PART 6: Revelations
David had 5 weeks of classes left in Arizona before he’d be coming home. During that period, the assaults on both David and me only continued.
The Surprise Call
David called me one afternoon and said he just got off the phone with his mom.
Within a week, while out driving with Emily, she broke the silence by saying,
“Em, you may want to talk with David. Maybe he can help you, since he was recently placed in the same situation.”
“OK.” And that was the last I heard of it from either of them.
But shortly after,
When it went to trial about eight months later (January 2004), the judge threw the book the book at her, and increased her payments retroactively. She lost big time. Kathy’s attempt at helping her get custody was a big failure — her resentment was only growing.
Confirmation of Character Assassination
While David was finishing the school year in Arizona, I received a phone call from dad. His call seemed fairly benign at the beginning, but quickly changed when he opened the bomb-bay doors.
I recall there was virtually no segue, just a pause and complete topic change — it was obvious why he called me.
He then went on to say that “… maybe the kids would be better off with Julie.” ["Maybe" as in what Kathy had been brainwashing him with?]
I believe shock played a part into why I just stood quietly, listening to him state not even one truth, while my mind raced. Although he never even hinted at his source, he confirmed it with my first comment. When he paused, I said,
He continued his assault on my perceived parental disabilities, as if he had been a model father. He was an absent father. What he wasn’t prepared for, though — no more than I — was that he was bringing my childhood back into focus.
You see, my dad never even took me to a team practice, let alone attend one of my games. Never, not even once. And there were many — year after year. It was always mom or a ride with a teammate. I played Little League baseball every year, I was on basketball teams, football teams … even a soccer team. I don’t believe dad even cared.
He stepped into uncharted territory – my childhood – a topic I knew to avoid with him as it would only incite his defensive hostility. But the parallels couldn’t be avoid. The fact is, David did play Little League, and I took him to every practice and game – his mother couldn’t be bothered. I also enrolled both he and Emily in tennis lessons at our city’s elaborate tennis facilities. I took Emily to all her softball events.
They both went through a period of interest in music, so Emily got into piano lessons, while David took guitar lessons. And I was doing this all as a single parent, just as my mom was helping me as if she were a single parent. Dad eventually pushed me a bit too far, and I unceremoniously opened up at him. How quickly he got defensive.
His reason for not being at any of my practices or games was that he had to work, and, “Who do you think puts the food on the table.” [He may have worked, but mom cooked and placed the food on the table … as a single parent, I did both.] Funny, but many of my practices and games were on Saturdays and during evenings, when he was home drinking.
Surprisingly, it was as if he walked right into a left jab, and actually gave me the opportunity to say what I never thought I would. The call ended with dad acting admonished, struggling for something to say, but he was left speechless. And of course, dad didn’t apologize. Something he never did.
What It Confirmed
In retrospect, I thought it was the beginning of Kathy’s attacks on my character — something I later discovered had begun long before. As soon as I hung up with dad, I dialed Kathy. She answered with her cheerful persona, but that quickly changed when
At that point,
It also told me that dad was in on this with Kathy, and I’d eventually discover that so were my other two siblings. The Bad Gene Team was taking form.
David Returns Home
One of the reasons David’s counselor stated, “If David were my son, I would do nothing different” was because I had let her in on my plans for David when he returned home. Relatively speaking, David had a tough childhood: his mother abandoned him, his step-father abused him, and he struggled with ADD.
My plans were to bring him back to the psychiatrist who initially diagnosed his ADD, six years earlier, for a further evaluation. David and I had also agreed to enroll him into Taekwondo (Karate) to increase his own self-esteem, and not feel defenseless against bullies in the future.
At the appointment with the psychiatrist, John, a few unexpected revelations surfaced. First, it was David’s PCP, Jerry, who had continued to treat his ADD. When John saw the dose that Jerry had raised him to, John stated, “What is Jerry thinking? That’s a dose most adults would have a tough time tolerating.”
David had begun that dose exactly one day before the bully attack which led me to withdraw him from that school, and how he ended up at Kathy’s. He continued that dose during the entire time he was in Arizona with Kathy.
But the second revelation was a biggie: after John spent an hour alone with David, he asked David to wait out front so he could speak with me. John introduced me to a diagnosis that I never heard of, “David has Asperger’s Syndrome.”
“He’s got what?”
