Families are messy - 1

“What the hell,” Casey exclaimed as he pulled into the driveway.

There, spread across the front lawn, were all his clothes and most of his belongings as well. Sitting at the edge of them, looking very woebegone, was Duke.

Casey jumped out of the SUV and strode angrily to the front door. After trying to unlock it he realized that not only had his bitch of a wife thrown his things out of the house but she’d also locked him out as well. He was sorely tempted to break a window to get inside but discretion took hold. So he worked out his temper, to a small degree at least, by banging on the door while swearing under his breath. He’d have done that out loud but he knew the neighbors, who were undoubtedly watching with great enjoyment, would take delight in calling the cops.

Giving up in disgust he went into the garage, which thankfully wasn’t locked, found some boxes and filled them with what he wanted to keep, leaving the rest where they’d landed. “Hell of a way to get rid of unwanted clothes,” he told Duke as the dog watched balefully. Along with the clothes were a few personal items that he piled on top of everything before opening the back of the SUV. He shoved the boxes in, slammed the back closed and then opened the passenger door for Duke.

“You drool, you’re dead,” he told the dog, knowing they were empty words. Bloodhounds drooled. It came with the territory.

Getting back in the vehicle, Casey pulled on to the street, took one last look at the house where he’d spent the last five years, raised his middle finger knowing that Kathy was watching from one of the windows, and drove off.

* * * *

“Okay, calm down, it could have been worse, Casey, she could have held your things hostage.” Bing looked at his brother with some compassion, mixed with a bit of ‘Why me?’ 

He knew why. Alma and Darla wouldn’t have let Casey within a mile of their homes on a bet. Casey and his sisters had a love/hate relationship. They loved to hate each other. Alma, the eldest of the four siblings, had married well and let the rest of them know it every time they got together. Darla, the youngest, had grown up thinking she was queen of the world because their parents had spoiled her rotten. She was an afterthought, being six years younger than Casey, and a prima donna in the truest sense of the word.

Bing tolerated both his sisters. Casey was a different kettle of fish. He hated pretension in any form, which made it very strange that he married Kathy. She was the daughter of one of the wealthier businessmen in the city and had always acted accordingly. She loved throwing parties, the bigger the better, letting Casey foot the massive bills that resulted. She was also addicted to shopping, especially for clothes, and especially on the East or West coasts.

“Settle down,” Bing said, pouring two fingers of whiskey into a glass and handing it to his brother. “What did you two argue about now?” he asked once his brother had tossed the drink back and gotten a second one.

“I told her enough was enough and that the Bank of Casey was officially closed until further notice.” He smiled sourly. “She didn’t take kindly to that.”

“I bet. You may be lucky you got out without her castrating you.”

Casey chuckled. “She threatened to; just before she told me she was calling her father’s lawyer to see if I was allowed to do that.”

“I’d say from the fact that you’re here with all your stuff that he must have told her you were. Next step I suspect is that you’ll be getting notice that she’s divorcing you and will do her damnedest to take you to the cleaners.”

“She can try. She won’t get a lot of cash.”

Bing’s eyebrows went up. “Why not?”

“Because I’m not quite as stupid as she seems to think. I saw this coming and made certain that the majority of my liquid assets were moved to Swiss bank accounts. Old fashioned maybe, but untouchable. The rest she’s welcome to, just to get her out of my life.” Finishing his drink he poured another one before finally sitting down on one end of the sofa. “Actually I have Sammy to thank for suggesting the Swiss bank accounts. He’s the one who set them up and made the whole ‘loss of assets’ for my business look legit.”

“My Sammy? And he didn’t tell me? The rat.”

“Don’t blame him, I asked him not to. I didn’t want even a hint of what I was doing getting back to Kathy. Not that I don’t trust you, but all it would have taken was one wrong word to Alma or Darla and they’d have gone rushing to tell her.”

“Yeah, you’re right. But Sammy’s still in the doghouse, at least for a day. Speaking of which, where’s your beast gotten to?”

“He’s in the backyard with strict orders to stay away from the flowerbeds.”