The Sanctuary – Chapter 5

‘Susan’
Edwin Wallace

Intro…

When I recently interviewed Susan she had been at The Sanctuary for nearly a year. Some of the following information is from a previous interview with Curt at an earlier time.

Susan was enthusiastic about being interviewed because she at first understood that I was present to hear her view of The Sanctuary. She was ready to describe her stay in glowing terms.

When she realized it was her, and her background, that I was interested in she immediately seemed slightly embarrassed. She was in her mid-thirties but appeared at least ten years younger. She had a certain elegance about her and spoke with crystal clear diction. If Susan would have said she was from England I might have believed her, but I’ll let her tell her story.

Susan’s Story

I was born and raised in Georgia and was the middle child of three girls. My father had been a brick layer and later he owned a contracting business. He acquired certain government contracts and became relatively well-to-do, but his heart was always that of a brick layer.

My mother worked off and on in a beauty salon. Both my parents were warm and somewhat on the easy going side as parents. I was a daddy’s girl and I made the most of it.

The only significant incident happened when I was a child of maybe six years old and was in an auto accident. I really don’t remember anything about it myself, but the family often talked about it.

My father was driving and a young boy driving a truck went through a stop sign from a side road. My father hit him broadside at about 50 miles an hour. We were all injured; I was the most severely injured, but was never in serious danger.

I had multiple bruises and a concussion with the hospitalization lasting about a week. After that, I seemed to have frequent nightmares, but had no apparent residual physical problems.

My Learning Disorder

My two sisters did well in school and were always popular; they were involved in activities and always received high grades.

However, for me school was hell. I didn’t get along with the teachers and some of the kids, primarily because I had periods of intense rage and was not enthusiastic about completing my assignments on time. I was often referred to a psychologist who said that I was “very intelligent with a learning disorder.” A couple of times they recommended that I be put on medication but my father intervened and stopped that.

We lived a few miles from an area where there was a river and a large area with many trees and brush, plus an old gravel pit. I would go there and sit by the river every chance I had. In the evening I would see animals – deer, skunks and raccoon. I found I could pet them and they were friendly and the birds also would come near me. I always talked to them. They were my friends.

Taking Care of Myself

One incident will give you an example of why I wasn’t popular with the teachers and some of the parents.

There was a fight between me and an older boy. I didn’t really know him and he was about three years older, several inches taller and a lot heavier than I was, but I do remember him harassing various kids – mostly girls – and having a bad mouth on him. The day of the incident (I think I was thirteen) we had just finished our school day and were standing out in the school yard talking and waiting for rides.

This guy came over and said “You sure are an ugly skinny bitch,” then he spit on me.

He just stood there for a minute waiting for others to react and then he threw something at me and pushed me twice, quite hard.

I remember suddenly being very clear headed and focused on stopping this guy. I kicked him in the nuts and when he doubled over I grabbed his forehead with my right hand with my fingers in his eyes. When he reacted by flipping backward I was on top of him and his head was on the concrete. I must have banged his head on that sidewalk for quite a long period of time.

Later I was told I had broken his little finger on his right hand.

Soon there was a teacher and a school worker (maybe a janitor) trying unsuccessfully to get me off him. He was long gone, out like a light, and there was blood everywhere. All the kids just stood by and watched. In due time, the police were there along with my father, the asshole’s parents and anyone else that was in the area. They said I pounced on him like a jungle cat.

The teacher wanted to have the police take me to jail, but they refused. They finally settled on my father and I meeting with the principal and his parents in three days. My father was shrewd! He immediately had his attorney file a suit against the school and the other family.

My Father’s Protection

When we all got settled in the conference room with the principal and all the other parties the principal informed my father that the other family might file a suit against us.

Father smiled and said “Great, I’m looking forward to going to court to see their attorney defend a 16 year old boy who weighs 175 pounds against a 13 year old girl who weighs 85 pounds.”

My father added also there was no shortage of witnesses that will testify that he started the fight.

“Just for your information I filed a suit against this school and the family two days ago”, he told them.

What followed was the longest tortured silence I can ever remember.

Finally the family’s attorney showed up and said “Can’t we settle this without making a big issue out of it?”

The principal was calling for legal help.

