The Taft Family’s Before and After - 8. Trouble In Paradise

It took three weeks before all of their schedules aligned for the reading of the will. Kathy and Abel sat on one side of the lawyer's office, Rich and Brendan on the other. An iceberg wouldn't have melted in the gap between them. Abel nodded to Rich, but that was the extent of their interaction. Brendan was right in assuming Kathy wouldn't have let him have his share of the inheritance.

"Does HE need to be here?"

The lawyer looked at her, confused, "Who?"

"That one, the boy."

"Is there a reason he shouldn't be? The will indicates all of you are to share the assets."

“He's a faggot. Isn't that reason enough?"

"No, Mrs. Taft. It isn't. Thank you for making your position so clear. The codicil will now come into play."

"The what? Some kind of fish?"

"No, Mr. Taft. An addendum. The original will indicates the three of you and share in the proceeds equally, with another quarter going into trusts for any grandchildren. Your wife's outburst cost you quite a bit of your portion."

"What? They can't do that. We'll fight it."

"There's nothing to fight, Mrs. Taft. It's all above board and completely legal. Shall I finish?"

Kathy was incensed, "Whatever."

"After liquidating the assets, including the house in Silverstreet, Richard and Brendan are to receive twenty-five percent each. Another twenty-five percent will be split evenly in trusts for any current grandchildren, and be further split equally to any that may be born within seven years of our deaths. The next twenty-four percent will be split evenly between the American Cancer Society, and Boys Farm, Inc, in Newberry, South Carolina. The last one percent goes to Kathy Taft... That is the entirety of the final distribution. It's a rather simple will."

"One percent? That can't be right. I'm the oldest."

"I have an explanation here if you'd like me to read it. It may be embarrassing, however."

"I don't give a fuck. Read it."

The lawyer cleared his throat, "This codicil will become applicable should Kathy show any animosity toward our gay son, Brendan..."

Brendan commented quietly, "They knew?"

"Indeed. We also fully expect her to refuse the option to have him live with her after our deaths... I understand that is indeed the case?"

"Yes. She threw me out because she suspected I was gay."

"Continuing. If only the first condition comes into play, her share will be reduced to five percent, the remaining twenty percent to be split between the aforementioned two charities. Should both of those conditions be met, although she deserves nothing, she shall receive one percent, again with the remainder being split evenly between the charities."

"That son of a bitch. I knew he was never happy I got pregnant. He had to wait until he croaked to stick it to me."

"I have no information about their reasoning, only what I just read. Are there any other questions?"

Rich and Brendan answered “No” politely. Kathy simply pouted.

"In that case, we are done here. I will be handling the liquidation of their assets and will be in contact again when your funds are available. Should the house sell quickly, that should be no more than three months."

Once again, Rich and Brendan were polite, saying goodbye. Kathy stormed out of the office, practically dragging Abel behind her. It took just over two months for the money to be distributed. Rich and Brendan each received roughly eighty-thousand dollars. Each charity received over thirty-eight thousand. Kathy got a little over thirty-two hundred. She was pissed. Jill, Steven, and Nick would receive a little under twenty-seven thousand.

****
Brendan graduated high school in the top five percent of his class at Conway High School. After graduation, he enrolled at Charleston Southern University, near Charleston, South Carolina. Four years later, he received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration - Project Management. He landed a job at a small IT company in Gainesville, Georgia as an assistant project manager. He hoped to move up to a full project manager, which he did in two years.

He’d rented a small two-bedroom house around fifteen minutes from his office. He’d been there a little over three years when Nick showed up on his doorstep one Wednesday afternoon in late August. His life would be changed forever in ways he could never have imagined.

****

Four years after the will was probated, Abel had made it plain he didn't want any more kids, so he made Kathy go on the pill. He came home drunk and smelling like perfume one night. The idea of revenge returned to Kathy's brain. She stopped taking the pill. Just over a month later, it was time. Abel had one fetish that would turn him on no matter what his mood was. Kathy cut her hair short, saved some of the leavings and made herself a mustache and beard. She put the kids to bed, expecting Abel home from 'bowling' in a half hour. She strapped a false pussy to her chest and waited near the front door, naked, with her version of a strap-on prominently displayed. Abel walked in the door, took one look at Kathy and started undressing.

"Let's go to the bedroom, Abel, in case the kids wake up."

Abel was more than happy to comply. Fucking someone that looked like a man with two pussies was a fantasy Kathy only let him experience a few times before. He didn't last long, and came in the fake pussy within minutes. Kathy got up to go to the bathroom and to 'clean up.' She didn't need to clean up this time, his cum never left the false pussy. She gathered it up and inserted it into her vagina, hoping she would get pregnant.

Four weeks later, she was late for her period and took a pregnancy test. Success! Kathy hoped for another boy, so when Steven and the new baby got old enough, she'd have two of them to play with. That was the last time she and Abel ever had sex. She didn't care, he'd already been leering over their daughter, and she knew sooner or later, he'll be turning his attention toward Jill. Let him have her. Nine months later, Nicholas was born and she was ecstatic about her new plaything.

