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Renee Had to Go

Posted: 16 Feb 2014, 20:34
by EileenK98
Oh, hello! Welcome to the neighborhood! Yes, it's lovely here, isn't it? We're only a few blocks from the ocean, and if you aim your telescope just right, you can see the island out there. There's a big bingo hall on the island now; I take Grandma to bingo once or twice a week. Mostly I just like to play catch with the dog or go ice skating at the snow park. And then there are the block parties.

The parties are usually in Sam and Donna's backyard, and everyone comes. The next one is . . . Sunday, actually. You're welcome to bring a dish or two, though you don't necessarily have to.

Pardon my asking, but are you dating anyone? No? You don't mind if I introduce you to Matt, do you? He's a schoolteacher, and he's single, too. I think you'll really like him, once you meet him.

Just keep your flirting hands off the married men, or we'll get rid of you the way we got rid of Renee.

Don't look at me like that! We didn't kill her! This isn't that kind of neighborhood! But we won't tolerate a troublemaker, so we made life as difficult for her as possible, until she finally moved out. Too bad her boyfriend, James, went with her. We didn't mind him, but I guess he was so devoted to her that he couldn't stand living without her. Some people, huh?

I guess it all started at the big party for Maude and Nelson's little boy. They adopted a three-year-old a little over a year ago. Maybe you've seen him in the park, a little dark-haired boy in maroon overalls and an engineer's cap. He loves that cap, never takes it off. James gave him that cap, as a matter of fact. Maude wanted to throw it away after what happened with Renee, but the kid put up such a fuss that in the end, she let him keep it.

Anyway, here we were at the party, all married couples except for Matt, and Renee and James, who were still only dating. What? Yes, Paul and Sean are married. They got married a few years ago in a state where it's legal. Not that that stopped Renee.

It started with Nick Powers. You must know Nick; his wife Susan works at the real estate agency. She probably found you this house. Anyway, Renee sidles up to Nick while Sue's inside getting a drink, and before anyone can stop her, she's got her hands all over him! I mean, in places where a woman shouldn't touch a man who's not her husband. He didn't seem to mind too much, either.

Well, Susan comes back, and all hell breaks loose.

TO BE CONTINUED . . .

Re: Renee Had to Go

Posted: 16 Feb 2014, 23:41
by SeekerDraconis
I really like your story! :-) You have me hooked. Can't wait for the next installment! :D

Re: Renee Had to Go

Posted: 18 Feb 2014, 13:48
by EileenK98
PART TWO

Now, I should probably mention that James wasn't there at this precise moment. He'd arrived with Renee, but had to leave early for some reason. He had to work, that was it. He worked in the music store, if I recall correctly. In fact, it wasn't till he started working there, and being away most of the time, that Renee started . . . well, misbehaving.

Anyway, Sue comes back out to see Renee all over her man, and she just flipped OUT! Screaming and calling her all kinds of nasty names, and at the end of it all, she dragged Nick away by the collar. He wasn't allowed to come to any more neighborhood parties for a while.

Didn't bother Renee, though. She moved on to the next married man, which, as it turned out, was Sean. Who, as I've mentioned, was gay, so he wasn't even interested in her, but that didn't stop her from trying. As you can imagine, Paul wasn't very happy about that. He didn't go all drama queen on her, but he had a long talk with Sean when they got home. Sean explained that he was just trying to be polite. Anyway, they worked it out.

Things didn't go so well between Violet and Gil. They were on shaky ground to begin with, and once Renee set her sights on Gil, they were doomed. He was so flattered by her attention that he began sneaking out to see her. Oh, but I haven't told you the best part yet: Violet worked at the music shop with James. It didn't take them long to put two and two together, and when Vi got home and Gil wasn't there, she knew just where to look. He begged her forgiveness, but it was too little, too late. She kicked him to the curb, and moved about as far out of town as you can get. I'm not kidding; she now runs a natural food store in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Renee was not discouraged by this in the least. She moved on to her next victim, who happened to be my husband. And that's when we, the ladies of the town, got together and decided that enough was enough.
Renee had to go.

TO BE CONCLUDED!

Re: Renee Had to Go

Posted: 19 Feb 2014, 06:16
by penlopej
Can't wait to hear what happens next.

Re: Renee Had to Go

Posted: 24 Feb 2014, 00:57
by EileenK98
(Warning: this part contains a bit of rough language. Also, it's a bit long. And I have no idea if the legal information is correct, because I'm not a lawyer, so don't sue me, okay?)

PART THREE

Operation Ditch the Bitch began the next day.