John took a few minutes providing an overview, then handed me a book with a long series of about 40 questions, each identifying one trait of someone with Asperger’s. John asked me to go through all the questions in his lobby while he spoke with David again. He said that if at least half apply to David, he likely suffers from Asperger’s.
When I completed answering the questions, and returned alone with John, I informed him that only three traits did not apply to David. His response was another surprise, though a positive one, “David couldn’t be in a better school district — they have an advanced special program for those with Asperger’s.”
I asked John if it would be OK for me to break the news to David, as I wanted to research the condition thoroughly to be able to answer Dave’s questions when I told him. John agreed. He also stated, “I suggest you start the process with the school district now. Let me know how I can help in any way.”
For everything negative Kathy fabricated about David, and that it was my fault due to being a “bad father,” I decided to give Kathy the update. I called her, began with non-related chatter, then I said, “Oh yea, David has Asperger’s Syndrome.”
Her response was very incriminating, “NO HE DOESN’T!” How compassionate [not]. Her eldest son has Down’s Syndrome.
She knew it had just cast an invalidation over all her baseless claims. Asperger’s Syndrome is in the autism spectrum, specifically considered high-functioning autism. In summary: very intelligent but struggles with social skills — both define David with precision.
From national test scores, David was consistently in the top 1% (99th percentile) for math and science, and the top 10% (90th percentile and above) for all other subjects. The nationwide average score is 50%. Though he had lost all his same-aged friends, he was very comfortable with, and admired by adults.
By the second week of summer, David had begun Taekwondo training, something he quickly began to enjoy. Once again, his mother would not take him to events during her weekends, so I fulfilled her obligations without hesitation. Before the summer ended, David earned his second belt.
I contacted the school’s district administration regarding David’s diagnosis, and was given an overview of the program. The best part I heard was that he would need to attend another school, since the entire program was contained in one elementary, one middle, and one high school. All three of the schools were situated together, and were the newest schools in the district. If accepted in the program, a bus would pick him up right at our house.
I was also informed that even though a psychiatrist had diagnosed him, the district’s own psychology staff would need to test David and concur with the diagnosis for him to be accepted into the program. Additionally, they said that there was little chance it could happen before school started again, since some of those required in the process were off for the summer.
They said he would likely need to return to his old school for a month or two, but once approved, he would transfer immediately. I politely stated that would be unacceptable, and for him, we needed to do everything possible to make it happen starting with the first day of school. I never let up over the summer — I was the proverbial “squeaky wheel.”
The day before the new school year was to begin – the very last day of summer – David was approved for the program. The following day, when he arrived for the first day of school, they had not even received his paperwork. So for his first two days, he sat in the counsellors’ offices waiting for everything to be processed, and his class schedule to be determined.
I still remember one teacher’s comment to me regarding the third day of classes (David’s first day): instead of David simply entering her classroom and finding an empty seat, he approached her, shook her hand, and introduced himself. His confidence had taken an about-face. His problems of being targeted by bullies would never appear again. My plans had succeeded.
Losing Face
All of Kathy’s malicious plans had failed. But now she had a new concern: in her paranoid mind, I was a risk to her exposure, something I was not even considering. At that point in time, I still did not have enough reason to place “Kathy” in the same sentence as “sociopath.” Yes, she was a ruthless liar, something she’d always been. But that alone does not make for a specific personality disorder. More evidence would appear that eventually awarded her that sinister title.
to be continued
January 12th, 2011 at 10:19
You’re a great dad.
January 12th, 2011 at 11:56
I’ll always be a dad, but my parenting days are over, and I believe that’s what you are referring to. So, thank you, ma’am.
My ‘kids’ are adults now. I am proud of my role of being a single parent. It was my priority. If I had it to do all over again, there’s very little I’d do differently. Hindsight, though, is 20/20.
I would bestow no trust, whatsoever, in their mother. None. She used her own children for her own narcissistic needs, even teaching her own daughter to lie for her benefit. She allowed abuse to occur in her home, and turned a blind eye. She is incapable of shame. I would demand supervised visitation on my second go-around.
I would handle the holidays with much more forethought, as I wish more young parents would do also. I described that in an entire post, titled: Tis the Season of Deception. The lesson I learned was both difficult and humbling.