Two years after that, she caught Abel masturbating with a pair of Jill's panties. He looked directly at her, smiled, and continued, moaning Jill's name while cumming on her panties.

"Go ahead, she's yours. I'll have two boys to play with."

The next night, Abel started stalking Jill. He knew he needed to move slowly, but also knew, when he finally got her naked, it would be worth it. Jerking off on her panties and training bras after feeling up her chest kept him happy for a couple months, but it soon became time to add a new visual aid to his fantasies. He started getting Jill to take her panties off for him. He had to threaten her, initially with just sending her away, but as time went on, the threats got more severe, up to and including killing her if she said anything. Needless to say, it continued escalating. He'd been able to rub his dick on her tiny pussy a few times, even managing to 'accidentally' get the head in slightly. He took the next step, trying to get a blowjob, but the little bitch bit him. His dick was bleeding, so he smacked her senseless. He continued beating her until his dick healed.

He and Kathy knew about each other's activities with the kids, and they plotted for a new scenario a few years later. Kathy locked Nick in the shed, at five years old, he wouldn't really understand what was going on. She brought Steven into the living room under the pretense that he could stay up late and watch the ball drop on New Year's Eve. She planned on him watching something, but it wasn't in Times Square. She then brought Steven into the kitchen, stripped him naked and sat him down on a chair. Abel's sister followed, leering at Steven's naked body, but she had other plans for herself. She’d gotten divorced a year before when her rich husband caught her with another woman. Boys and men no longer did anything to excite her.

Abel brought in Jill and the savagery began. Abel violently took Jill's virginity; Kathy used a kitchen tool in her ass; and Eve kissed Jill and fingered Kathy throughout the whole incident.

When Abel was done, Kathy noticed Steven wasn't watching like she told him to. She dragged him to the table and forced him to look at his sister. Crying, she took him to his room and tossed him in bed. The 'fun' was over, so she went and got Nick from the shed. It was a Happy New Year only for three of the six.

Kathy had always thought Steven's friend Joey was cute. Six weeks after the New Year's debacle, she and Abel agreed to let Joey sleep over. Kathy finally saw her chance. After the boys were asleep, she quietly tip-toed into the family room. It was hot. She had purposely turned the heat up to eighty-five in the room. Steven and Joey were both on top of their sleeping bags, dressed only in their underpants. She practically drooled while she quietly crawled up to Joey, watching for Steven to wake up. She placed her hand over the boy's mouth, not realizing she was also covering his nose. She let go after a minute or two, when Joey stopped struggling. She took off his underpants and began to fellate the young boy. After a few minutes, she gave up because obviously the boy wasn't going to feed her anything. She looked closer at him one last time and it appeared he wasn't breathing. She got afraid and ran to her bedroom.

"Abel! I think I fucked up really bad."

"Had to happen sooner or later, you dumb cunt. What did you do?"

"I think I suffocated Joey."

"You're shitting me?"

"No."

"I don't fucking believe this."

Abel followed Kathy to the family room, whispering, "Why is it so fucking hot in here?"

He saw Joey nude and Steven wearing only underpants and didn't need to hear Kathy's answer.

"I should kill you too, you stupid bitch, but there's no way I'm going to jail for killing a worthless piece of shit like you. I'll go hide the body. Write a note saying you took the kids and left me. Take the kids and get away. Hell, drive into Georgia. I'll get us out of this somehow. Leave your cell phone here. Pay cash for everything. Call me in three or four days. I guess now I'll never be able to afford the divorce I've been longing for."

Kathy did as instructed, Abel carried Joey, his clothes, and underpants out to the shed. There was one place he could hide him where he was unlikely to be found. He had previously opened up the wooden floor and dug a hole large enough for a child. He was afraid he'd hit Steven too hard once and kill him. Well, Steven's potential grave would now be Joey's temporary one. Abel pulled up the planks. Joey coughed.

"Fuck!"

**************** Skip until the next set of asterisks to avoid the violence of Joey Keys' death ****************

"Mr. Taft? What happened?"

Abel panicked and picked up a pipe wrench. He hit Joey over the head with it three times. There was enough blood, so he figured the kid really was dead this time. He threw Joey into the hole, added his clothes, and finally tossed the wrench in as well, once again hitting Joey in the head. He had to find a way to camouflage the blood, so he took a nearly empty can of paint and poured it on the floor, leaving the can lying sideways in the puddle.

**************** Safe to proceed from here ****************

It was late, so he went inside, took a shower to clean the blood off himself, fabricated a story in his mind, and went to sleep. He woke the next morning to a loud banging. Looking out the front door's peephole, he saw Joey's dad. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door.

"Mr. Keys."

"Good morning, Abel. Sorry to wake you, but I came to pick up Joey."

"I don't think the boys awake. Come on in. He's in the family room."

Abel led Keys to the family room, acting shocked to find it empty, "That's odd."

Then, Abel led Keys all through the house, finally settling in the kitchen to talk about what they should do next.

