The Other Side of the Fence

Chapter Four


Vivian lowered the gun somewhat and stared in disbelief.
“My boyfriend is a what?”
“A thief. A robber. He steals things. For money. He’s bad, bad, bad.” Said Ralph, looping the rope around his other wrist several times.
With unconcealed fury, Vivian grabbed the end of the rope and pulled with a lot of force, causing Ralph to yelp with pain.
“Hey! Don’t take it out on me! Take it out on him. He’s the one that got you into this mess.”
Threading the end of the rope through the handle of the refrigerator, Vivian said,” Sit down! There!” indicating the floor in front of the two ton geriatric fridge.
Reluctantly Ralph complied and no sooner was his ass warming the linoleum then Vivian was yanking the rope as tight as she could through the handle forcing Ralph’s arms vertically upwards until his head was crammed between his arms, his ears being crushed into his skull.
“Hey!”
“I wouldn’t struggle too much.” said Vivian, “that fridge is at least fifty years old. It weighs a ton and it’s very unstable…see?”
Leaning on it, the fridge groaned and easily rocked back and forth with the slightest pressure.
“Aaahhh!! Okay. Okay. I get it!”
“So who is Stan supposed to have robbed?”
“Bennie Testorelli.”
“Who?”
Looking at her with abject pity, Ralph said, “Ohmygod, you’re worse off than I thought.”
Grabbing her purse off the counter, Vivian tried to control her trembling lip without much success.
“You are in a world of trouble girl. You can’t go to the cops because your boyfriend will get arrested and the biggest gangster in a five hundred mile radius is after your heads. Poor little Vivian. What are you going to do?”
Shoving both Eddie and Ralph’s guns into her purse, Vivian snatched a box of granola bars and a bottle of Gatorade out of the grocery bags. Then just before leaving the room, she ran at the fridge and shoved it with all her might, causing it to teeter back and forth wildly.
“AAAAHHHH!!! I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry!!! Please make it stop!”
Ralph was still screaming when she slammed the front door behind her.