The Divorce Papers: A Novel (6 page)

441  is hugely resentful that I haven’t put him on the deed. I keep

442  explaining that I can’t, but he refuses to understand, seeing it

443  as a deliberate act on my part. And he, too, hated the toilets.

444  I think in some ways men are more fastidious than women.

445  Q. Any other property?

446  A. The usual detritus of middle-class acquisitiveness. The

447  only things I think we’d argue over are a Persian rug, which

448  
was a wedding present from my grandparents, an early Cindy

449  Sherman photograph, and a Jenny Holzer sign, “Abuse of

450  power comes as no surprise.” They’re the only things we’d

451  both want.

452  Q. Are you likely to inherit any money, property?

453  A. I suppose I’m likely to inherit money from my father

454  when he dies, if he dies, but I can’t count on it. For one thing,

455  I might easily predecease him. My mother died young, 46,

456  and so did her mother. For another, he’s only 68, and the

457  Meiklejohns live forever. He’s got a brother who’s 87 and

458  still sits on the federal bench. Both his parents died in their

459  90s. For a third, he’s controlling. And he’s always rewriting

460  his will. Ask his lawyer, Proctor, as in
The Crucible
. He’s a

461  member of your firm. I think he does a new one every three

462  months. He recently said he created a trust for Jane and me,

463  but he’s the trustee. What does that mean? He won’t tell me

464  anything else. This may change with the divorce. He doesn’t

465  like Daniel. He doesn’t exactly think he married me for my

466  money, but he doubts he would have married me without

467  it. But that could be said for my looks as well. Daniel likes

468  tall blondes with irregular features, bluestockings with trust

469  funds. Helen, his first wife, had serious money. Do you know

470  the Fincher Galleries at the Fine Arts Museum? A gift of her

471  grandparents. Dr. Stephanie is a bit of an outlier, not a WASP,

472  no family money, too short. Her dad was only a doctor, also a

473  dermatologist. But he was frugal and he believed in real estate.

474  He left her, free and clear, two apartments in the Beresford.

475  She lives in the smaller one, eight rooms. [Pause] I’m not sure

476  she’ll get to walk down the aisle. [Pause] You shouldn’t think I

477  was brought up to talk about money. I wasn’t. My mother, who

478  was a rigorously honorable, straightforward person, imposed

479  an absolute embargo on money as a subject of conversation;

480  
she thought talking about money was common. It offended

481  her, the way Nixon’s hate list and anti-Semitism offended her,

482  as a sign of bad breeding. I was never allowed to say how much

483  anything cost. I must have looked an idiot. I went to school

484  with the children of professors and lawyers. They knew what

485  everything cost, including their parents’ psychiatrists. [Pause]

486  I don’t talk about the price of things, that lesson has stuck,

487  but I am prepared to acknowledge certain obvious facts about

488  my life and my upbringing. I was brought up rich and I have

489  the exaggerated sense of entitlement that money confers. I

490  don’t always get what I want, but not because of money. That

491  makes me very different from most other people, including my

492  husband. He never had money until recently. He likes it, having

493  it and spending it, but success is more important to him.

494  Q. What about other assets? Savings and the like?

495  A. Daniel makes the money, and he handles the

496  investments. I don’t think he’s hiding anything. He has

497  retirement funds with TIAA-CREF in the neighborhood

498  of $600,000. He also has a 401(k) plan with approximately

499  $300,000 in it. Other assets include about $700,000 in stocks,

500  $90,000 in treasury bills, and $80,000 in a savings account.

501  He does a quarterly accounting; I got the figures from the one

502  he did in early October.

503  Q. Any insurance policies?

504  A. Daniel is insured for $1.5 million; I’m insured for

505  $200,000—to pay Luz’s salary in case I conk. He’d need

506  somebody.

507  Q. Could you provide a salary history? And a few other

508  particulars? [Note to Hannah: I handed Mrs. Durkheim

509  copies of the Divorce Work Sheets: Summary Biographies for

510  her and her husband.]

511  A. Of course.

512  Q.
Does your husband have any separate assets? Any

513  inheritances?

514  A. Daniel’s an orphan. His father died in 1992, his mother

515  in 1998. He inherited a 1989 Honda Accord and $16,000.

