Kathy Decides to Becom a Vigilante

She looked up Sam’s number. There was no answer.

Kathy left the courtroom in almost a daze. The lawyer was going to get him off! He was the reason she was an amputee. He had to be stopped. Her husband was out of town on business. She was alone at the house. By six thirty depression gripped her. She found a black wig and put it on then went to the study and took the pistol her husband kept there from the drawer. She loaded it, picked up two spare clips and took it to the living room. She switched to her sports leg and pulled on a pair of slacks and collected her things. She may be able to shoot him and get away with it. She would shoot him in the right knee, as many times as possible.

She was about to go to the car when the phone rang.

“Seneft’s.”

“Kathy, good to hear your voice. This is Andrew. I have some work for you.”

“Can I pass on this one? I’m really not in the mood.”

“Just hear me out. You know the last cover you shot? They want to do the next one in five weeks. Will you be ready then?”

“Not sure.”

“They told me if you were reluctant they will triple the amount of the last shoot if you give them eight days, not the five you did last time. They need the extra time because they want you to do the whole line including hosiery with two other girls.”

“Well. I may not be. Let me think about it.”

“They will probably go more if you ask for it. They wanted to know if you had sisters that look like you?”

“Why?”

“Well, the look you have, clean, pretty, not harsh, that sells big time.”

“Sorry, no sisters that would do it.”

“They were willing to offer them each one third of what they were offering you.”

“Just how much are they offering me?”

“Well, it comes to pretty close to forty thousand, of course, I get ten percent of that.”

“So a sister would get fifteen thousand?”

“Minus my commission. Yes. But you said you didn’t have a sister. They really want one younger and one older.”

“If I could give you a younger girl that looks like me would they have a problem if she was a gimp?”

“You aren’t a problem, why should someone else? Do you know someone?”

“Laura Durin. Sixteen. About an inch taller, five or so pounds lighter, hair the same color. Someone thought I was her sister.”

“Good start. Can you get me a picture of her sent to me? Could she do a quick layout there if I set one up?”

“Will you pay her for the layout?”

“You pain me. You are trying to take my job. Sure I will. Three hundred a day.”

“After your commission?”

“After my commission.”

“And the layout is hers to use?”

“Yes. What about the other sister?”

“I don’t know. Let me call Laura, see if she has a picture she can send you and see if she is interested.”

“Try hard. And look for another sister.”

“If I find both of them will you give them half of your commission for them?”

“You drive a hard bargain. How about a quarter?”

“A third.”

“Yes.”

“Call you back later.”

She picked up the phone and called Laura. Leah answered the phone. “Hello, Durin’s.”

“Mrs. Durin. This is Kathy Seneft, I wanted to talk to Laura but I would like it if you and Mr. Durin could be on the line. I don’t want her to agree to this if you don’t want her to do it.”

“Sure. We have a speaker phone in the den, I’ll get them there.” A few minutes later Laura was in the den with her parents.

“Kathy, we are here, what do you want?”

“I just got an offer to do some more modeling. It is for three times what I made the last time but it is for eight days, not the five I did the last time. They want me to do hosiery as well as the clothes and lingerie. It’s a full spread.”

“Sounds great. I am glad to hear that.”

“There is a catch. They want this to have wide appeal. I have that for the twenty year olds, but the mid twenties and teens don’t relate as well to me. They asked if I had sisters and I told them no. Then I remembered Laura. Someone who saw us in the hospital thought we were sisters. So I mentioned her. If you approve we need a picture of her, then if they approve, she needs to do a layout here.”

“That costs money.” It was Harry.

“I covered that. They pay for the layout and give her three hundred for it. And the layout is hers to use if they don’t take her.”

“But how?” Leah was asking the obvious question.

“I do it on one leg, so can she. Does she have a really good studio picture you can scan and E-mail?”

“Sure.”

“Let’s do that and see what happens. Unless of course you are saying no.”

“So I get three hundred a day?”

“For the layout, yes. The shoot pays about $14,000 for the eight days after the agent’s commission.”

“What?”

“Yes.”

“Could her mother go with her?”

“Sure. I will tell them that is the stipulation. They will pay her expenses.”

“Laura, what do you want to do?”

“Dad, that could be a big part of my going to college. I can’t turn it down.”

“Then it is settled. She can go.” It was Leah.

“Now I need to find me an older sister. They want someone older than me.”

“Patty.” It was Laura.

“Patty who?”

“I don’t know but the one nurse in the hospital looked a lot like me.”

“At the desk. I remember her. You said Patty?”

“Yes.”

“Do you remember a last name?”

“No. But if we call the floor there her sister was on nights. Someone should know her.”

“Give me a minute.”

Three minutes later she was back.

“Her sister was there. Her last name is Dawson. I have her phone number. I will call her.”

She gave Laura the e-mail address for the picture and some directions.

“Got to go.”

“Thanks.”

“Thank you.”

She got Patty on the line and in a few minutes the deal was cut. Patty would be the older sister. Patty would also e-mail a picture to Andrew.

The phone rang again at the Durin’s.

“Is Laura there?”

“Yes. Is this Kathy?”

“Yes.”

“Kathy. Thanks so much. You have no idea. Laura was so down this morning and this evening she was still feeling sad. When you called she was telling us that she found something to refute the testimony of the expert today.”

