A Shadow of Death in The Woods (11 page)

Chapter 14

Old Digs

As rooms go it was small but most bedrooms are not big enough to live in. I had lived in this room once and it seemed bigger then. It was before I lived in a big house with plenty of room. I guessed that made the difference. It was funny; up until I moved in with Kat I had always lived in a room. Now I was back to a room. It was my old room so it wasn’t really new digs.

I was lucky though. Besides a nice bed that was almost long enough for me, I had a comfortable chair in which I could sit and read. And I had my own bathroom. I was offered a TV but I turned that down.

TV, in my opinion, had sunk to a remarkable low. I could remember when commercials were every fifteen minutes and usually one commercial at a commercial break of fifteen to thirty seconds. Now commercials were at any time and grouped to run as long as three to five minutes. I took a small survey one night during prime time and found that one third of the time was taken up with commercials. The programs are filled with mindless blather that only the dull and uneducated can enjoy. The old days of good TV entertainment were mostly gone. To be fair though some of the TV programs from years ago now would seem naive and campy. I think that TV is in a death spiral.

Ironically some of the most creative and best entertainment on TV is in the commercials. This is hit and miss though so you can’t depend on it. Plus how many times do you want to see a given commercial?

The other thing that was good on TV was the old movies. Some of the old movies made during the golden years of Hollywood were remarkable in the writing, acting and photography. Movies now days are designed so that they can be resold overseas and consist mainly of spectacular scenes of explosions and mayhem with simple dialog that can be easily dubbed into any language. To a physicist or engineer these scenes are unrealistic. I always wondered how many in the audience thought the scenes physically possible. Probably it would be a scarily large percentage of the audience. The average person is totally ignorant in areas of physics, math and engineering.

Plus I had a lot of thinking to do and couldn’t spend time staring at old movies. I therefore turned down the offer of a TV. Instead I brought in a few math and physics books to read. I liked solving physics problems and differential equations even if they were simple ones. It helped me relax. Some people like to knit. I like to solve physics and math problems.

I had a bathroom to myself down the hallway. I parked my shaving kit in there. I guess that was an act of showing possession, sort of like a dog peeing on the mailbox post. It didn’t work though. I didn’t feel at home at all.

Both Woody and Lorraine insisted that I didn’t have to stay in my room. I was welcome to roam the house, including snacking in the kitchen. This was generous but if you have ever stayed in someone’s house as a guest, you know you always feel like a guest. You are not at home. I was homeless.

That morning I had taken my motorcycle over to Dragon. He was an old-time biker. Dragon could easily be confused with the tattoo man at the circus. He wasn’t a very big man but he was tough as nails. I had heard stories about fights he had been in. He wasn’t a guy to mess with. He didn’t fight fair. He fought to win. He was exactly the type of guy the Woodward-Simpson family didn’t want me hanging around.

Dragon had a ratty garage where he repaired motorcycles and sometimes cars. He didn’t need a lot of money to live but it was a mystery to me how he got enough money. I suspected that he might have some business deals going on that I didn’t really want to know about. He agreed to store my motorcycle for a nominal fee. I had to carry the insurance but he would supply the space. We put my bike in the back behind some junk and put a tarp over it. No one could find it. It would be secure as long as Dragon’s garage didn’t burn down.

In normal circumstances a guy in my position would need to get a lawyer. I really didn’t see a need for one since I had signed a prenuptial agreement before our marriage. The agreement basically said that I wouldn’t get any of the Woodward money. Mama Woodward made sure that none of the Woodward money went outside the family and she didn’t consider me part of the family. She had made this point clear on numerous occasions. So they were going to do whatever they were going to do and I wasn’t going to change any of it no matter what kind of a lawyer I hired. They had powerful attorneys to protect their interests. I might as well conserve my money. I didn’t care about the money but the situation irritated me. Just thinking about it was putting me in a bad mood.

I decided to go down to the kitchen and have a snack. Then I would raid Woody and Lorraine’s liquor cabinet and have a Manhattan after which I would go to bed and get ready for an exciting day at work in a warren of cubicals. God, could life get any more depressing? Not easily. Of course, I had the lawyer meeting to look forward to.

I opened the refrigerator and looked around. I found some Jarlsberg cheese, my favorite cheese. In a cupboard I found some crackers. I found some black olives in the refrigerator to round out my snack.

