Deadbeat Dads (4 page)

One day, Jack Morgan, my boss, told me to make arrangements to spend a few days in Florida.  One of our clients wintered there and someone needed to straighten out his accounts. Fort Myers, Florida not far from where I thought Bob Brown had settled.

When I took the job, I told
Jack I couldn’t travel, and I wasn’t crazy about making the trip, but what choice did I have? Jack told me it wouldn’t happen too often, but I was the only one available to go. Maybe I could kill two birds with one stone. Pay Bob a visit and make him see the light. I punched his name into the computer. This time I paid the money and got his address. I was pretty sure it was the same Bob Brown. When I got a minute I’d visit him, see what happened. I just hoped it was the right guy, and I wasn’t wasting my time or money.

I
made arrangements with Becky for Josh and Katie to spend the week, if necessary. What would I do without my best friend? “I owe you big time, Beck. I hope this isn’t going to be a regular thing. Jack knows I have a family and promised it wouldn’t be.”

“Hey
, don’t worry about it. I’m here whenever you need me, and the kids love the idea. They’ll be fine, don’t worry. Besides, maybe it’ll be good for Josh, help get him out of his shell. He spends too much time alone.”

I could only hope
.

The next day,
I stepped off the plane and took a deep breath. All in all the flight wasn’t too bad and the landing fairly smooth. Taking off and landing were the worst parts of flying for me. I hurried to the rental car company. Everything had been reserved for me by the company secretary.

A brand new Cadillac waited for
me. The company had gone all out. I felt like I was living in the lap of luxury. I could get used to this. I pulled out of the airport parking lot and followed the directions to the hotel. The salt air and sunshine lifted my spirits, nothing like the frigid temperatures at home.

Once settled in
my luxurious hotel room, I had several hours to spare. I decided to look Bob up right away. I followed the directions to his street on the GPS and pulled into a new development. These houses had to go upwards of three maybe four hundred thousand or more. And poor Nicole could barely afford the small two bedroom apartment they lived in. Again anger flared up in me. Bob only had one daughter, and he still didn’t care. So much for the old adage ‘Daddy’s Little Girl’. I guess it didn’t apply in all cases. Obviously, it hadn’t meant anything to Johnny either.

The development was a gated community
, and I knew if I wasn’t on the list I wouldn’t get in. I needed to come up with a plan to see Bob or find out where he worked. But at least I knew where he lived. I backed up and turned around. A car came out of the gate. The driver looked a lot like Bob. Could I be so lucky? I followed the car into town. It pulled into an office building complex, and I followed. I had to know more, had to find out where he worked.   I parked my car a short distance away from him, keeping him in sight.  He walked to the elevator. Darn it, I knew if Bob saw me he’d recognize me. But it was now or never. I hurried to catch up with him, just as the elevator door opened. Three other people got on at the same time. A look of recognition crossed Bob’s face. He pressed the button for three, and I settled in behind him. We got off the elevator, and I waited until the doors closed.  “Bob, I need to talk to you. Is there someplace quiet we can speak?”

For a minute I thought he
was going to refuse, but then he waved me towards a hall with offices, motioned for me to go inside and closed the door behind us. “I recognize you, but I can’t come up with a name. Please sit down.”

“Erica Morris, I’m a friend of Nicole’s.”

“I see, and what do you want with me?”

“Nicole is having a hard time making ends meet. Sometimes there’s barely enough money
to put food on the table. They’re living in a small two bedroom apartment and might have to move to something even cheaper.” Bob’s expression hadn’t changed from the hard cold look he gave me when I got on the elevator. Was I getting through to him?

“Look Bob, Nicole doesn’t care for herself, but what about Cindy? She’s going to have to live in a rough neighborhood and change schools, leave all her friends.
She’s already cut herself off from most of them. You know kids think it’s their fault when their parents get divorced. And when one parent refuses to even see his child, what do you suppose she thinks? You haven’t called or visited. You don’t send child support payments. The poor kid thinks you hate her.”