There was sobbing on the other end of the line.

“Oh, God. I was going to shoot him. If the call hadn’t come and I knew Laura needed the money I would have gone to his house and shot him.”

“Are you sure you are alright?”

There was a pause.

“Are you alone?”

“My husband is out of town.”

“Where do you live?”

“2796 Foster St.”

“Get some things together to stay here overnight. I’ll pick you up in ten minutes.”

Twenty minutes later they were back together. Laura was in the living room.

After some discussion Kathy asked if Laura had a cosmetic leg.

“No. I decided to not spend the money.”

“You need one. For the shoot. For other things. For you.”

“But.”

“Do you know how I got my first leg?”

“No.”

“The kids at school bought it for me. It made such a difference. I owe that back to someone. I think it should be you.”

“But that is a lot of money.”

“And they gave me a lot of money. You call Dr. Winslow tomorrow and get in there. You tell him you need the cosmetic like I have.”

“But.”

“It’s the cheapest leg I have except the peg leg. The knee is a low cost one, it isn’t the greatest for walking but it looks nice. They will fix it like mine with a seam that barely shows.”

“But.”

“No buts. Do you know what this saved me from doing tonight?”

“No.”

“I was going to shoot Dr. Abdul. I had the gun. I had his address. I was about ready to leave when Andrew called me. Then I saw I couldn’t because it would hurt you. I thought he was going to get off.”

“He isn’t. I have the information to refute the expert who testified today. His analysis of the slides is right. They gave him the wrong slides. They relabeled them.”

“And I would have put myself in jail for nothing?”

“Yes. Wait till tomorrow. I’d like to stay up and tell you about it but I am really tired. Can we get some sleep and get up tomorrow morning and talk?”

“Sure.”

Leah got up. “She can use the other bed in your room if she likes or she can use the one downstairs.”

“The one in her room will be great if she doesn’t mind. I don’t want to be alone.”

The two young women headed to the room. The plan to get some sleep failed miserably, they were still up talking at 1:30. Neither of them had ever been with another amputee in this kind of setting. For Kathy it was a time of feeling useful as she shared with Laura how she had learned to do some things. For Laura it was someone who was there showing she could go as far as she wanted.

As Laura was ready to go to sleep she sat on the side of the bed. “I pray before I go to sleep. Before my amputation I knelt, now most nights I just sit on the bed. I hope you don’t mind.”

“No. Go ahead. I just have never gotten much out of praying. God never heard any of my prayers.”

Laura nodded and started.

“God, I thank you for this day. It was a tough one but I got through it, and by your help and the guidance and direction you gave me tomorrow may be better for some of the others. I don’t know why I had to get cancer and loose my leg. And I am not asking about that any more. If I hadn’t there are a bunch of young women who would have lost their legs unnecessarily and not been given anything for it. The money doesn’t fix it but it will help them live. And if this isn’t done there would be more like Doris and Kathy in the future. Be with Doris and the others who were wronged. Help them forgive. Help me to help the lawyers understand what you have opened to me tonight. I know it isn’t for me. I am doing it for them. I trust that you will sustain me, guide me and see that all my needs are met. God, touch Kathy. Help her find peace in you. She has blessed me by her generosity and friendship. You said that those who bless us are blessed. Father, by your words, she is blessed. I ask you to give her direction. Give her love and help her to accept love from others. There are relationships in her life that are fragile, heal them and make them strong.

God, be with my parents. I thank you for them. Be with my brothers, they are sometimes a pain, but they have been really good to me. Help me to ignore them when they do things that annoy me and help me to be good to them. Be with Brian, Ben and Stella. God, I thank you for answering my prayers for them a home. It didn’t happen anything like I would have expected. But you brought that together.

You know I really wanted a better leg. And I didn’t want my dad to have to find the money for it. I hate taking it from someone else, but somehow I think that my dad has paid for it through helping others, this is just you blessing us through Kathy. I thank you for her. She has blessed me. Thank you for everything. Amen.”

As Laura rolled over on the bed she heard a sob from the other bed. Kathy was there crying. “You know, you asked for exactly the things I needed and you didn’t know.”

“I just sort of pray and God tells me what to pray for.”

“Why doesn’t he do that with me?”

“He will. He doesn’t discriminate. You just ask Him to, He will. The first thing you do is ask Him to forgive you for everything you ever did wrong, then you ask Him to take over your life and tell you how to live the way He wants you to live. After that, it is easy.”

“I really don’t know how to pray.”

“Want to follow me?”

“Sure.”

Laura started. “Father, I ask you to be with me.” As she prayed Kathy followed her. When Laura stopped Kathy took it up and went on.

“God, I have done a lot of things wrong. But one thing I really need help with is I hate Dr. Abdul. I nearly tried to shoot him tonight. But you know that. I know that was wrong. I ask you to forgive me and help me to not hate him. And the other things I have done, remind me of them and I will make them right.”

She was quiet for a moment and then she said, “Thank you Jesus. You are so sweet.”

It was nearly a minute till she slid off the side of the bed and hopped to Laura. She hugged her. “Thank you. I haven’t felt this good, ever. Now let’s get some sleep. We have big things to do tomorrow.”

She hopped back to the bed and was asleep in five minutes.

Laura Chapter 1

Laura Chapter 21

Laura Chapter 23