We decided that a frontal attack, followed by a total freeze-out, was the way to go. We told our husbands, our kids, and our unattached friends--everyone but James, who didn’t want to listen but didn’t want to get involved, either. He was walking around in total denial about what a cheating skank Renee was, and no amount of talking would change his mind.

“Don’t be nice to Renee,” was the order of the day. “Don’t talk to her, don’t do anything nice for her . . . if you could cross the street when you see her coming, that would be great. If she follows you and demands a conversation, be as rude as possible. Together we can make life so miserable for her that she has no choice but to move. But we all have to be on board with this.”

And so, the next morning, it began. Renee lived next door to me at the time, and we usually at least waved to each other when we both left for work at the same time, but not today. I refused to even glance in her direction. I got in the car, backed out, and nearly collided with her car, which was pulling out at the same time.

I blared my horn at her, flipped her off for good measure, and cut her off as I drove away. It wasn’t until I was on the main road that I noticed she was following me.

What the heck? She worked in the complete opposite direction from where I worked! There was no way she could be going the same way I was by accident. I speeded up to get away, but she stayed right behind me.

I turned, she turned. I slowed down, she nearly ran into me. I fully believe that she would have run me off the road if I hadn’t speeded up again. I was so absorbed in the chase that I nearly missed the turn. I made a sharp right, hoping that I had lost her, but no such luck. As I pulled into the parking lot, she pulled in right behind me.

There was no escaping a confrontation now.

I tried to stay in the car, but Renee came up to my door and yanked it open. Damn automatic door locks.

“What is your problem?” she demanded.

“My problem? You’re the one going out of her way to cause trouble! What’s your problem?”

“Maybe you should learn how to drive!”

“Maybe you shouldn’t tailgate!” I shot back at her.

“Get out of the car and face me, then!”

I started to get out, but halfway up, I lost my balance and reached out to grab the first thing I could get my hands on. Unfortunately, that happened to be Renee. The force of my backward momentum pulled her forward, and she banged her head on the door frame.

Total accident, but would she believe it? The next thing I know, we’re rolling around in the dirt like school kids, scratching and biting and trying to rub each other’s hair in the mud. It took four of my coworkers to pull us apart. We were both covered in filth, half the buttons on my blouse were missing, and she had a big bruise on her forehead where she had hit the door.

This was not good.
Fortunately, the police were not called. I went home to freshen up; I don’t know where Renee went, but it wasn’t home, because I didn’t see her again until five-thirty, when I finally came home after my shift.

She didn’t apologize; I didn’t apologize. We pretty much avoided each other from then on. I did feel a twinge of guilt, because Renee and I had always been good friends, but that was before she started chasing married men. We had to show her we would not tolerate that behavior.

That was Monday. At our Tuesday night book club meeting, we laid our books aside and talked about Renee.

“I saw her coming out of the supermarket,” Donna said, “just as I was about to go in. I went back to the car and waited until she had loaded her car and driven off. I didn’t even want to make accidental eye contact.”

“I don’t walk the dog past her house anymore,” Sue added. “I turn around and go back the way I came.”

“Sean won’t even go out of the house,” said Paul. “Our garden is dying, but he’s too afraid of getting caught in the black widow’s web.”

“Someone ought to warn James,” Maude advised us.

“I’ve tried,” I told her. “We’ve all tried. He just shrugs it off. Never seen anyone in such denial in my life.”

“His loss,” said Matt.

“Nobody’s being mean to him, are they?” I asked. “That wasn’t part of the plan.”

“There’s no way he doesn’t know what she’s doing,” said Donna. “It’s not like she’s even trying to be discreet about it.”

“Knowing what she’s doing and agreeing with it are two different things,” Paul pointed out.

“Maybe he’ll see what she’s doing and leave her,” Sue suggested.

“We can only hope,” I said. “So let’s just keep doing what we’re doing to her, and leave him alone. If he wants to shut his eyes to the whole thing, that’s his problem, but we don’t hold it against him. All in favor?”

Everyone agreed.

Wednesday, I saw Renee a couple of times. I didn’t say anything to her, but I didn’t go out of my way to avoid her, either. Just general indifference. It was the same for all of us. We weren’t trying to be mean to her, but she was no longer one of us. Complete freeze-out.

Thursday night, she came to the weekly town meeting (alone; I had no idea where James was), and sat in the very last row, all the way towards the wall, as far away from everyone as possible. She sat patiently while the mayor and the town council delivered their speeches, and then, during the Q and A portion of the evening, she stood up.

“My name is Renee Taylor, and I live at 4 West Oceanside Drive. I would like to know why my neighbors are all treating me like a pariah all of a sudden. It’s always been such a nice neighborhood, but the last few days, everyone’s been avoiding me for no reason.”

