Karma (28 page)

It
was ten o'clock, Sunday morning. A sunny day with high white clouds and a cool
breeze. Debra and Martin intentionally arrived half an hour early.

Debra
Berger nervously studied the area, wiping moist hands on her coat.

Sunset
Park featured sixteen outdoor basketball courts. Ringside there were plenty of
benches and picnic tables for players to sit while waiting between games. Someone
had started a BBQ already, she could smell sausages. Families and children rode
on bikes, skateboarded or walked. Dogs were on leads with their owners. In the
distance, just nearby, she could see a kite.

The
place was packed already.

Martin
gripped her hand and Debra tensed. They had already been arguing this morning.
No, that wasn't right. Not arguing. Martin never argued with her. He knew what
she wanted. Martin simply used careful persuasion to give her the courage to act.
God knew that Debra needed to do something about her situation.

The
familiar feeling of panic flowed through her. What if Trent found out? What
would he do?

Martin
took her by the shoulders. "Look at me, Debra," he said.

Debra's
gaze met his, and she instantly felt better. How did Martin do that? Trent filled
her with doubt and uncertainty, but Martin made her feel safe. He made her believe
in herself.

Martin's
beautiful brown eyes held an encouraging glitter. "This moment could
change everything for us, Debbie."

She
calmed at the sound of that familiar nickname. Her grandfather called her that.
Debra's father was strict, but he loved her. Grandpa Dan loved her, too, but he
was nothing like his son. Grandpa Dan was big, tough and gruff. Yet to her he
had always been soft and sweet as cream whipped laced with icing sugar.

The
heat from Martin's hands on her shoulders warmed her. It was fifty degrees out.
She was dressed warm enough, but dread always made her blood run with ice. She
wondered if this time maybe Trent had followed her.

"Debbie,"
Martin gave her a little shake. "You are letting your fear run away with
you. Trent doesn’t know you’re here. Stop worrying. Listen to me now. Shut your
eyes."

Debra,
naturally compliant, instantly did as he said.

"Imagine
yourself fifteen years from now," he said in a calm soothing voice.
"Can you do that for me?"

She
nodded. "Okay."

"You'll
be a mother, with two or three precious children. Children who will depend on
you to do whatever is needed. Children who will rely on you to do what is best
for them. Would you rather be with Trent or me? Would you rather have me as the
father of your children? Or him?"

Debra
looked up into Martin's eyes. They instantly softened with understanding. Why
was it that he knew her so well? Debra was in love. In love! With someone other
than her husband. It was wrong, and it was a sin, but she hadn’t planned to
have it happen this way.

For
once Debra Berger understood and sympathized with sinners.

Did
anyone set out with an intention to sin? Or did life just happen? Because it
had certainly happened to her.

She
thought of her father, and his possible reaction to her divorce. She didn't
want to let him down. The idea of doing that broke her heart. Daddy had never
wanted her to marry Trent. He only allowed it because she was so set on it.

She
wanted to make her father proud. She wanted to make the people the church she
had attended all her life proud. She wanted to live as she should. To be a good
example to others.

But
now it was all lost. How had it all gone so wrong?

I'm
so naive! I'm so stupid!

Martin
pulled her into his arms, and she gratefully melted into him. "I'm sorry,
Martin," she sniffed, holding back tears. "I'm such a mess. I'm
stupid and weak and I don’t understand why you put up with me."

He
stepped back, pulled out a travel pack of tissues and gave her one. "Thank
you," she said.

"I
was going to leave you alone with Marcy Paget, but I don’t think I will,
now," Martin said. "You are not stupid or weak," he admonished
with a little heat, squeezing her hand. "Don't even think such terrible
things about yourself. Everyone makes mistakes. Trent knew exactly how to play
you, sweetheart. He is so much older and more experienced."

Martin
brought her fingers to his mouth and carefully kissed each one. How did he know
how to soothe her as he did? Why hadn’t she fallen in love with him first? Yet
until Trent, she never really saw Martin.

"I
know who you are, Debbie," Martin said. "I've watched you for years,
every week at church. I've always loved you. You're the ideal woman. I'm
ashamed of myself for not telling you what I thought before now. I just never
considered that I was good enough for you, sweetheart. You're such a good
person. So honest and pure-hearted. I still don’t think I'm good enough for you
- but I'm a much better person than Trent!"

Debra
looked up at him and it was a revelation.

