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“No,” she answered.
He rolled his eyes and grabbed the Tabasco anyway. She caught him.
“Seriously? It’s bad for the baby,” she scolded.
He put it down without another word. Seemed like a good enough time to introduce myself.
“Holly Ziegler,” she said, shaking my hand. “You’re the buffer?”
I snorted. Max might not be able to stand her, but I liked that she was to-the-point like that. “Guess so.” I took a seat next to her. “So… what do you do?”
“But I’m a social worker with the county. Mostly I try and keep kids out of bad situations.”
“Sounds rough,” I said.
“It can be.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Do you… ever work to keep kids in a good situation?”
“What do you mean?”
“I have a friend. And she has joint custody of her son with her ex-husband. One week at each house kind of thing. But now, the ex wants the son full time.”
“So he’s challenging what the judge ruled? That’s going to be hard to do.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“Is your friend, the mother, is she a good parent?” Holly asked, bluntly. “Is the son in a bad situation? Does the mother do drugs or have a shitty boyfriend or something?”
“Fuck no. Zoe’s a great mom.”
“Okay, then what grounds does he think he has?” she wondered.
“He has none and he knows it. But he’s an intimidating guy who’s not afraid to drag his ex to court until he ruins her. Emotionally and financially. I mean… can he actually do that?”
“Sure he can.”
“Seriously?”
“Enough money and you can do anything,” she said.
“So she’s screwed?” I asked. “She should just give up?”
“Of course not. You don’t just give up when it’s your kid. But she’s got quite a fight ahead of her.”
“What should she do?”
“Well, first of all, she should get herself a damn good lawyer.”
“But what about—”
“I know some people I can put her in contact with. And I can help too,” she said. “To strengthen her defense, I’d get her place formally inspected by the city, get a background and credit check. Maybe also some character statements from people she works with and associates with.”
“Sounds like a lot of work.”
“It will be,” she stated. “But what’s the alternative?”
Max chose that moment to pay attention to the conversation.
