Warning: Mature Themes. Read With Caution.
Brutus Thornapple sat at a workbench in his basement. The radio softly played a Mozart composition. Brutus liked Mozart and softly hummed to the tune. The basement door was open and he could hear his wife, Gladys, clattering around in the kitchen. She was either eating, making herself something to eat or getting ready to make her something to eat. It was hard to tell with her but Brutus figured it was one of those. Brutus was working on a scale-model of a city. Brutus liked working with his hands and he had taken up the hobby of creating a miniature town. He created it's own history, neighborhoods, businesses and named it Mason City, after his father Mason Thornapple.
As the music ended, Gladys' shrill voice echoed from the kitchen down into the basement. "Brutus, does spaghetti sound good for dinner?"
"Yes, that's fine," Brutus clicked off his radio and scooted away from the table. "I'm gonna take a quick shower and wash the stink of work off of me."
"Okay, dear," Gladys said.
Brutus looked back at Mason City and smiled, which was something he really hadn't done in a long time. Then he headed upstairs.
Rancid Veeblefester had been flopping at the Tilson Hotel for the last six months since his wife had kicked him out of their home. Their home. That was a laugh. He had bought that house years ago after he made his first million at Veeblefester Incorporated. It was his house for seven years before he had married that shrew. A pre-nup never even entered his mind at the time. He had the best lawyers in the city working around the clock to either make divorcing him impossible to not make it worth her while. So far, nothing had worked.
Veeblefester took a swig of the Jack Daniels that was on the nightstand next to the bed. He stood up and looked out of the window at the street. He had to stop her. He had worked too hard and was too accustomed to his lifestyle to have some second-rate whore take it from him.
"Dead women can't file divorce papers," Veeblefester said and his lips curled into a slight smile. Now all he had to do was figure out how to do it.
To be continued...