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She sighed, feeling the weight of the expenses she was about to face. She had to find a way to come up with the money. It wasn't something Georgia should be worrying about. She had enough on her plate with her studies.
She needed to find a way to make ends meet. The renovations were expensive, and the bed and breakfast wasn't ready to be bringing in tons of profit for her individually.
Her savings were dwindling more by the day. And she couldn't just magically come up with thousands of dollars. Her mind raced with possible solutions, but none seemed viable. She couldn't simply ignore the cost, but she couldn't come up with the money on her own either.
April knew it was time. She had to call her ex-husband, Carl. There had to be a time for him to take some part in this. Now was his chance.
The phone rang four times before he picked up. The phone erupted with noise which took over even as Carl tried to yell into his end of the call, "Hello?"
"Carl? What's going on?"
His mumbles were hardly intelligible. April couldn't tell if it was because he was quiet or everything else was so loud. "I can't hear you!" she yelled back into the phone, frustrated.
"Sorry, sorry. Give me a minute."
April waited impatiently while Carl tried to find a quieter spot to talk. As she waited, she couldn't help but wonder why she was even bothering with him. He had left her high and dry, and now she was calling him to help their daughter out.
The daughter that he left behind while he went off and had his own midlife crisis. But she didn't have any other options. She had to try.
Finally, Carl's voice came back on the line, out of breath, but much clearer now. "Hey, sorry about that. What's up?"
April took a deep breath, trying to keep her composure. "No, everything is not okay. I got the bill for Georgia's tuition, and it's a lot more than I expected. I can't afford it on my own."
"I see," he replied. "How short will you be?"
"Thousands," she replied. It was the truth. The money in savings was for emergencies, among so many other things. She'd budgeted for Georgia, but the tuition had been raised more than four thousand dollars. That wasn't something she could rearrange in her little budget.
There was a long silence on the other end of the line. April wasn't sure he was even still there. "Are you able to help out at all?"
The silence on the other end should have been enough to give April her answer, but she didn't give up hope yet. She waited anxiously for any kind of response.
"Uh, I can barely afford my own living situation right now, actually." She couldn't believe he'd run out of money. After taking what she had in the bank accounts, he still spent it all like a kid in a candy shop. He was even more reckless than when they were married.
When he said he wanted to tour the circuses of the world, April thought he was crazy. But she didn't realize that he would be so careless as to spend every penny on seeing clowns and gymnasts.
April felt a wave of anger wash over her. This was typical of Carl. Always running away from his responsibilities and leaving her to pick up the pieces. She couldn't believe she'd even thought he might help.
"What happened? How are you out of money already?" She rolled her eyes, glad that her ex-husband couldn't see her full annoyance. It would only end in more of a fight than this was going to be.
Carl let out a long sigh. "Look, I've been going through a rough patch. I didn't plan on spending so much on the tour. But I've got a job. That's why it was so loud."
Everything ended in a rough patch with him. Of course he wasn't prepared for an expense like this, that he knew would come. He always relied on April to make sure things were okay.
"What job are you working now?"
Carl paused. "I'm beekeeping in Ghana. I found a nice farm and they're showing me how to keep them."
She had to physically fold in half to stop the laughter from rolling out of her. Of course, he was off doing something crazy. She wondered if it was really the only or best job he could find. There were so many other jobs there that he would probably be more qualified for.
April imagined him going through the list of job posts on his phone and finding the one that sounded the most interesting at the time. He probably arrived and found out how much work it really was and hated it.
He sounded miserable, and she wasn't ashamed to say it made her a little bit happy to hear.
But this call wasn't for her, it was for their daughter who needed them. Quickly, April pulled it together and tried to continue the conversation.
"Listen, I understand that you're having a tough time, but I need your help. Georgia needs your help," she said, trying to keep her voice calm.
"It's not like I'm leaving her high and dry," Carl snapped back. "I just can't help out financially right now. Give me a little while, and I'll figure something out."
