Vows of Deception: Something old, new, borrowed, and BLUE... (8 page)

“Is it speculation or do you have proof that he was unfaithful?”

“I was sent an anonymous video showcasing his rump with a co-worker during our anniversary party.”

“That would be proof.” She said sarcastically. “Did you confront him on said video?”

“He admitted to being unfaithful. Saying it was a man thing. That was all without me confessing about having seen the video.”

“Are you sure this is what you want? Hear me out.” She said quickly before Danni could get started on her argument. “A lot of women jump straight to divorce when they felt they have been dealt a bad hand. During the process they have second, third, and sometimes forth thoughts about proceedings. Those extra hesitations cost a lot of money. I just don’t want to waste your money or my time if this is purely an emotional cry for help.”

“Have you thought about going to counseling?” She asked after letting her speech settle in.

“I am a therapist. I have thought about going and giving him another chance. The truth is I would never be able to get over this. The vengeful side will always bring it up or suspect he is up to no good. A healthy relationship would never thrive from the lack of trust.”

“It seems you have thought this over thoroughly. Now I must tell you that this is going to be quite hard taking into consideration that you two may have many joint ventures. Do you own your home? Have joint accounts? Retirements?”

“So this is going to be a hard fight? If you take the case.”

“I will be honest with you. There is nothing easy about a divorce no matter how simple some make it seem. There are a lot of factors into separating lives that were joined together under the impression that it was for a lifetime. If the other party decides to contest the divorce it could take longer than normal.” Mrs. Jones said. “Also I must warn you that under North Carolina law, divorces are not typically granted for adultery unless you have been apart for a year.”

“He has voiced he doesn’t think I will file but I don’t see why he would contest it. I don’t have any monies that would interest him. To be honest he makes more than I do. As for the separation part, we co-exist in our home. Although I don’t feel safe there.

“That may be but you will be surprised at what measures some people go to if they want to cause problems for the other.”

“Is there anything I can do about him refusing to leave the home?”

“Legally no unless there is a threat that violence could occur.”

“Violence will occur if he continues to try and push up on me. I hate his smug face.”

“Oh no. Well I suggest you leave if it’s that bad.”

“…”

“I understand totally. It’s your house. You probably put a lot into the home to make it your own.”

“No. No. You’re right. I should leave and just let him have it. Honestly it doesn’t feel like home. Just a big empty shell of a place that seems lonely and cold. I was more focused on the financial aspect.”

“Congratulations on taking the first step towards finding yourself outside of being Mrs. Graves. I will be happy to take your case for you.”

“Thank you so much.” Danni breathed a sigh of relief.

“You are most welcome.” Mrs. Jones said with a smile. “I have one final question for you. What do you expect to gain from this?”

“I hate to sound like Tina Turner in ‘What’s love got to do with it’ but all I want is my name. Nothing means a thing if I can’t get back to being myself before meeting him.”

“Excellent point. Do you have any questions for me before we get the necessary information needed to start the process?”

“Just one. About the retainer. How does that work?”

“The fee is an upfront fee for me to basically file all of the proper paperwork, have my research team gather the necessary items to divide things accordingly, and so forth. When the divorce is final he will end up having to cover those costs as well as any other fees occurred by the courts.” Danni was thinking in her head how she was going to come up with the upfront retainer. She desperately wanted out of this marriage but how was she going to afford it. Then she needed to consider what it was going to cost to move out.

“I see the wheels turning in your head so let me offer one more good deed. Off the record, if you tell anyone I will deny it to my grave.” Once Danni nodded her head she continued. “Because you were recommended by one of my very dear friends, I will offer to you a payment plan option.”

“Are you serious?”

“I don’t play with money, I assure you. There was a down payment to get started. Your next payment is due in thirty days from this date. It is already drawn up in a contract for you to look over and sign if you agree.”

“Was? What do you mean was?”

“I was given a sizable deposit already to take this case but I had to be sure you were really ready before I gave you my definite answer. I cannot give you the details of the generous donor, all that I ask is that you do your part. And I will definitely do mine.”

“Oh my God. I don’t know what to say.” Danni thought she was all out of happy tears. She thought they were gone for good. Boy was she wrong.

“Say yes before I change…”

“Yes, I agree with everything.” Danni cut her off.

“Well alright then.” Mrs. Jones then buzzed her secretary telling her to bring in all of the papers Danni needed to sign.

