Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 78340 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78340 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
“It’s infuriating that she hasn’t called you back. Have I mentioned I never liked her?”
“Yeah, you have.”
“What’s the name of the law firm her parents hired? I want to look it up.” I repeated the name I’d seen on the legal document, and he said, “Okay, one sec. I’m just waiting for the work computer to boot up. We mostly just use it for inventory.”
“Are you sure we should be doing this right now? I don’t want you to get fired for goofing off on the job.”
“The boutique has had zero customers all day. Plus, let them fire me. They’d be doing me a favor by freeing me from retail hell.” I could hear him typing, and after a moment he said, “Shit, this law firm looks super fancy. They’re like, the kind of lawyers who’d charge five hundred bucks an hour just to chat with you.”
“Is that how much lawyers charge?”
“I’d say two to four hundred dollars an hour is typical, but—oh fuck.”
“What’s wrong?”
Hal sighed before saying, “I googled the cost of fighting a custody battle in court. It says a contested case may cost tens of thousands of dollars. Forty grand and up isn’t unheard of.”
“Shit, I wonder if Lucky knows that. He said he was going to hire a lawyer, and I’m planning to pay him back, but that’s probably going to be a lot of money up front for him.”
“We can all chip in. I have about two grand in savings, and you have some money left from your tuition refund, don’t you?”
“Yeah, a little.”
“So, that’s a start. We can do a Go Fund Me, and I can also sell my shit,” Hal said. “I have some designer clothes from my modeling days, they’ve got to be worth something. And my car’s a piece of junk, but I could probably get a thousand bucks for it.”
I whispered, “You’re such an amazing friend, Hal. Thank you. I won’t let you sell your car though, because you need it. You take three freeways to get to school.”
“Well, either way that fucking dentist doesn’t stand a chance, not if we all pool our resources. Have you talked to Lark and Dylan yet? You know they’ll want to help, too. They’d never let their nephew get taken away by some homophobic asshole.”
“I haven’t yet, but I will.”
He swore under his breath before saying, “My boss just pulled up out front, so I’d better get off the phone. I’ll call you when I get home, and in the meantime please don’t worry yourself sick. Everything’s going to be fine, I promise!”
After we said goodbye and ended the call, I curled up again and watched the baby while he slept. “There’s no way I’m letting anyone take you away from me,” I whispered.
A few minutes later, I got a text from Kathy, which said: I’m so sorry about my parents. I never told them about the baby, but they found out when they ran into a friend of mine who I’d kept in touch with since high school.
Please fight them for custody, Logan. I wanted you to have the baby, not them, because they’re terrible people. They’re cruel and racist and homophobic, and I didn’t want Owen to grow up with that shit.
I replied: I’m definitely fighting them, no worries there. I’m not doing it alone, either. I have wonderful people on Owen’s and my side, and we’re going to make sure he stays with me.
She didn’t reply, so after a pause, I wrote: Owen’s doing great, by the way. He’s walking and talking and is a very happy toddler. If you ever want to come see him, we’re living in San Francisco now with a wonderful group of people, including my brother.
A minute ticked by, and I started to think she wasn’t going to respond. But then she wrote: I’m glad he’s doing okay. I knew you’d take good care of him, and it’s great that you’re not living at home anymore. I can’t come see him, though. To me, this is the same as if I gave him up for adoption. It had to be a clean break, for the baby’s sake as much as mine.
I replied: I understand.
After another pause, she wrote: Sorry I didn’t answer your other texts about his medical care and stuff. I was ashamed to admit I hadn’t taken him for any shots or checkups. I was just really overwhelmed, all the time, and I didn’t know what to do. Just shows how right I was in thinking he’d be much better off with you.
I told her: It’s okay, I found him a great doctor and got him all caught up with his immunizations. He’s very healthy.
I waited for another text, but none came. That had felt important though, and a lot like closure.
Lark worked part-time at Kel’s pet daycare business, and even though I really didn’t expect him to have any answers, I just really wanted to talk to my brother. So, after the baby woke up from his nap, I asked him, “Want to go visit your Uncle Lark at the doggie place?”