The final result being the school and the other family offered a settlement and an apology. My father accepted the money and had them write the check to a local foster child program. For the next few years nobody messed with me, neither male or female, student or staff.

My Interests as an Adult

By the time I reached sixteen things were a little better. I found a few things I was good at – acting and accounting.

When I completed high school it was evident that I wasn’t particularly good college material, so I took more classes in accounting, acting, and paralegal. I did well in all the courses I took after high school, maybe because I was interested and the fact I wasn’t being told what to do all the time.  I was told that I was a natural at acting.

During the acting class I landed a small part that actually paid me a few bucks. That sold me on acting! I played the role of a prissy little English girl, so I had to develop an English accent. I enjoyed the part and found use for the English accent many times in the future.

By now my older sister Elena had completed a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and was planning on getting married soon and my younger sister Margie was in college working towards a degree in psychology.

Booze, Sex, and Boys

By the time I was sixteen, I realized even if I wasn’t the best looking girl on the block I had a talent for getting any boy I wanted, whenever I wanted. This pissed a few girls off and I probably jerked a few guys around, too.  I enjoyed boys, sex, alcohol, and sometimes drugs.

I probably was lucky because I stayed out of having any big trouble. I was close to all of my family, especially my father, and was with them usually several times a week.

A Shitty Thing Happened

When I was twenty-three my life and my family’s life changed drastically, when my father was seriously injured after being knocked off a building by a crane.

He fell four floors onto a pile of scrap lumber. He didn’t die right away, but was in and out of consciousness a few days and then went into a coma. After 18 days they decided to pull the plug on him.

I was lost, the family was lost, what a shitty thing to happen, he was only 56. After some months the families started to all go their separate ways.

My sister, Elena, was married and lived about twenty miles away was always busy with her new life. Margie was busy with college and was now planning for medical school and my mother was spending more and more time with her sister Helen in Palm Beach.

So, I went to Palm Beach also, and rented an apartment near my Aunt Helen’s place. I soon had a job in accounting with a loan company.

Palm Beach

I met one of the owners of the accounting firm and soon moved in with him at one of the upper class homes in the area. He was part owner in several businesses. We traveled to Miami, Los Angeles and San Diego often. I met some of the very rich from the Palm Beach area and later people involved in the movie business. His name was Sam Defoe, he was rich and had traveled the world. I learned a lot about art, travel, and how the rich lived.

I felt like a natural for this society and was comfortable, except I missed my family. I ignored the loneliness by being constantly busy. When we were in San Diego I was offered a part in a movie and took it. So, for a short period of time I lived in Los Angeles. I had access to apartments in all three cities and had personal belongings in each place.

Geographic

When I worked for the accounting firm in Palm Beach there was a legal problem regarding the firms accounting for a defense contractor and I knew many of the details. Sam had me talk to their attorney and it was decided I would avoid testifying if possible.

There was also some concern about work we had done for a firm that was charged with being an investment scam.  I also had knowledge of that.

So, I was off to the west coast. I was given a generous severance package; which I put in a savings and loan in Palm Beach.

My small movie part worked into several small parts, which I enjoyed. While staying in Los Angeles and San Diego I had periods when my memory failed me and I would wake up without recalling what had happened.

Roger

One morning I woke up in a crappy old motel in Long Beach where I had acquired a boy friend named Roger. It all seemed vague and not real to me. Roger gave me some crank and I was off and running.

Roger often had large sums of money and other times he was broke. He was a drug dealer and constantly avoiding the law and his rival drug dealers. I helped him get the drugs out of Mexico.

We lived a life full of drama, danger, and anger. I seemed to have regular bouts of rage and was in trouble with the law several times. When I was with Roger I led a life of constant battle for survival. I can’t count the times we wrecked our cars and trucks. Often, the so-called accidents were not really accidents at all, but attempts by other drug dealers to put us out of business.

I usually carried a gun and knew how to use it. A few times, if it wasn’t for Roger restraining me, I would have killed some of the scum we had to deal with. It was a rough life, yet exciting. When I was living in Long Beach and thought about my life in Palm Beach it seemed like a dream or someone else’s life.

