Men of His Kind     Men of His Kind

 by Lisa H

  

This was written for the Oz Lyric Wheel. Thanks to Mav for starting up the
Wheel and giving me the opportunity to finally get a Claire story out of
my system. I realize I could have written one at any time, but it seems
the challenge, along with the perfect lyrics (thanks Trasker) were what I
needed to be inspired. 

Men of His Kind  

The doorbell rang, distracting Claire as she searched for her keys among
the clutter of the dresser top. "Shit." 

The bell rang again, three times in rapid succession. 

"Goddammit, I'm coming!" she yelled, glancing into the kitchen on her way
to the door in the off chance her keys had miraculously appeared on their
holder next to the toaster. 

 She jerked the door open just as the bell rang again. "Jesus Christ,
what?!" 

The force of Howell's words pushed the thin woman in the hall back a step,
her shadowed eyes wide in her pale face. 

Claire waited, distracted as she ran through the list of places her keys
might be hiding. "Well? If you're selling, I'm not buying." 

She moved to close the door, and the woman stepped forward quickly. "Wait,
please. I'm not selling anything. My name is Nina." 

"And...?" 

"Nina Bridges. Mrs. David Bridges." 

Claire froze, keys forgotten. "You have got to be shittin' me." 

Nina hesitated, her hands twisting together nervously. "Can I come in?" 

"I gotta get to work." But she stepped back to let the woman enter. 

They stood facing each other in what was obviously a very uncomfortable
silence for Mrs. Bridges, but Claire had no intention of easing the
situation. She stared at Nina, amazed this woman would dare come to her
home, incredulous that she was still even in the picture after all these
years. 

"Do...do you remember when we met before?" Nina asked nervously. 

"What do you think?" Claire looked the woman up and down. "You look a lot
different now." 

"It was a long time ago." 

Fifteen years was a long time, but it wasn't just the passage of time that
had changed Nina Bridges. Claire remembered a curvy, long-haired, bleached
blonde from the trial, standing by her man in a way that had left a young
Claire astounded. This woman had aged much more than those fifteen years;
she was skinny, and her lank, graying hair was cut short against her
scalp, accentuating the lines in her face. 

"Yeah, it was a long time ago, but not long enough." 

Nina looked down, and when she raised her head a moment later, tears
brightened her dull eyes. "I've come to ask you to speak at his parole
hearing." 

"Oh, I know why you're here, I just can't believe it. Have you talked to
the other women?" 

Nina shook her head. "Karen Hill refused to see me, and I couldn't find
Jody Day." 

"Good for Karen. The only reason I let you get this far was to see if you
had the balls to actually ask me. I guess you do." 

"Please," Nina begged desperately, "please just hear me out. Two minutes,
and I'll leave." 

Jesus, the woman was pitiful...besides, it might make a good story to tell
at work. "Go ahead, I'll give you two minutes." Nina looked so grateful it
made Claire nauseous. 

She took a deep, steadying breath and began talking. "My husband has
really changed --" 

"Hah!" Claire barked out her disbelief, cutting the two minutes to two
seconds. "Didn't he spend time in the hole last year for beating the shit
out of some kid? Don't come in here feeding me this load of crap." 

"That boy called him names." Nina was talking down to her hands, nervously
twisting once more. "He was teasing him about...about..." 

"About what? About taking it up the ass?" 

Nina's head jerked up. "Yes," she whispered. 

"Don't look so surprised. I got friends over at Lardner, they keep me up
to date on everything. I hear he's become quite the favorite; his daddy
keeps his ass for himself, but gets big bucks for renting his mouth out. I
guess after fifteen years he knows all the tricks." 

Nina closed her eyes. "Can I please sit down?" Her complexion seemed to
have impossibly paled even more. 

Claire looked at the poor excuse for a human now sitting on her couch. She
knew some people would feel sympathetic, but she could muster nothing
beyond contempt. David Bridges had been convicted of the rape of three
women, and this idiot was still married to him, still defending him.
Christ, had she spent the past fifteen years dutifully visiting him,
meeting with lawyers, letting her own life pass her by? And for an asshole
like that? Claire's mouth curled in disgust. 

Nina started talking again, pleading. "His parole hearing is tomorrow. I
know if he can get out and away from those horrible people, he'll be
better. If you could just see him, see that he's paid his debt. He didn't
mean what he did back then, he thought they...you..." 

"He thought what?" Claire spit out. "Are you talking about his so-called
defense? That it was consensual? That he thought saying "no" was just part
of the game? The judge knew that he was full of shit and he gave him 25
years." Claire's eyes got big in a parody of innocence, and she put her
hand up to her chest. "Who's little ol' me to say he was wrong?" she
asked, batting her lashes. 

"Please don't make fun of me," Nina whispered. 

"Don't come into my home expecting me to feel sorry for that douche bag!" 

"I thought maybe, because you work in a prison, maybe you would understand
that sometimes that environment only makes things worse." 

Christ, didn't she have to put up with enough of that kind of thinking
from bleeding hearts like McManus and Reimondo? She didn't need to have it
parked on her couch. 

"Listen, you wanna pretend there's a silver lining around your pile of
shit husband, go ahead. But he deserves to be where he is. He raped --"
she stumbled over the word, her chest suddenly tight. 

She hadn't talked about this to anyone since the trial, and had grown
increasingly edgier over the past few weeks as the parole hearing neared,
knowing she was going to have to face the fucker again when she spoke in
front of the review board. She pulled herself together quickly - she
wouldn't let this woman see anything but her disdain. 

