Deadbeat Dads (9 page)

“Hello.” Definitely a man’s voice.

“Mr. Strickland? Carr Strickland?”

“Yes.”

“Mr. Strickland, this is Erica Morris, you don’t know me, but I have something important to discuss with you about your son, Randy.”

“Randy? Is he okay? What’s wrong?”

“He’s fine. Listen, I’d rather talk about this in person, can we meet for a cup of coffee or something? Say about seven thirty?”

“Can you tell me what this is about? Did Randy do something wrong? Is he in trouble?”

“It’s complicated. But, no. He’s not in trouble.” Not yet, anyway.

“Okay, where do you want to meet me?”

“There’s a coffee shop on Broadview Road.”

“The Coffee Cup, yeah I know it. Okay, I’ll see you there at
seven thirty.”

“Oh, and Mr. Strickland, please don’t say anything to Randy about this.”

“You really have my curiosity piqued, Ms Morris.”

“Good. I’ll see you later.” I hung up without waiting for his reply. I just hoped he didn’t say anything to Randy. I had a plan for him.

I called Cheryl, the girl next door to see if she could sit with Josh and Katie. I hated to ask Becky again. Fortunately, Cheryl was available. I wouldn’t be gone long and the kids liked her.

Chapter Nine

I arrived at the Coffee Cup a few minutes early. Mr. Strickland said he’d be wearing a gray sport coat, blue shirt and jeans. I spotted him immediately, sitting in a corner booth, and my heart dropped to my feet. Cesar Romero from the plane stood and smiled at me. My breath caught in my throat. He was even sexier than I remembered. I walked slowly to the table, trying to get my bearings. What were the chances?

“So we meet again.” He held his hand out to me.

“Yes.” What a stupid thing to say. I reached my hand out to him, and my stomach turned a somersault when he took it. I stared at him, mesmerized by his eyes, his straight nose, his moustache, and his mouth. Especially his lips, their slight curve that formed a grin and begged to be kissed. Never had I been so attracted, so captivated by a man.  We stood there for a minute, me staring at him like a fool and him with that silly grin and holding my hand.

When he finally let it go, I felt a strange sense of loss, emptiness. What the heck was wrong with me? He was just a man, albeit the sexiest man I’d ever met.

“Please sit,” he said.

Good idea, because I wasn’
t sure how much longer my legs would hold me up. The quivering in my stomach and quick beat of my heart set off alarms. I had to get hold of myself. Get back to the down to earth. Back to the sensible girl I knew myself to be. But just for a moment all sense of reason flew out the window. I wanted this man like I’d never wanted a man before, including Johnny. I sat. Fortunately, the waitress approached.

“Can I get you something to drink? Coffee, tea, soda?”

“Yes, coffee, please.”

“Anything else?”

“No. Thank you.”

“So,” he said when the waitress left, “what’s this about my son?”

“Mr. Strickland. I…I’m not sure how to say this, but he tried to blackmail me.”

He jerked forward in his seat. “He what?”

“Maybe I should start from the beginning.”

“Start any where you want, but it’d better be good. That’s quite an accusation.”

I explained what happened with Johnny. How I left him there and Randy’s phone call. “No one was around. I knew he was dead. I was scared. If I called the police, they’d take me into custody while they investigated. I couldn’t prove I didn’t push him. I knew how it would look. I have two children. What would happen to them? They were going through enough with the divorce. I knew how his death would affect them. That was bad enough, but if I went to jail…”

He put his hand to chin and leaned on the table. “And Randy saw what happened.”

“Apparently.”

“I remember that story. I work in the same building. In fact, I often took those steps.
Look, Randy’s a good boy. He’s never been in trouble before. His mother left almost five years ago, and he’s still having a hard time of it. Just the opposite of your story. She doesn’t call, doesn’t visit. Randy doesn’t understand. He’s changed. His grades dropped. He just doesn’t seem to care anymore. The only interest he’s shown is in buying a motor bike. I told him he’d have to earn the money. I’m at my wits end to know what to do.”

I s
ympathized with him. Kids from broken homes suffered the most.  “I’m supposed to meet Randy in an alley at eight o’clock with the money.”

“I’m glad you called me instead of the police.” He reached across the table and took my hand.

“I didn’t have much choice, did I?”

“No, I guess you didn’
t. I’ll take care of it. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.”

“I thought we could confront him together. Maybe you can stay hidden while I talk to him.” Somehow, I had to get Randy to admit I didn’t touch Johnny. I
t was important Carr believe me. I’d probably never see him again after tonight. But how did I know he wouldn’t go to the police?

“Why?”

“I don’t think you believe me. That I didn’t push Johnny.”

He shook his head. “You have to admit the story sounds suspicious.”

“Exactly. I need you to know the truth.”

“Fair enough.”

I looked at my watch. Almost eight o’clock. I stood. “Time to go.”

A few minutes later, I walked around the corner of the alley. Carr waited at the entrance. I hoped Randy wouldn’t see him. At least not until I got him to admit I didn’t push Johnny.

“Randy?” The short, thin boy hardly looked fourteen. More like twelve. He wasn’t much taller than Josh.

“Yeah, you bring the money?” He shifted from one foot to the other, ran his finger around his shirt collar
, and looked everywhere but at me.

“Yes, I have it.” I clutched my purse tight against me. He was nervous as a jack rabbit
, and I was afraid he’d grab it and bolt.

“So hand it over.” The last words came out in little more than a croak.

“First I want you to tell me the truth about what you saw.”

“Why?”

“For my own satisfaction.”

“I saw that guy push you and laugh. You screamed his name and when he turned around, he tripped. You ran down after him, but even I could tell he was dead.”

“Thank you. Where were you? I didn’t see anyone.”

