Chapter 4
Hurricane
Bryant
My first week went smooth and by the end, Adam started teaching me some modification techniques. I had learned how to mount a lift kit in a Chevrolet Tahoe in one day. The rest of the stuff was standard for me, given I’d been around cars my entire life. I knew how to diagnose a vehicle based on the way it was acting and sounds it made. Changing brake pads was second nature to me.
Adam informed me he’d rather have me focused on the modification process in the shop, rather than the mechanic portion. He did need another hand in that area but had no idea I would catch on as quick as I did. The job was something I enjoyed doing, but the nagging in the back of my mind wouldn’t quit. I missed my old job.
Two weeks ago, I was let go due to drug paraphernalia being in my police cruiser. It didn’t belong to me. A standardized drug test was issued to ensure I wasn’t using. It came back negative, as I knew it would. Still, the police chief didn’t want to risk anything so he let gave me the choice of resigning. Someone had called and left an anonymous tip that they suspected drugs in my vehicle. Chief was determined to take the course of action he deemed would allow privacy for my sake. I couldn’t blame him. I knew someone was behind it, but didn’t know who it was.
He didn’t believe it belonged to me but word had gotten around so quick that he didn’t have a choice but to let me walk away. He could have launched an investigation but risked the department in doing so. The community didn’t want a police officer who harbored drugs to enforce the law on them, even if the news held a press conference with the Chief of Police and he informed the town I was innocent, they would wonder what he was covering up. They would never believe I was framed. That's usually the way things went. They preferred those with a squeaky-clean record. No false accusations. No worries. No misdemeanors. No hint of a troubled past.
Now, I sat at home and ran through files my old co-worker lent me. They were from all the stops I had made and anyone I had arrested in the last month. Even if I suspected anyone, it would be hard to prove. I had always taken the cruiser home for the night so anyone could have broken in and planted the drugs. Something told me it wasn’t as simple as that. There’d been no evidence of a break in, so I assumed it had to have been someone who had been in the vehicle because I had let them in. It didn’t make sense though, because no one had a vendetta against me that I could think of. I’d pulled plenty of people over, but most had been more than civil.
I blinked a few times as I thumbed through file after file, my eyes tiring from the strain of reading every word. I flicked the files onto my coffee table and lifted my feet on top of it. I had the weekend to find what I was looking for because my ex-partner would have to sneak the files back in before Chief returned on Monday morning. That made things difficult because I wasn’t sure what I was looking for.
My phone lit up and a text tone rang through the speakers. I picked it up and unlocked the screen.
You never answered whether or not you were going to put me back on your life insurance.
“Moron.” I whispered to myself.
I typed back: I did answer you, you weren’t listening.
Within seconds I got another one from her.
If you don’t put me back on there, I will contact my lawyer.
Fury swept me up, and I tossed my phone back on the coffee table, the back of the case clinking against the wood. I had to give it to her, she was persistent. However, persistence wasn’t a pretty look for her. There wasn’t anything she could do. She and her lawyer leveled me in the courtroom, taking everything from me. Not only did she take full custody of our daughter, I also had to pay her six hundred dollars in child support each month. Not to mention, she got half of everything in my retirement. I could tell her I no longer had a life insurance policy with my previous job to make this entire argument go away, but I was buying my time. I had to establish myself with Adam before she knew about my new job. I was behind on several things, including her bills that I was instructed to pay according to the court order. The entire thing was bullshit. But, the judge reasoned since I had been doing it during the separation, I should have no problem continuing to do so. I don't know what I had been thinking. The part of me that still wanted my family together thought it made sense to pay some of her bills. I thought if I did that she would change her mind, and I didn't want her to be another single-mother statistic. Yet, here she was, being the money-hungry, bitchy, ex-wife statistic instead.
It wasn’t like Mac had ever been hurting for money, I had supported her the entire time she was striving to get an education. A year after our separation, she was making more than most single mothers around. Still, the judge showed me no mercy. I could only imagine what a new child support agreement would mean once she found out about my new job. Adam had offered to pay me some under the table so my exact amount wouldn’t be factored into a new agreement, but I refused. While I knew Mac didn’t deserve a penny more from me, I couldn’t help but feel I’d be holding it from Delia as well.