Keys, noticing a note on the refrigerator, asked, "What's that?"

"What?"

Keys got up and handed Abel the note.

'Fuck You Abel. I'm disgusted with your cheating. I'm taking the kids and leaving. Don't bother looking for me. Have fun with your whore.

I'm guessing you might be too stupid to figure out who wrote this, so I'll sign it. Sorry about the three-syllable word, you dumb-ass.

Kathy'

"Geez, Abel. Do you think she took Joey too?"

Abel unsuccessfully tried to hide his anger, "He's not here, the bitch must have taken him too. She's obviously not very stable."

He thought to himself, 'I hate you and I'm taking the kids would have been good enough, you dumb...'

Abel's concentration broke when he heard Keys say into his phone, "I want to report a kidnapping."

Minutes later, the house was crawling with cops. With Kathy and the kids gone, along with her car, they performed a nearly complete search to make sure Joey wasn't there and put out an All-Points Bulletin for Kathy and her car, and an Amber Alert for Joey. They had no reason to think Joey was under the shed, although they did look inside it.

The next day, Abel began looking for a cheap house in Georgia. He knew some investors through the construction company he worked for and called a few, saying he was moving, his wife left him, and he needed a fresh start. He found someone that would pay eighty percent of the home's market value. He had no choice but to take it. He found a home that would barely work in Gainesville, Georgia.

Something about the town was familiar to him, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He called the Realtor and offered asking price in cash. He offered to pay twice the typical rent to move in before the closing. The owners jumped at the offers. The amount from the sale of the current house left him just enough to complete the move.

Abel arranged for movers to bring the furniture to the new house. He followed in his pick-up truck to check it out. There was a fairly large open space in the back yard. He spent the next week digging a hole. When the neighbors asked what it was for, he told them he was a pool installer, and he was building one for his family. They left him alone. After the hole was deep enough, he drove back to South Carolina and late at night, brought Joey's body to the new house and buried it in a corner of the hole. He had no idea he'd only put Joey into a coma, and he was still technically alive when he was buried.

Abel found out why Gainesville sounded familiar. His faggot brother-in-law lived there. Well, too late now. He mumbled, 'Home, sweet home' when he pulled up with his family. Kathy wasn't happy. He didn't care.

It didn't take long for the police to track them down after all the paperwork was filed. Two detectives showed up a few days after they all moved in.

"Kathy Taft?"

"Yes?"

"We have some questions for you. May we come in?"

"Of course. Would you like a coffee?"

"No, thank you."

She led them to the living room and they began the interrogation, initially asking innocent questions. They read her Miranda rights, to protect her, they claimed.

"Mrs. Taft, are you aware that a neighbor from your old neighborhood reported his child missing?"

Cool as a cucumber, she replied "No, I wasn't. Who?"

"Joey Keys."

"Oh, he was one of my son's friends."

"You disappeared the same night he did. Where did you go?"

"I had a fight with my husband, took my kids, and left. We went to a motel."

"Did you bring Joey with you?"

"No. Heavens no. Why would I do that?"

"We don't know, but it's a very odd coincidence that he would disappear the same night you left your husband. That's why we're here, trying to figure out what happened. What else do you remember about that night?"

"Well, like I said, Abel and I had a fight. His fidelity, if you must know. Or lack thereof. I grabbed all my kids, dressed them, and took off."

"But you were aware your son had a friend sleeping over."

"Of course, Detective. But he wasn't there when I took Steven out to my car. I just assumed he got homesick and left. He only lived a few houses away."

Apparently, the detectives weren't in the top of their graduating class at the academy. They took Kathy's story at face value after asking Jill and Steven if Joey accompanied them to Georgia on the night they left. Obviously, they said he didn't. The missing person's case would remain open. The local police didn't forget who the Tafts were, though.

Some months later, Kathy thought it would be a good idea to punish Nick by putting him in the hole instead of a bathroom. Abel was incensed, screaming at Kathy, telling her, “Damn it, Kathy. You can’t put him in there.” She, of course, was clueless about the disposition of Joey's body. She'd assumed Abel left it in South Carolina somewhere.

Later that night, Abel told her why she shouldn't put Nick in the hole.

"Couldn't you just leave him at the old house?"

"Really, Kathy? I can just imagine the question, 'Oh, by the way, Mr. Taft, the home inspection discovered a boy's body under your shed, what do you know about that?'"

"So, he's here?"

"Fucking genius!"

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to build a roof for it, cover up the hole, then bury him deeper. I don't need the neighbors wondering why I'm digging in the middle of the night."

"I still think it would be an excellent option for punishment."

"Fine, I'll put in a door, you can have the little firebug climb down with a ladder. He can't burn anything down there."

Abel apparently still didn't bury Joey deep enough. He and Kathy had been arrested for the abuse of their children almost two years later when they kicked poor Nick out. Unfortunately for them, the door over the hole was left open and it rained heavily. Their next-door neighbor noticed the opening and didn't want his children to wander over and fall into it. Before closing the door, he looked in.

"Is that a foot?"

Next Up - "After the Dust Settled"