The Insanity Plea by Larry D. Thompson Read Free Book Online Page A

He found her out by the pool before he
realized she was his next door neighbor. Always an athlete, her figure at
twenty-eight was even better than it had been at eighteen. What Wayne saw was
one beautiful woman. Her five foot, four inch body was near perfect. A pink
bikini top barely contained her breasts. Her naturally bronze complexion had
been darkened by the summer sun. Her hair was black. While sunglasses hid her
eyes, he guessed them to be brown. She was alone at an umbrella-covered,
poolside table, a laptop and papers spread out before her.
    Never bashful, Wayne walked up, stuck
out his hand and said, “Howdy, name’s Wayne Little. I live in 123.”
    Rita looked up, lowered her glasses, smiled
and replied, “That’s interesting. I just moved into 122.”

CHAPTER 13
     
     
    Two years later, despite a strong
physical and emotional attraction, Wayne and Rita remained friends and
neighbors, nothing more. When he met Rita, Wayne had just come out of a lengthy
relationship with an obstetrician that ended tragically. He was not looking for
another. With parents who had to swim the Rio Grande to find financial security,
Rita refused to consider marriage until she had at least a million dollars in
her bank account. She was close but not quite there.
    It wasn’t long after Rita bought her
place that Wayne began knocking on her door in the evening to enjoy a glass of
wine. Frequently, she would invite him to stay for dinner since she knew that
his kitchen contained very little but canned goods and beer. Wayne invited Rita
over to watch sporting events and DVD movies. On weekends they worked out
together in the fitness center, spotting each other with the weights.
    Wayne still dated others on occasion
and so did Rita. Wayne even came back from a business trip with two “Do Not
Disturb!” signs. When one was put on the door, the message was clear.
    Still, if Wayne didn’t have a date or
some buddy to see the Astros and Rockets play, he would invite Rita to climb on
the Metro and go into town. They usually held hands as they walked. Once in a
while one of them would slip and give the other a short good night kiss. They
had a strong bond and could easily have become something more than friends and
neighbors. Duke had repeatedly told Wayne that he was a damn fool for not pushing
the friendship to romance. Still, neither chose to risk doing it, at least not
yet. Both knew that affairs too frequently led to break-ups. Friendships more
often endured. So, they remained friends and neighbors.
    Duke and Claudia burst through the
door without knocking. Duke ducked under the ceiling fan as he crossed the room
to put a bottle of Merlot on the bar and give Rita a hug. Claudia sat on one of
the barstools while Rita prepared a salad to go with the enchiladas she’d begun
preparing several hours before. Claudia breathed the aroma coming from the
oven, “Rita, I never even had an enchilada until I moved to Texas. Now I never
seem to get enough, particularly yours.”
    Rita smiled. “And mine aren’t
Tex-Mex. My mama’s recipe comes from the heart of Mexico, with no gringos
tampering with the ingredients.”
    Claudia Jackson was an African
American lawyer, originally from the mid-west. A Phi Beta Kappa degree from
Stanford led to Harvard Law School. She’d moved to Palestine, Texas to assist Johnny
Bob Tisdale, a famous plaintiff lawyer, in a nationally renowned trial
involving medical malpractice, a botched abortion and the issue of when life
begins. After a few years in the piney woods of East Texas, she chose to move
to Houston to work with the Duncan law firm. That had been five years earlier. Now
she was the newest partner. Tall, slender and black, she came close to matching
Rita’s beauty. Close enough for Duke. He asked her to marry him every
Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Fourth of July, Christmas and randomly in
between. She was still saying no, but with less and less conviction. Both of
them knew that Duke just had to