The Mongol Reply

by Benjamin M. Schutz

  Reece massaged his forehead. He was dizzy from the mad self-serving logic of Simon Tepper. More than Tepper’s abuse, Reece detested his cowardice, his refusal to accept responsibility for what he had done. He’d tried to tie her hands with knots of her own complicity. Where he had no guilt, she had enough for two. Reece was sure Serena Tully had not been the first.

  “And you’d have held onto that hope unless I threatened you with an even greater loss?”

  “Yes,” she whispered, head down. “Why did you do that?”

  “I had to know. Would your kids come first, or protecting your relationship with Tepper?”

  “So you knew. How?”

  “Like I said. You kept it together while your husband was blitzing you, then all of a sudden you fell apart when you got the kids and the house back. That told me you’d lost something really vital to you. Essential. What? What made you depressed in the past? What made you suicidal? You’d been betrayed by men you loved. You don’t love your husband. His betrayal of you by his sneak attack scared you and angered you, but you weren’t devastated. That said to me you had a lover, someone else who was more important to you. Your husband showing me the letter confirmed it. You fought back because you had the support of someone you loved and you thought loved you. When you got depressed and stopped attending to yourself or the kids, I was pretty sure you’d been abandoned again. The question was who, and why weren’t you getting help.

  “I knew you were seeing Simon more than once a week. Felicia told me when I interviewed her. In your testimony you said you saw him for therapy once a week. His clinical notes matched that. I figured you were telling Felicia you were going to therapy as a cover for seeing your lover. It’s a great cover story. You’re gone a couple of hours. You’re legitimately incommunicado. It wasn’t until you told me that Simon had agreed not to see you that I began to wonder. No therapist would cut you loose at a time like this, not the way you looked.

  “So I went over everything I had in the file. Way back when I first saw your husband, he said that the private investigator following you said that you didn’t go anywhere except to the doctor. I took out the copy of the poem that your husband gave me and compared the handwriting with his session notes. They’re a match. What I had to know was how far you would go to protect him and your relationship with him. Now I do.”

  “What are you going to do to me?”

  “To you? Nothing. Simon Tepper exploited and abused your trust and vulnerability. He betrayed your love and abandoned you when you needed him most. On top of that he’s tried to make you feel like it’s your fault, or just a mistake in technique.”

  “It is my fault. He didn’t force himself on me. I wanted to have a relationship with him. I was in love with him.”

  “Ms. Tully, you’d have more of a relationship with an ATM machine. Regardless of what you were willing to do, it was Dr. Tepper’s duty not to use his relationship with you for his own needs. Period. If Tommy would let you touch his penis or wanted you to, would that make it okay? No. You’re not responsible for what he did.”

  Serena faced the fact that once again she had been played for a fool and sold herself cheap. The bitter tide of self-loathing rose again and she raced to the bathroom.

  Morgan Reece sat alone, adrift in a sea of easy wisdom that he would not drink from.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

  When Serena returned, she sat on the sofa, took a tissue and held it at the ready. Morgan Reece climbed back into his chair.

  “Mrs. Tully I have to put this in my report. I can’t keep it out. Your relationship did affect your parenting. The problem was with Dr. Tepper, not you. Ultimately, your kids did come first, even at the expense of any hope of a relationship with Dr. Tepper. His behavior is a clear violation of ethical standards. There are a number of avenues available to you if you wish to take any action. You can report him to the American Psychiatric Association or the state health care board. You can sue him. Whatever you decide to do, I will be available to provide information on your behalf. Right now the most important thing is for you to get a new therapist for yourself and one for Tommy. If you want, I’ll make a recommendation to you.”

  “Please.”

  “There’s a pair of therapists that work over in Bethesda. Bryce Kaplan is an excellent child therapist. Sandi Myers is also very good. I’d recommend you see her.”

  Reece turned to his desk, found their addresses and phone number on his Rolodex, wrote them down and handed them to her.

  “What about Tom? Do you have to tell him?”

