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I peered in, leaning down so she could see my face. “You are actively trying to take my son away from me, and I swear on mygrave, Darlene, that if you try to take him out of state, where it’s near impossible for me to see him when I can, I will make damn sure you regret it.”
She left, hiding her face as always. I knew it scared her when I was angry, and as her car disappeared around the corner, I chewed on my own words. I hated it when I got that way. It made me the shithead. But she just gnawed at my nerves, and I couldn’t stand to think she always had the winning hand. I wanted nothing more than to win for once, and I started to feel like I finally had a chance. I just had to make the right moves, and maybe I’d come out a winner on the other side.
I took out my new phone and made the call. I was going nuclear.
“Jerry Monroe,” he said in his monotone voice.
“Yeah, Jerry. It’s Ryan.”
“Ryan,” he said with some hint of recognition to his tone.
“Yeah. Hey, so, uh... those papers. We still good to pursue it?”
“You’re talking about the custody thing, right? Does this mean you’re prepared to pursue full custody?”
I exhaled a long breath, shaking my head. I didn’t want to do this. I didn’t want to go this far. But if Darlene were going to move north, she would have full custody whether it was legal or not. I wouldn’t have a chance, and no matter how this ended, she would pursue some kind of child support, which would mean I’d have to work extra-long just to make the payments.
I didn’t want to do this. We weren’t supposed to get to this point. I’d always thought if we divorced, we’d be the best co-parents ever. I hadn’t meant to be a shitty husband, and as often as I had thought I just needed a little more time, now time was out, and I had to choose between being the good guy with nothing or the bad guy who saw his son.
“Ryan?”
“Yeah,” I mumbled, my voice cracking with emotion. “I want to do it.”
I heard shuffling on the other end but didn’t think about it too much. I scratched my head and looked around the neighborhood where I used to live. A lawnmower a couple of houses away made it difficult enough to hear what my attorney had to say. I didn’t know anything about this stuff, and until now, I hadn’t thought about what it would entail. Until now, I didn’t think I’d need to know.
“So, I’ve reviewed the risks with you, right? Your temporary conservatorship—”
“Sorry, Jerry ... I can’t …”
“If you move forward with this—”
“Jerry, hold on.”
“Oh.”
I got into my truck and started it, closing out the world and blasting the AC.
If I didn’t do this, Darlene would. I just knew it. And even if she didn’t, this idea of moving was her way of taking full custody without worrying about the legalities.
A realization came to mind.
“You there?”
A hopeful feeling swelled in my gut, and I pressed the phone tight to my ear. “Do you remember if the divorce papers say anything about taking him out of state?”
“Well, as of right now, the temporary orders are joint. She shouldn’t be leaving the state. You guys had agreed on that in mediation. But if she has permission...”
“She doesn’t.”
Jerry sighed. “What’s going on? Is she visiting relatives, or . . .?”
“She’s trying to take my son away from me. She wants to move closer to her boyfriend’s family. Up north.”
“Oh,” Jerry said with renewed interest. “That’s definitely not okay. If that’s your only concern, Ryan, you don’t have to pursue full custody. This is already covered, and you have joint conservatorship, so any decision that involves your son’s well-being isn’t just up to her.”
I grinned with sudden relief. I felt stupid not having thought about it before. Darlene must have thought I’d either forget about that little nugget or she had. She was good at making decisions without thinking, so it wouldn’t surprise me in the least. “Thanks, Jerry.”
“Sure. Now, if you still want to pursue full custody, we’ll need to talk details. You’ll want to start with keeping your visitations. It’ll look good for you to see him when you can and make some record of that visit.”