Lorraine walked in and asked if I wanted company. I was almost finished with my snack. I told her I was headed for their liquor cabinet and I would love her company. I fixed a Manhattan for myself and a vodka martini for her. She had drunk vodka martinis as long as I had known her. She had a green olive in her martini. I had two cherries in my Manhattan. No orange slice. You have to plan ahead for an orange slice.

It was an awkward conversation. She knew what I was facing and she felt bad for me. I asked her about their kids just to have a different kind of conversation but it only reminded me of my kids. I remembered Lorraine and Woody’s kids from when I lived with them during college. When we finished our drinks, I headed to my room.

I had received a notice to be at Kat’s lawyer’s office the next afternoon. That would be her next move. I would find out the details of our divorce. It wasn’t going to be boring and I wondered what kinds of conditions they were going to impose. I knew I wasn’t going to get any money and I didn’t want any. I was hoping to keep my personal possessions. The biggest deal would be what visitation rights I would have with the kids.

The kids always suffer the most in these situations. I hoped they had thought about this and had come up with something that would help the kids through this tough time in their lives. And help me, too. Since I knew I wouldn’t be living with them, visitations would be crucial to me.

After meeting with Kat and her lawyer I was going to have to find a more permanent place to live. This homelessness was no good. I needed to have a place of my own. I couldn’t abide living in a room.

The next step was meeting her lawyer.

Chapter 15

Meeting the Lawyer

I was instructed to be at the attorney’s office at exactly 3
p.m.
Don’t be late. I pulled into the parking lot a couple of minutes before 3
p.m.
And walked into the reception area at exactly 3
p.m.

I had never been there before. The receptionist was a young lady who I guessed enjoyed the power of telling you to wait. You always have to wait for the big, important lawyer.

She took me to a conference room and told me that the lawyer and my soon-to-be ex-wife would be right in. I had spotted Kat’s car in the parking lot so I knew she was in the building. I also had spotted a red Beemer that I was willing to bet was Mr. Lawyer’s car. I waited. I waited. Finally, I went back to the reception area and told the receptionist that maybe she had put me in the wrong conference room because no one showed up. She assured me it was the right conference room and told me to wait a few more minutes.

I told her no. I had been requested to be here at exactly 3
p.m
. And not to be late. I had done so and I expected that other parties to be on time or to at least phone me. I had waited more than ten minutes and I was leaving. She could set up a new meeting. She seemed a little flustered and said she would immediately check with the lawyer. I said that would be fine and walked out the door.

Maybe that sounds petty on my part but I knew the lawyer was playing a game. The only thing I had left was my self-respect. I wasn’t going to play toady to the lawyer. Why he was even bothering mystified me since they had all the power. I knew that I was going to be handed a contract and told to sign it and, having no real choice, I was going to sign it. In fact, it was kind of a mystery as to why they didn’t just mail it to me. I suspected someone was playing games and running up their billable hours. Since I wasn’t paying, I didn’t particularly care about the billable hours but I didn’t want to be a pawn in a game. I went back to my office.

On the way into my office my phone rang. I looked at it. It was the lawyer’s receptionist calling me. I let it roll to voice mail. I was going to be busy for a while.

I spent the rest of the day working although I couldn’t keep my mind on the work. As soon as I could, I left and went to Woody’s bar to eat. After a couple beers, I went to my room at his house to read.

My phone rang. It was Kat. She wanted to know why I hadn’t waited to meet with the lawyer. I told her I was commanded to be there at 3
p.m
. and not be late. I was there, waited ten minutes and no one showed up so I left. She was irritated and said I needed to phone the lawyer to set up a new time. I said that he could phone me and set up a new time and I hung up. Why was I being such a jerk, I wondered? I guess since everything was being taken away from me, I was being a jerk because it was the only thing I had left. I couldn’t even stand myself.

I went down to Woody’s home bar and fixed a Manhattan. Lorraine came in and joined me. She could tell I was in a bad mood but I encouraged her to stay in the hopes it would cheer me up. And it did. Lorraine always cheered me up. I never had any sexual interest in Lorraine but I was attracted to her. I liked her a lot and I considered her a friend.

The next day the lawyer’s assistant phoned me and we set up a new time for the following day. Maybe this time I was going to get to see the lawyer.

The time finally came and I appeared at the law office. I saw Kat’s car in the parking lot along with the red Beemer. I assumed that the third car belonged to the assistant who loved to tell me to wait. I walked into the lobby exactly on time. The assistant led me to the conference room where the lawyer and Kat were waiting for me.

Must be the games were over. Time to get down to business.