Bob stood up and paced the small office. “I guess I never gave her much thought. I never meant to hurt her. I figured if I stayed out of her life, she’d be better off.” He ran his hand through his hair. “God, I never gave it a thought about child support or anything. I’ll make it up to her. Look I have some money, a hundred thousand dollars, cash. If I give it to you will you promise to keep my whereabouts a
secret? Give the money to Nicole. Tell her it’s a settlement, and that I’m sorry. Make up some excuse why I can’t see Cindy. I’m in trouble. I can’t go back. Will you do that for me?”

I
leaned forward in my chair. A hundred thousand dollars, cash. I couldn’t carry that much money on an airplane. “Can you get me a cashier’s check or something? I can’t carry that kind of money around. Better yet get three or four of them from different banks if you have to. I’ll mail them to Nicole certified mail. I just don’t feel comfortable with that kind of money.”

“Sure, sure anything, but you have to promise not to reveal my whereabouts. Not to Nicole, not to anyone, Promise?”

I stood up. “I promise as long as we go to the bank right now to get those checks.” I wasn’t about to leave with just a promise. I’d accepted too many of them from Johnny and look how that turned out.

“Sure, let’s go.” Bob ushered
me out of the office and to a bank three doors down. He made a withdrawal and asked for four cashier’s checks.  Then we went to the post office and mailed them. 

I
shook Bob’s hand. “Whatever you’ve gotten yourself into, I’m sorry. Sorry for you and Nicole, but mostly for Cindy. She misses you, Bob. If you can see your way clear, at least call her.”

“Thanks. Maybe I’ll do that. Bye, Erica.” Bob turned and left
me standing on the curb. His tall figure slumped forward as he walked away. What could he have done to keep him away from his family? I saw the hurt in his eyes when I mentioned Cindy. Obviously, there was no love lost between him and Nicole. I wondered if it had something to do with the stripper he took up with. Maybe he got involved in something illegal. But if I could find him so easily, so could anyone else. It wasn’t like he even changed his name. Whatever it was, it was his business. At least Nicole and Cindy would be taken care of and wouldn’t have to move. If Nicole invested some of the money wisely, she could assure her and Cindy of a comfortable life and a college education for Cindy besides. I knew in this day and age a hundred thousand wasn’t a lot of money, but I also knew with the right investments it could grow quickly. I planned on putting Nicole in touch with a good financial advisor.

I
finished my work a day early and couldn’t wait to get home. A feeling of accomplishment after talking to Bob did a lot for my ego, and getting the client’s finances straightened out added to my new confidence.  Too bad Johnny hadn’t been as receptive as Bob. I wondered if I could help some of the other wives, too, if I could just find an opportunity to talk to their ex-husbands.

Maybe if an outside observer had talked to Johnny, he would have given in. But something deep inside
me didn’t think so. Johnny was selfish and egotistical, a ladies’ man and nothing anyone said would have changed his mind. It still griped me that Babette benefited from that insurance policy. Half of it should have gone to Katie and Josh. But my lawyer said Johnny had the right to take out ten insurance policies and name whoever he wanted beneficiary. The fact that Katie and Josh were named in the other policy proved he had taken care of them. Not as amply as Babette, but he had provided for them after his death. Since it was the same policy he held from the time we were married, and he changed the beneficiary from me to the kids was all that counted in the courts. Some things in life just aren’t fair.

Chapter Six

I pulled into Becky’s drive. The kids wouldn’t be out of school for another hour, and I wanted to visit with Becky. I couldn’t wait to tell her how cooperative Bob had been, and I wanted to run the idea past her about trying to find the other deadbeat dads. Even if only half of them cooperated, at least I would have helped a few wives and kids. I stomped the snow off my feet and waited for Becky to answer the door. Strange, she was usually home this time of day. She didn’t go many places other than the grocery store and meetings for the kids at school.  I pressed the bell again and tried the door. It opened. 