Then, there would be those times when I woke up in the morning and thought “what the hell am I doing here?” Those were the times when I would call Sam in Palm Beach and say “Can you get me a part?”

My life in Los Angeles and San Diego was great. I owned a couple of BMW’s and always frequented the best restaurants, and knew many of the important people about town. There were a few legal complications, but nothing serious. Money never seemed to be a problem.

Life at The Sanctuary

I don’t remember much about the first few weeks at The Sanctuary. What I do recall was being very pissed off most of the time. I gradually settled in and my memory started to clear up, as did my police record. I gradually made friends and started to like the place. After being there for several months my interests grew around law, acting, animal welfare, the martial arts, and sorting out my psychological crap.

I now plan on staying here much of the time and I only leave for acting jobs or other business as needed. I bought some land near here and plan on developing an animal sanctuary. I participate in martial arts tournaments and also teach martial arts one time a week. In general, I am living the good life.

According to The Sanctuary Notes

The following is information I had from writing the story on The Sanctuary:

Susan came to the Sanctuary more like a bundle of protoplasm than anything else. She stayed here on a temporary basis until she could be interviewed and assessed. She arrived in the fetal position. Had it not been for Curt’s intervention she may have gone to a hospital and then to another facility, but Curt’s intuition told him to hold off and check her out.

The Sanctuary had their physician check her out, she was run down, under-weight, and had a history of physical trauma, but was physically healthy enough to be treated as an outpatient. She did, however, seem to be suffering from some kind of emotional trauma.

When she was able to be interviewed it seems she was a mess and her life was a mess. She had been witness to the murder of her boyfriend and possibly others. She had been living with the boyfriend in Long Beach. Her employment history was not clear; she mentioned off and on her work as an actress, waitress work, and some accounting history; plus something vague like self-employed.

How She Came to Be

When it came to the reason why she was there and wanting admission, it was due to the fact that many people were after her; most for good cause.

She had written bounced checks, she had been a mule for drugs to assist her boyfriend. It seems she sold part of the drugs on her own and kept the money. Her version being, it was only a little over two grand and she couldn’t understand why all those assholes were so upset; after all the money she had made for them.

It was unclear how many warrants were out on her and what the particular offenses were.

There had been what she said was a little incident from driving an SUV on one of the Long Beach freeways. It seems there had been some hand signals with a man driving a Honda and when they both stopped and he got out of his car; she rammed his car, pushing it off the road. Then, she left the nasty little incident and continued on with her schedule. The police eventually found her. Part of her sentence was to be assessed by a psychologist and follow their recommendations.

Susan’s Assessments

Curt immediately liked Susan; however, most of the staff didn’t share his enthusiasm.

He did a brief psychological history. She said she had been abused by her parents, and then was quiet for a few seconds. She laughed and said that’s bullshit; I really was the abuser. She was serious and discussed the interaction she had had with the most recent psychologist.

He told her testing indicated she had a borderline personality disorder with some antisocial features. She also had an anger management problem, which really needed to be addressed. She remembered something coming up about a dissociative disorder.

He wanted her to go to an inpatient psychiatric unit for more assessment with possible treatment. He thought she needed to do that for her own safety. She said she didn’t understand because she didn’t think she was ever suicidal, but had seriously considered killing a few people who richly deserved it.

Curt said, as he expected, she didn’t get along with most of the staff and residents.

There were been a few incidents when she was held down by a couple of residents until her rage subsided. She gradually started to blend in better and even started to be friends with one woman and one man.

She was not good looking because she was skinny and haggard. She admitted to periodic use of crank, but didn’t really complain about the absence of any drugs. As she gained weight and calmed down she actually was at least moderately attractive, but still a shit at times.

Curt waited a couple of weeks to have The Sanctuary psychologist assess Susan. John Sandoz, the psychologist, usually was serious and clinical. When he completed his workup on Susan he reported to Curt.

John told Curt “You sure have yourself a piece of work here. The information she gave you was generally accurate except there is more; she has a significant dissociative disorder, has attention deficit disorder, and is very intelligent. Not alone is she destructive, she is a lot smarter than the rest of us.”

Sandoz recommended further testing by a neuro-psychologist.

The last thing John said was, “I hope your insurance is paid up.”

