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The Downhill Slope

Today, it was the Dryer causing issues. Marnie cursed quietly to herself while fixing it.

In the other room was testimony that today was going to be yet another horrible day for her.

Stalling, Marnie went to the mailbox. Only to have her worst fears realized. Divorce papers. Trying to keep herself together, Marnie ran to her room and locked the door.

After a good cry under the covers, Marnie went to the bathroom and washed her face. Then, dismally, she went to take care of the rest of the house. She would deal with the papers later.

Then, not twenty minutes later, the anger hit, and Marnie decided to call the lawyers listed on the papers. Where was Bennie? Apparently, legally, they couldn't tell. Well, legally, Marnie argued, she was due some money. The kids needed food, bills were coming due, and there was nothing left. The lawyers made a bunch of excuses, then said they'd check with their client.

Furious, Marnie signed the papers and sent them back, then called the only lawyer she knew - the one that had bungled her son's case. What could she do? Shouldn't she be able to sue for child support? Delossantos, also, made some excuses, but at least he promised to check to see what could be done.

Across town, at the park....

The club meeting had started, and Jaz looked around sadly. There was no sign of Colin. They had really hoped to be able to talk some sense into Colin today.. but it didn't seem like that was going to happen. Spying Elsa on the swings, Jaz headed that way, wondering if she knew anything.

"So.. Elsa.." Jaz started, hesitantly. "I think Colin and I had a small misunderstanding. Do you know if he's coming today?"

"No, I have no idea, Jaz." Elsa replied cheerily, "Why, what's going on? Are you okay?"

Jaz sighed, and looked away for a moment, trying to hide their distress. "I guess so. I just don't understand why Colin is so mad at me. I can't say why, but .. yeah. I have a bad feeling he won't be coming to club meetings anymore. And I think it's my fault. When I didn't do anything."

Suddenly very concerned for her usually cheerful friend, Elsa moved in closer, and pointed out a quiet area of the park, and said, very seriously, "I know you can't say why, and I won't ask, but if you need to talk, I'm here..."

Jaz nodded, miserably, and they walked over to the side of the playground. For a while, they chatted about Jaz's horrible week, and Elsa tried to give Jaz some hope... but hope wasn't high on Jaz's list at the moment. Finally, out of things they could actually talk about, Elsa and Jaz watched the clouds for a while. Then, Jaz excused themselves to the bathrooms. Elsa watched Jaz go with some concern, but had no idea what they could do for them. Sighing, Elsa went back to playing, unable to hide her mood swing, and even more unable to explain to her other friends why it had happened.

Elsewhere in the park, the new club members were happily making friends, unaware of the storm cloud hanging over poor Jaz's head.

Coming back from the bathrooms, Jaz looked again for Colin. Then, miserably, Jaz turned and made their escape early, heading home.

Turning onto their home street, Jaz picked up their phone, and tried to dial Gemma's number. Sure, it was a weekend, but surely when Gemma said anytime, that included weekends?

.....

But nothing happened. Checking the phone's power indicator, Jaz couldn't understand what was going on. Running inside to Marnie, Jaz complained that their phone wasn't working.

"I'm sorry, Jaz. I couldn't pay the phone bills." Marnie said with a dismissive shrug. "We'll just have to do without for a while, ok?"

Confused, Jaz watched Marnie walk away.

Fine. They'd just get some dinner, then.

....

But the only thing in the fridge was empty plates. Searching the cupboards, Jaz found some stale cereal, and made do. They were in no mood to track Marnie down again.

Miserable, and still hungry, Jaz headed downstairs and crawled into bed.

OS: Day Twenty-Five < | Challenge Home Page | > OS: Day Twenty-Seven