2 Emma
I woke up to hear pounding at my door. Blinking my eyes open, I hissed in a breath as my shoulder throbbed. Using my good hand, I pushed myself into a sitting position, and my stomach rolled from the wave of pain. It radiated through my chest and down my arm. The sudden urge to hurl again came over me and stars danced in front of my vision.
The pounding came again, and I stood, the ground tilting under me, and headed for the door. Before I knew what I was doing, I threw back the brand new locks and opened the door. On the other side, my ex-husband stood with his new girlfriend next to him. He looked ridiculous. He had obviously put plugs in his dark hair, and I could have sworn he had makeup and even eye-liner on. He was wearing skinny jeans and a shirt with a band logo on it, a band I happen to know he hated. The woman at his side was barely twenty, young enough to be his daughter, and she wore a cut-off shirt that exposed her belly button piercing and jeans that said Wet and Wild Woman along the side.
I blinked at them both.
It took my ex a long minute to speak, and then he launched into that irritating voice of his. “What the hell, Emma? What’s going on? There’s trash all over the front yard. You look like you slept in a dumpster. Is this some pathetic plan to try to win me back?”
My head rang with every word that left his thin lips. “Win you back? Win you back? Like some cheater who can’t manage money is such a prize, Rick.”
He flinched as I spoke.
His new girl tossed her hair over his shoulder. “I think he’s a prize.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “But will you think he’s such a prize when a few years from now he starts boning his new secretary?”
Her mouth dropped open.
“Close you mouth, sweetheart, you look stupid like that,” I said, unable to help myself.
Rick stepped in front of her. “Leave her alone. I came to get my stuff, and then we’re gone.”
“Go ahead,” I said. “I put everything you own in boxes in the garage.” After letting the neighbor’s new puppies urinate all over them, but I kept that to myself.
He gave a huff. “I was going to let the lawyers tell you, but since you continue acting like a bitch, I’ll save them the trouble. If you think this divorce is going to break me, you have another thing coming. The house, the cars, the business, they’re all in my name. And since you signed a prenup--”
“I never signed a prenup,” I said, shocked.
“My lawyer would beg to differ. He’s ready and willing to testify that he saw you sign the prenup we prepared a few weeks before we got married.”
“Wait.” My head spun. “Is your lawyer your cousin?”
He grinned. “The best lawyer in the state. And when we’re done, you’re going to have nothing.”
The idiot beside him grabbed his arm. “You said there was jewelry?”
Something inside of me snapped. “You’re not going to get away with this! I never signed a prenup, and I’ll prove it. You were underwater on this house when I met you. I used my savings to buy the cars. And that business is going to sink without me, so don’t even pretend to try to take credit for my hard work.” And then I turned to the woman. “The jewelry in this house is mine. Take that garbage man, but stay away from my diamonds.”
She pouted. Like a two-year-old.
“I want my stuff,” he said, his voice cold.
I opened the door wider, biting down on the cry of pain that the movement caused in my shoulder. He strode past me, his dog at his heels, and they both headed for the door that led to the garage. I didn’t take a breath until the garage door slammed and I heard the big door opening that led to the outside.
Then, tears pricked my eyes. Not because of the two idiots. Because of my arm.
I went to the back door and opened it, using my free hand to dab at my eyes. Then I clenched my teeth together to keep from crying out as I walked to the bench in my garden and collapsed onto it. Feeling ridiculous, I tried to wipe away every tear before it could fall. I should be able to handle this, all of this, so why was it so hard?
“Karma.”
I jumped a little at the sound and looked around, but no one was there.
“Karma.”
I looked toward the sound, then slowly picked out the shape of a toad sitting by the edge of the little pond in my backyard. I was shaking for some reason. Maybe because my ex and his new lover were digging through my garage. Maybe because I was pretty sure I would pass out from the pain before I could make it to Urgent Care. Or maybe because I could swear the toad kept saying the word “karma,” but I couldn’t be sure.
Sometime later, the door to the backyard opened. I didn’t bother turning around; I just kept staring at the toad. They came and stood in front of me, blocking my view of the toad, and I slowly looked up. I was shocked by just how pleased they both looked with themselves. And for the first time it really hit me that after betraying me, after leaving me after twenty years of marriage, neither of these people felt the least bit remorseful.
They were just terrible people.
I didn’t know what I was about to do, but suddenly something caught the light. I stood slowly to find that she, this bitch child who was banging my piece of shit husband, was wearing my mother’s necklace. The locket with her image inside, and easily the most important thing I own.
“My mother’s locket.” Horror rose inside