  “No. I’d strongly recommend that you tell Lou Carlson, though. Once my report is released, it won’t be a secret to anyone. Lou will want to discuss the ramifications and make plans before he has to deal with Albert Garfield’s use of this information.”

  “What happens next?”

  “I’ll be out this weekend to see you and the kids. Then you’ll come in for the direct observation sessions next week. Then I’ll do the same thing next week with Tom. You’re in the home stretch, Mrs. Tully.”

  “God, this has been a long race. How am I doing, Dr. Reece?”

  “I can’t answer that, Mrs. Tully. Let’s just say a lot better than when you came in here. It may not feel like it, but it’s true.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Reece. Regardless of what you decide about custody, you’ve helped me a great deal and that has to be good for the kids.”

  “I hope so. I hope so.”

  CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE

  Morgan Reece woke from a fitful sleep Saturday morning and inventoried his anxieties. Was it the Tully case? No more anxiety than any other case. Rock climbing on Sunday? That could be it. He hadn’t thought about it since he’d talked to Lindsay at the beginning of the week. Interesting, he thought of her as Lindsay, not Ms. Brinkman.

  He could not recall any dreams. He had had dreams about falling of such intensity that he awoke with his arms in front of his face expecting concrete to greet him.

  Reece went into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee. It was more than just anxiety. He went into his study and took Danielle’s picture off his desk. It was her school picture. The last one taken of her. He wished he had some candid ones of her. Her mother took them all the night she left.

  Reece sat in the breakfast nook and propped the picture up before him. Danielle’s copper hair flashed its gold highlights. Reece saw all the places where she and her mother converged. The wave in the hair, the high forehead, upturned nose, their lips so dark against their pale skin. He could not find himself in her flesh.

  He and Elaine had fulfilled their marriage vows: “Till death do us part.” They just hadn’t known whose death. Reece never got over Elaine having her cremated without asking him. He understood that she wanted Danielle with her forever and that was the forever she needed. He had needed a quiet grassy place under a tree, where he could talk to her, where he could cry alone. He always saw her sleeping in the ground. A place where she could always be found intact as he remembered. He could not find her in that urn.

  Reece had thought about killing himself. When he did not, he felt guilty that he was betraying Danielle by staying behind. That life without her was worth living. So, he sentenced himself to life without forgiveness. He tried to atone by doing some good every day, but he had not expiated his guilt.

  Reece picked up the picture and put his fingers to the glass, as cold and unfeeling as her skin after she died. He stroked the glass and wondered if he was ready to just live and not endure. There were no answers today.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR

  Morgan Reece pulled into the driveway, jotted down the driving time, checked his list of questions and cut off the engine. He took his notepad and pen, got out and surveyed the house. Azalea beds on each side of the front porch. A well-tended front lawn. He peeked around the side of the house and saw the edge of a play gym in the backyard. There were curtains in all the windows.

  He walked up the steps and rang the bell. A hand pulle
d back the curtain side panel and he saw little Tommy. The curtain snapped back and a moment later the door opened. Reece stepped inside.

  “Good morning, Tommy. Where’s your Mommy?”

  Serena Tully stepped around the corner from the living room. She was wearing a short red silk kimono and she was breathing very slowly through her mouth. The engraved barrel of the Colt .45 jammed under her jaw explained that.

  Serena moved forward slowly, with short stiff-legged steps, as if her ankles were shackled. Tom Tully appeared next to her.

  “Well, if it isn’t Doctor Reece, here to evaluate us. Good morning, Doctor. How nice of you to join us. Glad you brought your notebook. See, I’m conducting my own evaluation. And then I’m going to reach a conclusion and make some recommendations. Isn’t that how you do it, Doc?”

  Reece nodded very slowly. He couldn’t take his eyes off the gun and his mind was tuned to a dead channel, all noise and snow.

  “Let’s go inside.” Tully waved the gun towards the family room to the left of the entrance hall.

  Reece saw Tommy, wide-eyed and somber, come alongside him and their eyes met momentarily. Reece resisted the impulse to reassure him. Any attempt to undercut Tully’s desperate show of power would probably get him killed.

