Deadbeat Dads

Special thanks to Janice Smith for her help with Carr’s occupation. It takes a special person to do that kind of work.

Dedicated to all the ch
ildren she, and others like her, helps.

Thanks, also, to Angela Fitzwater McIlvain for sharing her experiences with me and to Sharon Stefan for her input on accounting.

And last, but certainly not least, thank you to Gail Branan for her help in legalese, comments, and editing.

Chapter
One

Does everyone start out married life with rose colored glasses? I'm sure no one thinks their marriage will end in divorce. I certainly didn't.
Mine was the perfect love, the perfect marriage, I was going to have the perfect life, and it was an absolutely perfect day for a wedding. The sun streamed through the window as I walked down the aisle on my father’s arm. Johnny looked so handsome standing at the altar waiting for me.  

Oh, I knew we'd have our ups and downs
. I’ve always been a realist. I know nothing in life is perfect. But we came darn close. At least that’s what I thought. So how did I end up divorced, fifteen years later? If anyone would have told me about the turn my life would take I’d have laughed at them.

Oh, I’m Erica Morris
. Well, I was Erica Morris until recently. Now I’m divorced and left to raise two kids. Johnny, my husband left me for a younger woman. Not a new story, I know, but that doesn’t make it hurt less. To top it all off, he cut himself off from our kids and left me to be the bearer of bad news. To make matters worse, he refused to pay child support. Not that he couldn’t afford it. Believe me, he could well afford it, and then some. But he left us penniless?  I need to back up a bit.  I remember calling the meeting of other single mothers to order.

***

“Okay ladies,” I looked at the women gathered around me. Lisa Daly, who encouraged me to start this group, was here and Nicole Brown. Poor thing never went out while she was married. Oh, and Louise Conners, I still couldn’t believe her husband ran off with his receptionist, and now they were going through a nasty divorce. Not sure why that surprised more than the others. It shouldn’t. There was quite a turn out. Half the women I didn’t know.

I
brought my attention back to the meeting. “First order of business, a name for our group, any ideas?”

“Deadbeat Dads Anonymous,” someone called out. 

“Wives of Deadbeat Dads,” someone else yelled. “Or Women Against Deadbeat Dads.”

“Better yet, how about Mothers Against Deadbeat Dads.  MADD!” Lisa Daly shouted.

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. There certainly wasn’t a shortage of names. “We’re mad for sure but that sounds too much like Mothers Against Drunk Drivers.”

“ADD,” someone else yelled. Against Deadbeat Dads.”

Nicole Brown’s hand went up. “Nicole, what’s your idea?”

“How about Wives Enraged at D
eadbeat Dads. W.E.D.D.?” Nicole’s voice barely reached above a whisper.

Poor Nicole. Her
ex-husband had knocked her self confidence so low. I was surprised to even see her here.  I met her at a school function. Nicole’s daughter, Cindy, was in the same class as my Josh. I had heard through the grapevine that Bob, Nicole’s ex, had run off with a stripper. Talk about humiliating. I shivered at the thought. 

Suddenly
everyone came alive. Shouts of “Hey, that’s great, I like that,” sounded throughout the room. 

“Okay then it sounds unanimous,
Wives Enraged at Deadbeat Dads it is. All in favor raise your hands. W.E.D.D.” Kind of funny when you thought about it. None of us were wed any more.

Twelve hands went up.  “Motion carried. We are officially Wives Enraged at Deadbeat Dads. Now we need to set up a schedule for our meetings and discuss our agenda. 
First, we need to choose a Chairperson.”

Nicole’s hand went up again. “I nominate Erica Morris for chair person.”

“I second that motion.” Lisa Daly raised her hand. “This group was your idea.  I think you should chair it.”

Me as chair person?
I wasn’t too crazy about the idea. “Any other nominations?” I hoped someone would raise their hand. No such luck. Heat rushed into my face. I had a feeling it turned as red as my hair, which was pretty red. I wasn’t used to being the center of attention. Never liked it and sure didn’t care for it now.

The room remained quiet.

No other nominees. “Okay then, all in favor, show of hands. Motion carried, I guess I’m the chairperson. Thank you, I’m flattered.” Flattered but a little taken aback. Hopefully, I wouldn’t let anyone down. “Let’s break for refreshments and we can continue our discussion while we snack.”  I needed a moment to myself.

I
never expected the group to name me chairperson. I’d never chaired anything in my life. In fact, the parents group at my children’s school was the only other group I had ever joined.

Johnny didn’t like
me to go out and do things. He expected his wife to stay home, and God forbid, I even suggested going out alone while he stayed home with the kids.  Anger flared in me as I recalled how often he came home late.  Working, yeah right, spending time with his playmates was more like it. How could I have been so stupid? I remembered the day he told me he was leaving. Just like that out of the clear blue sky.

“It’s not working for us, Erica,”
Johnny said. “I found someone else.”