“Life insurance?” Curt asked.

John said, “That too.”

New Interests Develop

Susan thrived on training at the center; she was the first one to the shooting range and the last one to leave. She simply was magnificent with a nine millimeter pistol. When she emptied a clip into the center of a target it sounded almost like one shot.

Surprisingly, she possessed good safety skills with the pistol.  She liked the semi-automatic assault rifle almost as much as the pistol and was equally adept with it.

She quickly developed her skills in the martial arts, but the instructors said she is good, but a little goofy. Her style was a bone of contention because she had no style.

One time she acted like she had no confidence and was a klutz, the next time she was a female gladiator or an assortment of other characters. The instructor said she was unnerving and they didn’t know who she was or what her intentions were.

George

She almost immediately liked George. George was a little mild-mannered man who had a medical background and was a legend at martial arts. They were together a lot and often practiced fighting styles. George was very good and showed Susan no quarter so it honed her skills to a fine point.

She also learned medical information from George; he was a neurosurgeon and knew the most sensitive centers in the human anatomy.

Lettie

Lettie and Susan struck up a friendship early on; so, the three of them ended up together a lot. After Curt, George was the best in martial arts, Lettie was second, and Susan was third, but probably soon would rival every one of them.

The Other Residents

After a couple of months, Susan realized it would be in her best interest to have a better relationship with the rest of the residents. Curt said it was educational to watch Susan build a connection.

She had a kind of manipulative genius. She intuitively knew what personality appealed to each person and she became that person, right down to the minutest detail in her physical appearance. The other residents became quite attached to her.

With Lettie and George she obviously had a natural and an exceptionally strong attachment.  Whatever was going on, after a few months she fit in and was a valued and trusted resident who more than carried her own weight. She continued to revel in her bad girl reputation.

People From Her Past Share

Curt needed to find out more information about Susan.

His first call was to the movie studio where she worked periodically. Curt talked to a man who knew Susan well. He said she was one of the best actresses he knew and could play any part; especially when it required a display of sophistication and drama.

She could have gone to the top. The problem was that she would do a part, get her money and disappear for a week or a month. They were afraid to sign her to a major part because she might not show up when they needed her. He assured Curt he wouldn’t hesitate to give her some small, but lucrative parts.

Long Beach PD

Curt’s next call was to the Long Beach Police Department to ask for information on Susan. He had to give them the name of a friend who worked in the L.A. department and also Ed Hauser’s name (who was a mentor for Curt.)

The cop in Long Beach became immediately cooperative and said “What year and which offense are you interested in? She has been giving us a lot of business for years.”

Curt finally decided he would stay with the part where her boy friend had been killed and let the lawyers sort out the rest of the problems. The cop said they were still investigating the case, but they knew all involved had something to do with a drug cartel from Mexico.

The boyfriend had five slugs in him from an automatic assault weapon and probably was dead after the first one. Another guy, a dealer, was also was killed and a third man was nearly dead, but survived.

The asshole who survived said it started over three-grand Susan had ripped off. He said there had been bad blood before this and the last insult of the two or three-grand ignited the situation.

“Susan was found under the bed all curled up and drenched with blood, we thought she was dead. When the medics came they said she didn’t have a mark on her.”

“They dumped her off at ER anyway, so she could be cleaned up; plus, I think they just wanted to get rid of her. It was hard to believe she survived because the room had been sprayed with at least thirty bullets and there had been bullet holes all around her,” said the cop.

Don, the cop from Long Beach also said, “We have a whole bunch of warrants for her arrest but don’t worry about bringing her back. We are tired of her, she is just a damn nuisance.”

Curt’s belief was that is what God invented lawyers for, so he was willing to let well enough alone.

Don insisted on telling Curt about one of her most recent arrests.

He said she was in a pissing contest with this huge body builder. She had tried to run him off the road with her Lincoln SUV and gave him the finger; he must have gone into a rage and stopped to give her hell. When he got out she pushed his Honda about two-hundred feet. When she got it against a concrete barrier she finished it off . It looked like it had been put through a junkyard baler.

Next, she tried to run him down, but finally gave up and casually drove away, with the comment, “Want to mess with me some more asshole?”

