Update 21
"Holy crap. I bet he didn't like that."
"He was pissed, but he knew there was no arguing his way out of this one. He made a feeble attempt, but I just told him to save his bullshit for someone who might actually believe it. I told him that I knew she was there last night and I have video proof that she was there, naked, in our bed, and no amount of his bullshit was going to change a damn thing."
"Did he believe you about the video?"
"I don't think he wanted to, and when he rolled his eyes disbelievingly at that, I opened my phone and pressed play. He kind of sunk for a moment, and neither of us said anything for a bit. Then he just shrugged like it didn't even matter. It pissed me off, but I wasn't going to let him know that. He just looked at me like I was an inconvenience and then said, "Well, what do you want?" I couldn't believe it.
"What a jerk."
As much as Mum was shocked at his lack of caring, I wasn't really surprised at all. He seemed to have no trouble writing us off at all. It just showed the incredible selfishness of the man. Even the situation with Peter wasn't about him being upset at what had happened to Peter. It was all about him. The lawyer had failed him, Mum had failed him, and the legal system had failed him. The whole situation had embarrassed him.
"So I told him. I said I want a divorce, and I want it on my terms. He, of course, thought that meant I would take everything and he would be left with nothing. I just laughed when he said that. I told him not to judge me by his own shitty standards. I told him he could keep the house and the furniture; he could keep his superannuation and his car. He was so shocked he didn't know what to say. I said, all I want is half of what's left of the money we have, which isn't that much after the solicitors got their share from Peter's case, my car, and my personal belongings out of the house. He immediately got suspicious that I had money stashed away somewhere or that I had won the lotto. I just laughed and told him the only thing I want in agreement to this is that he makes absolutely no attempt at any future income or property that I would come into. He suddenly seemed to realise what that meant, and I saw his eyes light up. I told him that if he even thought about going for any of that, then I would be releasing all the information I had on him to his bosses and fellow workmates, not to mention everyone in town that he was even remotely involved with. Realistically, they probably already know, but you know what he's like about saving face."
"I could see him trying to work his way around it still, so I showed him the letter from the solicitor. Basically, it says that he can choose not to agree to these terms, but if he doesn't, then everything will be sold and divided equally, including his superannuation, the house, his car, the furniture, and absolutely everything. In the meantime, he would have to find somewhere else to live once the house was sold. He would have to take the time and expense to buy a new car; he would have to buy new furniture; he would have to get a house loan to buy another house or begin renting with no rental history in what is currently the worst housing and rental market the country has seen. After all of that, he would be entitled to absolutely none of Granny's property or the proceeds from it because the will clearly stated that he wasn't to see a penny of it and that it would be left to you and Peter if it even looked like he would try and contest it. On top of that, he would also have to pay for solicitors to pursue all of this, and my solicitor was more than happy to tie it up in court for as long as possible pro bono to me to make sure that if he did manage to get his hands on it, he would be so heavily in debt that it would be worth absolutely nothing to him."
I was beyond impressed. It was so brutal that he would have to be a complete fool to even consider it. Even if he did it out of spite, it would cripple him far more than it would ever affect Mum. It was the first time I had heard anything about it coming to me, but I wasn't interested in having it. It wasn't mine, and I would absolutely hand it straight back to Mum if that was what happened.
"Holy crap."
"Yep, I really like this solicitor. We talked a lot about how to handle this, and this was the result. He got all confused and said he didn't understand something. Then he got this look like maybe he had caught me in some kind of trap. He couldn't resist telling me how he thought he was so much cleverer than me and that he knew that what I was saying was bullshit. I just smiled and asked him why he thought that. He said that I had only just found out about Tracy, and I couldn't possibly have organised all of this in time. I must have found out yesterday and hastily typed up some bullshit pretend lawyer's letter to get him to agree to be ripped off."
"What the fuck? Delusional much?"