By the time they had laid out all of the information needed, Danni had one thing she could be optimistic about. It may not be easy but she was getting out that farce of a marriage. She would be free of his lying, cheating face soon. Thanking her lucky stars she never got pregnant. That’s one thing he got right. He kept denying her the opportunity to have their baby and now she couldn’t be happier. If she had to go over a custody battle with him, she knew for sure she would murder him first. Seeing him on a regular for scheduled visits and such would never work out. Just the thought of him having their child around random women made her angry just from the thought. Yeah no baby was a good thing.

*****

“Yes I would like to open a new bank account. Transfer this amount from this account into the new one.”

“Yes ma’am, I can help you with that.” Danni waited for the attendant to handle that part. They were making small talk when all of a sudden the attendant’s facial expression changed. “Is there another account ma’am? There isn’t anything in this account. Actually it has been overdrawn by $500. That is the limit.”

“There must be some kind of mistake. That is the joint…” Danni stopped what she was about to say for it was going to be extremely ugly. That sorry bastard had taken all of the money. The question was, when? “Can you print me off a transaction sheet for the last thirty days?”

“Sure thing.”

Danni sat at the desk looking over everything that Lamont has been up to without her knowledge. According to the printout he had taken all of the money from their joint account the day she sat all of his belongings on the porch. All of the money she has spent since that day with her debit card has caused the account to be in the negative. There was no way she could pay all of that back, open a new account for her to receive direct deposit, and handle the other obligations that she has. Lamont has added to her already high stress level. She couldn’t wait to confront him about it.

“What about opening the new account?”

“Unfortunately at this time, we cannot open a new account at this branch. Because your home loan is also through this bank, you are behind on your mortgage payments as well. The system is preventing me from going any further.”

“Wait, my mortgage payments are behind?”

“Yes ma’am. It says in the system you are four months delinquent.”

“Four months?!” Danni questioned loudly. This couldn’t be right. Why and how did things get so out of hand?

“Notices were mailed to your post office box.”

“What post office box? I don’t have a post office box.”

“According to our records that is where you requested bank documents to go.” The attendant wrote the information on a sticky note and passed it to Danni. She was seriously speechless. Lamont had one-upped her from the jump.

Leaving the bank totally defeated from what she has learned, Danni could only lean her head against the steering wheel. She was screwed for sure. If she wasn’t in it bad before, it was evident now that things were only getting worst as time went on. How can she afford a divorce now? How was she going to afford to live period? Let alone afford to get her own apartment. She was determined not to call on her parents. That wasn’t an option. She was going to figure this out on her own. There was no other way.

After leaving the bank getting the worst news of this mess yet. She came to the conclusion that she would just get another job. Something that would assist her in paying for some much needed things. Passing by the hotel that she woke up in a while ago, she saw a sign on the board stating they were hiring. She figured no better time than the present to get on the job search. It’s been so long since she has done anything other than be a therapist she hoped she could find something.

Once she applied for that job, she went home to start an extensive search online. Two hours later she had applied for any and everything that paid fairly decent. From hotel worker to janitorial, she was desperate for any job. About seven she heard the garage door open. Round three of this divorce mess was on the way. Confronting Lamont about taking all of the money was all she could think about. Luckily for her the two credit cards she had in case of an emergency would tide her over until she could do better. That wasn’t going to stop her from checking him though.

“Lamont we need to talk.”

“I was wondering when you would be ready.”

“Why did you take all the money from our account?”

“Because I figured you would do something dumb like try and take it.”

“All I was going to take was what I contributed. What I earned. Trust me when I say I want nothing from you and that’s including money.”

“Sure you were. Women scorned tend to think they deserve more than their worth.”

“Are you serious right now?”

“Very. Now if there is nothing else.”

“Actually there is. Why haven’t you been making the mortgage payments? The house is four months behind. In two more months there won’t be a house and we both will have to move because it’s foreclosed on. What the hell is going on?”

“I’ve got it under control. Don’t worry about it. I’ll go down to the bank and straighten everything out.”

“I went to the bank. There is nothing to straighten out.” Danni shouted. “Look, just give me my portion of the account and you can have the house. I will leave since you won’t.”

“That’s not possible.”

“And why is that?”

“The money is tied up in investments at the moment.”

“Investments? I didn’t authorize you to use my hard earned money on any investments.”

“We have a joint account so I use the funds appropriately. I have been handling our bills thus far. You can stop with the, my, my, my. Everything is ours.”

“That’s bullshit. Everything was ours. Now I want what’s mine.”