  Reece entered the family room. On the kitchen pass-through was a nearly empty bottle of Jack Daniels. Not a good sign, he thought. Rage, alcohol and a gun. The holy trinity of pointless death. Even with all his faculties, Tully would have been hard to reason with. With his inhibitions anesthetized and the distance from wish to deed just a finger pull, the slightest mistake in word or action could be fatal. Tina sat on the floor in front of the television talking in a hushed voice to her dolls. She did not even look up as everyone entered the room.

  Tully waved everyone to a seat, then grabbed the bottle. Reece, Tommy and Serena all sat on the sofa. Tully swigged from the bottle once, then twice. Seeing that it was empty, he set it down, went to the liquor cabinet and opened a bottle of Wild Turkey. Draining an inch from the bottle, he took a deep breath, looked at his wife and son and said, “Let’s do this right. You sit over here.”

  Serena moved over to a recliner, set ninety degrees to the sofa.

  “Good. You’re the first witness. Reece, you’re the court reporter. We’re gonna try this case right here and now. I’m the lawyer and this …” He stared at the gun. “This is the judge.”

  Serena tried to adjust her robe, which had slipped open above her knee.

  “That’s good, you slut. Leave it where it is.” Tully shrieked, pointing his gun at her head.

  Serena winced and turned her head away. Reece tried to see if the safety was off. He couldn’t tell. The hammer was cocked. That much he knew.

  “Let’s start. You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?”

  “Yes.” Serena whispered.

  “I can’t hear you,” Tully thundered.

  “Yes.”

  “Good. See how easy that was. First question for the witness. Have you been fucking other men while you were married to me?”

  “Daddy, I have to go to the bathroom,” Tommy said.

  “Not now. Hold it. This is important. This is the kind of woman your mother really is. You need to hear this, Junior. The truth will set you free.”

  Tommy began to squirm. Reece looked down at the dark stain spreading across his pajama legs and soaking the cushion between them.

  “Please let him go, Tom. He hasn’t done anything. Do what you want with me, but don’t hurt the children.”

  “Oh that’s sweet, you bitch. Don’t hurt the children. You’re the one who’s hurt the children. You’re the one who ruined everything. Now you’re worried about the children. It’s a little fucking late for that. Answer the fucking question.”

  Tears streamed down her twitching, trembling face. “Yes, I did.”

  “Good. Who was it?”

  “Doctor Tepper.”

  Tully’s mouth fell open. “Doctor Tepper, that old fart? Jesus, Serena, you are sick.” Tully began to laugh and took another swig from the bottle. “Why? Why him?”

  “I thought I was in love with him.”

  “In love with him? Objection. You were married to me. You were my wife. You took a vow of fidelity. To me.”

  “Tom, my lawyer told me that you were having affairs too. You cheated on me, too.”

  “I did not. Don’t you ever say that again.” Tully got right in front of her and raised the gun high to smash across her face. Serena cowered and crossed her arms in front of her to take the blow.

  “Daddy, I wet my pants. I gotta go.”

  Tully spun around to face his son. “Shut up. You wet ’em. You sit in it. You aren’t a baby anymore, Junior.”

  Across the room, Tina picked up one of her dolls and smacked it viciously across the face.

  Tully turned back to Serena. “You can’t cheat a cheater. I didn’t go looking elsewhere until you stopped sleeping with me. What was I supposed to do? That was your job. You’re my wife.”

  “Tom, I couldn’t. I was miserable. We didn’t talk. You just yelled at me all the time. I was dying inside. My feelings for you died.”

  Tully mocked her with a singsong voice. “We didn’t talk.”

  Then he roared, “Bullshit. Talk. We talked all the time. All you ever did was complain. You never did anything I told you to. I got sick of listening, Serena. You were unhappy and you were always gonna be unhappy. I couldn’t fix it and you wouldn’t. Don’t try to lay that shit off on me.” Another swig and the mocking began again. “Sorry honey. Not tonight. We didn’t talk enough. I’m not happy yet. Make me happy first, then we can fuck.” Swig. Roar. “That’s not the deal. You used to want to do it all the time. You never said your feelings changed. You just went into the deep freeze.”