I came to believe that a dedicated solo parent had the ability to create a better foundation and environment than many two-parent households. No good cop, bad cop. No parental disagreements or arguments. Dedication is a key parental ingredient, along with mutual respect. That, I believe, is where most parents fail.
They are not kids to look down upon, but a future generation to look up to. They deserve good and fair guidance up the path to adulthood.
It is an uphill journey, which is why they need non-stop supportive, yet non-demanding guidance. They also need a hug everyday, and they need to hear they are loved – with conviction.
They will make decisions based on what they see, not what they are told. If they don’t get that consistent, loving support, they will likely come to a stop, and find their own path off the main one.
I digressed, Carol. But again, thank you. It means a lot.
March 17th, 2011 at 20:32
Please continue updating this story! I just recently stumbled upon this site and am enthralled by your story.
I don’t *think* I know any sociopaths; not in my family, at least. (Some of the kids I went to school with & that made my childhood a living Hell, though … well, it sounds like Kathy could’ve very well been one of them, had we been in the same generation.)
Anyway, your tale is absolutely fascinating. If it were a book, I’d have trouble putting it down. I’m still exploring your site, but I followed these 6 posts and am eagerly awaiting the next. Cheers!
Kaitlyn
May 21st, 2011 at 12:13
Larry, You’re obviously a very intelligent man. Have you ever considered there might be something wrong with you? One thing that struck me when reading your story was how cool you were able to remain when confronted with surprises, but how much anxiety and discomfort kathy displayed when she was caught out lying to you. I thought sociopaths were more able to keep a cool head? Furthermore, I don’t think sociopaths are totally emotionless, I’ve heard they love and hate as most people do (perhaps more intensely?) but they do not feel any empathy for people (a difficult emotion to pinpoint unless you’ve actually felt it) and they don’t feel remorse when they hurt people. Also, though lying is a trait adopted by many sociopaths, it is not their defining characteristic, some sociopaths do not lie, and unfortunately there are many liars (compulsive or not) who are not sociopaths.
BTW I don’t think being a sociopath necessarily makes someone a bad father, you still have the intelligence to help your children through their problems and you can teach them right from wrong… but there might perhaps be something missing when it comes to truely understanding and feeling what your children feel.
Perhaps there is nothing wrong with you, but i’m not sure that there is necessarily anything wrong with Kathy. (though I have not read the rest of your site yet). Perhaps Julie has Kathy under her thumb and Kathy acted the way she did because she truely believed you were not a good father and she thought she had reason to fear you.
Anyhow, I don’t know what the answers are, but something doesn’t quite make sense to me, and I think it’s unlikely (but not impossible) that you’d know so many sociopaths. I’m sorry if my post offends you in any way, but you said our insights are appreciated… so I thought i’d throw my 2 cents in. I’ll read more of your site on another occassion…. it’s interesting reading. I’ve been trying to work out if i’ve been conned by a sociopath myself, which was why I was draw to your site. I’ve had to accept and take responsibilty for my own actions that lead me into a bad situation though.
Take care.
May 21st, 2011 at 20:21
Lucy,
Welcome. My thoughts on normalcy is that it’s a fallacy. There is no “normal” — everyone is just wired differently, and some people’s wires are more crossed than others. The brain is a fascinating study, both software and hardware.
I don’t blame you for being skeptical, as I imagine most people are. I’m sure I’d have some skepticism, too, if I had not experienced it all first hand. The numbers are easy to explain, as with other diseases and disorders, it’s genetic and, hence, runs in families. All three of my siblings also have diabetes, and I’m not even at risk for it.
I hope you’ll read more, both here and elsewhere.
June 7th, 2011 at 18:32
Larry I in awe of you. I don’t know how you stayed so calm. Amazing.
I lost my daughter after a drawn out lawsuit (over seven years) where my sociopathic ex filed 26 motions against and I responded in all that time with only 3. When I tried to explain to the court that I left him for domestic violence they became confused. At the time (and I did not lie as I did not know they really require you to) he had not hit me. Also, he had convinced the court that he had left me because I am insane.
Although the only person who has ever said that I have psych issues is the woman he paid 10,000.00 to say so. Her name is May B. and she is not even a real doctor. My character was entirely assassinated. Still, I held strong into the sixth year when a horrible terrible thing happened. The man I was dating teamed up with him in a similar way to your story with your ex and your sister. The man I was dating (actually remodeling a house with at the time) agreed with my ex husband that he would say I was abusing my daughter if it would get me out of the house so that he could keep it as he had also been arrested for domestic violence.
