Weeds in the Garden of Love (5 page)

“
Therefore, I am going to order you pay towards said arrears a lump sum payment of three thousand dollars within thirty days from this date. And further, you will pay a sum of one hundred dollars on the first day of every month, commencing the first day of next month, until the said arrears are extinguished. This is over and above the nine hundred dollars per month already ordered. Now, if we have nothing further I will—”

Garth jumped to his feet. He tried to explain to the judge he was looking for work, had no money, had lost his credit rating and didn’t know how he could pay.

“
That is my order, Mr. Hodgson,” the judge said. “Please, take your seat or I will find you in contempt of this court.” Tim Murphy whispered in his ear, and Garth apologized to the judge for his outburst.

“
Apology accepted, Mr. Hodgson. I understand how emotionally charged these proceedings can be, but I must insist on decorum in my courtroom. I suggest your best course might be to petition the court to vary the original order. Your lawyer can explain this to you.” She nodded to the clerk.

“
Order. All rise,” Joyce Barnett said. “This court stands adjourned.”

Outside the courtroom, Garth was shaken. With the one hundred dollars for the arrears tacked on, his monthly child support payments now totaled one thousand dollars. If he went into arrears on this order, the Support Order Enforcement people would be all over him.

Tim Murphy came out of the courtroom and walked over to Garth. “I just talked to Lorne Davis.”

Garth was dejected. “Why bother? You won’t change his mind. He obviously has it in for me. The jerk wouldn’t even let me tell my side of the story.”

“
Listen, Garth that jerk, as you call him, can make your life miserable.”

Garth was totally frustrated. “Anymore miserable than it is now? This hearing was adjourned six times by the SOE. They were playing games, trying to see if I was gonna show up! They didn’t care I had to take time off work every time. That is — until I lost my job. Speaking of which—where am I gonna get three thousand dollars, huh? Answer me that!”

“
Can you get a loan?” Tim asked.

“
I could have until the SOE ruined my credit rating. They registered my arrears as a bad debt. Nice people, huh? They want me to pay but then prevent me from getting a loan so I can pay! They might as well put the ‘cuffs on me right now!”

Tim tried to reassure him. “Don’t get discouraged. We’ll go for a variance of your first support order.”

“
Remember—I told you I tried that already?” Garth couldn’t believe he had to, once again, explain this to his own lawyer. “The judge refused and told me: ‘Mr. Hodgson, you have only been out of work for a short period of time. I don’t feel your situation has changed sufficiently to warrant the
granting of a variance.’ All that stinkin’ judge had to do was just be fair and give me a reduction. Then, I wouldn’t be in arrears and the SOE and Davis wouldn’t be persecuting me.”

“
Well, Garth, it’s worth a try. What do you have to lose?”

Garth sighed sadly. “Nothing, I guess. Guess when you ain’t got nothin’ left—you ain’t got nothing left to lose.”

Tim invited him for a drink, but Garth passed. He was in no mood to drink with a drunk. Besides, he couldn’t afford it.

Garth walked out into brilliant sunshine. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the tall elms lining the street in front of the courthouse. He headed for the bus stop on the corner. He leaned forward, checking up the street for his bus. A silver Mercedes zipped around the corner, forcing him to jump back. He recognized the driver. Garth gave him the finger. “You’ll get yours one day, Davis!” Lorne looked into his rear view mirror and returned the salute.

Several people at the bus stop were staring at him. Garth glared back at them. They quickly looked away. Experienced public transit riders have learned it’s best not to make eye contact with a demented person.

Garth did a lot of thinking on the long bus ride home. He wondered if life was worth living.

CHAPTER FIVE

Retainer

The opulent offices of Dixon, Floyd, Beswick & Swain occupied the entire seventh floor of 100 Sandford Plaza. Overstuffed leather furniture, ornate sculptures and beautiful paintings decorated the waiting area. An elegant receptionist smiled at everyone who entered. The firm considered themselves to be the most prestigious law firm in the city. In reality, however, they were not yet established enough to assume the top spot. Their family law division was small, consisting of only four lawyers. One of them was Mark Floyd, an old high school friend of Craig’s. He was their realtor when Mark and his wife purchased their first home.

Craig was stuck in gridlock and officially late for his ten a.m. meeting with Mark. Traffic was backed up for blocks.
Must be an accident up ahead,
he thought, as he looked for an escape route down a side street.
Always happens
when you’re late.
Craig wondered if his life would ever go smoothly again. He had been served with divorce papers a week ago.
I wonder how Chrissie found out I was staying at Barry and Mona’s?
I guess more people know about this mess than I thought.

* * *

Craig moved out of the Sunset Motel when Barry and Mona offered him the basement room vacated by their teenage nephew. Craig and Barry were old friends and played hockey together when they were in college. They were not only line-mates but also roommates on the road. Teammates in sports develop a special friendship—roommates become like brothers.

“
How did you track me down—here at the spacious and luxurious Sunset Motel?” Craig asked.

Barry explained he and Mona heard about the break-up. “Nobody knew where you were. I finally called your brother Brad.”

Good old Brad,
Craig thought.
That’s
a switch,
the kid brother taking care of his older
brother.

“
We were worried about you,” Barry said. “So were all your friends. By the way, you have more friends than you realize.”

“
Sorry about causing everyone so much worry. I didn’t want to burden anyone with my problems.”

Barry chuckled. “My friend Craig—the big hero. Just get your tail over here, okay?”

Craig settled into the basement room and enjoyed the ambience of a teenager’s room: lava lamps, imitation bear skin rug and an eclectic assortment of posters on the walls from sports teams and hot cars, to AC/DC and The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.

He was relieved to be away from the Sunset Motel and back to modern times.