“No reason?” Sue got to her feet. “Susan Powers, 10 Ocean Lane. You want a reason, lady, how about the way you’ve been going after all the married men like a preying mantis?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“No? You really don’t remember that incident at Maude’s when you were hanging all over my husband with your hands in his--”

“All right, all right, ladies!” The senior council member, Tom Howard, tried to maintain order. “This is clearly a private issue--”

“No it isn’t! She’s made it very public!” Paul stood up. “Paul Moody, 12 Ocean Lane. This isn’t two people having an affair. This is a predator openly trying to seduce every man with a ring on his finger! She’s a homewrecker and she must be stopped!”

Renee looked very insulted by the very suggestion, even though it was one hundred percent true. “I am not trying to seduce anyone! Just because I happen to be a very friendly person . . .”

“Only if by friend you mean fuckbuddy.”

“There’s no call for that language here!” Tom waved his gavel about. “Let’s please try to keep it civil.”

“I have no idea what he’s talking about,” Renee said. “Yes, I like chatting with married men--is that a crime? Should I not be friendly with my neighbors?”

“There’s friendly,” said Sue, “and then there’s crossing the line, and lady, you crossed it a long time ago!”

“Well, maybe if you satisfied your man, he wouldn’t be looking elsewhere for company!”

“He was perfectly satisfied until you showed up and got your claws into him!”

Tom banged his gavel. “That’s enough! Clearly this is a private issue amongst yourselves, and not a matter for public discussion.”

“What if we bought her house?” I didn’t even realize I’d spoken until I noticed everyone was looking at me.

“Please stand and introduce yourself,” Tom said, waving his hand invitingly at the podium.

Taking a deep breath, I stood up and walked over, adjusting the microphone to my height. “I’m Kristen Connors,” I said, “and I live at 3 West Oceanside. Those of you who know me, know that I worked as a lawyer before I came to town, and I handle all the legal business at the real estate agency. There is legal precedent for a neighborhood consortium buying up a house which is lowering property values. In City of Simsburg vs. Roberts, the municipality itself seized by right of eminent domain the home of an individual who refused to cut his grass or repair his house . . .”

“You can’t buy my house!” Renee was incensed, and maybe . . . a little scared? “It’s mine! I’ve only got six years left on the mortgage!”

“We’ll do it if we have to,” I said. “Unless you take the initiative and move out on your own. There’s a long waiting list of people eager to move into our neighborhood, and I’m sure none of them make a habit of hitting on other women’s husbands.”

She glared at me. “Those are my choices? Move, or be evicted?”

“You made your choice when you put the moves on Nick. You see, we take our marriage vows very seriously here. You violated the sacred bond between husband and wife--or husband and husband,” I said, glancing at Paul, “and we don’t forgive that easily. So should I start drawing up the papers now, or will you go and see Sue in the morning about listing the house?”

Renee, at a loss now, looked helplessly over at Tom and the other council members. “That’s not true, is it, what she said? They can’t buy my house out from under me!”

“I’m afraid they can,” Tom said. “I trust you ladies can sort this out yourselves?”

“One way or the other,” I said, “we’ll handle it. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Mr. Howard, and esteemed council members, for your time.” And I went and sat down.

Well, after that, you can imagine, there were no other questions. The meeting wrapped up pretty quickly.

“How long would it take to process that paperwork?” Sue asked me.

“I could start tonight, fax it to the proper offices by tomorrow, and she’d be out on her man-hungry kiester by Monday, at the latest. How long would it take to list her house?”

“I could make some calls tonight, have someone out to look at the house tomorrow . . . there’s a couple of good possibilities on the waiting list. Maybe a nice single lady we could introduce to Matt. You know, most of us met our husbands when we moved here.”

“Or a family. Or a couple, at least.”

“We’ll see what she does, whether she does the right thing or continues to fight us.”

I looked over. Renee had already left, and when I got home, the lights were off in her place. The next morning, she stopped at the real estate office just long enough to sign over the house, and she was gone. I don’t know where, and I didn’t ask.

James hung around for a while, and at first we were extra-nice to him, to make up for the way we had been so mean to Renee. But we could tell he wasn’t happy without her, and about a month after she left, he was gone, too. That’s where the Baker family lives now. Their daughter babysits Maude’s little boy sometimes.

And here you are! I hope you like it here. Please don’t judge us by what we did to Renee. We’re usually very nice people, but if you push us too far, we will push back.

So don’t push us, okay? We’d hate to see you go.

Re: Renee Had to Go

Posted: 28 Feb 2014, 13:21
by penlopej
Another fantastic story. Wish I had that degree of imagination and writing skill.

Re: Renee Had to Go

Posted: 23 Mar 2016, 07:27
by Oliviasims
Cool story :)