"Okay, you caught me. So sue me for looking outside of our shitty marriage for something more. So sue me for jumping on a chance to own something that's going to make me a lot of money."
"You're pathetic."
"And you're a living nightmare. What the fuck do you want, Sam?"
I studied him long and hard. Sugar had quit sobbing from the other side of the door. Sugar wasn't happy.
I said, "I want the house and I want the kids."
He laughed. "No way. There is absolutely no fucking way I'm letting you around our kids unsupervised."
"I don't think you understand the quagmire of shit you find yourself in, Danny. If I say the word, the hammer comes down on your disgusting enterprise. You're looking at an ungodly amount of fines, not to mention automatic disbarment. Oh, yeah, and the world will see you as the slimeball you've turned out to be. And I can't wait to see what your mother thinks about all of this, too." I paused, shaking my head. "No one stops to consider their mothers. It's a pity."
"You forget, Sam. If you say anything, I will expose you for the monster you really are."
I slipped off the desk and approached him slowly. I squatted down between his legs, resting my elbows on his knees. He was in a very, very vulnerable position.
"Expose me for what, Danny? Having a rare skin condition?"
"I've got a vial of your blood, Sam. It's in a safe deposit box. If anything happens to me, my attorney has been notified to have that blood immediately tested. Your secret will be out. You will be exposed to the light for the freak that you are."
"Perhaps you should have already tested the blood, Danny."
"What does that mean?"
I stood again and removed a folded piece of paper from my back pocket. Earlier, I had stopped at a Kinko's and printed out Mel's emailed test results.
"What's this?"
"My blood test results."
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
"I had my blood tested, Danny. A variety of tests, too. The technician was asked to look for any irregularities. Look at the results yourself."
He quickly read through the report. Attorneys, if anything, were great scanners.
"As you can see," I said. "It says no irregularities found. My blood is normal, Danny. Normal. In every way. So have it tested. Do what you want with it. But I'm taking back my house, and I'm taking back my kids, and you damn well better believe that no sleazeball porn king who brings whores home to my kids will ever - ever - be welcomed into my house again. You have until eight p.m. tonight to move your ass out, and anything you leave behind will be trashed. Do you understand?"
He looked at the paper some more, then looked directly across at me, since I was once again squatting down at eye level. "So you won't report me?" he said.
"You disgust me."
And I leveled a punch directly into his groin. As he rolled out of the chair, gasping, I walked out of his office and didn't even look down at his bleeding whore.
Chapter Fifty-eight
It was 8:30 p.m. and Danny had just left.
I gave him the extra thirty minutes out of the goodness of my cold heart, since, after all, he had been working so hard to get his shit moved out. The kids were off eating pizza with Mary Lou, my sister. They would come home to find their daddy gone. Traumatic for them, I know, but they would adjust. They had to adjust.
Before Danny drove off, with his Cadillac Escalade filled with all his crap, he informed me that he had talked Sugar out of pressing charges, mostly by offering her a massive raise. I reminded Danny that I wanted a massive raise, too, in the form of a butt-load of alimony and child support.
As he sat behind the wheel, looking utterly exhausted, he leveled a glare at me that was supposed to make me curl into the fetal position. I didn't curl.
"This isn't over, Sam."
"I certainly hope not," I said. "I'm having too much fun."
He shook his head and drove off. I watched him make a left turn and disappear out of sight, and I realized I didn't even care where he ended up.
Smell you later, asshole.
I flipped the phone open and called my sister. "Bring them home," I said.
* * *
We were all eating hot fudge sundaes that were oozing with whipped cream and chocolate syrup. And, yes, some of us were only pretending to eat. So far, my kids had not caught on that I could not eat like them. Mostly, they just saw mommy not eating at all, and when I did, the spitting-it-back-into-a-cup routine worked wonders.
Even with all the spitting, some of the ice cream and fudge made it down my esophagus, which caused some seriously uncomfortable cramps. After a few minutes of pretending to eat my ice cream, I finally ditched the bowl and emptied the cup-o'-spit down the garbage disposal. Mostly, no one noticed me, and I just sat there, glowing, watching my kids eat ice cream and laugh with their aunt...in the comfort of my own home with Danny not watching over me.
The kids had asked repeatedly where their dad was, and I told them that it was mommy's turn to have the house, and that daddy was going to stay with a friend of his for a while, and that everything was going to be okay.
Tammy later came over and held my hand for nearly the entire night. She told me again and again how sorry she was for yelling at me on the phone. I told her again and again that it didn't matter and that I loved her with all my heart.
When we were done with the ice cream, I grabbed a clean comforter from the hall closet and we all snuggled together on the living room couch and watched an illegal copy of Toy Story 3 that Mary Lou had purchased at a liquor store. I told her I couldn't condone such illicit behavior and vowed to purchase a real copy when the movie hit the DVD stands. Mary Joe stuck her tongue out at me.
About halfway through the movie, Anthony giggled. I knew that giggle.
"Oh, no you didn't!" I cried out.
He laughed harder and lifted up the comforter. "Dutch oven!" he shouted and a wave of stink hit us.
We all piled out of the living room, laughing and tumbling over ourselves.
And later, after the room had cleared and after we had finished the movie, while Mary Lou was twisting Tammy's long hair into a braid and while Anthony was showering, I found myself crying tears of joy.
Chapter Fifty-nine
It was the next night and I was getting ready for my big date. I didn't often get nervous these days, but I was nervous as hell now. And while I got ready, my AOL account twirped. It was Fang.
See you in one hour, Moon Dance?
You bet.
Are you nervous? he asked.
More than you know.
Don't worry. I don't bite.