Making Moves
The next day my mom dropped off the younger kids first and then me as usual. She gave me a meaningful look to remind me to not say anything about the divorce. This was a small town and James had a lot of friends. She didn't want him to find out secondhand until she told him or the lawyer told him. I nodded in understanding and said, "I love you, Mom. I will support you. You should call Grandpa Frank." I gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She hugged and kissed me back and said, " I love you too my good girl!"
She drove away and made a mental list of everything she had to do that day. After she dropped off her middle school daughter she went to work. Her boss was a lively guy who was always loud and smiling. She went into his office after knocking on the open door. She said, "Bob, I need to talk to you about something personal. Are you busy?"
He waved her in and said, "I'm not busy. What's up?" She went into his office and closed the door behind her. She didn't want her other co-workers to hear her business. Bob straightened up when he noticed her seriousness. She sat down and said, "I'm going to divorce my husband. I found out he had been abusing my children while I was not around. I won't let my kids go through that!" Bob looked shocked! He had met James a few times and James always seemed like a friendly guy.
He asked, "Are you sure?" She nodded and started to cry. She said, " My oldest told me about it yesterday and when I asked my other two, they confirmed it. I can't believe I didn't know anything. I've been too busy working 2 jobs." Bob got up and went to her and hugged her. He said, "It's ok, you are going to be fine. You are a strong woman. I will help you any way I can." She nodded and felt embarrassed to cry in front of her boss. She said, "Thank you. I will need a long lunch today to go to the bank. I also need to warn his ex about the kids." He said, "Take all the time you need." She nodded and dried her eyes. He asked, "Do you have a lawyer?" She said, " I got a recommendation for Jessie James. Bob laughed and said, "I know Jessie! We went way back. I'll call him for you." She nodded gratefully and said, "Thank you!"
She left his office and went to the lady's bathroom to wash her face. Bob called Jessie and you could tell they were good friends. He told Jessie to take good care of his best employee! Jessie agreed to meet her later in the afternoon for a free consultation. Bob told Delilah about it when she returned from the bathroom. She thanked him and went to work.
She was distracted all morning thinking about her first divorce. She had only been 15 when she got married for the first time. Her mom encouraged her to do it in secret because she was already pregnant with her first child. She had hoped he would give her a better life than one with her drug-addicted mom and abusive stepdad. She was fooled by his charms. After they got married, he moved her away from everyone and started to drink and do drugs. He would throw parties all the time and when she said she wanted to get a job and he needed to watch the kids he accused her of cheating on him. She didn't want to live like that. She wanted a better life for herself and her children. Finally, after 7 years of dealing with his partying and cheating, she decided to leave him. He turned violent and broke her wrist trying to force her to stay.
She thought about calling her father this time. They didn't have a great relationship because her mom lied to her about him not wanting to be in her life. The truth was all the child support was spent on drugs and her mom would go out of town when he wanted to visit the kids. She picked up the phone to call him. She called her father who she hadn't spoken to in years. He lived in Louisiana.
He answered the phone in his chipper voice with a Cajun accent, "Hello!" She reared up with relief hearing his voice, " Dad!" He could hear it in her voice that something was wrong. He asked, "Delilah, what's wrong baby girl?" She choked up when he called her nickname, and she told him what was going on. He got mad at James and said, " Now you listen here, I'm going to come down and help you get away from that *sshole! How dare he lay a hand on my precious babies?!?" She was crying with relief and said, "Thank you, Dad." He tried to calm her down and make plans. He asked, "Have you talked to a lawyer yet?" She said, "I'm going later today. He is friends with my boss. He is going to do a free consultation." Her dad said, "Good! I'll help you with the rest. Don't you worry!" I'll be there tonight, and we can kick him out together." She sobbed some more and thought this was happening. She said, "OK, drive safe."
Her father had a construction company, and he could leave his best worker in charge while he went to Texas to help his little girl. Even though she was 30, she would always be his little girl. He regretted not being around when she was younger and wanted to make up for it.
Delilah dried her tears and thought it was going to be a long day! She called James's ex-wife next. Tracy answered her in a whisper. She was at work too and wasn't supposed to answer the phone, but Delilah never called so it must have been important. Delilah said, " Terry, I need to talk to you about the kids. Can we meet for lunch?" Terry got worried and said, " Of course, there is a Mexican restaurant near my job. I can meet you there in an hour." Delilah said, "ok, see you soon."
They met for lunch and ordered tacos and soup. Tracy started the talk. She had been so nervous this last hour. She said, "What's going on with the kids?" Delilah said, " I just found out that James had been abusing my kids when I'm not around. I don't know about Caitlyn and Jimmy, but I'm sure he has in the past. I'm going to divorce him. I'm going to talk to a divorce lawyer after this and my dad is coming in tonight. I was wondering if you want the kids to stay with you or him?"
Tracy was shocked! She said, "Oh my God! I remember he had a bad temper when we were married but I didn't think he would be abusive. I'll come by later and get my kids. I'll talk to my husband and explain the situation. I'm sure he will be ok with it." Delilah felt relieved, she said, "Good, I will feel better with the kids away from him. Please don't say anything to him until I tell him. I'm going to go to the bank and open a separate account.
Tracy nodded and said, " I wish I had done that last time. Maybe I would have kept the kids instead of him." They were both mothers who would protect their children. Even if it was from their husbands. Delilah believed her children were a part of her, and she had to protect herself and her children before anyone else.
After lunch, Delilah went to the bank and opened a separate bank account in her name only. She transferred her money out of the joint account and made the necessary changes to their bill payments. She then went to the lawyer's office. She had Bob make the appointment for her. He told her to head over around 2. She was 15 minutes early. Tracy has asked to go with her and see if she could talk about getting custody of her kids. Delilah agreed. Tracy met her there after she told her boss she had to take a half day because of an emergency.
They both went in together and met Jessie Jones. He said, "Hi, I'm Jessie Jones, Attorney at Law. Call me Jessie." Delilah introduced herself, "Hi, I'm Delilah and this is my friend Tracy. Did Bob tell you about me?" Jessie shook hands with the women and led him into the office to have a seat. He said, "Bob is a good friend of mine. He told me to take good care of his best employee. How can I help?" Delilah told him about the situation and Tracy asked if he could help her get custody of her kids. He said, "Don't worry. From what you told me it seems like he is not a good parent. The judge will most likely agree to you taking back your kids."