Adam leave the money would be shut off. "You are not taking the little brat anywhere." Anna spat at Amelia. "He is going to be here when his father gets home." Amelia had seen enough, "If you won't cooperate, I will get his things myself." With that she started for Adam's room. Anna grabbed her arm and said, "Where do you think you're going. The street is this way." She was pointing to the door. "Don't you ever put your hands on me again," Amelia said to Anna. "I'll put my hands anywhere I damn well please. Now get out of my house you sorry-assed bitch." Amelia replied, "Just as soon as I have Adam and his clothes." Anna was getting angrier, "If you don't get I will throw you out." With that she took hold of Amelia's shoulder. Amelia shoved her away, "That's the last time I'm going to tell you to keep your hands off me." Anna was steaming, "I'm going to kick your fat ass out of here" she snarled at Amelia. "I would be careful if I were you. I might be a lot tougher to beat up than an eleven year old boy. I don't want to fight you. I just want to exercise this court order. But I want to give you fair warning. If you try to stop me I will fight you, and then I will hurt you, so stand back and let us leave in peace." Anna had been taking box-aerobics and worked out some on the heavy bag. She had beaten up one of the dancers at the club where she worked part time, giving her a black eye and a bloody nose before the other girl quit in tears. This gave her a tremendous sense of confidence. "I'm tired of all this talk," she shouted and threw a punch with her right hand at Amelia's jaw. The punch landed with a loud crack. Amelia was not expecting the blow, and staggered back. Anna followed up by driving a kick with her right foot right between Amelia's legs. Amelia dropped to the floor, stunned, and in pain. "I'm going to fuck you up," Anna told Amelia as she started to kick her in the ribs. Three times she drove her foot into Amelia's ribs. Finally Amelia was able to roll away behind a chair. Anna pursued her. She reached down and grabbed Amelia by her long black hair. As she tried to drag Amelia to her feet, she said, "Jeez, you're heavy. You're ever fatter than I thought. Get ready to take your pounding, fat girl." While she was talking, Amelia due to her superb physical condition was quickly recovering from Anna's initial sneak attack. Anna cocked her fist and fired a punch to Amelia's stomach. Amelia anticipated it and tensed her strong abs. The punch just seemed to bounce off Amelia. Anna had released her expecting Amelia to fold up and go down from her belly punch. Amelia backed away to take a few more precious seconds to completely recover. Anna didn't know it at the time, but she had just landed her last punch of the fight. She launched herself at her foe, but this time Amelia was ready. Anna was met by a hard fist smashing straight into her right eye. She stopped dead in her tracks. Even though Amelia couldn't get her weight into the punch just the power from her shoulder and arm was enough to hurt Anna. Pain shot through the right side of Anna's face as she stopped and put her hands up to her eye. She had never really been hit before, and that sharp, sudden pain was unexpected. Amelia followed up by driving her right fist blasting into Anna's tight stomach. "Pretty firm, but I can break it down," she thought. Even though she was in excellent shape, Anna felt the punch. As her hands came away from her face, Amelia's left fist thudded into that same eye again. Now it started to swell and bruise. Anna again tried to relieve the pain by placing her hands over the eye. Amelia set her feet and this time got her weight behind a ripping uppercut to that flat stomach. This time she felt a little give as her fist landed. Twice more she drove that fist powered by her awesome biceps into Anna's gut. Each time her fist seemed to get a bit more penetration. Anna made one last try to get back into the fight. She tried to drive her knee straight up into Amelia's crotch. This time Amelia saw it coming and turned to take the knee on her big thigh. It hurt, but not like it would if the knee had hit the intended target. Amelia returned to her task of breaking down the muscular stomach of Anna. Her hard right fist slammed into it again and again. After four more vicious smashes, she felt the musculature start to give. Anna dropped her hands and arms to cover her stomach, leaving her face wide open again. Amelia shifted targets hooking her right fist to the undamaged eye. Before Anna could even start to react Amelia smashed that eye again with a vicious blast. Now both eyes were quickly swelling shut. Anna was finished. She started to cry. She was just standing there with her hands hanging uselessly at her sides. Amelia instincts reverted back to her old gang days, and instead of backing off, taking Adam and leaving, she decided to punish Anna even more for all the beatings she and Tom and inflicted on Adam. Amelia rocketed her big right fist into that belly again. This time the resistance was gone. She had completely broken down those strong muscles with her constant powerful battering. Her fist sank deep into Anna's flesh. Anna started to fold. "Not a bad punch for a fat girl, was it," Amelia said to Anna. Amelia had to hold her up or she would have collapsed to the floor. "Let's see if the fat girl can do that again." That rock hard fist