SEPARATED: CONCLUSION TO UN-RELATED by Kimberly Schwartzmiller

immediately stood up and fixed his clothes.
    “You took advantage of my husband. What kind of person would do such a thing?”
    “HE RAPED ME!” I shouted, needing her to believe me.
    “You’re lying!”
    “Why would I lie…about that?” I was crying and I was still desperately trying to get my shoes on my feet.
    “I don’t know. Why would you lie about anything?”
    “I haven’t lied about anything.”
    “Oh, really? So, you were upfront about your relationship with Kellan?”
    “Leave him out of this. This has nothing to do with him. Your husband…raped me,” I said, sounding pathetic.
    “I don’t believe it. Where’s your proof?” she asked.
    “I’m telling you it happened!”
    “Did you just come out of the shower?”
    “Yes…I had to get… him …off of me!”
    “So, then you have no proof, do you?” she glared.
    “I’m going to the police…”
    “You do that. Go ahead. Here, let me get the door for you,” she snarled, holding the door open for me.
    I started to walk out and she said, “I hope Kellan enjoys his time in prison, as well.”
    “You can’t touch him!”
    She laughed, “Funny you put it that way…”
    “What does that mean?”
    “Did you enjoy sleeping with Kellan?”
    I just looked at her, amazed that she could even ask me that question.
    “DID YOU?” she shouted.
    “Y ...yes, of course! I love him.”
    “Yeah, I know. So, you really wouldn’t want him to go to jail now, would you?”
    “I won’t press charges…and you can’t touch him!” I repeated.
    She stepped up to me and said, “Well, I guess the jokes on you…because I did touch him…many times. I was his first!”
    I looked up at her and said, “Wh…what?”
    “That’s right, I taught him all he knows…well, maybe not all he knows, now , but I definitely taught him the basics!” she taunted.
    “You’re lying!”
    “Are you lying about Joe raping you?”
    “NO!”
    She shrugged her shoulders, “Neither am I. Oh, he wasn’t willing, but he is…was, just a boy. He was looking for love…in all the wrong places.”
    “You’re sick! You’re not serious!”
    “Ask him…he has pictures. Maybe he can get them out and show them to you sometime.”
    “Why are you telling me this?”
    “Because I won’t allow my husband to go to jail because he was drunk and spent one night…with you! So help me, if you go to the police, I’ll go to the police…and then Joe, myself and your precious brother can all get re-acquainted…while you sit alone…pining away for Kellan. Trust me; I have nothing to lose if Joe goes to jail. Try me, Abby!” she threatened.
    “You can’t be serious!”
    She held open the door for me again and said, “Are you sure you want to risk it? Kellan himself said he’s 21, so the fact that he slept with you is a felony. You lost your ace in the hole, Abby. You slept with my husband!”
    “He raped me!”
    “That’s not how I’m going to tell it…as an eye witness.”
    “You weren’t here!”
    “They don’t need to know that. Believe me, I can cause enough doubt to make this last years. All the while your precious Kellan pays the price. So, if you’re smart, and I’m not sure that you are, you’ll think twice before you mention this to Kellan…or anyone else.”
    “You expect me to just forget it?”
    “That’s exactly what I expect you to do! It’s no big deal, Abby. It’s not like he beat you or anything. Joe’s great in bed…well, maybe not as good as Kellan…or is he?” she had the audacity to ask.
    “You’re sick. How could you do that to Kellan? You were supposed to be his mother!”
    “And you were supposed to be his sister. Don’t cross swords with me Abby. I promise you won’t win. I’m serious. Let him turn in the pictures…but I promise you, I won’t rest until he gets a maximum sentence. And just as he’s about to attain his lifelong dream and become a lawyer…how sad he won’t finish…”
    She had me…and she knew it. She