“Now,” Scott said. “I can imagine how you feel about our decision to move.”
“I doubt that.”
He looked pained. “OK. My point is that none of us want this to get ugly. It wouldn’t be good for Cassie.”
“That your big priority, Scott? What’s good for my daughter? Because I would think that living near her father would be good for her. Staying in school with her friends would be good for her.” He leaned into the butcher-block table. “Not moving halfway across the fucking country would be good for her.”
“Cassie will miss you,” Trish said. “And she’ll miss her friends. But you’re welcome to come visit anytime. You can have the same privileges you do now. In fact, if you wanted to move-”
“If I wanted to move? To Arizona?” He shook his head. “I’m supposed to uproot my life because Scottie got a job offer?”
“I’m just saying, we’re still going to be flexible, like always.”
“Flexible? You’re moving to another state.” He fought to keep his voice under control. “You have no right to do this, to take my daughter-”
“Actually, Mr. Kern,” the lawyer spoke for the first time, “they do.” He paused, picked up a sheaf of stapled papers, and leaned forward to set them in front of Alex. “In case you haven’t read the divorce settlement recently, there are clear provisions-”
“For what? For taking a daughter from her father?”
“Clear provisions,” the man said as if he hadn’t been interrupted, “regarding the rights and privileges accorded all parties. Now, it’s my understanding that you have missed a number of child support payments?” He glanced at Trish, who nodded. “Which, I’m afraid, severely limits your rights in this matter. Especially as Mr. and Mrs. Stevens have been providing a stable household for…” He paused, looked at his notes.
“Cassie,” Alex said. “Her name is Cassie.”
“For Cassie. Under circumstances like these, I’m afraid that the situation is quite clear.” He steepled his fingers.
“What Douglas means,” Scott said, “is that while we all want what’s best for her, there are some rules…”
Alex leaned over, grabbed Scott by the hair, and slammed his face into the table.
“That need to be acknowledged. Now, we all know that you love…”
He stood, took the chair by the back, and swung it in a home run arc that caught all three of them in their respective heads.
“Cassie, but the truth is, we are the ones that are raising her day-to-day…”
He snatched the cleaver off the cutting board and spun it in a glimmering arc. Both Scott and the lawyer’s heads tumbled in the air.
“And this opportunity means the best for her. Patricia and I can pay for private schools, soccer camp, her clothes, and her books. We can guarantee she has a family dinner every night. Basically”-Scott shrugged apologetically-“we can do the things you can’t.”
“Motherfucker.” Alex whispered. “You motherfucker.”
Trish sighed. “I knew this wasn’t a good idea.”
“Mr. Kern,” the lawyer said. “Please. Be civil. No matter how you feel, the fact is that you have not maintained your end of the agreement.”
Alex laid his hands on the table, palm down, to keep from clenching them into fists. “Is that right? Well, this should make things simpler.” He reached into his pocket, pulled out the cashier’s check, unfolded it, and set it in front of Trish.
She looked at it, and then at him. “What is this?”
“That, Patricia, is a check. For more than I owe, I believe.” He grinned. “Which I guess changes the circumstances some, eh?”
“May I see that?” Douglas held out a hand, and Trish passed him the check. He looked at it carefully.
“It’s real, you dick.” The table had fallen silent, and Alex smiled, feeling suddenly strong again. “That’s the money I owe. So I’m not in violation of the agreement. So you can’t take her from me.”
The three of them looked back and forth like they were trying to communicate telepathically. He had them worried, he could see it.
Then Trish said, “Oh, Alex.” She sighed.
“What?”
Scott shook his head.
“What?”
“I’m afraid,” Douglas said, “it doesn’t work that way.”
“Why not?”
“May I ask where you got this money?”
“No.”
“All right. In that case, it’s a reasonable assumption that your previous failure to pay has not been inability, as you’ve claimed. You’ve simply been holding out.”
“No, that’s not true.” Shit, shit, shit. He spoke quickly. “It’s a bonus. From my job.”
“A twelve-thousand-dollar bonus for a bartender?”
“Well, not all of it. Some of it is money I borrowed.”
“From a bank?”
“From friends.”
“I see. That, I’m afraid, only further proves that you are not capable of supporting, um, Cassie, on your own.”
“No, that’s-” It was all getting turned around. “Look, what does it matter where it came from? It covers what I owe.”
“It matters a great deal, Mr. Kern. But even setting that aside for a moment, I’m afraid that child support isn’t like paying off a football bet. You can’t just come in with the money when you have it. The purpose is to provide a solid household for the child.”
“Listen, you slick-”
“Alex.” Trish spoke softly. “I should have known you’d try something like this. You couldn’t just let things be.” She turned to him, hit him with steady brown eyes. “You always did things the hard way. Always denied what was right in front of you. Ignored the facts that didn’t fit AlexVision.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Please. Can’t you accept reality? Can’t we do this without ruining everything?”
He stared at her, his mouth open. “What are you talking about?”
“I know you think you’re doing this for Cassie. But you’re not. You’re doing it for yourself. And I’m begging you. Please don’t. Please?”
Alex looked around the table. “Do you honestly think I’m going to just sit back and let you walk out with my daughter?”
Trish lowered her head to one hand, closed her eyes. It was a gesture he remembered well, a pose she held while she was gearing herself up for something. The recognition brought a surprising stab of sentiment.
Finally, she raised her head, looked at the lawyer, and nodded.
Douglas said, “Mr. Kern, I’m sorry to have to do this, but in light of your pattern of missed payments, and at the request of my clients, I’m going to recommend to the judge that this settlement be reexamined, and specifically that visitation rights be limited, if not removed altogether.”
“What?” He felt his stomach fall away.
“In addition to which, while this case is being considered, I would ask that you make no attempt to see the child without seventy-two hours’ notice, and only in the presence of one of the parents.”
“I’m one of the parents.”
Douglas sighed. “I’m sorry, Mr. Kern. I know this must hurt. Please understand that all of this is for the good of the child.”
“Her name is Cassie.”
There was a long silence, and then Scott said, “It’s time for you to leave, Alex.”
He stared at each of them. The lawyer, bland and lethal, a fountain pen in his hand. Scott marking his territory. Trish seemed like she was about to cry, but she wouldn’t meet his eyes. His hands shook, and the pulse in his head seemed loud. “What are you saying? Are you-”
“I’m sorry, Alex,” Trish said to the cabinets. “I tried to warn you.”
HE WAS DRUNK. That much he knew. That much made sense.
It had felt good to key the lawyer’s Lexus on his way out, leaving a wicked scratch across the driver’s side. But that hadn’t erased the memory of what had happened, and the idea of staring at the walls of his shithole apartment was intolerable. So after driving back to the city, he’d gone to the shithole bar at the end of the block instead. It was one of those places no one knew the name of, a too-bright space decorated with neon signs for cheap beer. He’d taken a stool and asked the bartender for three shots of Wild Turkey, done them in quick succession, and gestured at them again.