He said he never had been that scared, not even when he was in Vietnam.

Don said, “We tried to calmly put down his story, but no one could keep a straight face. She is a pistol; meaner than a snake and funny as hell.”

L.A.P.D.

An acquaintance called me and said a detective in the L.A. police department thought he knew Susan.  She had been a suspect in some crimes there.

Curt was in L.A. few days later, stopped in and took Manfred to lunch. Manfred said Susan had never been charged, but had been under scrutiny at least three times.

Once, it had to do with counterfeit money laundering and she was convincing as a poor victim in the scam. Another time, she was implicated in embezzlement with an accounting firm where she was employed, but they were short on evidence. A third time she was suspected of fraud by computer money transfers and, yet again, they lacked evidence.

What was notable with Manfred was how enamored he was with Susan. He described her as the most glamorous woman he had ever met. He was sure she was part of the wealthy and sophisticated society in San Diego, Calif. and Palm Beach, Florida.

Curt said he had a hard time keeping a straight face after remembering Susan, the blob, who was dumped on his doorstep.

Some Blanks are Filled In

Curt wondered why Susan, who had been so open about her history in Long Beach, had never mentioned the problems in L.A. or San Diego and Palm Beach. The next day he called her into his office and asked her about her missing history. She looked puzzled and said she wasn’t sure and got up and paced around his office. When she sat down again she was silent for at least a minute with her hands on her face.

Curt told the following event he experienced:

“When she looked up her posture changed, her accent changed, and she looked different. In a slightly British accent she said “What would you like to know about L.A.?”  She added, “I almost forgot – I have over two-hundred-fifty-thousand dollars in a safety deposit box in Palm Beach and I really could use some of that money.”

This woman was elegant, sophisticated, glamorous and now I knew the person Manfred had described. She apologized for not being dressed properly, the clothes she had on were medical scrubs.

I was totally mesmerized by this fascinating woman and was ready to believe anything she said. We talked about various subjects, including art she owned, for at least half an hour. Susan walked out of the office and after a few feet the bad girl was back.

“Shit.”

More of Susan

Curt had a lot to talk to John Sandoz about on the next Thursday. The subject was dissociative disorders and borderline personality disorder.  Somehow the clinical description of the problems didn’t match up to the experience Curt had. Curt had known weird with his friend Ed Hauser and other experiences in his life and now Susan was one of the top ten of his life.

Weeks later Susan displayed her elegant side off and on; and over a period of time the two Susan’s somewhat blended. She apparently retained the ability to be either Susan at will. I could see why she was such a marvelous actress and con artist.

So far, we had seen only two Susan’s, but we knew we hadn’t seen anywhere near all sides of Susan. The residents, Lettie, and George apparently cared for her in any form and Susan knew she belonged here.

The residents often entertained themselves in various ways in the evening and a few times George played the piano and Susan portrayed the saloon singer. She went from Marlene Dietrich to Marilyn Monroe to Michele Pfeifer. She wasn’t good; she was them in their rarest form.

An interesting sidelight was when she was done, she had no interest in being the center of attention and faded into the background unnoticed.

Curt told me the way Susan related to animals reminded him of Ed Hauser, a man with the reputation of Rasputin, Alexander the Great, Bruce Lee, and the Red Baron all rolled into one, according to Curt.

Her Friends

The feral cats around The Sanctuary were friendly with all of the residents, but with Susan it was different, they sought her out. Totally wild animals in the nearby woods and meadow would come near her. Birds ate out of her hand. Vultures walked near her.

Selma remarked there was a professional bond there and added, “I meant that in the most respectful way to the vultures.”

Susan thought it was charming because it fed her bad girl reputation and she wasn’t offended in the least.

Curt Had Endless Susan Stories

One of them was rather amusing. She was the only one in the front office when an attorney came in and demanded Selma meet with him. Susan knew all of Selma’s legal affairs were handled through the Wilson Attorney Group in the nearby town, so this guy was trying to make an end-run.

One of the staff was in the next room and overheard the conversation. Susan introduced herself as Jan Freeman, former assistant district attorney of Palm Beach. He sounded hostile and demanded she get Selma now.

She looked under the desk, pulled out a file folder and said, “Sir, what is your name?”