drove again to Anna's poor belly. This time it penetrated even deeper. Anna was moaning and crying. "You don't know me, but if you did you would know what is coming next. In my gang days I had what they called a trademark, or signature. You are about to find out what it is." Amelia was holding her up with her left hand. as she finished what she had to say without warning she cocked that hard right fist and blasted it straight into Anna's mouth. She could feel the front teeth give way. "That is the trademark from the old days, knocking out a few teeth from anyone dumb enough to challenge me. You are lucky that I need to get Adam and leave, otherwise your punishment would be worse." Even though she was barely conscious, Anna couldn't imagine how it could be worse. Her stomach was in agony, both eyes were closing rapidly, and she could feel at least two teeth that had been either knocked out or broken. "Since we have to go, I think its' time for your afternoon nap." Amelia sunk her left fist into that now unresisting belly. As Anna started to fold up from the force of the punch, Amelia brought her right fist up from her knees to crash into Anna's down moving chin. Amelia's strong fist found its target and continued upward until her arm and fist were extended over her head. Anna's body rose off the floor and toppled over. She landed on her back. She would be out for a long time. Amelia looked around and saw Adam standing in the door to his bedroom. He had been watching the whole fight. Amelia was embarrassed. "Wow! you were awesome!" Adam said. "Violence doesn't solve problems, Adam, and if she had not jumped me this would have never have happened. However, we all have to be able to defend ourselves. Now let's get your stuff and go." Tom Sales knew something was wrong as soon as he arrived home. The door was unlocked and Anna's car was in the driveway. He opened the door but saw no sign of Anna. Usually when she is at home she greets him at the door with a kiss and a drink. Then he saw her flat on her back on the floor. "Either she's sick or we've been robbed!" was his first thought. He rushed over to where Anna was sprawled on the floor. "My God!" he blurted out when he saw her face. He ran into the kitchen and filled two Ziploc bags with ice. Anna was just starting to stir when he got back. He placed the bags of ice over her eyes which now were just small slits surrounded by a sea of black and purple. He was even more astonished when he looked down and found a tooth seemingly stuck to the top of her leotard just above her breasts. "Don't move." he said. Just stay there and take it easy. When you feel you can talk, tell me what happened.". Assuming that they had been burglarized he asked "What did they take?" "Just Adam" she managed to say through her puffy lips. "Kidnappers!" Tom exclaimed. I'll call the cops right now. "N-No don't do that. Wait a few minutes and I'll try to tell you what happened but no cops." "Who did this to you, then?" Tom wanted to know. "You look like a wreck." "P-P-Please get me some aspirin or Tylenol. I hurt so bad I can't stand it." Tom went to the medicine cabinet and found extra strength Tylenol was the strongest thing they had. He got two tablets and a glass of water and went back to Anna. He got down on his knees and lifted her head up slightly so she could take the medicine. While he was kneeling by her his hand accidentally brushed over her stomach. She let go with a renewed cry of pain. He gently removed her leotard and saw several black and blue splotches on her tender belly. "I-I'll try to talk now," Anna told him. "It's very hard to say anything with my mouth like this." Tom took a closer look at her mouth. Her upper lip was split and swollen to twice its' normal size. The tooth that been stuck on her leotard had come from her upper front teeth. The one next to it while still barely attached was bent far back toward the roof of her mouth. When Tom touched it the tooth came out in his hand followed by a fresh gush of blood. Anna tried to compose herself. She started her story. She told him about Amelia's arrival with the court order to take Adam away from them. She included the part about how she had tried to stop her. Then she described the fight. "I never believed a woman could hit that hard. She just kept pounding my poor tummy." Tom interrupted her. "You've had me punch those abs. They are like steel. I thought it would be impossible to hurt them." Anna continued her story. "At first I was able to tighten them when she hit me, but she just kept driving those hard fists of hers in there over and over again. Finally I just couldn't take it any more and my tummy muscles just caved in. She really hurt me. When she hit my eye the pain was so bad I couldn't move. She kept bashing both of my eyes with her fists until I couldn't see. Then through the pain I heard her say something about gangs and trademarks. Right after that she did this to my mouth. The last thing I remember was her saying that I was lucky she didn't have more time or I would receive even more punishment for the way we treated Adam. Then I think she mentioned something about nap, I felt a terrible pain in my chin, and everything went black. Tom, she knows about the money. She is having custody transferred to Adam's mother.' "Right now, I am taking you to the dentist to see what he can do about your teeth. We will tell him you were