Swayze hadn’t always been that bad. He was in college when she met him, going back and forth between a couple jobs, and writing to magazines. He had so much hope and energy that Sophia was drawn to him immediately. He told her that phrase was cliche. It had been almost two years before they even hung out more than a few minutes at a Rock & Mineral show. At that time, it was enough for Sophia to know that Swayze remembered her name.
When Swayze broke up with Sophia, supposedly for another girl, and supposedly for another man, whatever happened didn’t work out very quickly, and Swayze wanted Sophia back within a couple weeks. Sophia on the other hand had made up her mind that things were done.
With a few notable exceptions near the beginning, she did not break down. This would be the first time he cheated on her. According to him, he’d never done it to anyone before, and Sophia wasn’t even convinced he had seen someone else. The sources were too unreliable and few of the details matched up.
Swayze had gone pretty far into the deep end and was starting to look like he couldn’t make the swim back. Sophia thought she could help him when they were together, but if he wanted to treat their relationship so trivially, she was going to take the convenient opportunity to lop the problem off at the base.
This did not sit well with Swayze. If he couldn’t have her, no one would. He targeted first their mutual friends he knew were hanging out with Sophia. If they had cell phones he would call an increasing amount of times and leave long messages on voice mail after the phone was turned off. Swayze was a little guy, and didn’t take more than a couple knocking him around that he decided to turn his torments on Sophia instead.
Swayze preferred the phone calls because he could do it while sitting on the couch eating ScornFish. He called her, he called her job, he even called stores where she shopped and had her paged. Sometimes, if he had been drinking, he would go looking for her.
He would arrive unannounced with friends he knew would keep him from getting out of hand. They would come to eat at the pizzeria she worked in. Once, Swayze talked his way into a trip to Sophia’s father’s house. Sophia had been so embarrassed by Swayze’s actions that she hadn’t even told her parents about the breakup. She was tempted that night, knowing that her father would have pulled Swayze apart like soft bread. That’s what Swayze wanted. Then he could press some real charges.
When Sophia bested him there, his new plan took some work. After the fact, he’d been candid about his conspiracy, one-on-one, so he could deny everything later. First, he convinced a few doctors he was mentally ill. Then he convinced a mutual friend to admit Sophia had flipped Swayze the bird when she drove by in a car. Unfortunately, she had, but Sophia was unaware he’d become legally crazy, she simply thought Swayze was an asshole.
He pressed charges for harassment and arranged numerous meet-ups where he could throw a fit. While no one was proud, this was the final wedge between Sophia and all but a few of her friends. The boys still hung out with Swayze, and the girls wanted to hang out with the boys.
Sophia probably could have beat the rap save for one fatal mistake. She ran into him at the bar the night after a lengthy and unproductive session with her court-appointed lawyer. Sophia felt helpless, and was starting to believe that no matter how wrong, Swayze was going to win. He managed to sway the hearts and minds of aides and advocates and convinced the courts Sophia had been a bad mother. If she was going down, she might as well have some fun.
Telling the bartender she’d made a bet, she requested the most noxious mixture he could mix from the sauces in the kitchen. Most of those sauces were hot, and some were considered suicidal, and there was also some vinegar, and plenty of caustic spices. The cook mixed these in the same red plastic cups the bar was handing out to Rock & Mineral patrons. She knew he wouldn’t pass up the chance to speak with her if she walked too close. When Swayze took the bait and whispered, “I love you,” Sophia tossed he hot sauce in his eyes. Swayze fell on the ground screaming, and Sophia wrapped her legs around his waist and pummeled his face until the bouncers pulled her away.
Continued Monday
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