She’d tried getting Nelson to spend more time with Dontae, but the man seemed completely ignorant to the fact that his own son was hurting. Well today was pay up day, as far as Carmella was concerned. Nelson wanted a divorce and after three months of waiting for him to come to his senses, she had come to hers.
Carmella hired a lawyer to represent her interests. Her neighbor, Cynthia had given her Deidre Green’s information, stating that the woman was a pit bull. Carmella was on her way to meet with Deidre, Nelson and Clark Johnson, Nelson’s attorney. Carmella was prepared to sign the divorce papers, but she wasn’t about to go away empty handed. Not after working to put Nelson through law school and then helping him with every step of his career. Nelson might not know that he had her to thank for the advances he’d made, but thank God, since speaking with Deidre, she knew her worth—and he soon would, too.
As they sat around the table, Carmella nodded to the man who used to be both their attorney, “Clark.”
“How’ve you been, Carmella?” he asked, his discomfort evident.
“I’ve been better. But you live on and you move on, right?” Carmella had learned how to motivate herself in the days since she got her praise back. Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and she was living proof of that.
Clark smiled. “You’ve got the right attitude about all of this.”
Nelson was sitting quietly, looking down at his fingers as she and Clark exchanged pleasantries. But Deidre piped up and said, “We just hope your client brought the right attitude to this meeting. And by right attitude, I mean, he needs to be in the spirit of giving.”
“I’ve already given. I’ve paid the bills the last three months. But it’s time for Carmella to get a job. I can’t keep supporting her when I’m not even in the house anymore.”
Deidre quickly responded, “You’re not home anymore because your girlfriend wanted you to move in with her. But that’s not my client’s problem.”
Carmella had been terrified about life after Nelson. She’d been even more terrified about facing him in a head to head meeting to discuss the terms of their divorce. But after meeting with Deidre and going over her worth after years of cooking, cleaning, child rearing and generally making life happen for all the other members of her household, she became more confident in her abilities. God is good, because she never knew she was worth so much. Nelson leaving didn’t scare her quite so much anymore. Carmella thought, Just as the bible says, if the unbelieving, cheating, stanking, no good husband doesn’t want to stay, then let him go on, and let him live a miserable life with his gold digger… well, maybe the bible doesn’t say all of that, but it does say to let the unbeliever go. But on the day that she was finalizing a divorce she never wanted in the first place, Carmella felt entitled to a little adlibbing.
Nelson glared at Deidre and then turned to Carmella. “Why’d you have to hire an attorney? Why didn’t you just sign the papers and get on with your life?”
Again Deidre placed a hand on Carmella’s shoulder. “Because my client is no fool, Mr. Marshall. The agreement you sent to Mrs. Marshall basically entitled her to six months of living expenses and no more. But you seem to forget that Mrs. Marshall put you through law school and cooked, cleaned, bore your children and washed your dirty clothes for twenty-five years. So, I’d say that’s worth much more than six month’s of living expenses, wouldn’t you?”
“Mr. Marshall isn’t a wealthy man. But he is more than willing to bump that up to a year’s worth of living expenses. That ought to be enough to assist Carmella with this transition. Wouldn’t you agree?” Clark asked.
Deidre opened the folder in front of her. She took her time looking over the information, then once the suspense had mounted, she said, “Based on the research we’ve done on your client’s financials,” she paused, looking like a woman who enjoyed her job, “with your position as a judge and your consulting business, you’ve been consistently earning about three hundred thousand a year. We’re going to be asking for half of that for a period of no less than five years.”
“What!” Nelson exploded. He turned to Clark and said, “Do something.”
“Fifty percent does seem a bit over the top, don’t you think, Mrs. Green?”
“Not at all, Mr. Johnson,” Deidre answered without giving it a second thought. “Carmella isn’t the one shacking up with a teenager, she’s just the woman left behind… the one who put her life on hold in order to make all of your client’s dreams come true. He wants to be set free, fine. But he has to pay.”
“But I can’t afford it,” Nelson glanced in Carmella’s direction, his eyes imploring her to understand his plight.