“Beck, hey Becky, did I catch you in the shower?” Not hearing any water running,
I doubted that. Something didn’t feel right. I went toward the kitchen and looked in the family room. Becky sat curled up in a chair, sobbing.

“Becky, my God, what happened? What’s wrong?” 
I rushed to my friend’s side and took her in my arms.  “Becky, talk to me.”

Becky leaned her head on
my shoulder and hiccupped. “He…he left…just up and walked out…said he couldn’t live with me anymore…there…there…there’s someone else. He’s in love with his dental assistant…he…he wants to marry her. He said he hasn’t loved me….for a long time. Oh God, Erica, what am I going to do?”

Bastard! What was going on with
the men in this town? Were they taking discontent pills or something? I held my friend and didn’t speak. Yet, it didn’t surprise me. Fred followed the same pattern Johnny had - late nights, business trips, or in this case seminars, to keep up on the latest technology. Oh, I didn’t doubt Fred attended those seminars, but I wondered who went with him, his dental assistant no doubt. Poor Becky. She thought her marriage couldn’t possibly end this way. Didn’t she always say they had the perfect life together? She did everything Fred wanted and then some. Entertained the right amount, attended the right functions. Everything Fred expected a wife in their stature in society to be. Oh yeah, the signs were there all right, too bad Becky hadn’t seen them.

“It won’t be easy, Beck, but trust me you’ll get through it just like the rest of us. I’ll be here for you, whatever you need, whenever you need me. Now come on
, pull yourself together before the kids get home. When did Fred leave?”

“A few minutes before you came in, he packed his bags and said he’s going to Las Vegas. He
…he said I’d have the divorce papers in a couple of months.”

Becky took a breath, swiped at her tears and blew her nose. “
I…I just can’t believe this. I…there was no…he never gave any indication that he wasn’t happy. We had a good life. I…” Becky slumped back on the couch, tears turning to sobs again.

I knew
Becky felt like someone kicked her in the gut because that’s how I felt. I hurt all over again watching her. “So he left it up to you to tell the kids, too. Nice.” I pulled Becky up. Sitting here crying wasn’t going to do a darn bit of good. “Come on let’s get a cup of coffee and talk about this.”

Becky had
depended on Fred for everything. The jerk even bought her clothes and sometimes did the grocery shopping. Becky didn’t go out except to school functions and to visit her parents and a rare visit to me. She had a car but Fred kept track of the mileage. Even Johnny wasn’t that bad. I had been free to do what I wanted during the day, shopping, volunteering, lunches at the club. At least I had some independence. Johnny knew me better than to lay down the law like Fred had. Sure, I wasn’t allowed to work, and Johnny expected me home and dinner on the table when he came in, whatever the hour. And, of course he expected me to pick up the kids after school.  Funny, since he left, the kids managed to get back and forth to school without my help. 

Becky’s life consisted of taking her kids to school, sometimes grocery shopping and twice a month, Fred allowed her to have lunch
at the club. Mighty nice of him. Of course, he made sure he knew exactly which days she’d be there. He didn’t want to chance running into her with his playmate. Everyone at the club probably knew about his affair. Since Johnny left, I hadn’t gone back. I wasn’t about to run into Babette, and the only club members left that spoke to me were Becky and Fred. Besides, on my salary I couldn’t afford the dues. Not that I much cared. I had better things to do than play tennis and golf.

I
made a pot of coffee and tried to calm Becky down. My friend needed to pull herself together. She had to tell the kids that Fred left. Not an easy task under any circumstances, but in Becky’s condition. I didn’t think she’d get through it.

I
had struggled to maintain my own composure and managed not to break down in front of Katie and Josh. Something told me that wouldn’t be the case with Becky. Worse, I had a feeling she’d expect me to explain to Larry, Sam, and Alice that their father left and wasn’t coming back. Not this girl. Explaining to my own kids was hard enough. She had to do this herself. She had to learn to stand on her own two feet and now was a good a time as any to learn. It’d be the hardest thing she had to deal with.