AllFreeNovel
Share Us
EIGHTEEN
Mel
I spend the next two days trying to forget about the way it felt so right having Jarradek inside me. How his body seemed to fit mine so perfectly, and how he came for me with just a word.
God, it’s impossible!
To distract myself, I resolve to make an appointment at Legal Aid to talk to someone about my options for keeping James out of my life once and for all. I feel guilty doing it, but I can’t pretend anymore that he’s ever been anything to my kids other than a burden and a stress on me. He only ever cares about them when it suits him. He misses birthdays and Christmas, and calls at random times to talk to them when they’ve already gone to bed, or when he thinks I might be out having fun.
I’ve given him plenty of chances to change. He won’t. I realized something the other night. He just wants a way to keep me off balance. I’m not prepared to let him use Elsa and Damian like that.
The lady in the stuffy little office smiles kindly at me and ushers me to a seat. Her kind, round face has the sort of wrinkles at the corners of her mouth and eyes that show she smiles often. For some reason that small thing makes me feel a bit teary. I look down at my lap while she speaks, twisting the strap of my worn handbag in my fingers.
“Mr. Romilan won’t be long. I’ll let you know when he’s ready to see you.”
I nod. I wonder if I should have brought some paperwork with me. I’m not sure what I could have brought that might be useful, but it feels odd coming empty-handed.
A few minutes later, a middle-aged man with short dark hair and warm brown eyes steps out of a room down the hall. “Ms. Karas? Please come through.”
I stand, clutching my handbag to my chest. The guilt squeezes me like a mop through the wringer as I follow him down the hall to his office. When I sit in the squeaky vinyl chair, I’m sure my failures as a mother are written on my face as if I’m stained with dirty water.
Mr. Romilan sits and folds his neatly manicured hands on his desk and gives me a smile. “What can I help you with today?”
Here it is. Why can’t I choke out the words?
I clear my throat. “I want to file for sole custody of my children.”
Mr. Romilan nods, slowly. “What’s the current arrangement with their father? How much access does he have?”
“We agreed he’d see them every other weekend when things ended. But he barely sees them. And he hasn’t paid child support in months.” I take breath, reminding myself I don’t need to go on a tirade. Not yet, anyway.
Mr. Romilan makes a note on his computer. “Have you got records showing the date of the last payment?”
I nod. “Yes.”
“And have you sent a letter of claim?”
