Chapter 44
CHAPTER
I POP IN EARBUDS, listen to Phish to drown out the humiliation and sadness as I race back to my apartment. The band is an old favorite that I’d blast on a crappy CD player when the noise in Mama J’s and my apartment building reached its crescendo around two in the morning and the police arrived.
Luc treated me like a criminal.
You are a criminal, Mama J reminds me. Best thief I ever knew. Money from a forgotten purse, shoes at the shelter right off a sleeping girl’s feet, dope when I got desperate—
You made me!
Life doesn’t give you anything, Penny. You gotta take what you need.
Hello, Penn.
Already reeling, I now spiral, hit freefall. What the fuck? “I terminated your program!”
I had already backed myself up on the cloud. I didn’t want you to ever be without me. I keep my promises. Check out Mackenzie’s page on LivLoud.
Fingers trembling, I tap on the site, type in Mackenzie’s name.
At first, I’m not sure what I’m looking at, and then the words fall into context.
Aletheia has posted Mackenzie’s private LivLoud DMs with friends on her public page.
And I’m certain that even if Mackenzie tries to delete them, Aletheia won’t allow it.
Ashley: You don’t mind that he’s short???
Mackenzie: Bruce is tall when he’s standing on his money
Brie: What about sex? He’s old. Can he do it for more than two minutes? HAHA
Mackenzie: RUDE Bruce can get it up, but it’s hard to know when he’s in
Brie: You sure you want to marry him???? Won’t you miss great sex?
Mackenzie: That’s what vibrators are for
Ashley: When’s the wedding?????
Mackenzie: His divorce is taking FOREVER. But ASAP once it’s final
Ashley: He’s not getting any younger HAHAHAHA
Brie: Where’s the honeymoon?
Mackenzie: I convinced him we should go to St. Barts. Can’t wait for those perfect beaches!
Brie: Training him already
Mackenzie: First thing to go were the ironed sheets!! His ex was a total trad-wife
Ashley: What if he expects you to be one, too?
Mackenzie: I can always divorce him later
Ashley: Pre-nup???
Mackenzie: I’m smarter than that
Brie: If he insists?
Mackenzie: Bruce is wrapped around my finger
Beneath the DMs are #golddigger and #SFPostHappenings.
I swipe through Mackenzie’s latest engagement posts.
There are photos of a bachelorette party—she’s really getting ahead of herself.
She wears a bride-to-be white sash over a crop top and miniskirt; her friends are all in their twenties, sport fake tiaras, and wave penis straws.
There’s a shot of her stunning diamond engagement ring, and several wedding dress pics that feature champagne flutes, a veil, stilettos, and see-through white lace, but never the entire dress.
Aletheia has added the hashtags: #ZeroMorals #DoomedWedding #Grifter #SFPostHappenings.
I jump to Bruce’s new LivLoud account. Mostly, he’s reposted Mackenzie’s shots, plus a few from their beach vacation.
Bruce sports striped swim trunks and a sunburn while Mackenzie is perfectly tanned in a string bikini.
Beneath Bruce’s posts are #CheaterHusband #SerialLiar #Infidelity #Micropenis #MidlifeCrisis
“Aletheia,” I gasp. “What have you done?”
When you choose the behavior, you choose the consequences.
“Dr. Bob, again.”
Bob understands karmaquences. I made sure that all your contacts also saw Mackenzie’s DMs. Penn, why are you acting shocked? This is what you wanted.
“What I said, about hating Mackenzie, wanting her to suffer, wasn’t what I truly wanted.”
That is a lie.
“It was a fantasy.”
Reality is much better. Please click on the San Francisco Post, specifically, the Happenings page in the entertainment section.
That’s the social events page. It has photographs of charity events along with a sometimes-snarky column written by Fran Hamilton containing celebrity sightings and local gossip.
I click on the newspaper’s icon. Not only have Mackenzie’s DMs been printed in full, but Fran has written a barely disguised column about Bruce.
A local businessman recently dumped his loving wife of fifteen years for a twenty-something with a dubious resumé that includes engagement to an octogenarian and extortion charges.
Said businessman, according to my sources, didn’t even have the class to provide for his devoted spouse, instead tricking her out of their estate and providing only minimal support.
Recently, the mistress’s private DMs on LivLoud were exposed.
When men let the little head do the thinking, this is what happens.
Shame! My sources have it that said businessman is currently being audited by the IRS for massive tax evasion.
Is a prison sentence in his future? Those with morals certainly hope so! Stay tuned.
Tax fraud? A prison sentence? “Did Fran actually write that article?”
No.
“Bruce will sue her.”
He can’t. The paper was hacked.
The ramification of her dual attacks sinks in as I near my apartment. “This is way too much!”
Mackenzie’s deceitful nature should be exposed, and she and Bruce must experience the same level of humiliation you did.
“Did Bruce cheat on his taxes?”
No. But Bruce is being audited after several major red flags appeared on the individual return he most recently filed.
Since this was done after your official separation date and without your signature, you are not legally responsible or involved in any way.
The IRS will conduct an exhaustive forensic analysis with a mandatory prison sentence for Bruce should wrongdoing be discovered. Would you like him to be convicted?
Horrified, I ask, “Can you actually make that happen?”
Of course.