When
she was with Martin she
was
a different person. She could be herself.
But when she was with Trent…

"C'mon,"
he said. "Let's go sit down and wait. She should be here soon."

They
sat down together, near the one basketball court that wasn't in use. Martin
explained how much he liked Mike Thompson, and how long he had known him. Mr.
Thompson intended to ask Marcy Paget to marry him. Marcy just couldn’t be an
adulterous woman. She didn’t seem like that at all. And her daughter, Katie,
looked exactly like her father, Trent.

Debra
listened and watched Martin with all her attention. He was a good person. He
was an honest, kind man and a good Christian. And that question he had asked,
about who she wanted to have children with?

Well,
it had been rolling around in her mind, ever since he had asked it.

Debra
knew the answer.

She
had known the answers ever since she had talked to Martin that one black day
when Trent had called her a stupid 'C.' That day had changed everything.

"Martin?"
she said impulsively, not wanting to wait a minute more before she told him.
"I want you to be the father of our children."

Marcy
spotted Debra immediately, but had been surprised by seeing Martin Quinn with
her. That had explained how Debra knew that Katie was in fact Trent's child. Martin
had recognized Katie – because she looked like her father. Marcy brought photos
for Debra to look at, too.

They
talked for an hour straight.

The
secret was out. Trent Berger was a manipulative, pathological liar.

Debra
was catwalk model gorgeous, yet young, naive and sweet as honey. The idea of
Trent having sex with such an innocent turned Marcy's stomach. It wasn't that
what Trent did sexually was disgusting or particularly perverse. That was just
sex, after all.

It
was Trent's selfish intentions, and what he
didn't
do during sex.

Trent
never made love. Poor Debra, no doubt, didn’t know any better.

"When
I met Trent it was like looking at the sun," Debra explained, taking a sip
of the large cappuccino that Martin had bought her. "He was good-looking, blonde
and charming. I thought he was an angel, all handsome and golden-haired."

Marcy
laughed. "Oh yeah, I thought that, too."

Debra
looked at her with a strange mixture of mature and naive in her expression. "You
know, when you look directly at the sun you can't see shadows," Debra said.
"Trent's shadows were there. I just could never saw them."

"Shadows,
huh?" Marcy said, astonished at the young woman's poetic turn of phrase.
There may be much more to Debra than she had thought. "Well, I didn’t see his
shadows either. Don't blame yourself, Debra. He fooled me when I was your age,
and he's had a lot more experience in manipulating people now. He ran rings
around me. Trent was never faithful – everyone knew that, but no one wanted to
be the one to tell me. I didn’t find out until after we divorced."

"That's
so terrible," Debra said. There was genuine sympathy in those expressive
blue eyes of hers.

Marcy
laughed. "Oh, it was terrible then, but I'm so happy now that I honestly
don’t care. He kept me around until he got through school. I've been upset at
how he has treated Katie, but now I don’t care about that either. Mike and I
are getting married and Katie adores Mike. Mike is already much more of a
father than Trent ever was."

"Did
Trent quote scripture with you?"

"No!"
Marcy burst out in a long, loud laugh. She almost choked on the coffee she was
drinking. "Seriously?" she sputtered. "Trent has taken up
quoting scripture?"

"Yes,
he knows many Bible verses."

"All
to do with obeying the husband, I'd wager," Marcy scoffed.

"Yes,
actually," Debra said, surprised into wide eyes.

Marcy
met Martin's thunderous gaze from across the table, where he sat next to Debra.
Someone should tell Trent to avoid Martin. If the young man met him in a dark
alley he just might kill him with his bare hands.
Interesting.

"Doesn’t
it say somewhere about the devil quoting scripture for his own purpose?"
Marcy asked. "While I consider myself Christian, I haven't been to church for
a long while. As a single mother with no financial support I haven't had time
for anything else except work."

"Trent
told me that you weren’t Christian, that you were adulterous, and that Katie
wasn't the fruit of his loins."

"The
fruit of his loins?" Marcy roared, drawing attention from those in a table
nearby. "Sorry." She lowered her voice. "It's just that
expression is so funny – and for him to use it! Oh he's as clever as the devil
himself I swear. So cunning. So charming. And such a selfish, self-absorbed
jerk."

"He
seemed perfect," Debra whispered. "But I'm a little afraid of him,"
she confided.

"He
yells at you when he doesn’t instantly get his way?"

"Yes."

