Same Old Truths (14 page)

“I remember,” Kay said.

“Well, she had a lawyer who was a real barracuda. I could ask Rebecca for her number,” Leslie offered.

“Her? The lawyer’s female?” Kay asked. She was intrigued with the idea of having a woman represent her.

“Yeah. Her name is Judith Something-or-Other. All I know is Rebecca was very happy with the job this gal did for her.”

“It sounds good. How soon do you think you can get the number?” Kay was already anxious to talk to Judith Something-or-Other.“I’ll call her as soon as we hang up.” Then Leslie’s mood turned serious. “Please tell me you’re not going to chicken out after you’ve had a chance to sleep on it.”

Kay knew exactly where her sister was coming from and didn’t let the comment bother her.

“There’s no going back, Les. I’ve reached my booger moment.”

This was a reference to a private code the sisters shared to describe turning-point situations.

The “booger moment,” as it had come to be known, was the result of an, otherwise, great relationship ruined when Leslie accidentally caught her sweet, gorgeous boyfriend eating a freshly-harvested booger. For Leslie, there was no going back…or forward, for that matter.

Well, Kay was going to go forward so she
could
go back - back to the order and structure of the original court order, when life was stable, secure and peaceful.

The sisters ended their call with Leslie promising to call back as soon as she had the information Kay needed.

Kay let out a deep, cleansing sigh before getting up and going to the bathroom to splash some cold water on her face. She wanted to rid herself of any remaining traces of her leftover breakdown. She was glad she could return to the girls with a sincere smile on her face and lightness of spirit. Then, for the briefest of moments, she wondered if her old friend, Denial, might be responsible for her lifted mood.

No. She needn’t have worried. Things really had changed. And she knew this because, as gut-wrenching as it was, she had finally let go of the need to rely on Denial’s false security. Reality was her new ally, and she’d allow it to guide her through whatever was to come. She headed downstairs with a spring in her step. “Hey girls!” she called. “Whadda you want for dinner?

11

Manning vs. Noland

I never thought I’d be back here again.

Kay waited for the elevator to take her to the fourth floor hearing room marveling at how much things had changed in seven years. The near strip-search and x-ray scan they subjected visitors to in the lobby was clear evidence of the intense emotion and combustible energy coursing through these “halls of family justice.” It was a strange system that asked perfect strangers to make life-changing decisions about other perfect strangers.

Where’s King Solomon when you need him? Now there’s a guy who knew how to settle a custody dispute
.

Kay was both dreading and looking forward to seeing Dave. She chided herself as she wrestled with her conflicting emotions. Bringing this legal action against him meant she was going to alienate him even more than he already was. But what choice did she have? He had reneged on his part of the bargain. All she was asking for was a return to the trouble-free days when the original court order was in place.

I don’t see how he can think I’m being unreasonable. After all, a deal is a deal.

What was truly unreasonable was the fact that this guy had, once again, made a major fool out of her and here she was, secretly hoping he’d notice how attractive she looked in her best suit - the one she wore when she worked funerals alongside Ed. It was a gorgeous taupe-colored, wool gabardine design with a slim skirt and short, belted jacket that accentuated her small waist. Combined with her best black sling-back pumps, the skirt made her average legs look long and sexy. And as if knowing the importance of today’s hearing, Kay’s hair had mercifully decided to cooperate.

On her best day, Sandy never looked this good.

Once again, Kay’s emotions swung back in the direction of confident and sassy. But that ended the moment Dave’s attorney shoved his arm between the closing elevator doors, forcing them open so he could ride up to the fourth floor too. She tried to make herself invisible, inching behind other passengers until she was wedged into one of the back corners of the car.

Seeing Bill McCaffree again after all these years transported Kay right back to the horror that was the first divorce hearing. Not that it was especially heated or nasty. It was just so surreal. The last thing she ever imagined was facing off against her best friend - the man she loved and the father of her children, in a court of law. Enduring the pain and humiliation of a legal proceeding brought about by Dave’s public petition to have her officially removed from her own life was a true test of what one person could bear.

Given the fact Dave had come out on the losing end (financially, anyway) of the divorce, Kay was surprised he had, once again, retained the services of Mr. McCaffree. The attorney’s dispassionate approach to lawyering left Kay with the impression he had seen it all, was bored, and merely going through the motions. Even the nasty barbs and blustering objections hurled at Kay and her attorney during the divorce hearing seemed like part of a well-worn script he’d been working from for a very long time.

Bill was short and squat, and the wrinkled, ill-fitting business suit he wore made him appear almost square. Like so many bald men Kay knew, he compensated for his receding hairline with a thick mustache and goatee which made him look like a younger Burl Ives.

After they reached their destination, Kay hung back, making sure there was plenty of distance between them as they got off the elevator. She walked slowly through the short corridor that led to the open double doors of the hearing room waiting area. A tall, horseshoe-shaped receptionist desk was located on one side of the room, with the opposite side containing a neat, L-shaped placement of chairs against the wall. A sumptuous, matching ottoman sat in front of every third chair.

How nice of the courts to give people a place to put their feet up while they wait for a judge to garnishee their wages.

Mr. McCaffree, standing on the far side of the receptionist desk, had just checked in with the woman behind the desk when he looked up and caught Kay’s eye. He smiled and said good morning as if they were old acquaintances. Kay couldn’t bring herself to return the smile, but acknowledged his greeting with a polite head nod. She knew what awaited her behind the doors of the hearing room, and niceties would definitely not be observed.

Kay took a seat where she could see the elevator. She looked at her watch. 9:52. Where was Judith?

Retaining the services of Judith Klein, experienced family law attorney, had been one of Leslie’s better suggestions. Not only was Kay more comfortable with a female attorney, but Judith’s reassuring, non-judgmental assessment of Kay’s case, left Kay feeling confident they’d be able to get everything back on track with a minimum of problems.