She looked at the man who’d sent her flying over the cuckoo’s nest, the same man who had broken her children’s hearts, all because he was a selfish and ungrateful human being and she felt no pity for him. “Tell your girlfriend to get an after school job, or learn to live with less.”
“Why should I live with less? You’re the one who hasn’t worked for twenty years.”
No he didn’t. She didn’t even recognize Nelson anymore. The man she had been married to used to thank her for the way she contributed to their family. The monster seated across from her was all dressed up like Nelson Marshall, but he had to be an imposter. “I no longer feel as if I know you, and since I prefer not to talk to strangers, I’m going to ask that you address my attorney for the rest of this meeting.”
“So, now I can’t even talk to you? Some wife you turned out to be.”
Carmella didn’t respond to him. She turned back to Deidre and asked, “Can you please continue?”
“Certainly.” Deidre glanced at her paperwork. Checked off a few items and then said, “We want to have the college fund for Dontae Marshall transferred into either Carmella’s or Dontae’s name immediately.”
“Oh, so now I can’t be trusted to manage my son’s college fund?”
“You’re a busy man, Mr. Marshall. We wouldn’t want that college fund to fall into the hands of your mistress because you failed to keep an eye on it,” Deidre wasn’t about to let up on reminding Nelson that he was the one committing adultery in their marriage. As far as she was concerned he could sit back, shut up and start writing checks, because he was going to pay for the way he discarded his wife.
Nelson and Clark leaned close to each other and said a few words, then Clark said, “Since Dontae is seventeen and will be going off to Harvard next year anyway, Mr. Marshall has no problem with turning the college fund over to his son.”
Whether Dontae would be going to Harvard or not was still an open question, but she wasn’t going to tell Nelson that Dontae was on the fence about which school to attend the following year. That was the reason she wanted the money out of Nelson’s care. She felt that he was in no position to dictate to her son what he should and shouldn’t do. And Carmella knew that Nelson would try to use the money to threaten Dontae. If it was up to Nelson, Dontae wouldn’t get a dime if he decided not to attend Harvard. She’d sleep better knowing that Dontae had the freedom to follow his own path.
“One more thing,” Deidre said as she held up her hand.
“There’s more? What do I owe you now…my kidney? I mean we are splitting everything of mine 50/50 right?” Nelson was beginning to sweat. He loosened his necktie as he shook his head in disgust.
Carmella almost laughed in his face. With what he owed her, she could buy a kidney if she ever needed one. She was so thankful that Cynthia introduced her to Deidre Green. The woman knew her stuff and had opened Carmella’s eyes.
“No, Mr. Marshall, we’re going to let you keep your kidney. But we will take half of the two million that is currently invested in your retirement account. We will also be asking for half of your pension when you retire,” Deidre told him with a sweet smile on her face.
“That is out of the question,” Nelson barked. He looked at Carmella and asked, “How am I supposed to live? You’re just being vindictive… I never expected this from you.”
Clearly, Nelson hadn’t expected Carmella to do anything but sign the divorce papers and let him go about his merry way. But her mom hadn’t raised no fool. She knew how much was in every account they had, and after twenty-five years of service, if she was being set out to pasture, she was going in style. “I’m really not interested in hearing you whine. You want out, and I’m tired of begging you to stay. But you best believe that I am well aware of my worth. And I expect to get everything that’s coming to me.”
“Greed is a sin, Carmella. You know that, don’t you?” Nelson glared at her.
“Starving to death should be a sin. Thank God I won’t have to do that.”
“Why don’t you just get a job?” Nelson asked angrily.
“I had one, but it was stolen away from me,” she shot back. Carmella was getting tired of this back and forth with Nelson. She felt her temperature rising and knew that anything else she had to say to him would not be Christ like, so she did her best to ignore him for the duration of the meeting.
Deidre passed the divorce paperwork to Nelson’s lawyer. “I would advise your client to sign these papers. It’s the best deal he’s going to get.”
“What about child support?” Nelson asked grumpily. “After I’ve given you all this money, are you going to then turn around and take me to court for child support?”
“Read through the documents. The child support is included in the fifty percent of wages we are asking for. Spousal support is slotted at thirty percent, and child support at twenty percent. Both will last five years, which is enough time to get your son through college.”
