An Infamous Day

The day arrived. We met in the attorney's room at noon to finalize the deal we'd made at the mediator's. No, I wasn't going to take another full day off of work to do this. I was taking a half day. Our courtroom appointment was for 1:30. The attorneys could meet me at noon. Or 11:30. Or 12:30. Enough of this taking off work to go to court and whatnot. We had got Bill to drop the diminished capacity plea and accept the agreement he had signed. I was fed up and not in any mood to give any more to the cause. My attorney had us initial the bottom of each of the twenty-five pages and wherever something had been crossed out or changed. There was no quibbling or arguing. As we signed our full names on the final page, Bill leaned back in his chair and said, "I don't think I'm going to be able to pick up the dog within fourteen days of getting the $81,000." Typical Bill. His signature means nothing. His word means nothing. He can back out of his promises at whim. Even before the ink dries. The quintessential Bill. At that point my attorney---and I won't quote him here----almost leaped across the table at Bill basically telling him that if he didn't pick up the dog within the allotted time, he would be dragged back into court and sued for whatever, including legal costs. Bill then said, "Well, I wouldn't want to make you unhappy, then. I'll pick up the dog within fourteen days." Quintessential Bill. The judge congratulated us on having settled our divorce outside of court. He signed the agreement. It took so little time that I barely remember it. My attorney made Bill swear under oath that he was on no medications that would preclude him understanding in full what he had signed. I had to claim the same. It was March 29. This has always been a significant date for me. My father's mother died on March 29 when he was ten years old. Fifty years to the day after that, my mother died. Somewhere in between, Bill was born. And now it was going to be the day my divorce became final. I have begun to dread the date. I neglected to wish him a happy birthday.