I have not seen my daughter in over four years. I did not use the time unwisely, obtaining a degree as well as counseling for my ‘attraction to sociopaths’ problem, I remarried. I have a good job. My hair stopped falling out six months after I left and moved all the way across the country to escape. At one point, he had most of my family, my coworkers and everyone he knew read the “evaluation” he paid ten grand for. I cannot believe I did not hang myself. I lost everything. When most people say that they mean a house. Maybe money. I lost everything I owned, all my finances, my family, every single friend and nearly, very nearly my sanity.
The part where I knew you were telling the truth is when you said you didn’t tell everyone about it and that was why Katherine was a target.. Sociopaths tell everyone. They are so narcissistic that they need everyone’s support and approval of the horrible assassination they are performing even as they are performing it! You have done an amazing thing. I am forever your admirer.
I wish you would write a book so that people who can’t think for themselves (and I agree with your assessment on that subject entirely) can have the opportunity of learning about these sharks among us. It would be great for instance if schools, daycares and psychologists were aware.
Sincerely, Carolyn
June 8th, 2011 at 11:38
Dear Carolyn,
Those are some very kind words … I thank you with a bow.
I’m not one to get angry, so events such as I describe affect me as being very hurtful and sad.
As a single dad, my kids were just toddlers when I began to protect them from the evil of their mother and step-father. A big part of that was maintaining a cool exterior to hide the deep pain inside. I still clearly remember when my son, at just five years of age, stated, “Mom said you don’t love us anymore.”
Inside, it just about took me out, but on the outside, my son saw me shrug it off with a benign look of surprise, telling him that his mom was mistaken, as I loved both he and his sister more than anything else in the world.
My son, who’s now in college, has had no relationship with his mom for years. Everything he learned about her, he did on his own. Give a sociopath enough rope, and they’ll hang themselves.
June 19th, 2011 at 00:36
Larry, you sound like a modern day Sherlock Homes, and extremely level-headed. How could you even come to terms about Kathy and Julie being sociopaths in the first place? And did it sort of freak you out, realizing your sister and your ex-wife were:
a)both phsycotic
b)both consipiring against you to ruin you?
And do you even have a vauge clue of why they did it in the first place? Sorry if I’m being too inqustive; part of human nature, you know?
I think that you really didn’t deserve having to go through this. I wouldn’t wish this on any person, friend or foe.
June 19th, 2011 at 01:08
Emily,
Welcome. I did conduct a thorough investigation to make sure I had proof and substantiation. I don’t know what it means to “come to terms” with it. I had to accept the black and white, then I needed to move on.
a) Julie had a full psychological evaluation that I’m in possession of. Julie is psychotic, among other conditions. Kathy and Julie both have undeniable psychopathic traits. I do not have evidence to say Kathy is psychotic (being a psychopath and being psychotic are two distinctly different disorders).
b) “both conspiring against you to ruin you?” That’s relatively an easy answer, but a very long answer; most of which I try to explain in my posts. Kathy was my bully older sister since I can remember — it was based on jealousy.
Julie was married twice before me. The stories she told me about her previous husband were all lies. She made herself to be the victim, but he was just like me. They didn’t have kids, and that was probably a deciding factor to go after me with such vengeance. I was awarded full legal and physical custody. That made her look very bad. She also did not want to pay child support.
I would only wish this on those who did it to me.
July 18th, 2011 at 23:26
Thanks for sharing your experience. I’ve had a similar experience in my private past (I share a child) and one in my professional life (which almost destroyed me as a person).
I’ve only recently come to understand that the best and only way to handle these people is to stay calm and rational and keep your eyes and ears open and speak with open factual calm rehash of your experiences with them when given the opportunity to present your side, which as I know like you do, is rarely given after they have completely destroyed your credibility over time with your friends, colleagues and family.
I wish I understood what I was actually dealing with when I had to deal with it. I think ‘normal’ take a while to learn that you can not project your emotions, reactions & empathy onto people such as this because they are completely wired differently. My reactions were construed as hysterical and unbalanced when I was continually so blown away, enraged and upset when discovering another lie that had been said about me. I understand now reacting in this way perfectly plays into the hands of the sociopath.