Oh, he found someone else all right, his young
, sexy secretary. You could have knocked me over with a feather.  I should have known. All the signs were there, his late hours and lipstick on his collar. He was comforting the wife of a friend, he lied. I did a slow burn as the memories returned. And then he left, packed his clothes and just walked out without even a goodbye to the kids, left me to deal with them as usual. 

Katie and Josh woke up the next morning expecting to see their father. Not that they saw much of him, but
sometimes he ate breakfast with them and made polite conversation. That was nine months ago, and he hadn’t been back since, not even to visit the kids. He wanted a quick no fault divorce so he could marry his pregnant secretary.

I
almost refused, but figured why fight it?  The kids and I were better off without him, but how do you explain to an eight and ten year old that their father doesn’t care about them, that he had a new life with a new baby?  It was one thing to forget about me, but not the kids. And I haven’t received even one of the child support payments he agreed to pay in the divorce settlement.

“Erica, hey are you okay?” Lisa’s
hand on my shoulder startled me. “You look mad enough to spit nails.  Thinking about Johnny, I bet.”

“Huh, oh yeah sorry, my mind was wandering. Yeah
. I was thinking about Johnny. I just can’t believe he doesn’t care about the kids. He’s missed every scheduled visit. He doesn’t return my calls, and of course I can’t get past his secretary, uh wife, at the office or at home.  I could have him arrested, but with his connections he’d get off Scott-free. I know it.”

“Well that’s why we started this group isn’t it? Come on if we all put our heads together we’ll come up with something to make them pay.”

The rest of the meeting involved mostly chit chat about this ex hubby or that one and how rotten they all were. It was small consolation to know others had the same problem.

Chapter Two

I arrived home angry enough to scream. Half the women in that room could barely make ends meet. Was it so easy for men to turn off their feelings so quickly? Didn’t they care anything about their kids? That’s what hurt me, I had grown used to Johnny being gone, but the kids didn’t understand. In fact, since I started working again I kind of liked my independence. Never again would I depend on a man to support me.

But
damn it, he owed his kids. It wasn’t up to me to support them. And Johnny and Babette were living high off the hog. They bought a big house in that new development that I would have loved to live in, five bedrooms no less.  Nothing like the modest colonial we lived in. Oh no, that wouldn’t be good enough for precious Babette. What was it Johnny said when he told me they were moving? Something about me holding him back and not realizing his potential. Babette would help to further his career. 

Oh
, I’d like to further his career all right, right into a jail cell. I slammed the door and gritted my teeth. Why did I let him get to me like this? I had been through it all before, and every time I thought about it I wanted to lash out and hit something or someone, ha, someone namely Johnny.

“Mom.”  Katie bounded in from school. “Mrs. Burns said I could spend the night with Jessie if it’s okay with you. Can I, Mom?’

“Well, hello to you too.” I ruffled my daughter’s blond head and leaned down to kiss her cheek. “I don’t see a problem with that. But don’t forget you have a dentist appointment tomorrow afternoon, I’ll have to pick you up about 11:00.”

“Aw, do I have to go to the dentist. Jessie, Alice and I wanted to go to the library in the afternoon?”

“Sorry, you have to go. I can drop you back at Jessie’s afterwards if you want. The dentist shouldn’t take long. Where’s your brother?”

“Oh, Josh said to tell you he stayed for extra credit. Like he needs it. What’s to eat?” Katie opened the refrigerator and stared into it like something was going to pop out at her.

“Here.” I handed Katie an apple and closed the door. “That should tide you over, I’m making dinner. And start your homework.”

Katie skipped out of the room without a response.
I stared after her. Katie had adjusted well under the circumstances, maybe because she wasn’t used to her father around much to begin with. Josh, on the other hand, seemed to have  more trouble. Since Johnny left, Josh had thrown himself into his school work more than ever. It hurt to see my son so serious.

Hell, he already got straight A’s. For the life of me I couldn’t imagine why he spent so much time at school, unless it was to escape the fact his father wasn’t here. Johnny didn’t spend any more time with Josh than he did with Katie, yet Josh took the loss much harder. I made a mental note to talk to his teacher again.

We had
a discussion when Johnny first left, and Mrs. Miller noticed a change in Josh. He had withdrawn from his classmates and looked for ways to do more work. Every extra credit assignment she offered, Josh did. He should be having fun, playing ball, hanging out with his friends, not doing school work. Damn it, he should be hanging out with his father. Johnny should be spending time with his son, not off gallivanting with his young bride.

I’d heard through the grapevine that
Johnny and Babette had spent an extended honeymoon in Hawaii.

Hawaii!

For years I tried to convince Johnny to take me there. Begged him to take a few weeks off. I even had a sitter for the kids. Becky had offered more than once to let them stay with her. But no, Johnny always had one excuse after another. We couldn’t afford it, he couldn’t take time off from work, this, that, and whatever.