The disgruntled worker’s fury
The disgruntled worker’s fury
By Todd Hicks
Copyright by Todd Hicks in February 2021, December 2023
About the book
Already on edge and waiting to erupt, Stuart Del Guard is a sociopath and walking time bomb not to be reckoned with. While gainfully employed as a logistics worker besides being happily married, his most dangerous impulses are tempered and kept in check.
Unfortunately for him, his antisocial and mean-spirited tendencies catch up to him. Once he is fired, his livelihood is uprooted from him, his wife divorces him and he loses his friends, the worst is brought out in him.
Seeking revenge and validation, he murders people at the warehouse where he recently worked. The longer he's on the loose, the more cunning and ruthless he becomes.
The names of the characters and places mentioned in this story are fictional. Any similarity between the characters and any actual persons or places is purely coincidental.
Chapter 1
He was on a trigger-happy tear. Stuart “Stu” Del Guard was in the moment, using his bare hands to choke the merriment out of another dude who ticked him off by chopping one of his hands through the newspaper he was reading on a park bench on a sunny day.
As Stuart tightened his grip, the other guy began to wonder if what he did to this man who did nothing to him was worth it – this was unusual for him because he went through life having no regrets and rarely second-guessed his actions. His life slowly ending, he displayed remorse and pleaded for his life to be spared through his eyes.
However, Stu wasn’t having it – his ego, brutal nature and propensity to finish whatever he started (no matter how heinous) wouldn’t let him ease up. Luckily for the one whose life was coming to an end, a bystander pried Stu off him.
“What in the heck are you doing?” Stu asked the man who couldn’t mind his own business enough for his liking.
Bystander: “I am saving this misguided dude’s life. All human life is precious, my friend.”
Stu: “What in blazes for? Didn’t you see what he did to me? He had the chutzpah to rip my paper even though I was minding my own business and not bothering anyone. And don’t call me ‘friend’.”
Bystander: “I witnessed what he did and don’t condone it but that doesn’t give you the license to kill him over it and thus I had no choice but to intervene.”
Stu: “You should have butted out. Nobody messes with me or interferes with how I conduct my business and gets away with it.”
As the bystander resumed arguing, Stu lunged for him and screamed out of rage.
“Wake up, honey,” implored Davida Del Guard, Stuart’s wife.
Responding to Davida shaking him by the shoulder as he lied in bed, Stu inferred, “I had a bad dream.”
“That must be the case, because you screamed in your sleep,” informed Davida.
“Do you mind filling me in on what occurred in your nightmare?” asked the wife.
Stuart agreed, “I don’t mind doing it at all, Davida. I don’t consider it a nightmare, just a perturbing dream. As I minded my own business and read a copy of our local newspaper on a bench in the park up the street, a cad tore my paper on purpose as though he was chopping his hand through a board. I then commenced strangling him with my bare hands; the only thing that saved him was the interference of another guy who pulled me off him.”
Davida: “I’m glad it was just a dream.”
Stu: “Perhaps that guy would have had it coming to him; still, I don’t envision ever killing someone in cold blood, provoked or not provoked.”
“Davida: “I understand your restraint. People sometimes do things that anger you but you always use your better judgment and keep your worse impulses in check. This is one reason I married you and am still in love with you.”
Stu: “I appreciate it more than you may ever know. It’s priceless still having you in my corner after all these years.”
Davida: “Well, we’ve been married going on 15 years a week from tomorrow. When I said yes to your marriage proposal, I knew I was making the correct decision. We remain happily married and I intend to honor my end of the bargain to be with you until one of us dies.”
“Thank you, sweetie,” said Stu while giving his other half a quick peck on her cheek.
“It is my impression you have been under a lot of tension because of all the crazy stuff going on lately. How about we unwind with a night out on the town after you get home from work late this afternoon,” Davida invited.
Stuart accepted, “You know my answer to an invitation like this is yes. After knowing me for almost 20 years, you know how to read me like a book.”
“Of course I do, darling. Part of what attracts me to you is my observation and comprehension. The ideal couple consists of two lovers who understand each other, are on the same page and react accordingly to the other’s needs and wants. We’ll have so much fun after you come home from work,” reinforced Davida.
“I’ll see you then and be ready to turn things up a notch as we paint the town red,” said Stu while heading out the door to go to work.
Seconds later, he opened the garage door then backed his car out into the driveway then manually closed the garage door then drove off. While driving down the nearest boulevard, he planned out the outing he agreed to go on then anticipated how much fun he was going to have.
“I will have such a thrill with the missus tonight. I’ll take her out for eats and entertainment, maybe even a few games of bowling. It’s been so long since I have been to the bowling alley. The wife and I both love to bowl and are great at it for amateurs,” he reflected.
He soon arrived at the warehouse site of his employment in Youngstown, Ohio. He had a lot of
Impressum
Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 26.02.2021
ISBN: 978-3-7487-7580-5
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