in an accident. After you have recovered we will pay her a little visit," Tom told Anna. "I'm not paying her any visit. I never want to see her again. She might hurt me even worse the next time. I thought I could fight, you remember the dancer I beat up, this bitch's fists were like being hit with clubs. Big, hard, clubs. I'm not going anywhere near her again." Tom picked up the court papers and started to read them, "Maybe I'll just go see Ms. Vasquez myself. I'll even things up for you, don't worry." Amelia took Adam home with her. Lilia, Amelia's mother insisted on preparing a huge dinner for Adam. He ate like he hadn't seen food for days. Lilia topped off Adam's dinner with a large bowl of ice cream. Amelia sat down next to Adam. "I'm sorry you had to witness that fight this afternoon. Fighting is not a way to solve problems. I tried my best to avoid it, but Anna forced me to do it.' 'She didn't also force you to knock her out there at the end, did she?' Adam asked. Amelia's eyes narrowed. "This is a pretty aware kid," she thought. "No she did not," Amelia explained to Adam. "I did that because I wanted to. That is where human emotion gets in the way. I was very angry for the way she and your father have been treating you. In the heat of that anger I wanted to punish her for their actions. I was also angry because she attacked me. I must admit that once it started, I let my old feelings from my gang days get the best of me. I used to love fight and hurt people. I don't anymore, but in some situations I revert back to the past." Adam looked at her again. "I think she deserved everything she got and even more," he said. "I wish you would do the same thing to my father, he beat me even worse than Anna did." Suddenly Adam changed the subject. "Show me your muscle, Amelia. I've never seen a girl with muscles like yours before." Now Amelia turned red. She was proud of her muscles and strength, but had never had anyone openly admire them like this before. "I'll tell you what," she said, "let me go change my clothes and we will have a short workout and both of will show our muscles, OK?" Amelia went to her room and put on a cropped halter top and shorts. They couldn't go to the gym, so she led Adam through a series of exercises. Soon both of them had worked up a sweat. "Now will you show me your muscle?" Adam asked again. Resigned to the fact that she couldn't get out of it, Amelia agreed. She knew boys were fascinated by biceps so she decided to save that for last. She hit all the poses showing her shoulders, chest, abs, and especially her big legs. Finally it was time for arms. "First show me yours," Amelia said. Adam did his best impression of a bodybuilder flexing. They were both laughing now. Then Amelia stepped forward. First she flexed her triceps. Large horseshoe shaped ridges of muscle formed on the backs of her arms. Then almost shyly she flexed her biceps. Huge balls of muscle that looked to be the size of cantaloupes rose on her arms. Large veins ran through them and there were splits at the peaks. "Wow!" Was all Adam could say. "I think that is enough for tonight. You need to get some sleep. You have a big day tomorrow. You are going to live with your mother." She took him to the spare bedroom. "Will you come in and say goodnight to me?" he asked. Amelia sat on the side of the bed next to the small boy. "Amelia you're terrific, you are the greatest person I have ever known," he said and he hugged her. Amelia kissed him gently on the forehead. "You go to sleep. I have to go back to my office for a while to make sure everything is ready for tomorrow." "Goodnight, Amelia," he said. "Goodnight, Adam," she replied as she closed the door. Since no one would be at the office she did not change clothes, she just put on a warmup jacket over her workout clothes. When she arrived she unlocked the door. A large reception area was in the front with a hallway behind that leading to several offices one of which was Amelia's. She hung her jacket on the back of her chair and started to check all the paperwork to make sure all went smoothly tomorrow. Her mind drifted to the events since she had returned home as a social worker. The fights with the Warlords, and now with Anna Sales. "I hate to admit it," she told herself, "but I still like to fight. I love the feel of my fists smashing my opponent to mush. I will have to control it and only allow myself to fight in situations like these two. When right is on my side, it is easier to justify what I did to Anna. Adam was right. She probably did deserve that and more, but that doesn't make it totally right." Her thoughts were interrupted by someone banging on the door. "Who could possibly be down here this time of night?" She thought. "Open up you bitch, I know you're in there." She looked from the hallway to the front door. It was Tom Sales banging on the door and yelling at the top of his lungs. "I had better let him in before half the cops in town are down here." She hurried to the door before he drew anymore attention. Amelia opened the door and asked Tom what he wanted. "I want you! You have totally screwed up my life. You are taking away my son, the money that goes with him and you have beaten up my wife. I want some of you." Amelia tried to calm him down. He would have none of it. He was determined to get even with Amelia for the supposed problems she had caused for Tom and Anna. "On