"Exactly. I said, You're absolutely right. I only found out about the mutton dressed as lamb yesterday. I was already on my way here, in fact, when I found out. I was coming to deliver the terms of the divorce that I wanted. Finding that old tart in what was our bed was just the cherry on top. He couldn't believe that I wanted a divorce before that, as though he had no idea just how fucking miserable everyone, including himself, was. Delusional doesn't even begin to explain him."
We sat at the table finishing our coffee, and I had the strangest sensation. It was like a massive weight had been lifted off me, and I was happy to see Mum sitting there smiling to herself, but at the same time, I just wanted to get the fuck out of this house. It wasn't home anymore, and it felt like we were unwelcome visitors in a stranger's house. I finished my coffee and rinsed my cup in the sink. I was eager now to get finished and get out of here. I did not want to be around if and when he came home from work.
I opened some of the boxes and looked at Mum.
"What do you want me to get?"
She looked at me with a concerned look.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, well, no, not really. I just want to get out of here now. It's giving me the heebie-jeebies being here now."
She looked around the place and nodded slowly.
"Yeah, it just doesn't feel the same anymore, does it?"
She swilled down the last of her coffee and rinsed her cup as well, then set about taking the things she really wanted. There was actually less than I had expected when we were done.
"What are we going to do about Peter's things?"
I could see her battling with her conscience as she tried to decide what to do. In the end, she wrote a note and left it on the table.
"You can decide what to do with Peter's belongings. Either leave it in his room for when he gets out, or you can put it in storage for him. Anything of mine left behind you can do whatever you want with. It's only still here because I don't want it. Goodbye."
We did one last tour of the house, looking in every room and cupboard for anything that we might want to keep. I moved the remaining small items of mine to Peter's room. Maybe he could make use of them later. I knew in my heart that anything of mine that Dad found would be going in the rubbish as a way of getting back at me for what happened that morning. At least this way Peter might get some use out of it.
I covered everything in the trailer with the tarp and roped it down, and then we did one last tour of the house. It was to make sure we hadn't left anything behind that we really wanted, but it felt more like we were saying goodbye to what had been our home.
"He was pissed, but he knew there was no arguing his way out of this one. He made a feeble attempt, but I just told him to save his bullshit for someone who might actually believe it. I told him that I knew she was there last night and I have video proof that she was there, naked, in our bed, and no amount of his bullshit was going to change a damn thing."
"Did he believe you about the video?"
"I don't think he wanted to, and when he rolled his eyes disbelievingly at that, I opened my phone and pressed play. He kind of sunk for a moment, and neither of us said anything for a bit. Then he just shrugged like it didn't even matter. It pissed me off, but I wasn't going to let him know that. He just looked at me like I was an inconvenience and then said, "Well, what do you want?" I couldn't believe it.
"What a jerk."
As much as Mum was shocked at his lack of caring, I wasn't really surprised at all. He seemed to have no trouble writing us off at all. It just showed the incredible selfishness of the man. Even the situation with Peter wasn't about him being upset at what had happened to Peter. It was all about him. The lawyer had failed him, Mum had failed him, and the legal system had failed him. The whole situation had embarrassed him.
"So I told him. I said I want a divorce, and I want it on my terms. He, of course, thought that meant I would take everything and he would be left with nothing. I just laughed when he said that. I told him not to judge me by his own shitty standards. I told him he could keep the house and the furniture; he could keep his superannuation and his car. He was so shocked he didn't know what to say. I said, all I want is half of what's left of the money we have, which isn't that much after the solicitors got their share from Peter's case, my car, and my personal belongings out of the house. He immediately got suspicious that I had money stashed away somewhere or that I had won the lotto. I just laughed and told him the only thing I want in agreement to this is that he makes absolutely no attempt at any future income or property that I would come into. He suddenly seemed to realise what that meant, and I saw his eyes light up. I told him that if he even thought about going for any of that, then I would be releasing all the information I had on him to his bosses and fellow workmates, not to mention everyone in town that he was even remotely involved with. Realistically, they probably already know, but you know what he's like about saving face."