“We will review it and get back with you,” Clark said as he stood, tapping Nelson on the shoulder. Nelson stood and began walking out of the office with his lawyer.
Before they could walk out the door, Deidre added, “If I don’t hear from you in a week’s time, we will prepare for court. And at that time, we will ask the judge for fifty percent spousal support and twenty percent child support.”
The door slammed behind them. Carmella hadn’t realized that she’d been holding her breath, but as she released it, the tension in her neck and stomach began to ease. “Thank you,” she said to Deidre. “I wouldn’t have been able to get through this meeting without you.”
“It was my pleasure.”
“It looked that way. But I don’t understand how you can enjoy meetings like this. Have you always handled divorces at your law firm?”
Deidre shook her head. “I didn’t attend law school to become a divorce attorney. But fifteen years ago my father left my mother penniless, so he could marry his twenty-year-old receptionist. Mom killed herself right after my father announced his engagement.” Deidre shrugged. “Ever since then I’ve been helping women get what they deserve out of these men who didn’t deserve them in the first place.”
9
In her kitchen with her praise music going and chocolate muffins in the oven, Carmella told Rose about her awful meeting with Nelson. She gave her a blow-by-blow account of how her husband had behaved.
“I’m proud of how you held up and fought back. Nelson is getting what he deserves. Only a slime ball would leave his wife the week after she had to bury her brother,” Rose told her friend.
Carmella took her muffins out of the oven and began spreading her homemade icing on them. “It wasn’t easy, girl. I was terrified to face him at first, but the more he opened his mouth, the more I enjoyed everything that was happening to him.”
“Good.”
Carmella brought a few of the muffins over to the counter island and sat down with her friend. “But you know, it did hurt when he questioned my Christianity. After what Nelson did to me, I had to struggle so hard to regain my faith and my praise, and then he had the nerve to say that I’m too greedy to be a Christian.”
“I know you’re not letting that adulterer make you feel bad about anything.” Rose took one of the chocolate muffins off the plate and bit into it. The gooey goodness of it melted in her mouth and caused a lingering, “mmmm” to ooze out of her mouth.
“I know, I know… You’re right. It’s just that after the battle I just fought trying to restore my faith, I don’t want to hear anyone deny my right to call myself a blood-bought Christian.”
“I hear you.” Rose swallowed the rest of her muffin and then pointed at the plate. “Can I have another?”
“I thought you were watching your waistline?”
“Let my husband watch it. I’d rather eat another one of these delicious muffins.” With that said, Rose grabbed another muffin and swallowed it in ten seconds flat. Her head went back and forth as she licked her fingers and she sang, “Mmm, mm, m.”
Laughing, Carmella said, “I’m glad you enjoyed it. Maybe I should set up a table outside and sell the rest of these muffins to my neighbors as they drive by.”
“Now why would you want to do a thing like that, when we could just sit here and finish them off ourselves?” Rose jokingly responded.
“To earn money, of course.”
“You don’t need to earn money, remember? Nelson is going to be paying your bills.”
“That’s only going to last for the next five years. I’m forty-seven years old, so I don’t want to be facing the job market in my fifties. I need to figure something out now.”
“Didn’t you major in liberal arts in college?” Rose asked.
Carmella nodded. “I was supposed to go to graduate school so I’d be able to teach or something. But Nelson needed me to work so he could finish law school, so I never even got my teaching certificate. Now I’m at a loss as to what kind of career I can realistically expect to have.”
“Well we both know that you love to cook. So, maybe you should be selling your muffins. Oh and don’t forget about your cakes—and the pudding you make is to die for, too.” Rose snapped her fingers, swung around in her seat and then said, “Matter-of-fact, I have the perfect venue for your first event.”
“I’m all ears.” Carmella leaned forward, anxious to hear what Rose had to say.
“I already have a caterer for the party Steven is throwing for clients in a few weeks, but we still need the sweet stuff. So, I am officially hiring you as my pastry chef.”
Carmella was excited, but apprehensive. “Can you do that? I mean, would Steven be okay with you hiring me? I’m not a professional or anything.” Rose’s husband was an investment banker. His clientele would be top notch.