Once again the elevator doors slid open. It wasn’t Judith, but Dave who stepped out, looking dashing in tan slacks, navy blue blazer, and light blue shirt. He wasn’t wearing a tie and the top two buttons of his shirt were open in a casual, “which way is the bar?” kind of way. The moment Kay saw him her breath reflexively sucked in.

She sat up a little straighter in her chair and put an open, friendly expression on her face. He stopped and scanned the room, spotted Kay, but disavowed her presence with a quick skip of his gaze over to where his lawyer was sitting, briefcase open on an ottoman, shuffling through a stack of papers. He glided right past her with an air of indifferent dismissal. Just as quickly as it had rushed in, Kay could feel the air rush out of her body like a punctured balloon. But he must have changed his mind about acknowledging her, because he made a quick u-turn and headed straight for her. The look on his face was one she wasn’t familiar with. She sat frozen in her chair, not knowing what to expect.

He stopped in front of her and bent his head down. For a nanosecond Kay thought he was going to kiss her on the cheek but it was only to deliver his message into her ear.

“I can’t believe you’re doing this to me,” he said in a whispered hiss. “You know, Sandy said you didn’t want us to be happy and it looks like my wife is right.”

My wife
.

Kay had always found it painful to hear Sandy’s name come out of Dave’s mouth, but those two words pierced Kay’s heart with an especially-cruel violence.

Foul, foul
! Kay wanted to loudly object to some invisible referee.
She’s only your wife because she cheated!
as if she had lost Dave in some kind of school-yard game.

Before Kay could respond, Dave straightened up and resumed his walk over to where his lawyer was sitting. McCaffree jumped up and greeted Dave with a hearty, “let’s-get-em” handshake. Already rattled and humiliated by Dave’s angry earful, Kay could feel her knees go weak as she witnessed what she thought was an intimidating display of male solidarity.

With her eyes transfixed on the opposing team, Kay had failed to notice Judith’s arrival. “Good morning, Kay,” Judith said, startling Kay out of her uneasy trance. “Sizing up the opposition?”

“Oh. Good morning, Judith,” Kay said. She rose to her feet and shook Judith’s hand with a grateful exuberance, relieved the cavalry had arrived. And what a cavalry it was! Stunning in a black and gold-trimmed, white-on-black Chanel suit, tasteful accessories and perfectly-coiffed hair, Judith looked more like a woman who lunched at New York’s Russian Tea Room, than an attorney who went to battle for wronged spouses.

“I apologize for not being here sooner. I’m having the Mercedes worked on and the garage man was late picking it up. Have they called our case?”

“Not as far as I know,” Kay answered. She was struck by how out-of-place the dazzling woman seemed in this depressing den of domestic strife.

“Good. I need to have a quick word with Bill,” Judith said. With a stride as elegant as her designer ensemble, Judith approached opposing counsel and politely interrupted the conversation he was having with his client. McCaffree, obviously glad to see this vision of loveliness in front of him, grinned from ear to ear, took Judith’s shoulders in his fat little hands and kissed both cheeks. He then introduced Judith to Dave, who greeted her politely, but like Kay, withheld any unnecessary friendliness, given the nature of what she had been hired to do to him.

Kay watched as Bill excused himself from Dave’s presence and the two lawyers walked arm in arm, like old friends, over to a private corner where they could talk undisturbed.

Of all the things she disliked about lawyers, the thing she hated most was how they pretended to take their cases as personally as their clients. Especially insulting was the way they faked animosity toward the other attorney. The truth was, they were all a tight band of brothers/sisters, who could just as easily switch sides and argue the other client’s case. They all worked from the same play book and the only genuine acrimony they ever felt was if a client was late making payments.

Kay had made this shocking discovery during her first go-round with the family justice system. At the invitation of friends who were, mercifully, trying to distract her from the stress of the hearing, she had gone out for drinks at a local sports bar. There she spotted her, then attorney, John Larabee, yucking it up, beer in hand, with Bill McCaffree. She felt confused and betrayed. Her friends were kind enough to enlighten her about the world of lawyers and how they worked all sides of the street. Since that time, Kay had remained quite jaded about the legal profession, but tolerated it as a necessary evil.

It was obvious the chat between the two attorneys had nothing to do with her case. Nevertheless, as soon as her brief confab with McCaffree was over, Judith walked back and pretended to be vexed by her colleague, apparently to make points with Kay. Kay wanted to tell her she needn’t have bothered, but she just smiled and told Judith not to worry.

“You know, I have to say I’m a little surprised to see Bill McCaffree again. I assumed Dave would want to start fresh, like I did,” Kay said.

Judith nodded in agreement. “Well, in my experience, most people, who’ve done the type of things your ex has, prefer to limit the number of people who know about it. Starting fresh means rehashing all the old dirt and then piling on the new. It’s just easier working with someone who already knows the story. It saves on humiliation,” Judith explained.

“Saving on humiliation is exactly the reason I
did
get a new attorney,” Kay said, chuckling at the irony. “I was too embarrassed to let John see how I’d squandered all his hard work.”

“Oh, now, now,” Judith said in a practiced maternal voice as she patted Kay’s hand. “Don’t go there. Remember, you were just acting in good faith. Anyway, we’re here to put everything right.” Then changing the subject she said, “It’s after 10. They should have called us by now. I’m going to see what the delay is.” She walked over to the tall desk, elegantly leaned over the top and spoke quietly to the receptionist.

Kay’s stomach was doing flip-flops. At this point she would have been happy if the judge had postponed the hearing all together. The only thing keeping her in her chair was the deep responsibility she felt for Corey and Mariah. None of this mess was their fault and she needed to correct her foolish mistake.