or heard anything at The Place anyway, but she was trying to be quiet so that Jezebel wouldn’t hear her. Just as she got the door opened far enough to look toward the stairs, she heard Jezebel say, “God damn it.”
Beth froze for a moment, thinking she had been seen, but there was no more sound, save a scuffling sound coming from the concrete sidewalk. She opened the door just a bit further and saw Jezebel standing there, facing the stairs. Her heel was stuck into one of the many cracks in the sidewalk, but rather than taking off the shoe to try to pry it out, Jezebel was clumsily trying to rock it out by moving her leg back and forth. Her ass was sticking out of her cheap dress the whole time. The shoe wasn’t budging and a thought - no, a compulsion, came over Beth.
Before Beth was able to rationalize what she was doing, she ran out her door and gave Jezebel a firm push toward the railing. Jezebel’s left leg didn’t follow her body, the foot being stuck in the shoe. By the time her foot came loose, the shoe already snapped at the heel and Jezebel had no chance to regain her balance. She hit the railing and started flailing for a handhold. There was none. Jezebel fell silently, still fumbling for a handhold and hit the sidewalk below hard and flat on her back. It knocked the wind out of her. Beth’s eyes met Jezebel’s for a brief moment and Jezebel’s eyes changed. Was it fear? Anger? Pain? She didn’t know. Beth wasn’t sure if she was hurt, or if she was, how severely, but she knew one thing with certainty: She had to get out of there before Jezebel got up, if she wanted to live. She had shown a taste of what she could do earlier, if she got to her now, she wouldn’t hold back.
With something deep within compelling her, Beth bolted for the gate to the parking area, jumped in her car and started driving. She wasn’t sure where exactly she was going, but the word away was definitely involved.
Chapter 5
When Ulysses Stephens was in grammar school, he learned that there was a theory that the dollar sign was initially designed as the letters ‘U’ and ‘S’ superimposed over each other –an abbreviation for United States. That theory is an alternative to the much more widely accepted belief that it originated as a slash drawn through the number eight, signifying the Real de la Ocho. The symbol of the Real de la Ocho was in use all over the world well before the United States first minted a coin. Despite that, a young Ulysses Stephens latched on to the former. Ulysses Stephens; U.S.; US; $. The dollar sign became his symbol. Perhaps it was cute when he was a youngster, but it was decidedly less so as he got older. He didn’t care. The symbol was on everything he touched. It was on his personalized license plate, every tie tack and cuff link he owned and even the douche-y, dangling, gold earring that he wore when he went out on the town. It was horribly obnoxious.
Dr. Ulysses Grant Stephens was Ashwood’s most prominent psychiatrist. You would know that because the sign on the front of the building told you so, as did his business cards, phone book listing and website. He was actually Ashwood’s only psychiatrist, which was common knowledge, but much less frequently advertised. He was also a deplorable little weasel whose success was due in no small part to being quick with his prescription pad. That too was common knowledge, but only to those who were looking. By now, his hand could write the words Alprazolam and Diazepam without a great deal of interaction with his brain.
Over the years, he had gotten good at his little game. The DEA was no stranger to doctors of his ilk and he was frequently under scrutiny for being so quick with his pad. Early on, he was more brazen, whipping out scripts for narcotics to just about anyone who asked and was willing to pay. As he soon discovered, prescribing narcotics brought him way too much attention. In his profession, benzodiazepines were much easier to get
Beth froze for a moment, thinking she had been seen, but there was no more sound, save a scuffling sound coming from the concrete sidewalk. She opened the door just a bit further and saw Jezebel standing there, facing the stairs. Her heel was stuck into one of the many cracks in the sidewalk, but rather than taking off the shoe to try to pry it out, Jezebel was clumsily trying to rock it out by moving her leg back and forth. Her ass was sticking out of her cheap dress the whole time. The shoe wasn’t budging and a thought - no, a compulsion, came over Beth.
Before Beth was able to rationalize what she was doing, she ran out her door and gave Jezebel a firm push toward the railing. Jezebel’s left leg didn’t follow her body, the foot being stuck in the shoe. By the time her foot came loose, the shoe already snapped at the heel and Jezebel had no chance to regain her balance. She hit the railing and started flailing for a handhold. There was none. Jezebel fell silently, still fumbling for a handhold and hit the sidewalk below hard and flat on her back. It knocked the wind out of her. Beth’s eyes met Jezebel’s for a brief moment and Jezebel’s eyes changed. Was it fear? Anger? Pain? She didn’t know. Beth wasn’t sure if she was hurt, or if she was, how severely, but she knew one thing with certainty: She had to get out of there before Jezebel got up, if she wanted to live. She had shown a taste of what she could do earlier, if she got to her now, she wouldn’t hold back.
With something deep within compelling her, Beth bolted for the gate to the parking area, jumped in her car and started driving. She wasn’t sure where exactly she was going, but the word away was definitely involved.
Chapter 5
When Ulysses Stephens was in grammar school, he learned that there was a theory that the dollar sign was initially designed as the letters ‘U’ and ‘S’ superimposed over each other –an abbreviation for United States. That theory is an alternative to the much more widely accepted belief that it originated as a slash drawn through the number eight, signifying the Real de la Ocho. The symbol of the Real de la Ocho was in use all over the world well before the United States first minted a coin. Despite that, a young Ulysses Stephens latched on to the former. Ulysses Stephens; U.S.; US; $. The dollar sign became his symbol. Perhaps it was cute when he was a youngster, but it was decidedly less so as he got older. He didn’t care. The symbol was on everything he touched. It was on his personalized license plate, every tie tack and cuff link he owned and even the douche-y, dangling, gold earring that he wore when he went out on the town. It was horribly obnoxious.
Dr. Ulysses Grant Stephens was Ashwood’s most prominent psychiatrist. You would know that because the sign on the front of the building told you so, as did his business cards, phone book listing and website. He was actually Ashwood’s only psychiatrist, which was common knowledge, but much less frequently advertised. He was also a deplorable little weasel whose success was due in no small part to being quick with his prescription pad. That too was common knowledge, but only to those who were looking. By now, his hand could write the words Alprazolam and Diazepam without a great deal of interaction with his brain.
Over the years, he had gotten good at his little game. The DEA was no stranger to doctors of his ilk and he was frequently under scrutiny for being so quick with his pad. Early on, he was more brazen, whipping out scripts for narcotics to just about anyone who asked and was willing to pay. As he soon discovered, prescribing narcotics brought him way too much attention. In his profession, benzodiazepines were much easier to get
Similar Books