My phone went off again and I grunted with annoyance.
If I need to, I can come by your work on Monday so we can discuss this.
There was no discussion to be had, but for the sake of demolishing her drama before it started, I offered another deal.
I’m not sure there’s anything to talk about but instead of bringing your amazing personality to my work, how about we meet somewhere after my shift and talk then?
Fine.
The impending arrangement I made weighed heavily on me. Being in her presence did nothing for me emotionally, but physically? It always sent my senses into overdrive and my heart rate increased with an unease of anticipation. Mac wasn’t an easy person to be around and looking back, she never had been. My body revolted the sight of her now, the force of my anger rising with each minute I had to be around her.
I wasn't sure why I kept giving in to her demands to appease her. Her texts always went answered, though I was starting to take longer to answer her. I thought by answering her every whim I'd get a break during the court session. It didn't matter. The judge didn't care how cooperative I had been during our separation. Even her ridiculous text asking about parent teachers conferences for Delia though she could look it up online had been answered. She made herself look helpless when she texted me about things of the sort. Mac had to be center of attention and she enjoyed the feeling of controlling me.
During our separation, she badgered me with continuous phone calls and texts asking for a divorce. I had told her more than once to hire herself another lawyer and get a court date. I couldn’t go forward with the divorce on my own, that would have been a dick head move to leave her without someone to defend her case. I kicked myself in the ass throughout the entire case hearing, knowing I would have been better off divorcing her while she was without an attorney. It wasn’t my fault her original representation dropped her like a bad habit. I could only speculate she had lied to him about her case.
The only defense I had? She moved in with my best friend, after our temporary agreement had stated in black and white there was to be no overnight stays with anyone of the opposite sex. It wasn’t something my lawyer had added out of spite, it was to protect Delia. The notion was thrown out of court before my lawyer could even finish his sentence. It was deemed irrelevant, though the new and permanent agreement stated I had to notify Mac thirty days in advance before moving a woman into my home.
I closed my eyes, leaning back against the couch cushions and ran my hands down my face. Images of Amberly flashed behind my eyelids. Random times she would come to mind from the moment I met her the first time. On Monday she had looked different. Amazing. Her body had toned up and her hair had grown out longer. She was even sporting a natural tan. The anxiety written across her face when she turned to look at me was heartbreaking. I had no idea what had made her feel the way she did towards me.
Adam had dropped not-so-subtle hints that I should ask her out before I’d even met her. He didn’t know that I already knew her. Now that my divorce was final, I was open to the possibility of hanging out with someone. I was looking for a no-strings-attached type of girl and Amberly wasn’t it.
Amberly was the kind of woman you made plans with, the one you made babies with and actually looked forward to be a father to her child. She wasn’t a woman that you fucked on occasion when you were feeling lonely. Her devotion to her husband meant she deserved the same kind of treatment. Being around her was a bad thing. It would destroy any plans I had made the day Mac left me.
Adam had given me her phone number, no doubt without her permission and I could almost bet he didn’t know about her husband. But, why would she keep that a secret? I assumed it had something to do with the fact he never treated her as though she were his companion. When they came to the games, his arms never wrapped her in a hug and his eyes never stared her down with any kind of admiration. I had tried to engage her in a few conversations when her husband wasn’t around, but she never took the bait, feeding me merely a few words at a time and no sentence that I could build into a conversation.
At the time, I wasn’t looking for anything more than friendship. I simply felt a pull to her, a curiosity that I couldn’t kill no matter what I did. Even though the warning signs went off over and over, I didn't want to avoid whatever it was that had placed her in my life to begin with. When she disappeared, there were no words to describe how I had felt. It was similar to that saying, 'it's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.' My version was, I'd rather have her around and married than to never be able to see her again. Not quite the same flow or romantic gesture as the original, but it was the simple way I could explain how I felt about having her in my life. I could handle keeping my distance. I could handle not having a full-blown conversation with her. I could even handle never being able to see her for more than three hours of a week. What I couldn't handle was feeling as though she'd never existed. Now she was back. What kind of coincidence was it that, not only was she back, but that she worked where I had gotten hired? She was back in my life, stirring up my emotions like a hurricane.