  “That’s not true, Tom. I told you how I felt. I said let’s go to counseling. You said no.”

  “Fucking right, I did. I didn’t need counseling. You did. So I said go. I fucking paid for it, Serena. I paid for that guy to dick you. Jesus, Serena, he’s a fucking Jew. You were supposed to go there and get your head fixed so we could go on being married. No, you decided to start putting out for him. Nice work, Doc. You thawed out her deep freeze so you could play hide the salami. Take a note, Doctor Reece.”

  Reece didn’t move. Tully pointed the gun at his head. “Take a note.”

  Reece picked up his pen.

  “When I’m done here, remind me to go to Dr. Tepper and blow his fucking brains out.”

  Tully took another long pull and let the gun drop to his side. “Where was I? Oh yeah. I’m gonna grant the divorce to Mr. Tully on the grounds of adultery and terminal whining and bitching by his wife. Now we have to have a property settlement, right? You’ve done this before Reece, isn’t that right?”

  Morgan Reece looked at Tom Tully. How long had he been at this? Since last night or when Serena arrived this morning? Must have been since last night. He wouldn’t let her leave, so she changed into something to sleep in. With Tully? Had he slept at all? How much booze had he had? Maybe if they kept this going, he’d drink enough to pass out or slow down enough for him to be overpowered. Sober, he was too young, too strong, and too quick for Reece to even try it.

  “Hey Reece, isn’t that right?”

  “Yes, Mr. Tully. That’s right.”

  “Good. Let’s see what we have to divide. Well we used to have all this.” Tully turned, his arms outstretched, and surveyed the house. “And I had a job and a pension. You know what we have now, Serena?” He bent over so that his face was inches from hers. “Nothing. Nothing. You fucking ruined everything, Serena.” He sprayed her with saliva as he screamed out the words.

  “Not only are you to blame for this divorce. But you’ve ruined my life, Serena. You tried to steal from me. These kids, this house, my job, my retirement. What were you gonna do? Set up house with your Jew, huh? Figure you’d live off good old Tom Tully. No fucking way, you
cunt. No fucking way.”

  “Tom, I don’t know what you’re talking about. We haven’t asked for anything. You can have the house. You can have your pension. I’ll give it all to you. Just let the kids go, Tom. Write something up, I’ll sign it. I’ll give you anything you want.”

  “Like last time? We used lawyers then. You signed the paper. Then boom! You turned right around and changed your mind. Next thing I know I’m out on the street, and I’m paying you to live here with my children. This is my house, Serena. Not yours. I paid for this. All of it.”

  Another swig. “Besides it’s too late. I know what your lawyer found out. My lawyer told me. You fucked up everything, Serena.”

  “What, Tom? I don’t understand.”

  “Your lawyer found my girlfriend. She’s no fat old Jew, Serena. I’ll tell you what. She makes you look like a dog, Serena, a fucking dog.” Tully smiled at that wound.

  “That means he knows I lied about the money. That I’ve got more money than I let on. He knows I lied to the ball club. I took money for trips with her that I shouldn’t have. They’ll fire me. I’ll be blackballed. I’ll never work in the league again. What am I gonna do? Coach high school? Be a gym teacher? This is all I’ve ever done. This is all I know how to do. No more one hundred thousand a year paychecks. A hundred thousand? Two hundred thousand with Vinnie. Once I’m out, all that money dries up. How’m I gonna live on a high school teacher’s salary? What am I gonna do? Pay you alimony, child support? With what?”

  “I’ll do without it, Tom. I’ll get a job.”

  “Right. You’ll say anything here. If I let you go, you’ll run straight to that fucker Carlson. No thanks. Take a note, Reece. Kill Carlson.”

  Reece wrote the message very slowly. When would his name appear?

  “You get custody of the kids, that fucker’ll argue you should get the house. So they don’t get stressed out having to move. Stressed out. I’ll show you stressed out. Any money I’ve got, I’ll have to give to the lawyer, especially if the league sues me. What’s that leave me, Serena? You tell me? Huh?”