top of everything else the dentist is having to build a bridge for Anna. He couldn't repair the teeth you knocked out." "Mr. Sales, The trouble is all of your own making. All the evidence is in. all I did was act as coordinator. The doctor's hospital records, the reports from school, and the interviews with your neighbors all show that the two of you have a clear record of abuse of a very nice kid. You had your chance to make it right and you made it worse instead. This is no one's fault but yours. You are his father. I think you should be put in jail for the way Adam has been treated." "Enough of your bullshit accusations. I'm here to even the score. We might be losing the money that came from Adam's trust fund, but at least I can get some satisfaction." Tom was shouting now. "Mr. Sales, I think you had better leave now before both of us do something we will regret. I'm going to call the police so I suggest you get out of here before they arrive." Amelia moved over to the receptionist's desk and picked up the phone. While her back was turned Tom picked up a chair and hit Amelia with it. Fortunately she heard him and tried to duck out of the way or her head would have been split open. As it was the chair hit her a glancing blow in the back stunning her and knocking her to the floor. Tom started kicking Amelia in the back and sides. She was unable to get away. Then he sat down on her back and put his hands around her throat and started choking her. Then Tom made his first mistake. As Amelia's struggles became weaker Tom leaned down and said, "Now you're going to find out what it feels like to have your face bashed in." He removed his hands from her throat and pulled her to feet propping her against the desk. Tom started firing punches to Amelia's face. She was so groggy she offered no resistance. One eye started to puff and swell. Blood was coming from both corners of her mouth. Then he switched downstairs to her body. Her strong abs were able to withstand his first onslaught. Amelia tried to use her hands to protect her face and her arms and elbows to protect her body. Tom kept flailing away. Switching to the body allowed her to start to regain her focus. Then the overconfident Tom made his next mistake. He swung a wild roundhouse punch. Amelia just barely slid inside it. She then delivered her first punch. But oh, what a punch. As she had moved slightly forward and ducked, she brought her right fist up toward his chin. Amelia's fist traveled no more than eighteen inches and impacted under his chin. It was driven by her huge bicep and the turning of her hips. As her hard fist accelerated from eighteen inches away it collided with the underside of his chin. The sound made by the impact filled the room. Tom's head snapped back so far that the top of his head seemed to touch his back. His eyes glazed over. His knees turned to jelly, and could no longer support him. He slowly fell to his knees, then flopped face down on the floor. He was out cold. Amelia couldn't believe it. She had been in several fights but this was her first one punch knockout. She was still in pretty bad shape herself. She collapsed into the desk chair and tried to catch her breath. Her left eye would definitely have a big shiner and her lip was cut. She was gagging some from Tom's choke hold. After recovering for a few minutes she reached for the telephone to call the police. She found that it had been knocked off the desk during the scuffle. She thought she heard Tom beginning to come around as she got up and started to go to the next desk to use the phone. As she was dialing Tom's voice came from behind her. "Put the phone down and turn around." An ominous sounding click followed his words. Amelia turned and her worst fears were realized. Tom, though wobbly on his feet was standing about fifteen feet away with a revolver pointed at her. She could see a large bump was starting to form on his chin, the result of her earlier knockout punch. "You have caused me more trouble than I thought possible. You are taking my son and his money away, you beat up my wife, and now you have humiliated me by knocking me out. I'm going to put an end to your interference once and for all. Now get over here." Amelia moved very slowly. She did not want to give him any reason to use the pistol. Luckily for Amelia he had not completely recovered from the knockout. He staggered slightly just as he pulled the trigger. The bullet whizzed past Amelia's head. Before he could fire again she charged. Her body slammed into his. They struggled for the gun. Another shot rang out as Tom tried to swing the pistol around at Amelia. At last she was able to bang his wrist against the edge of the desk. Tom' grip on the weapon weakened slightly. Again she banged the gun hand into the sharp edge of the desk. This time Tom was not able to hold on. The pain in his hand and wrist was too severe. The pistol clattered to the floor, and slid under the desk. Tom and Amelia broke apart. "If you leave right now, I won't mention any of this. All that will happen is that Adam will be going to live with his mother." "Too late for that now," Tom snarled. He leaped at Amelia. He tried to pin her arms to her side and let his superior weight carry her to the floor. However the desk was behind them and they fell against it instead. Amelia flexed her powerful arms and broke Tom's hold by ripping his arms