516  His parents owned a printing business. They never made

517  much money, but they saw that their son, their only child,

518  was well educated. And praised, praised for everything

519  he did, every bowel movement, every report card, every

520  titration. They didn’t much care for the grandchildren. They

521  couldn’t hold a candle to their father. And they certainly had

522  no use for me or Helen. We weren’t worthy of him; we didn’t

523  appreciate how extraordinary he was. If I made them dinner,

524  they thanked Daniel; if he didn’t visit them, it was my fault.

525  They made sure they didn’t die in debt. They were fierce

526  about not saddling Daniel with nursing home costs and the

527  like. They had long-term-care insurance for nurses and that

528  sort of thing, and they belonged to burial societies and had

529  prepaid their funerals, coffins, headstones, plots, even the

530  cantor. God, my father never prepays anything. You lose the

531  float.

532  Q. Have you begun to think about what you want out of this

533  divorce?

534  A. I will need support for a while, but I don’t want to take

535  him to the cleaners. I don’t have bag-lady fears, at least not

536  acute ones. After all, I’ve got the Bruce Meiklejohn safety

537  net. My wishes are personal, not financial. I want to come

538  out of this with my ego intact. And I’d like it if Daniel’s took

539  a beating. I don’t want anything really bad to happen to

540  him. No fatal diseases, no malpractice cases, no accusations

541  of scientific fraud. He is, after all, my daughter’s father. But

542  I don’t want anything good to ever happen to him either.

543  I want nothing to happen to him. I want him to die of

544  
disappointment, after a long, lonely, cheerless life that ends

545  with bedsores and tubes up the nose, in a nursing home.

546  Q. You have thought about it. Your husband seems to want

547  to move quickly. Will you be able to do that?

548  A. I don’t know. He’s got a mean temper. He blows up easily

549  and horribly if he feels thwarted in any way. He thinks he’s

550  always right, and when people disagree with him, he invariably

551  regards them as stupid or envious or malignant. He was

552  arrogant when I met him, but tolerably so; then, it seemed to

553  me he just knew how good he was. Now, he’s too important to

554  take out the garbage, or telephone when he’s going to be late,

555  or remember my birthday. I think the Freeman Prize did it.

556  He was the youngest recipient ever. That’s a long answer. I just

557  don’t know how awful he’ll be. Of course, I can be awful back.

558  I’ve learned how to do that. God, I hope Jane survives us.

559  Q. Do you have any questions for me?

560  A. Could you tell me about Narragansett divorce law?

561  What next?

562  Q. Let’s fill out the Divorce Work Sheet: Summary

563  Biographies. Then I’ll tell you what I know about the law and

564  show you a copy of our retainer agreement. I’ll also set up an

565  appointment right now for next week for you to meet with

566  Fiona McGregor.

567  A. I was dreading this unnecessarily. Thank you. Thank

568  you so much. Is it really true you’ve never done this before?

569  You’re a natural.

570  [Note to Hannah: I set up an appointment with Fiona for

571  Tuesday, March 23, at 10 a.m.]

572  [End of Transcript]

Commonwealth of Narragansett

Family Court

Domestic Relations Summons

To the above-named defendant:

You are hereby summoned and required to serve upon plaintiff’s attorney:
Ray Kahn

whose address is:
46 Broadway, New Salem, Narragansett 06555

a copy of your answer to the complaint for:
divorce

within:
20 days of service of this summons

If you fail to return service, the Court will proceed in 90 days to the hearing and adjudication of this action without you.

You are also required to file your answer to the complaint in the Office of the Registrar of the Family Court at:
New Salem, NA

At:
New Salem, NA

Date:
February 15, 1999

Registrar of Family Court:
Paul McIntyre

Acceptance of Service

I, the above-named defendant:
Maria M. Durkheim
accept service of this summons and understand that judgment may be rendered against me in accordance with the complaint, a copy of which I have received this day:

Date:

Signature of defendant:

_________________________

The above-named defendant:
Maria Durkheim

swears that the acceptance of service was his free act and deed.

Date:

Notary Public:

Signature of Notary Public:

Commission Expiration Date: