House on Fire by Liebhart D

Author:Liebhart, D.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: 9:25 Books
Published: 2023-03-30T00:00:00+00:00

DECEMBER 31ST 2:40 PM

Shayne and I arrived at the lawyer’s office in Old Calabasas twenty minutes before the appointment for the arbitration and parked directly in front of the door. The suite occupied the first floor of a steel grey building with white shutters and a front porch with carved posts. It was meant to look like a restored old house, something singular saved from destruction like the glorious oak the parking lot was shaped around. But it felt like a movie set, as if you’d walk through the door and find it was only a facade.

We hadn’t really spoken during the drive. The space between us awkward, filled with its own density. There was no strategy to discuss. We had nothing to offer or trade. We were going to take our place at the table, poker players with a whole lot of nothing in our hands. I didn’t want to spend any more time in the office than I had to so I sat in the car gripping the steering wheel like a child pretending to drive. Shayne broke the silence.

“Can you give up parental rights?” he asked.

The statement was so unexpected, it was like he was speaking a foreign language that I was just learning, and I had to take my time deciphering it. Did he mean me? Or was it a generic “you” as in, Is it possible for people in general to give up parental rights? Or was he referring to himself?

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“You know like if you were giving him up for adoption.”

“Me? You mean if I were giving him up for adoption? Why would I do that?” Anger pulsed in my chest. “Do you think this is my fault?”

“I don’t think this thing is going to go our way,” he said, not answering my questions and seeming too nonchalant for what he was suggesting. He stared out the front window as if mesmerized by something in the distance.

“Are you fucking high?” I asked.

“Of course not.”

“Then, why are you suggesting that I put Jax up for adoption? You think not having me as a parent will fix him?”

He turned to me, his brow furrowed in denial, his head shaking. He put his hands up like he was surrendering. “No, no, man, that’s not what I meant. I was just thinking how businesses go bankrupt and they get off the hook for their debts. What if you weren’t his legal mom on paper? You’re his real mom. No one cares what it says on a paper, right? But maybe that’s a loophole we could use so you don’t have to pay.” He stopped as if waiting to see what I thought, then added, “Only if we lose.”

I stared at him, wondering if he could possibly be serious. His logic wasn’t exactly wrong; big corporations ran away from their responsibilities all the time. But it was naïve. A half-baked, last-ditch effort to avoid the inevitable. I couldn’t help wondering if there was something more underlying it all, an unspoken motive, an assignment of blame.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.