I had hoped to release more of this story this week, but I’m all edited out for today. More next week.
In summary, Larry and Theresa are about to lose their long time family-owned butcher shop to the bank. Enter Jimmie Chick, a dangerous mobster who has been in love with Theresa since they were all teenagers. He bullies Larry into making a bet backed by all the equipment in the back room of the butcher shop, or so that’s what Larry thinks Chick wants. Larry knows he’ll lose the bet but is afraid of what Chick might do to Theresa and him if he doesn’t do what Chick wants. Figuring they still have insurance on the shop, he figures he’ll report it stolen and break even. That is until Chick comes to collect on the bet, and Larry finds out what he really lost in the bet. Chick wants Theresa or a piece of her . . . her hands. He tells Larry that if he doesn’t deliver one or the other, he will kill them both. When Theresa finds out about the bet, she tells Larry she’d rather live without hands than be with Chick, or worse, die with Larry. She turns on the band saw and aims her wrist a the blade . . . .
Theresa woke up in the hospital but was afraid to open her eyes. She shivered as she remembered pushing her wrist into the band saw blade. She thought if she could stay in the dark, maybe she could somehow avoid reality.
“Theresa? Honey? Are you awake?”
Tears streamed from Theresa’s eyes when she heard her mother’s voice, like when she was a little girl and needed sympathy for a scraped knee. Only the extent of this injury . . . . “Where am I?” she asked, keeping herself in the dark as she lifted her arms. There was a dull pain at her wrists, but in her mind she could feel her fingers move. Hoping beyond hope, she opened her eyes. It was true. Her hands were gone and all that was left were two bandaged stubs. She tried to sit up but lost her balance and bounced against the pillows at her back.
“Theresa, calm down,” her mother said as she stood and wrapped her arms around her daughter’s shoulders to help her sit up.
“Where’s Larry?” Theresa asked in a panic.
Her mother breathed in deeply and waited before letting out a sigh.
“Mom. Where’s Larry?”
“Jail. Where he belongs.”
“Oh, no they didn’t. We’ve got to get him out, now!” Theresa swung her legs off the bed while holding her bandaged arms up to balance herself. The needle from the IV in her foot stung as it shifted. She reached to take it out, forgetting she no longer had hands.
“Theresa, stop it.” Her mother grabbed ahold of Theresa’s legs and put them back on the bed then leaned her back against the pillows.
“Mom, this isn’t his fault.”
“You sound like a battered woman.” Her mother then added, “Larry isn’t getting out of jail anytime soon. They denied him bail based on the horrific thing he did to you. Good thing, because your father wants to kill him.”
“Oh my God.” Theresa’s body went limp. She searched her mind to remember everything that happened but all was blank except for visions of the band saw blade.
“They still haven’t found your hands. And there’s blood everywhere. Who’s going to clean it up?”
“Mom, not now. Take a break. Go get a coffee or something.”
“Honey, I can’t leave you alone. You don’t have hands.”
“Mom! Get out!”
“Fine, but you’re going to have to accept the reality of this, Theresa, and the sooner the better.” Her mother stood up and yanked her purse off the back of the chair where she had been sitting. She rushed to the door, turned in a huff, and opened her mouth to speak.
“Mother, don’t,” Theresa held up her stumps and shook her head, trying to send the message to her mother that ‘the sooner the better’ she dealt with reality was not the right thing to say at the moment.
Theresa’s mother then disappeared out the door.