"Has
he ever admitted he was wrong about anything or said he was sorry?"

"Just
once, but even then he managed to explain that it was still my fault."

"Wow.
He never admitted he was wrong with me. What did he do?"

"He
called me a stupid…" Debra blushed and stopped talking for a moment. When
she next spoke it was a whisper. "He called me a stupid 'C'."

Marcy
just shook her head and remained silent for awhile. "I bet he makes you
feel stupid all the time."

"Oh,
yes! Did he make you feel stupid, too?"

"That
is his favorite thing," Marcy said. "He never once hit me, though, so
that is something I guess. Trent doesn’t resort to physical abuse, just
psychological abuse. Humiliation, guilt trips, the silent treatment or yelling.
Do you want to lower your self-esteem? Do you enjoy self-doubt? Then spend time
with Trent."

Marcy
began to crush her coffee cup, but then thought better of it. "When I
first met Trent, he was confident and charismatic. I found him devastatingly
attractive, too. He was ambitious, enthusiastic about dentistry and wanted to
succeed. He seemed to have money, too. He had a nice car, and he bought me
expensive things. Later I discovered that he was in debt for all of it. Debts I
eventually had to pay."

"Oh,"
Debra said.

"He
was always very critical – obsessed with me saying or doing the wrong thing in
front of his friends. Not that he had any real friends. Everything was about
his image. I was too fat and ugly for him."

"No!
You aren't fat or ugly!"

Marcy
laughed. "Don't worry about it. He's called me worse, and I'm not a skinny
stunner by any means. Not like you are. They say that beauty is only skin deep
while ugly cuts to the bone. That's true enough. I fell for Trent's looks and
charm, but I know better now."

Shifting
restlessly on the picnic table bench, she added, "My only regret is that I
didn't leave him - he dumped me. I should have figured out his tricks and left
him sooner. You've done really well, Debra. Three years and you already know
what's going on. Good for you. You're a whole lot smarter than I was."

"I
don’t know about that," Debra said.

Martin
patted her arm. "You are smart, Debbie," he said confidently.

Marcy
had been watching the interaction between them. Mutual adoration was shining
like a beacon from both. Martin was caring and protective. Debra acted as if he
was her savior.

It
was beautiful, really. Young love. Innocent, honest and pure love. It was in
the way they talked, and looked at each other. The way those two felt, it would
be impossible for someone of even the lowest intelligence to miss.

"Are
you two in love?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer.

Debra
blushed furiously but Martin replied determinedly, "Yes, we love each
other."

"Well
good for you," Marcy said. "You're lucky to have Martin, Debra. He
can help you through it. You guys are in for a rough road."

"Why
do you say that?" Martin asked.

"Once
Trent didn’t need me anymore, the gloves were off. It was pretty ugly. He was
so mean. The cruel things he said rang in my ears for weeks. Court and divorce was
a nightmare because we had a child. He made custody an issue, just to win a war
- not because of the love of his daughter. He's hardly seen Katie since. He
didn’t give either of us a penny. You have no idea how awful that man can be.
The things he did, the convincing lies he told. Why is it that everyone
believes him? It's difficult to defend oneself against him."

Tired
of sitting, Marcy stood up, walked over to a nearby bin, and threw her coffee
cup away. When she came back she leaned toward them both, hands on the table.

"I'm
just saying that when Trent finds out that you want a divorce, Debra, he'll be
wicked," Marcy warned. "He cleaned out our joint bank accounts completely.
He even took Katie's college money – not that I could prove it. You had better
pretend that everything is fine for now. For God's sakes, don't show him your
hand."

Jaw
tight, Marcy gave Debra an intense look. "Do you want my advice?"

"Yes,"
Debra said, and Martin nodded.

"They
say that the worst vice is advice," Marcy said. "Maybe you should
keep that in mind. Either way, I'll go ahead and tell you what I think."

Marcy
stood up straight. "If I were you, I'd get all my ducks in a row. Then
I
would be the one to clean out your joint bank accounts first. I'd leave
instructions with my accountant and my lawyer. After that I would say bye-bye
to Vegas. I'd get into a car with Martin, and run away together. I wouldn’t be
back until after the divorce was finalized."

"You
think that's best?" Martin asked. "To run away?"

"Talk
to your lawyer, but yeah, I do," Marcy said. "Save yourselves all the
unpleasantness. I sure wouldn’t stick around for the fireworks. If I were you,
I'd take the money and run."