The lawyer was a small guy dressed to the nines in a suit, vest and power necktie. His shoes gleamed. Everything matched. I knew I wasn’t going to like him but I had to give the guy credit for dressing well.

Right away he wanted to know where my lawyer was. I told him I didn’t have one.

He said, “It isn’t my role to give you legal advice but I strongly advise you to retain legal counsel.”

“Why? You have the backing of The House of Woodward and whatever they decide is what is going to happen. In fact, I’ll bet that you already have the contract written and all I have to do is sign it.”

The lawyer had no expression on his face but I could tell I had hit a nerve. Kat, on the other hand, would not look me in the eye. How could things get so bad between Kat and me? This is where the ugly head of hate could appear but I refused to hate. Life was too short. I reserved the right to be a jerk occasionally but I wasn’t going to hate.

The lawyer smoothly said that they would like to go over some points in the agreement so that there would be no misunderstanding. He first reminded me that I had signed a prenuptial, so no money was coming to me. Next, he listed all of the goods that I was allowed to keep. This was my truck, motorcycle, books, clothes, etc. No surprises in that. Then the bomb was dropped.

He informed me that I was not to have any visitation rights with the children. In fact, I had to agree to stay at least one hundred yards away from the children. I was stunned. Not in my wildest imagination had I anticipated such a turn of events. I knew he was still talking but I couldn’t hear a word. How could this be happening to me?

Ignoring the lawyer, I turned to Kat and said, “Is this what you want? How can you do this? You know I love the kids as if they were my own. Kat?”

She refused to look at me. Her jaw was clamped so tight the muscles in her cheek were bulging.

The lawyer, ever the smooth guy, explained that we were not there to negotiate. The terms were firm and his job was to explain. Once again he said it wasn’t his job to give me legal counsel but I had the right to retain counsel and have my desires heard.

My mind was coming back on track and was racing. I realized that I was going to have to leave the city. The city wasn’t big enough for me to keep one hundred yards away from anyone. If I was in a grocery store and Kat came in with the kids, I was going to have to leave the store immediately. If I left town, including not going to church or shopping in town, I had to go a distance, meaning I was going to have to give up my job. I was losing everything.

I turned to Kat and said, “Kat, do you understand what this means? I’ll have to leave the city. I’ll have to leave my job. I lose you, I lose the kids, I lose my home, I lose my job, I lose everything. Is this what you have in mind?”

Finally she spoke up. “No, you only have to stay away from the kids.”

“But there is no way for me to do this. Don’t you understand that or is it part of Mama’s plan?”

Kat burst into tears and left the room. The lawyer followed, leaving me alone to think. What was there to think about? This was too much. I couldn’t figure out if the person who came up with the one-hundred-yard-deal was too stupid to figure out the implications or whether they had done it on purpose. Knowing Mama Woodward, I could imagine she had insisted on it, knowing full well what it meant.

Finally, Kat and the lawyer came back in the room. Kat looked awful. I had to give the lawyer credit. He was handling this very professionally. Maybe I had misjudged him. He was only doing his job. Well, he was still a lawyer.

The lawyer said, “Look, this is not being productive. The terms are non-negotiable.”

I said, “Well, I have one request. Since I will have to leave the city and my job, I will have to move to a new city and start a new life. This may take me a year and I will need money to do this.”

The lawyer reminded me of the financials. I replied that I wasn’t asking for a gift, just a loan. I would pay the money back.

The lawyer said he was not authorized to negotiate such a deal.

I just stared at him. Kat wouldn’t look at me. Finally, in a weak voice Kat asked me how much money I wanted. I told her $50,000. I had $20,000 in savings so I didn’t think I would need all of the $50,000 but I figured that they would argue me down.

Kat said, “I will give you the $50,000.”

I said, “No, I only want a loan.”

The lawyer again stated the rules: no money.

Kat turned to the lawyer with fire in her eyes and said it was her money and she would give me the money.

With that I asked if there were any other surprises. The lawyer said no.

“Well, in that case, I want to sign the contract and be done with this ugly business. And just for the record and for you, Kat, I want you to know that I am not signing this contract because I think it is the right thing to do. It isn’t. It is a travesty. You are ripping my heart out. I am signing it because I know Mama is behind it and I don’t even come close to having enough resources to fight her. I just find it very hard to believe that you are caving in to her. There must be something very big at stake for you to do this. I hope it is worth it for you. You are wrecking my life.”

I signed the papers, got up and left. Kat was crying. I felt like a pavement roller had rolled over my chest. I was crushed.