Cracks in the Sidewalk(71)

“Eeeeeeeeee,” the baby squealed.

~

JT stood a good head taller than Dudley, but Dudley made up for the difference by sheer determination.

“See this?” he said, waving a copy of the court order in front of Jeffrey. “This says you’re to be here at nine a.m.! It means nine o’clock sharp! It also states that Elizabeth is to have three hours of visitation with her children. Children, not child!”

“Get that thing out of my face,” JT snarled.

Dudley told JT he’d find himself back in court if he didn’t wise up. “You’ve already had five instances of defying this court order. One more, and that’s it!”

“Five? What are you—”

“The first was last Sunday when you came late. The second was when you brought two children instead of three. The third was when you removed the children without allowing Elizabeth the specified three-hour visitation. The fourth was when you arrived late again today, and the fifth was when you showed up with just the baby instead of all three children.”

“That’s a load of crap!”

“No, those are documented instances of your failure to abide by the court-ordered visitation schedule. And I haven’t even started on the number of times you failed to allow Elizabeth her telephone calls. Let’s see now, that was—”

“Okay, okay. So what are you looking for?”

“First, leave here, and don’t come back until Elizabeth has spent three hours with the baby. Next, make certain she receives three telephone calls from the kids every week. Not every week you feel like doing it, but every single week. Lastly, make damn certain you’re here on time every Sunday and that you’ve got all three children. Not one, not two, but all three!”

“And what if they’re sick?”

“I don’t care if you’ve got to bring them in an ambulance, bring them!”

“What if there’s some perfectly logical reason for—”

“Don’t even go there. The next time you fail to adhere to the court-ordered visitation schedule, I go back to Judge Brill with a petition for sanctions.”

“Big deal.”

“Maybe it’s no big deal to you,” Dudley answered. “But it would be to someone who doesn’t want to spend time in jail.”

Jeffrey turned and walked away. “Don’t think you scare me, you pompous jerk!” he yelled as he climbed into the car. After he’d gunned the motor several times, JT gave Dudley a dark-eyed stare. Dudley returned it and added the reproachful look of an annoyed parent.

The eye-to-eye threats continued for several minutes before JT floored the gas pedal and rounded the corner with a screech heard seven blocks away.

~

Jeffrey didn’t come back at one-forty-five, nor did he come at two or two-thirty. At nearly three o’clock Kelsey rang the doorbell and said, “I’m here to pick up Christian.”

“Who are you?” Charlie asked.

“JT’s friend.”

Charlie looked beyond the girl and spotted Jeffrey waiting in the car. “Friend or no friend, I’m not giving Christian to anyone other than his father.”

Kelsey rolled her eyes. “Geez. You gotta make this difficult?”

“I suppose so,” Charlie answered, then said they’d get the baby ready while she went to fetch Jeffrey. He closed the door.

“Jeffrey’s here to pick up the baby,” he told Elizabeth.

She sighed. “So soon?”

Claire scooped Christian from the floor and bundled him into his snowsuit. “Tell Mama bye-bye,” she prompted. “Bye-bye, Ma-ma.”

Christian squealed, “Byeeeeee.”

“Ma-ma,” Claire repeated.

“Byeeeeee.”

“Close enough.” Claire handed the baby to Charlie.

As they walked away, Christian looked back at Liz and cried, “Maaaaaaa-ma!”



The following Tuesday Elizabeth received a telephone call from David and Kimberly. They were allowed to talk for five minutes but no longer, since their father was supposedly setting supper on the table. David said his cold was all better and Kimberly started to say she didn’t have a cold, but David pinched her and she began to cry.

“It’s okay,” Elizabeth said, comforting her daughter. “I’m sure David was only playing. He didn’t mean to hurt you—”

“Yes he did,” Kimberly sniffed. “He did it ‘cause Daddy said to tell you we was sick, but we wasn’t sick!”

“Well, Kimberly, you’re right, and David is wrong. Children shouldn’t lie, even if somebody else tells them to. It makes Jesus sad when little children tell lies.”

“See, Gooney!” Kimberly called out. “Mommy said we ain’t ‘posed to tell lies!”

“But brothers and sisters aren’t supposed to fight, either.”

“We ain’t fighting,” Kimberly said. “David’s just being mean to me.”

“Okay, then I’ll tell David to stop being mean to you.”

“Could you tell Kelsey not to be mean to me too?”

“Is Kelsey your friend?”

“No. Kelsey’s a grownup. She’s Daddy’s friend.”