I understand completely why your recount of events is so calm and clear.
July 22nd, 2011 at 01:05
Hello Larry,
I came upon your blog when I went to a counsellor today to tell her of the very real stress that I was under since returning to the family home 6 months ago after being away for the best part of the last 20 years
In that time my brother started to date and then form a committed relationship with my foster sister, who lives next door to the family home.They now have a child together. My foster sister joined our family almost 30 years ago when my mother was asked to take in a very damaged teen who was living , essentially on the streets. I have always considered her a part of the family and yet had never really had much in the way of a conversation with her as I have mostly been out of the country.
I guess that I always thought that eventually we would get some time to talk and I was looking forward to spending some time with her when I started living next door to her.I lost just about every thing in the global economic meltdown and am living in the family home till I finish retraining here in about 6 months.She has however formed close bonds with all my brothers and my parents in all the years that I have been away.
When I returned , I realised that neither my brother or her would talk to me, or even look at me and I found out from my mother that she didnt like me and that my coming back had caused her to go into a clinical depression and that I was to stay away for the sake of my brothers marriage and the children involved.
I found all the very strange encounters with her and him and with another brother just so wierd as they would not often look at me as if they were aware of something pretty awful about me and wanted nothing to do with me and yet no one would tell me what I had supposedly done to her. The implication was that in some way I had done something to her so heinous that she had gone off the deep end and that it was firmly at my door my very strained or non-existent relationships with my brothers and parents.
I said that would be fine except that I have never really even had a conversation with her(interesting in itself given 30 years!!)and that if I search my emails from my brother(his partner) they literally stopped right after he phoned me with the happy news that he and my foster sister had become a couple. My email contact with another brother ,whom I know to be really close to my foster sister also ran dry about the same time. Inexplicable and seriously strange in retrospect. In our adult lives I have been very close to my brothers , sharing vacations in different places on the globe and providing support for each other over years ..till it all literally stopped. No disagreements or blow-ups just ..gone.
When I related all this to a counsellor this morning she listened and then said with clarity and surety that my foster sister was very damaged as a child and that my foster sister is very obviously sociopathic and that I have become her victim in a very slow burn of character assassination ,where I have been out of the country and not able to respond.She said to look up sociopath and then I came across your blog and read it like I was looking at the proverbial train wreck(couldnt look away!) and so much rang true in terms of the very real malice that I have sensed in what has had to be a slow methodical character assassination facilitated by a family that simply does not talk about anything to do with the emotional terrain.
I feel like I have been thrown under a bus and that because” we dont talk about things”there is no real way to expose any of this in a way that doesnt sound a little paranoid. The counsellor said that my feelings that I was going a little crazy with all this coming to light living at such close quarters to all the players was a perfectly normal reaction to something “inexplicable”
I am a health professional and treat people for mental illness among other things and had always thought that sociopathy was something that affected people on a more grand scale i.e the lies of Bush that got us embroiled in an invasion of Iraq that killed thousands of innocent people or …Hitler…for instance.
I have to now say that though it all may be relative, the acute pain caused by such poisonous character assassination is very real.
July 29th, 2011 at 23:10
I started reading your blog as I wanted to understand my sociopathic boss better and wanted to thank you for your eloquent account of what happened to you.
I’ve just had a nightmare six months working for a sociopath until she recently fired me and I will now be taking legal action against her. I’ve never really encountered this type before; utterly without conscience, using everyone around them…my whole family was effected.
Your ‘toilet paper’ analogy is very apt! I’m a parent too and I would like to congratulate you on being a great dad. I was really moved reading about how you protected, cared for and loved your kids. Well done! I’m also impressed how you managed to keep your values and integrity intact in such a dysfunctional family.
August 15th, 2011 at 03:28
Hello T,
Not that this was your intended message, but your first paragraph reminded me about how naive people can be. They will hesitantly accept the fact that you may know one psychopath, but tell them you know two psychopaths, and just that quickly, it’s you who has mental issues. Ignorance is bliss.
I cover my family pretty extensively here — those by blood and by marriage. What I haven’t touched on yet are my psychopath experiences in the workplace. Mine fall into four categories, all with unique challenges:
1) Subordinates — Positives: 1
2) Associates — Probables: 1
3) Supervisors — Positives: 2; Probables: 2
4) Clients — Positives: 2
NOTE: A “Positive” indicates someone with a plethora of psychopathic traits; a “Probable” indicates someone with some obvious traits, but not enough to be sure. The numbers will likely change as I’m writing this at about 03:30, and thinking back to everyone I’ve worked with over a span of about 40 years.