“Well it looks like your move is going to have to wait.”

“Think again.”

“Good luck with that honey.”

“I am not your honey you son of a bitch.”

“You will always be my honey.”

“Save it for your whores.”

“They just want what you are denying yourself.”

“You are unbelievable.” He just chuckled like she had told the funniest joke. All she wanted to do was claw his eyes out.

Throwing herself on her bed, she groaned in frustration. Tomorrow was a day full of work, clients, and meetings. Amongst all of the drama in her home life this was becoming too overwhelming. A counselor would be in the works but honestly she knew too many of them personally. It just wouldn’t work and she did not want all of her business in the streets. If Lamont wasn’t so overbearing she would have some girlfriends to go to about these issues but alas she has no one but family. She couldn’t blame anyone but herself for allowing a man to have so much influence over her life. Never again will she be that vulnerable. Love what? It definitely will never live within her again.

****

Danielle was having a pretty good day despite where she woke up at and who walked around the house like nothing was wrong. With some thoughtful prayer the night before she had a brighter outlook on life in general. Clearly she was just going through a rough patch. Over time it had to get better, it just had to. On the Brightside she got to meet with one of her favorite clients. Niecee was due in with her father, she hoped. Hoping and praying things made a change for the better. During their meetings at school they never get around to discussing her living arrangements. Although she isn’t certain what her dad does for a living, the fact that he seems to care so much for his daughter is a plus.

Knowing from her own experience that he was a protector. He protected her in a drunken state without a second thought or at least she hopes he didn’t have second thoughts. Mark seemed very sweet and she recalled Niecee saying how busy he was with work. Danni never asked what he did for a living for she felt it was none of her business. He had such a hard exterior but he never wore a business suit. As memory serves her correctly the first night she met him he was wearing a nice pair of designer jeans and a polo. That seemed to be his attire of choice. She hated the train of thought she was going at but couldn’t help herself.

So many questions were forming in her overanalyzing brain. What does he do for a living? Was he a dangerous man? Why didn’t he have custody of his daughter? Was his profession the reason? Was it dangerous? Did he have an education? He didn’t sound ghetto to say the least. But what did ghetto really sound like? She concluded that she had been around Lamont far too long that she was judging the man by his appearance. That’s all she could go off of unless she asked him. In her opinion, it was only her business if it would harm her client.

“Hey Niecee. Mark, you guys can come on back.” Danni cheerfully greeted the two of them.

“Hey Miss Danni.”

“What’s been going on little lady?”

“Nothing much at school. I think I told you everything last week. My grades have come up in math and English.”

“That’s great sweetie. I’m so proud of you.”

“Thank you. I did what you told me to do with my notes. It worked.”

“I knew you could do it.” Danni clapped ecstatically.

“Mark, we are totally excluding you from the conversation. How are you and how has everything been going? What is new?”

“It’s fine. I’m glad she has someone to talk to since she chooses to leave me out at times. I am doing much better now that my baby is feeling better. As for what’s new…”

“Daddy, can I tell her please?” Niecee interrupted bouncing with excitement.

“Go ahead Niecee.” He chuckled.

“I get to live with my dad. AHHH!”

“That’s great sweetie. I told you things will work out for the best.” Danni beamed. She was hoping it would work out like that.

“Actually it’s only temporarily pending the judge’s final ruling.” Mark added.

“My vote is with you. As I told Niecee, everything will work out for the best in the end. Obviously if they ruled in your favor to have temporary custody, something peaked their attention. Now they have to do their research to make it stick. I’m happy for you two.”

“Thank you.” They said in unison.

They talked for a bit longer. Mainly the grownups sat back and listened to everything that Niecee had to say. Every so often they would get to say a few sentences but her bubbly personality would soon overtake the conversation again. Danni just listened, along with presenting the two activities she had to complete with them. In her notes she decided to cut-back on the times that she needed to see Niecee. Unless something came up she would be able to discharge her as a patient all together. Her bosses wouldn’t allow them to continue to see a patient with not a care in the world.

“Alright guys, I have to give you two my final thoughts on the therapy. I don’t see a reason for us to have to continue these sessions. My supervisors would read my notes and request I discharge you as a patient. Until that time we can schedule to meet once a month.”

“Wait so I don’t get to see you because I’m doing better?” Niecee asked with a scowl on her face.

“Well pretty much. Therapy isn’t really meant to be long-term unless there are some major problems.”

