Acts of Desperation(49)
When Sarah said she was going to stop by after school at the end of the week, I was really looking forward to a nice normal conversation with my sister. We hadn’t had much of an opportunity to catch up since everything had happened, and I was eager to talk about how her case was going and not me. I was sick of me.
She knocked and let herself in the front door. She had on her teacher’s uniform of black pants and a sensible sweater set, but she looked cute. She’d flat ironed her hair that day and had it tucked simply behind her ear. When she wore it like that it made it look exceptionally long. She plopped down next to me on the couch, letting out a long exhale.
“So, how’s it going?” I asked, but she only groaned. “Is it school, the kids, or Anders?”
“Anders, of course,” she said. “He’s given me a year-long headache.” She sighed and rubbed her temples. “But at least you’re home now so I don’t have to worry about you as much. I’m so glad that whole mess is over. How are you doing?”
“Good,” I said, and then she tilted her head and glared at me.
“I’m fine…really. I’m seriously so tired of talking about myself. Between Mom and Dad and Liz hovering all the time, and Jax constantly texting me, I’m going to go insane talking about my feelings. I swear, hand on The Bible, I’m doing well. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Ok,” she said, reluctantly letting the topic drop.
“Now…tell me what’s up?” I asked, tucking my legs under my blanket.
She exhaled a big breath. “Ugh, where do I start?”
“Is it that bad?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“Then start at the beginning, we’ve got nothing but time. Anders is getting the kids tonight, right?” She nodded her head. “Then lay it on me.”
“Ok, so you remember when I told you about Anders coming into the house in the middle of the night?”
“Yeah, and you were going to maybe file charges against him?”
“Right. Only it turns out I can’t. Chuck never filed the temporary restraining order against Anders so I can’t legally keep him out of the house.”
My jaw hit the floor. “You’re kidding me? It’s a standard thing. How did that not happen?” I said.
“I don’t know, but Jax was surprised too. He said I could pursue one, but I’d have to jump through all kinds of hoops. So, in my eyes, it’s too late to do anything about it now without slowing the divorce down. It’s dragged on long enough. For my sanity, I need this to be over as soon as possible.” She sighed again.
“I know you do, but that really sucks.” I rested my face in my hand. “But I assume there’s more?”
“Yep. A real doozy.” She rolled her eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m being taken back to court.”
“Again! For what now?” I asked.
“Anders is saying that his business is failing because he’s had to cancel business trips because I’m not flexible with the visitation schedule with the kids. He constantly wants me to rearrange my schedule to accommodate him. Once in a while would be fine, but it’s every week he’s trying to flip things around. I can’t function like that and it’s not good for the kids. So.” She sighed. “He’s not making enough money to pay me the child support and alimony he’s been ordered to pay.”
“Wonderful,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Exactly. He’s broke Sember,” she said, faking a sympathetic smile.
“That’s a bunch of bull,” I said.
“Oh it totally is, but you haven’t heard the clincher.”
“It gets worse?”
“Yep.” She slumped back on the couch and stared at the ceiling. “Chuck made a mistake on the first financial forms he submitted to the court, the one used to determine my support. He wrote the wrong amount in from my tax records and deflated my income, so now Anders is contesting everything, and we have to resubmit all my paperwork.”
All I could do was blink my eyes while my stomach twisted in knots. It seemed everything that could possibly go wrong with her case was going wrong. I racked my brain to come up with something inspirational to say, but there just wasn’t anything. She wasn’t in the worst position she could be in, but it was pretty bad. I sighed. “I’m so sorry this is happening. I wish there was something I could do.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “There’s nothing anyone can do, unfortunately. I know Jax is doing everything he can, but he can’t undo someone else’s mistakes. We can only move forward and not make anymore.”
“True.” I nodded my head. “Is Anders still trying to fight the custody thing?”
“Of course he is. He still wants to split them fifty-fifty, but it’s not because he wants to spend more time with them—he doesn’t now—it’s only because he’d have to pay me less money. Jax has suggested I meet with Anders separately though. He thinks if I wiggle on custody then Anders might give a little more financially. I know that Anders will flake out and probably fade away anyway as far as caring for them, but right now I can’t agree to a fifty-fifty custody deal if I’m solely caring for them. I need to make sure I have enough support to care for them on my own if I have to. I don’t know…” She rubbed her eyes. “I still have to think about it some more. I’m just not there in my head yet. As it stands, the financial trial is a month away so I have to go dig through all my records. First things first.”