He replied, “Gene Thomson, why?”

“Well, don’t tell anyone I told you, but you are on the list.”

“What list?”

“Well, it seems there have been several attorneys that have not been following standard practices and going through proper channels. The Wilson Group has been putting a campaign together to get certain attorneys in front of the bar for possible disbarment. I know how this works because I was involved in action to disbar a few attorneys in Florida. Unfortunately, one of the attorney’s nutted up and he committed suicide before the action was completed,” said Susan.

He looked pale and had a little tremor.

She said, “I’ll get Selma now.”

He said, “No, no that was a mistake. I have to go now.”

She and the staff member, Louis, had near hysterics laughing after he left.  She put the empty file folder back in the box.

Law enforcement

The first information I worked on was from law enforcement at Long Beach. There was no shortage of information from policemen and others. Susan was a celebrity of odd stories and most were connected with drug dealing and violence.

One old timer told me about an incident which happened in a residential area where a suspected drug dealer lived. It seems Susan and her boyfriend showed up, were expected to pick up drugs and distribute them to other small time dealers.

The drug dealer had the usual arsenal with nasty pit bulls at his place. He was in the back yard trying to beat one of his pit bulls who was chained up. Susan grabbed his sawed off shotgun and shot him in the ass. Fortunately, it only contained bird shot or it would have killed him.

She then proceeded to comfort the pit bulls, which was unusual in itself because it was believed they were extremely vicious. They acted like kittens with her and she obviously had no fear of them. The neighbors called the police when they heard the shot gun go off, but nothing came of it because the dealer wouldn’t press charges. The word was he planned on having her killed, which apparently wasn’t all that easy.

Another policeman told about how his partner had gone out on a call where a drug related argument was going on and the neighbors were afraid a shootout might happen.  Probably because this had been a common occurrence at this residence.

When they pulled up they noticed a woman sitting in a Camero in front of the house and they wanted her to get out of there because of possible trouble. They went in to straighten out the fracas and arrest them.  When they came out they found their squad car had been vandalized. The driver’s seat was out and put in a dumpster, the driver’s door was open, and much of the electrical circuits had been disconnected. The woman was gone, but they assumed she was the Camero owner’s girl-friend; they eventually found her and charged her with a long list of crimes, including vandalism.

When the case came up, this incredible woman, dressed in the best Beverly Hills, offered had the attention of every woman and man in the court room when she walked in with her lawyers.

They proved it was a case of mistaken identity and provided documented evidence she was working on a movie set that day. Even the policemen involved couldn’t identify her. They went away scratching their heads and she went away with an apology for her embarrassment and inconvenience.

Another small incident was when a career criminal came to the police and complained she was dangerous to his life and his property. He claimed she had put a snake in his mail box, had his pit bulls neutered, and had filled the barrels of his guns with something that ruined them. He said one of his guys had shot the shotgun and it blew up and damned near killed him.

Of course, the cops didn’t follow-up on his complaint, but it was a great story that got around. There were fits of laughter in the department for weeks after that, they knew she was trouble, but they also rather enjoyed her antics.

My Summary of Susan’s Story

Rather than being a comprehensive accounting of Susan’s life, I have only been able to present a brief outline of a few events in her life. For example, in the legal aspects, I did not follow up on legal issues in San Diego, Palm Beach or Miami. Even with the amount of time I spent with Long Beach police I only discussed part of her history.

I spoke very briefly with her family and only by telephone and e-mails. So, due to time commitments and the diversity of her life my information has been severely limited.

What I did find out is Susan is extremely bright and talented as an actress, has considerable understanding of legal issues, and is a fascinating personality.

Her peers at The Sanctuary, some of her acquaintances at law enforcement, her family and employers are very strongly attached to her.

I also am aware that she has no shortage of enemies from her past antics and she readily admits that. Her skill at the martial arts is legend. Her temper has been explosive and dangerous; however, it appears to have improved significantly. She is an advocate for animals and has an unusual ability to make friends with them.

Consider this only a little glimpse into Susan’s chaotic life. I hope that someday I (or somebody) am able to write a comprehensive biography on Susan.

 

Tagged books, Edwin Wallace, fiction, short story, The Sanctuary