“But I don’t want to stop seeing you. You are one of the main reasons I have been doing so good. Even though I got my daddy finally, I still need you too.” Danni was about to shed some crappy tears because how devastated Niecee seemed. Making her sad was hurting her feelings seriously. Doing what she was thinking could get her fired but it was worth the risk to put Niecee’s mind at rest.

“Okay, I tell you what. I will give you my personal information.” Danni said and quickly thought it be better if she correct herself. “If that’s alright with your dad. I apologize Mark, I am not trying to…”

“No, it’s fine. I was going to suggest something close. I was going to say or I can hire you as an outside source. Pay you for personal treatment.”

“Even though an extra job would be wonderful, I couldn’t ask you to do that. On top of that, it would be a double whammy to getting fired because that would be considered as moonlighting.”

“Just a suggestion.” He shrugged and Danni couldn’t help but divert her attention to his massive shoulders. ‘Shake out of that haze Danni.’

“Miss Danni, can you come to my first volley ball game?”

“Sure. When is it?”

“Thursday at six.”

“I will be there.”

“Alright baby, we have to get going so you can go learn something.” Mark said.

“It was great seeing you two. I will see you Thursday.” Danni walked them out and tried to continue on with her day as best she could. At least she makes one or two people happy in this life so she shouldn’t feel like a total failure. ‘Can’t win them all.’ She had a lot of paperwork to do and a lot of decisions to make. The only thing she could do is pray that luck would be on her side.

*****

Thursday had finally come and the only Brightside of her week was that she could be around Niecee and her bubbly personality. When she had walked into the kitchen to leave she found Lamont there looking for something to eat. Surprising her to no end because before the divorce talk, she couldn’t pay him to show up at the house before nine. Sometimes later than that. ‘What a shame, it took divorce papers to get some get right,’ Danni thought to herself. Since she had skipped lunch earlier in the day for going on a job interview at a new club that opened up downtown, she was ravished. Grabbing an apple from the fridge, she attempted to continue on with her night but Lamont had other plans.

“What are you wearing?” Lamont asked with disdain clearly in his voice.

“Clothes.” Danni said with a scowl. That was one thing that always grated on her nerves. Lamont trying to dictate what she can and can’t wear.

“They look more like rags.” He retorted. Danni was dressed down in a pair of appropriate ripped Capri jeans, a fitted plain white t-shirt, thick caramel leather woven belt, and a pair of caramel brown wedges that had been in her closet for too long. Her accessories were moderate with a simple gold necklace she got from her mom, gold studs in her ears, and a gold watch. Nothing fancy but cute.

“Whatever Lamont.” Danni wasn’t going to let his condescending behavior throw her off balance.

“Danielle, I can’t believe you would embarrass me like this.”

“Embarrass you how?”

“With this. Have you lost your damn mind? What would my co-workers think?” He ranted slamming a stack of papers on the table. Danni leaned over just enough to see that he had received the divorce papers. She smiled on the inside because as promised her lawyer had gotten straight to work. “And you have the nerve to smile about it!”

“What do you want me to say Lamont?”

“I don’t want you to say anything but I think it’s best if you forget about this foolishness. Go back to being the wife I chose not this.” He gestured toward her appearance. Whatever the hell that was supposed to mean.

“Sorry that’s not going to happen.” She turned to leave the kitchen because of him she was going to be late.

“Where the hell are you going?”

“To mind my business and staying far away from yours.”

“We are not done discussing this.”

“By all means continue, just without me.”

“I don’t know what has gotten into you. Or shall I say WHO?”

“Excuse you.” Danni whirled around almost throwing herself off balance.

“You heard me loud and clear. Are you fucking somebody else? Is that what this is about? I can forgive you if so.”

“You can forgive me? YOU CAN FORGIVE ME?!” Danni felt her temper trying to reach beyond its secret compartment. “You can take your forgiveness and shove it up your ass. How about that? I am going to be late to a prior engagement. Goodnight.”

“We aren’t done.”

“Yes we are.”

Danni couldn’t believe the nerve of him to try to turn his deceit around on her. If she did cheat, there was no way in hell he could blame her. Considering what she has seen him do with her own eyes and hearing him admit to it on top of that. Just the fact that it could be so many more women just blew her mind. What if he contracted something and gave it to her? Sexually transmitted diseases are real and deadly. He is always adamant about using protection when they are intimate but from the video with snow white, he didn’t attempt to wrap up. Danni shuttered at the thought.