apart. Amelia was tired of Tom always making the first move. She recovered her balance slightly before he did. As Tom steadied himself he heard the sound of Amelia's footsteps as she came at him. When he turned to meet her all he saw was her big, hard fist that seemed to block everything else from his vision. A split second later it crash landed on his jaw. The force of the blow spun Tom around and he stumbled into the desk. Amelia's left hand reached out and jerked him around to face her. She pushed him back over the desk, with his upper body and head near the desk top and his stomach exposed forward. Her right fist rammed into his stomach like a runaway train. She could feel his head try to come up in reaction to the punch but she held him firmly in place. Amelia ripped that big fist into his belly again. "You are a lot softer than your wife and do you remember what I did to her stomach?" He was hurting far to badly to comprehend what she was saying. "Maybe a little demonstration will help your memory." Amelia pulled Tom upright. She plowed her fist in and his stomach muscles offered no resistance at all. Her fist penetrated deep into his insides. Tom was trying to barf, but Amelia was just warming up. Four more times that terrible fist disappeared in the man's belly. To Tom each punch seemed to sink farther in and to hurt more than the one before. Amelia released her hold and let Tom slump to the floor. Tom rolled around on the floor groaning and clutching his damaged stomach. Amelia calmly stood by and watched. Finally he got enough wind to speak. "Please let me go. I promise never to cause any trouble again for Adam or for you. I can't take any more. Please leave me alone and let me go home." Amelia regarded him with contempt. "You hit me with a chair, almost choked me to death, tried to break my face, and then tried to shoot me. I asked you several times to leave and you would not. Instead you tried to injure me and kill me when my back was turned. It's too late to leave now. You have to stay here and take your medicine like a big boy." Tom tried to run to the front door screaming for help. Amelia caught him and hauled him back into the office away from the door so that any stray passers-by could not see what was going on. Tom snatched a book from a desk and threw it at Amelia. She dodged the book and slowly advanced on him. He was backing away looking for a place to run. He had given up all thought of trying to fight back, he was just trying to save his skin. Pictures of Anna's face after Amelia had finished with it kept flashing through his mind. He felt his back hit the wall. "No place else to run. Now the fun begins," Amelia said. Tom was crazy with fear. He made one last desperate attempt to push by her. Amelia shoved him back to the wall and ripped her fist once again into his ravaged stomach. Tom's mouth flew open and blood from his internal bleeding caused by those battering fists flowed out. Then Amelia's left fist battered his right eye. Three times that iron fist smashed into his eye. "You and Anna will look like a matched set," was her comment as her fist continued to hammer his eye. Two quick rights to the other eye did insure that he and Anna would indeed have matching eyes for several days. Amelia returned to her favorite target. his belly. "It is so soft it feels like I'm punching a down pillow," She said. Tom's head pitched forward. Amelia brought her right fist up in another eighteen inch uppercut just like the one that knocked him out earlier. This time she did not want to knock him out so she held back. but his head snapped up and hit the wall. "It's trademark time. Ask Anna what that means." Her fists started blasting his mouth from all angles the first punches split his lips the next few loosened his teeth. Finally that big iron hard right smashed straight in and blood and teeth sprayed into the air. Tom was barely hanging on to consciousness. Amelia finally decided to end it. One last time her left fist plunged deep into that ruined stomach, bringing fresh blood from his mouth to mix with that from his barrel sized lips and broken teeth. As his head came down again her right cracked on his chin like a rifle shot. He was unconscious before his feet left the floor as he sailed through the air and landed on his back. Amelia walked to the phone to call the police. As she started to dial she looked down at her bloody, bruised, unconscious victim. Instead of calling she sat at the desk and started writing. She wrote a note explaining that she still had the gun and could always bring the attempted murder charge. Then she took his car keys from his pocket, picked Tom up and carried him out to his car. She put him in the drivers seat, put the keys in the ignition, left her note on his lap. She took one last look at the damage her fists had done to the man, both eyes swollen shut and surrounded by purpled bruised flesh. His split lips looked grotesque they were so puffed up. His open mouth showed three missing teeth. There was a huge purple lump on his chin. Then she locked the door. As she walked back to her office, she again started feeling guilty about how much she had enjoyed beating to a pulp both Tom and Anna. But she smiled as she thought about the terrific day ahead for Adam and his mother. She resolved that the Sales did deserve what they got, and she would go on fighting for what she thought was right.