“I was under the steps. I had to drop something off for my dad. When I heard you arguing, I hid. After you left, I checked on the guy, just to make sure, ya know. He was dead al
l right.”

“How did you find me?”

“I read about it in the newspaper. I was curious ’cause you inherited so much money. I went to the service and followed you.”

I almost laughed. “I’m not the one who inherited all the money. What gave you the idea to blackmail me? You seem like a nice kid.”

He shrugged. “I told my buddy about it. I wanted to buy this motor bike, but my dad said I had to earn the money. I’ve been cutting grass and stuff, but I can’t get a real job. How am I supposed to earn that much money? So my buddy suggested it. Look, lady, just give me the money and go, okay?”

Carr stepped out of the darkness.

“Dad!” The surprise and fear in his voice made me wonder if I had done the right thing calling his father.

“Randy.”

“You called my father? How did you…where did you….Shit.” He sunk down to the ground and cradled his head in his hands.

“Watch your language, son. There’s a lady present. Come on, get up.”

Randy looked up at me. “Why’d you call my father?”

“I couldn’t let you blackmail me. For one thing, it’s against the law.”

“So whyn’t you call the cops?”

“That’s kind of obvious, isn’t it? What if you didn’t tell them the truth? What if you told them I pushed my husband?”

“Come on, son, stand up. You ought to thank her for not calling the cops. What made you think you could blackmail her?”

He shrugged. “I just want
ed the money for the bike. Rex said she was an easy mark.”

“I think it’s going to be a long time before you buy that bike. And I think you need to stay away from Rex.”  Carr put his arm around his son. “You and I have some serious talking to do. You broke the law. I can’t let you get away with that.”

I hoped he wouldn’t be too hard on the boy. It wasn’t easy for kids when parents divorced, especially when one parent left and didn’t come back. I guess there were deadbeat mothers too. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure that one out. I’d just as soon lose my life as to leave my kids. It was hard enough to understand a father who deserted his kids, but a mother. That was something I couldn’t comprehend.

Carr came toward me. “Thanks, for not calling the police. I know, I know, you didn’t have a choice
. Look, can I call you sometime? Maybe have coffee or a drink.” He raised his hand to stop my refusal. “To talk about the kids. As friends. Because I could really use one who understands right about now.”

How could I refuse an invitation like that?
He needed a friend. Only another single parent could understand what he was going through. I, at least, had my divorced friends. “Okay,” I said. “As friends.” Besides, it would be interesting listening to the other side of the coin, so to speak. I’d never met a man whose wife ran out on him and her children.

Chapter Ten

Becky joined us at our next meeting. All in all, she was doing a heck of a lot better than I expected. Never dreamed she’d recover so quickly. Honestly thought she’d fall apart. The kids were coming around pretty well, too. Even Sammy. “And Larry quit trying to be the man of the family and responsible for everything,” Becky said.

Not sure how Becky pulled that off, but she was a new woman once she started working.
Apparently her new attitude got through to the kids. Both boys joined soccer teams and Alice took gymnastics. Fred had agreed to a generous settlement instead of alimony and child support. Becky put the house on the market, and it sold almost overnight. She bought another two streets away from me, which allowed the kids to stay in the same school system.

As far as her replacing
Fred so quickly, I just hoped she wasn’t stepping out of the frying pan into the fire. The kids didn’t know she was seeing someone. Probably a good idea. If things didn’t work out she wouldn’t have to disrupt them again. Especially if the kids liked him and from the way she talked, I had a feeling they would. Matt was a widower with two kids of his own.

Two n
ew women joined the group. Emma Anderson, whose husband just up and left. She hadn’t heard from him since. And Stella  Caldwell. Stella’s husband left her for an older woman. Quite a switch from the others.

“At first Lou took the kids every other weekend, but that only lasted a couple of months,” Stella said. “Crystal, his other woman, didn’t want to be bothered with kids, they cramped her style. Her kid was grown and on his own. Lou said Crystal didn’t want to raise someone else’s kids, especially four of them.”

My heart went out to Stella. Still in
divorce negotiations, she was hoping for some ideas. It didn’t take long before suggestions took over the meeting. That’s what it was all about. I loved this group. I wish there had been one while I was going through my divorce. Sure wouldn’t have let Johnny off the hook so easily. Stella took notes, but could barely keep up.

Stella’s
story was a bit different than ours. “Lou didn’t come out and ask for a divorce, in fact, he didn’t have any intentions on leaving. At least, not at this point, he was content with the way things were. Having his cake and eating it, too. So to speak.” The icy tone in Stella’s voice sent a chill through the room. “He claimed he loved me, but couldn’t give up the other woman. He actually said there was room in his life for both of us.” Stella looked at each of us. No one spoke, what could we say? I’m sorry? Useless words.

“I
found out by accident that he was seeing someone. An email, no less. The idiot sent it to me instead of to Crystal. Came as quite a shock, I can tell you.” Stella paced in front of the group while she spoke.  “My Darling, he calls her. Can you beat that? Who calls anyone my darling?  The days pass slowly until we can be together again. I long to hold you in my arms, to feel your body pressed against mine, to be joined as one with you. My body aches for you. Come home soon, my love. I yearn for you.” Stella stopped pacing, looked at us and broke up laughing.

“Who the hell talks that way? Sure as hell not Lou. At least never to me.
My shrink thinks he’s looking for a mother figure or something. Crystal’s almost twenty years older than him.” Stella sighed. “Lou always did act like a baby, especially when he was sick. Always jealous of my attention to the kids, too. Oh don’t get me wrong, he paid plenty of attention to them. Got on the floor and played with them every day. He just didn’t like when they took my attention away from him.”