"He's just getting a taste of his own medicine," she continued, sneering
down at Nina. "Poetic justice, anyone?" 

Nina looked away. "But it's been fifteen years," she said without much
conviction. 

"Time flies, don't it? You gotta leave now, I have to get to work...at the
prison." Claire moved to the door, holding it open. 

Nina stopped on her way out. "Thank you for seeing me. What David did
was...horrible." 

And Claire couldn't help from asking, "Why the hell are you still with
him?" 

Nina looked away, her eyes going distant. "He's all I have." 

"What a crock of shit!" Claire was disgusted. "God, you women who cling to
their men no matter what make me sick! No man is worth giving up your life
for, and this asshole isn't even worth giving up a night's sleep." 

Nina looked a final time at Claire, her expression one of defeat and
resignation; saying nothing else, she moved on into the hall, Claire
watching until she got on the elevator. 

"Fucking doormat," she muttered. 

After a quick glance at the clock - "fuck!" - she hurried through the
small apartment collecting what she needed for work: hat, jacket, gloves.
And when she picked up her gloves from the top of the DVD player, there
lay her keys. 

She scooped them up, and after checking the time once more figured she
could just make it if the traffic wasn't against her. 

In the kitchen to grab her wallet, she paused, as she always did, to read
the post-it note stuck on the fridge - the date and time of Bridges parole
hearing. It's presence over the past two weeks had elicited a certain
unease, one she didn't always consciously acknowledge. But she was now
aware of it's absence, as though the subtle fog of fear and trepidation
surrounding her the past couple weeks had dissipated. For the first time
since hearing about it, she wasn't dreading the meeting tomorrow. In fact,
she realized, she was almost looking forward to getting it over with. 

She wouldn't be some drunk, naive girl, like the night he raped her. Or
scared and intimidated, like at the trial. Most importantly, she wasn't
some simpering, brainless idiot he managed to control from behind bars.
She was in charge now, someone in position to have control over his sorry
ass. She'd get through the hearing just fine, and when it was over, she'd
be walking out the door, and he'd go back to sucking dick. 

She hoped he was on his knees right now, getting his skull fucked. 

Speaking of getting fucked... 

On the long drive to work, she thought of Ryan O'Reily. It had been
several months since they'd been together. Not that the last couple times
had been anything to write home about. She kills the Ruskie for him, and
he develops a severe case of limp-dick...typical man. 

That surely wasn't the way he was telling it, and she knew that he was
talking. She'd happened to pass Chris Keller in the hall a couple days
ago, and the fucker had actually winked at her, followed up by one of
those shit-eatin' grins he had. It took only a moment to realize what it
had been about...he'd been hearing stories from O'Reily. Impertinent
cock-suckers, both of 'em. 

Ever since she'd been working Unit J, it was impossible to get to O'Reily,
and it pissed her off royally. That skinny mick had tried to stop their
"relationship" until she let him know who called the shots. He must have
been thrilled when Tim 'Dickhead' McManus had transferred her out of Em
City. 

She could just see him and Keller, all cozy together, talking about her,
laughing at her - she should have thrown Keller's ass in the hole over
that wink. And then Claire felt like one of those cartoon characters,
where the light bulb goes off over their head. She giggled, her hands
tightening on the steering wheel in excitement. 

"Oh, Ryan," she said out loud, "I hope you've been getting plenty of
protein in your diet." If she could time it right, they'd be having the
most touching reunion this afternoon. She'd show him, no one says no to
Claire Howell. 

-end- 

Date Rape 

Let me tell you about a girl I know,
 Had a drink about a hour ago
 Sitting in the corner by herself,
 In a bar in downtown Hell. 

She heard a noise and she looked through the door And saw a man she'd
never seen before
 Light skin, light blue eyes,
 A double chin and a plastic smile, well 

Her heart raced as he walked through the door And took an empty seat next
to her at the bar "My brand new car is parked right outside, How'd ya like
to go for a ride?" 

And she said "Wait a minute, I have to think" He said, "That's fine. May I
please buy you a drink?" One drink turned into 3 or 4 and they left and
got into his car And they drove away some place real far. 

"Now babe, the time has come
 How'd ya like to have a little fun?"
 And she said, "If we could only please be on our way, I will not run." 

That's when things got out of control
 She didn't want to, he had his way
 She said, "Let's Go"
 He said, "No Way!" 

Come on babe it's your lucky day
 Shut your mouth, we're gonna do it my way Come on baby don't be afraid,
 If it wasn't for date rape I'd never get laid 

He finished up, he started the car
 He turned around and drove back to the bar He said, "Now baby don't be
sad
 In my opinion you weren't half-bad." 

She picked up a rock, threw it at the car, Hit him in the head, now he's
got a big scar Come on party people won't you listen to me, Date Rape
Stylee 

The next day she went to her drawer,
 Looked up her local attorney at law,
 Went to the phone and filed a police report And then she took the guy's
ass to court, well 

The day he stood in front of the judge
 He screamed, "She lies that little slut!" The judge knew that he was full
of shit And he gave him 25 years
 And now his heart is filled with tears 

One night in jail, it was getting late
 He was butt-raped by a large inmate
 And he screamed,
 But the guards paid no attention to his cries That's when things got out
of control 

The moral of the date rape story,
 It does not pay to be drunk and horny
 But that's the way it had to be
 They locked him up and threw away the key Well, I can't take pity on men
of his kind, Even though he now takes it in the behind 

That's the way it had to be
 They locked him up and threw away the key Well, I can't take pity on men
of his kind Even though he now takes it in the behind 

Date Rape!  Please send feedback to Lisa H.