* * *

Craig finally passed the minor accident causing the traffic chaos.
Amazing
,
he thought,
how something as minor as two cars blocking a lane of traffic could alter so many lives.
Then, he wondered how this meeting with his divorce lawyer would alter his own life.

Because he was so late,
Craig was not surprised he had to wait for Mark. Understandably, he had moved someone’s appointment ahead of his.

“
Mr. Floyd is ready for you now, Mr. Andrews,” the receptionist purred. “Would you like a refill on your coffee?”

“
No, thanks.” Craig winked and handed her his empty cup. He couldn’t resist flirting with such a beautiful woman. Then he asked himself,
what
are you doing, Andrews?
W
ill you ever learn?

Mark Floyd walked out from behind his desk and shook Craig’s hand. “Well, if it isn’t the late Craig Andrews. C’mon in and sit down. Tell me how you’ve been, my old friend.”

Craig apologized for being late. Mark waved his hand, indicating it was not a problem. He asked Craig to tell him what had happened between him and Chrissie. Craig gave him a quick version of the story including the day he left, the Sunset Motel and his current reincarnation as a teenager at Barry and Mona’s.

“
Listen, Craig, the best thing for you to do is to write this whole thing out. I need to understand the story of this marriage and the events leading up to your separation. Start at the beginning of the marital troubles, and don’t leave anything out. The more information I have, the better our case will be. Understand?”

“
Sure,” Craig said. “But not intimate details, right? I mean, like—about our sex life?”

“
No. I’m interested in fact, not fiction.” Mark was trying to lighten the moment. He checked to see if Craig was smiling. He wasn’t. “Actually, I need an indication of your normal frequency and when it changed. By the way, as your attorney, I must ask if you were faithful to Chrissie during your marriage?”

“
Yes,” Craig said.

“
You never strayed?”

“
I was totally faithful to her the whole time we were together.”

“
Sorry,“ Mark said. “I had to ask. I hate surprises in court. Now, do you have any reason to believe Chrissie was unfaithful?”

“
Not really. I mean, she worked long hours and certainly had lots of opportunities, but I never suspected anything.”

“
I think we should have a look-see,” Mark said. “Then, we’ll know one way or the other.”

“
You have someone who can do this—without her knowing? I don’t want her to find out and have it affect my kids in any way.”

“
Understood, and speaking of your kids, how are Robbie and Heather holding up through this?”

“
It’s been hard on both of them,” Craig said. “Never thought my kids would come from a broken home.”

“
What’s worse? To come from a broken home or live in one?”

Craig hadn’t considered that. The time leading up to the physical separation must have been tough for Robbie and Heather. Children know a problem exists before their parents do; they feel the tension building, they watch as their parents stop showing each other any love or affection and they hear the arguments. We fool ourselves into thinking our kids don’t know what’s going on. But—they do. They live with us, and they’re not stupid. Mark was right; Robbie and Heather were better off without all that. Craig felt an unexpected sense of relief.

“
Are you still with me, Craig?”

“
Sorry, Mark. I never considered a divorce could be the lesser of two evils for the kids.”

“
Absolutely. But like I was saying, we should have a look at Chrissie. We may find some valuable evidence. Our P.I. does a lot of work for our firm. He’s professional, extremely discreet and thorough.”

“
How much is all this going to cost? I’m not working right now, and money is tight.”

Mark wanted to alleviate Craig’s apprehension about paying for this divorce. “Don’t worry. I’ll try to keep the costs down. I’ll have my law clerk Charmaine Robinson do the bulk of the work. She bills a lot less per hour than I do. And speaking of billing—I’ll require a retainer of five thousand dollars. We do accept credit cards.”

“
I want to get this thing over and done, as soon as possible.” Craig handed Mark his only credit card with sufficient available funds. He was glad he and Chrissie had kept separate credit cards and bank accounts. “Oh, one more thing. I’d like to see my kids this weekend, but I don’t want any contact with Chrissie right now. I’m afraid I might say something I’ll regret.”

Mark told him he would contact Chrissie’s attorney and make the necessary arrangements. He reminded Craig to complete his statement of facts as soon as possible. Their meeting was over.

“
Take care, buddy.” Mark shook Craig’s hand. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you through this.”

As he passed her desk, the receptionist smiled at him. Craig smiled back.
I’ve still got it,
he thought,
whatever it is. B
ut I’d better be more careful what I do with it.

On the way home to his basement retreat at Barry and Mona’s, Craig was contemplating Mark’s request for details. The document would take a lot of thought to complete. Every life and marriage has so many twists and turns. Over the years, facts can either become distorted or forgotten entirely. Even more difficult, would be recalling hateful episodes he intentionally tried to put out of his mind; like the horrendous fights and vicious insults exchanged as their marriage deteriorated.

This was not going to be an easy process. He had so many unanswered questions. What was the real cause of their separation? Was it his fault? Didn’t he show her enough love … or didn’t he satisfy her sexually? Or was it her fault? Was it her drinking  or was she having an affair?

Craig hoped Mark’s investigator would find some answers. He needed to know. He was hurting, and the truth would help him heal. He hoped he had the strength to face the truth, deal with it and move on.

He had to—for himself and his kids.

CHAPTER SIX

Craig and Chrissie

Craig stood and stared at the poster of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. “Well, ladies, what do you think? You’re right. If I don’t start, it will never get done.”

He sat down at the old typewriter Barry had set up in his basement room. Craig was about to go through the extremely painful exercise of documenting his marriage to Chrissie. He was afraid he would have difficulty keeping his emotions under wraps. He wasn’t sure he was ready to do this.
But I have to get it done. Mark and I have to prepare a strong case.