"I could see him trying to work his way around it still, so I showed him the letter from the solicitor. Basically, it says that he can choose not to agree to these terms, but if he doesn't, then everything will be sold and divided equally, including his superannuation, the house, his car, the furniture, and absolutely everything. In the meantime, he would have to find somewhere else to live once the house was sold. He would have to take the time and expense to buy a new car; he would have to buy new furniture; he would have to get a house loan to buy another house or begin renting with no rental history in what is currently the worst housing and rental market the country has seen. After all of that, he would be entitled to absolutely none of Granny's property or the proceeds from it because the will clearly stated that he wasn't to see a penny of it and that it would be left to you and Peter if it even looked like he would try and contest it. On top of that, he would also have to pay for solicitors to pursue all of this, and my solicitor was more than happy to tie it up in court for as long as possible pro bono to me to make sure that if he did manage to get his hands on it, he would be so heavily in debt that it would be worth absolutely nothing to him."
I was beyond impressed. It was so brutal that he would have to be a complete fool to even consider it. Even if he did it out of spite, it would cripple him far more than it would ever affect Mum. It was the first time I had heard anything about it coming to me, but I wasn't interested in having it. It wasn't mine, and I would absolutely hand it straight back to Mum if that was what happened.
"Holy crap."
"Yep, I really like this solicitor. We talked a lot about how to handle this, and this was the result. He got all confused and said he didn't understand something. Then he got this look like maybe he had caught me in some kind of trap. He couldn't resist telling me how he thought he was so much cleverer than me and that he knew that what I was saying was bullshit. I just smiled and asked him why he thought that. He said that I had only just found out about Tracy, and I couldn't possibly have organised all of this in time. I must have found out yesterday and hastily typed up some bullshit pretend lawyer's letter to get him to agree to be ripped off."
"What the fuck? Delusional much?"
"Exactly. I said, You're absolutely right. I only found out about the mutton dressed as lamb yesterday. I was already on my way here, in fact, when I found out. I was coming to deliver the terms of the divorce that I wanted. Finding that old tart in what was our bed was just the cherry on top. He couldn't believe that I wanted a divorce before that, as though he had no idea just how fucking miserable everyone, including himself, was. Delusional doesn't even begin to explain him."
We sat at the table finishing our coffee, and I had the strangest sensation. It was like a massive weight had been lifted off me, and I was happy to see Mum sitting there smiling to herself, but at the same time, I just wanted to get the fuck out of this house. It wasn't home anymore, and it felt like we were unwelcome visitors in a stranger's house. I finished my coffee and rinsed my cup in the sink. I was eager now to get finished and get out of here. I did not want to be around if and when he came home from work.
I opened some of the boxes and looked at Mum.
"What do you want me to get?"
She looked at me with a concerned look.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, well, no, not really. I just want to get out of here now. It's giving me the heebie-jeebies being here now."
She looked around the place and nodded slowly.
"Yeah, it just doesn't feel the same anymore, does it?"
She swilled down the last of her coffee and rinsed her cup as well, then set about taking the things she really wanted. There was actually less than I had expected when we were done.
"What are we going to do about Peter's things?"
I could see her battling with her conscience as she tried to decide what to do. In the end, she wrote a note and left it on the table.
"You can decide what to do with Peter's belongings. Either leave it in his room for when he gets out, or you can put it in storage for him. Anything of mine left behind you can do whatever you want with. It's only still here because I don't want it. Goodbye."
We did one last tour of the house, looking in every room and cupboard for anything that we might want to keep. I moved the remaining small items of mine to Peter's room. Maybe he could make use of them later. I knew in my heart that anything of mine that Dad found would be going in the rubbish as a way of getting back at me for what happened that morning. At least this way Peter might get some use out of it.
I covered everything in the trailer with the tarp and roped it down, and then we did one last tour of the house. It was to make sure we hadn't left anything behind that we really wanted, but it felt more like we were saying goodbye to what had been our home.
