Indiscretion: Callie Douglas - Book Four

Chapter Seven

"Hi, I'm Dr. Callie Douglas", I said as I turned on my recorder. "You're Rufus Hines?"

"Call me Butch. I don't answer to Rufus."

"Okay, Butch. Do you know why you're here today?"

"Not exactly. I know why I'm in jail. I had a fight with my girlfriend. I lost control and threw something at her and unfortunately she died. I'm really upset about it, and I guess that I belong in jail as a result. But I don't know why I'm here. I already told the police everything I know."

"We'll just talk a bit more about the fight you had. But before we do that, I have a couple of questions for you. Do you do drugs?"

"I smoke a little weed every now and then – usually when I'm at parties – but that's about it. I hadn't had anything for about the month prior to the fight that we had."

"Were you taking any prescription drugs?"

"No, I wasn't. I'm in pretty good health. I even work out on a regular basis."

"What about alcohol?"

"I don't really drink. Again, I'll have the odd beer or vodka cooler when I'm at a party, but I don't generally drink when I'm at home."

"Did you have anything to drink or did you smoke any weed the night of the incident?"

"No, I didn't."

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"My girlfriend was asking for it. It wasn't really my fault."

"Step me back a bit. Were you living with your girlfriend at the time?"

"Yes, I was. We'd been living together for three years."

"So you were in a common law marriage."

"Yes, we were."

"What was your girlfriend's name?"

"Anna."

"What do you do for a living?"

"I'm a machinist at a metal fabrication plant."

"Is it a good job?"

"It is. I make good money."

"So money wasn't a stressor in your life?"

"No, it wasn't."

"What did Anna do?"

"She was a teacher in a preschool program. She didn't earn much money, but it didn't matter. She liked what she did and, with my salary, she didn't have to work at all."

"Was the fight that you were in with Anna the first fight you had been in, or was it one of many?"

"It was the first fight. I had hit her a couple of times beforehand, but they weren't important and didn't amount to anything."

"How many incidences were there when you hit her?"

"Not that many – maybe twelve or so? I'm not really sure. As I said, they weren't of any importance."

"Did any of those fights cause physical damage?"

"Once she broke a rib, and once she sprained her wrist. She recovered and, as I said, they weren't of any importance."

"What sort of things would you argue about?"

"We would argue about money. Although I earned a lot, Anna liked to spend it. We would argue about kids. Anna wanted some and I didn't. And we would argue about getting married. Anna wanted to and I didn't. You name it and we probably argued about it at some point."