Under the Knife: A Beautiful Woman, a Phony Doctor, and a Shocking Homicide Read Online Free PDF Page B

the season. Dean and Debra left Madison on Memorial Day weekend and spent nearly every day of their break from school frolicking beachside—cooling off in the waves, baking in the sun.
    This world of playtime fantasy, made up of miles of white sand, filled their summers with seagulls and horseshoe crabs. Up on the boardwalk, the fresh ocean breeze mingled with the acrid smell of the creosote-soaked boards and the sweet scent of cotton candy. They rode the roller coaster, Tilt-A-Whirl and bumper cars until they were exhausted. They journeyed through the haunted house and the house of mirrors and down water slides. They collected pinwheel art and stuffed animals. They played Skee-Ball, ring toss and other games of chance that tempted them along the length of the broad boardwalk. They stuffed their tummies with hot pretzels, cold custard, Orange Julius and deep-fried zeppola—an Italian fried dough concoction drenched in powdered sugar.
    Then Labor Day came and Dean and Debra’s world of limitless freedom and fun came to a screeching halt. Once again, it was time for school work—and the harder job of avoiding their father’s wrath.

CHAPTER SIX
     
    DEAN WAS 12 YEARS OLD AND DEBRA WAS 9 WHEN THEIR parents first separated. Sam moved out of the home on 9 Cedar Avenue. He consulted an attorney who advised him to move back into the home, or his wife could divorce him on grounds of abandonment. The lawyer convinced him that a no-fault divorce would leave him in a better position—he would lose fewer of his assets, and his alimony and child support payments would be lower.
    So weeks after leaving, Sam returned. He forced his way in and reclaimed 9 Cedar Avenue as his own. For Dean’s mother, this started the divorce clock all over again. At that time, to legally end a marriage, a couple needed to live apart for eighteen months. Now, Carmel had no choice. She had to leave the home at once to free herself of the man who made her and her children miserable.
    Carmel told Dean and Debra to pack their things. They had to move from the only place either child could remember calling home. Dean stood in his bedroom in a daze. He stared in his sock drawer not knowing which colors to take and which to leave behind. He didn’t even know how long he would be gone or if he would ever return.
    As he stood stock still, incapable of taking any action, Sam entered his room. “Can I help you?” he asked.
    Dean glared at him. How could he offer to help his sonpack his clothes and leave his home in the middle of the night? He wanted to say, “Sure, you can help me—by leaving my sister and my mother and me alone.” Instead, he just shook his head.
    The three found refuge at grandmother Ada’s home in Newark. She was living alone in a small apartment with only a living room, a bedroom and a kitchen. Now, four people occupied the tiny space. Despite the challenge and the loss of privacy, Ada did all she could to make her daughter and grandchildren feel welcome.
    Ada slept on the sofa—a situation that embarrassed Dean. He offered to take her place, but she would not give it up. In the sole bedroom, his mother slept on an uncomfortable cot. Dean offered her his place in the bed where he and Debra slept but she would not even consider it. He and his sister had school to attend, she told him; they needed to sleep well. Watching the sacrifice of his mother and grandmother night after night fed the flames of anger and resentment that Dean felt toward his father.
    Every morning, Carmel drove Dean and Debra to school in Madison. Every afternoon, she drove back to pick them up and bring them to the loving but minuscule apartment. Dean’s mother struggled with depression over her situation—the overcrowded home, the endless negotiations and waiting for the divorce papers. For the first time in her life, she let herself go. Her hair hung limp for days at a time, her fingernails became chipped and ragged, her clothing draped from her body. Compared to