LIAR AND CHEAT COPYRIGHT 20013 RZEVANS
Tulips Simmons was twenty-five years old when she married Bernie Phillips. All her freinds had already married, and she felt she was being left behind. She didn't actually love Bernie, in fact she didn't even respect him, but she thought she could make it work. She knew he was brash and not terribly smart, but like many women she thought she could influence him for the better. What she didn't know was that he could be mean, and was basically dishonest. The first real inkling she got of those traits in him was when he sold one of his old cars to her firiend Lorene. He had grossly misrepresented the car, and when Lorene immediately had trouble with it, Tulips pled with Bernie to give Lorene her money back. That was the day she got her first black eye. Everything had gone downhill after that.
Bernie tried one get rich scheme after another, some of them not only were shady but downright illegal. One scam he perpetrated involved an advertisement for guaranteed instructions on how to get better gasoline mileage. The instructions he sent out included removing the back seat of you car to reduce weight. That was one of the minor scams. One of the most terrible ones involved arranging "domestic employment" for young girls from the minority section of the city. This employment was in northern cities where the girls were never heard from again. Tulips only got bits and pieces of information concerning that one, barely enough that she knew something dreadful was going on. Bernie dropped that game when things began to get too hot. Amid all those scams was smaller dishonest stuff such as removing good car parts from automobiles that he was "test driving", and beating the paper boy out of money that was due. Also there were enough ordinary domestic differencess to earn Tulips more slaps, bruises, and one broken arm. She hated to admit that she had made a terrible mistake in marrying the man and was at the point of seeking a way to dissolve the mess when she found out that she was pregnanlt. There was no way she was going to bring a baby into the present situation and was not considering abortion but suicide. Then Bernie came up with one of his crazy schemes. A friend of his was in cahoots with an old alcoholic physician to defraud insurance companies. There was one scheme, the old doctor told Bernie, that no one had tried yet, or at least not in theri neck of the woods. That was of dying and collecting the insurance money. His plan involved the injection of a couple of drugs and the paying off of a mortician and a couple of grave diggers. The old alcoholic would pronounce the death, sign the papers, and arrange the rest. Supposedly, the grave diggers would bury the casket a few inches deep, and an accomplice would later remove the shallow layer of dirt. Bernie expected Tulips to be the one who would dig him up and collect the insurance money for him to spend. When she told him it was the craziest scheme she ever heard of, he said she would do her part or he would slap her head off. The insurance agent came out, and Bernie filled out the policy application, had his physical, and paid the first three months premiums. After they bought a lot at the edge of the cemetery, near the trees, Bernie figured things were as ready as he could make them. He thought he had better wait at least a month, and his instructions to Tulips was to get the cheapest casket possible since they would need it for only a few hours.
Finally, the day for Bernie's heart attack" came, and the old doctor did his job and signed the necessary papers. The crooked mortician was called, and Bernie went out on a stretcher. One of the fears Tulips had of leaving Bernie was retaliation. With the escape that she now envisioned, there would be no retaliation. She didn't want anything to do with the money, for it was dishonest and definitely a felony. However, after thinking on it, she realized that if she didn't accept the check it would bring suspicion upon her. As it turned out, her worry about the money wasn't necessary. Due to some mistake the check for the policy premiums had lain in the main office for awhile before being deposited, and the insufficient funds notice arrived the day of the funeral. Tulips played her part well; she stood with Bernie's mother and father at the graveside crying her heart out, and although she hadn't wanted the three hundred thousand, she didn't see anything wrong with accepting the baby's social security check.
Tulips Simmons was twenty-five years old when she married Bernie Phillips. All her freinds had already married, and she felt she was being left behind. She didn't actually love Bernie, in fact she didn't even respect him, but she thought she could make it work. She knew he was brash and not terribly smart, but like many women she thought she could influence him for the better. What she didn't know was that he could be mean, and was basically dishonest. The first real inkling she got of those traits in him was when he sold one of his old cars to her firiend Lorene. He had grossly misrepresented the car, and when Lorene immediately had trouble with it, Tulips pled with Bernie to give Lorene her money back. That was the day she got her first black eye. Everything had gone downhill after that.
Bernie tried one get rich scheme after another, some of them not only were shady but downright illegal. One scam he perpetrated involved an advertisement for guaranteed instructions on how to get better gasoline mileage. The instructions he sent out included removing the back seat of you car to reduce weight. That was one of the minor scams. One of the most terrible ones involved arranging "domestic employment" for young girls from the minority section of the city. This employment was in northern cities where the girls were never heard from again. Tulips only got bits and pieces of information concerning that one, barely enough that she knew something dreadful was going on. Bernie dropped that game when things began to get too hot. Amid all those scams was smaller dishonest stuff such as removing good car parts from automobiles that he was "test driving", and beating the paper boy out of money that was due. Also there were enough ordinary domestic differencess to earn Tulips more slaps, bruises, and one broken arm. She hated to admit that she had made a terrible mistake in marrying the man and was at the point of seeking a way to dissolve the mess when she found out that she was pregnanlt. There was no way she was going to bring a baby into the present situation and was not considering abortion but suicide. Then Bernie came up with one of his crazy schemes. A friend of his was in cahoots with an old alcoholic physician to defraud insurance companies. There was one scheme, the old doctor told Bernie, that no one had tried yet, or at least not in theri neck of the woods. That was of dying and collecting the insurance money. His plan involved the injection of a couple of drugs and the paying off of a mortician and a couple of grave diggers. The old alcoholic would pronounce the death, sign the papers, and arrange the rest. Supposedly, the grave diggers would bury the casket a few inches deep, and an accomplice would later remove the shallow layer of dirt. Bernie expected Tulips to be the one who would dig him up and collect the insurance money for him to spend. When she told him it was the craziest scheme she ever heard of, he said she would do her part or he would slap her head off. The insurance agent came out, and Bernie filled out the policy application, had his physical, and paid the first three months premiums. After they bought a lot at the edge of the cemetery, near the trees, Bernie figured things were as ready as he could make them. He thought he had better wait at least a month, and his instructions to Tulips was to get the cheapest casket possible since they would need it for only a few hours.
Finally, the day for Bernie's heart attack" came, and the old doctor did his job and signed the necessary papers. The crooked mortician was called, and Bernie went out on a stretcher. One of the fears Tulips had of leaving Bernie was retaliation. With the escape that she now envisioned, there would be no retaliation. She didn't want anything to do with the money, for it was dishonest and definitely a felony. However, after thinking on it, she realized that if she didn't accept the check it would bring suspicion upon her. As it turned out, her worry about the money wasn't necessary. Due to some mistake the check for the policy premiums had lain in the main office for awhile before being deposited, and the insufficient funds notice arrived the day of the funeral. Tulips played her part well; she stood with Bernie's mother and father at the graveside crying her heart out, and although she hadn't wanted the three hundred thousand, she didn't see anything wrong with accepting the baby's social security check.