One of the “Positive” supervisors will be covered in a full post in the near future. She was unbelievably malicious and dishonest, and got away with everything. I knew both sides of her, and the evil she displayed was truly frightening.
The “Positive” subordinate I hired was a woman with an MBA. She revealed things to me on the second day that she denied to everyone else. My relatively new boss concluded it was I who was whacked.
Your second paragraph is right on, but as you say, you don’t always get the opportunity.
Your third paragraph is also spot on. I had little idea of the magnitude of the forces against me until after it was too late. The bulk of the damage had been completed.
“I understand completely why your recount of events is so calm and clear.”
I’m glad to know that I’m able to share my experiences with the appearances of coolness and clarity, using nothing but smoke and mirrors. Currently, I’m a bit behind on writing because it can be so draining and exhausting.
But thank you for the kind words. And thanks for writing. I’ll try to respond quicker next time.
December 10th, 2011 at 03:37
I have the same situation but the characters are different. The damage is worse and almost impossible to correct. I have 3 kids (2 girls/1 boy) with shared custody of the girls and custody of my son.
My ex wife is definite sociopath and poor mother and even worse female role model. The kids are nothing more than leverage for support payments. The biggest difference between your scenario is that my ex mother in law is a sociopath with deep pockets (for funding my ex legally) and she covered for my ex and undermined my parenting from day one. She was around my kids more than my ex and spoiled them and became the female role model.
“Why didn’t I do something about this”?
The only way to describe this is that you don’t see it clearly when your inside the forest with the sociopaths. It’s not until you step away from their hidden influence that you can see how twisted it really is. The kids will always have the connection to my ex and her mother through visitation and their influence negates how I can raise my kids as a single parent.
Your children learn about right and wrong along with morals and ethics from their parents and it requires watching out for their best interests. I mean really watching out for them and being in tune to their world at all ages. Trying to work together with the sociopaths is a waste of time and they will just tell you what you want to hear. The courts and social services did very little and the lawyers just run up the bills on cases with proving sociopath behavior and associated problems until it is too late.
My 18 year old son has Asperger’s and in rehab for bad drugs and my 15 year old daughter was recently raped. I found out later that the ex would leave the kids alone at her home and sometimes even go away for the weekend after I dropped them off. The ex mother in law would approve my kids being with those who were known to be a bad influence and even help. All of this without telling me or my teenage kids covering for both of them.
Being proactive with the legal system for the last 3 years did nothing and my kids now see the mistakes made. I am hoping the legal system sees things more clearly so I can protect my 8 year old daughter.
December 15th, 2011 at 22:05
Yeah, you sound like a great father. I hate to think what those kids would have done without you. It sounds like you’ve been their saving grace.
December 16th, 2011 at 23:00
Fiona,
Thank you for the very kind words. Frankly, I wouldn’t do much different if I were to do it all over again, except I would surely demand supervised visitation with their mom.
Again thanks.
December 28th, 2011 at 22:00
Thank you for this very interesting story Larry. My daughter and ex husband are both psychopaths and my granddaughter is in [my] care. I really need to be able to teach her how to protect herself if justice deserts us and she goes back to her mom. Wouldn’t know any hints at all would you?
Jo
March 27th, 2012 at 16:16
Larry, as sad as this is, it’s great that you are making people aware of what and how sociopaths work. My best friend is going through a very tough time right now, due to her sociopath soon to be x-husband. Sadly though, she lost her 3 children to him due to a corrupt system in the state of Ma.
I pray that he gets what’s coming to him sooner or later. This man has gone above and beyond to manipulate her children and with success, he stole everything she owned, and with the help pf his Mother who also is sick, they are working to completely destroy her life. As you know this is extremely hard to deal with, and most are not even aware that sociopaths walk amoung us more often then not. Good luck to you Larry. God Bless.
April 27th, 2012 at 10:04
I just want to put this quote on here, I believe this really sums it up and I am a good person who fell into this web of deceit, FOOLED, as he is now doing to his disciples to destroy my life.
“ The trust of the innocent is the liar’s most useful tool. ”
Stephen King