Page 55 of Why We Break

“Well… I—I—I haven’t heard from you either,” he replies, and I fight the urge to roll my eyes at that response.

“You’re right. My mistake for thinking you’d be an adult and reach out. But nope, it was on me as a sixteen-year-old kid who caught you cheating on my mom to fix our relationship. But anyway, that ship sailed a long time ago, and that’s not why I’m here.”

The office is silent at my outburst, the secretary’s eyes wide as she takes in what I just said.

“This isn’t a good time, Will. Plus, it’s not appropriate to have this conversation at work,” he replies, rubbing his eyes as if I’m the problem.

“Hmm, that’s rich considering what I just saw walking out of there. I’d say I feel bad for Sandy, but it’s not like she didn’t know how you were when y’all ended up together,” I reply, causing my dad to growl in frustration.

“Okay, fine. Go ahead and tell me whatever it is you came to tell me. Ask whatever you need to ask. But do it quickly; I have work to do,” he says, his voice tight with frustration.

“Yeah, I’d hate to inconvenience you,” I say sarcastically before reaching into my pocket, pulling out the custody paperwork, and holding it up for him to see. “Can you just explain to me what the hell this is?”

He rolls his eyes at the paper in my hand and shakes his head. “Un-fucking-believable. Did your mother make you come? This is between her and I and it’s really none of your godda?—”

“Stop right there,” I growl, not wanting to hear any more of the bullshit he’s about to spew. “You really don’t get it, do you? This isn’t about Mom at all. It’s about my siblings who are terrified you’re gonna come in and cause them to lose everything they love about their life. Plus, it’s not like Mom ever did anything but try to love you. You’re the one who destroyed our family. She’s just spent the last six years trying to pick up the pieces.”

He rolls his eyes again, and I fight the urge to reach out and shake him for being so damn selfish. “Son, you’re still too young to understand, but—” he starts, but I can’t listen to him anymore.

“Enough. We’re not doing this. And don’t call me your son. You gave up the right to call me that a long time ago. Just tell me what you want, so we can put this shit behind us.”

“Ugh, fine. Do you know how much it costs to pay child support for all four of them? I’m sick of spending all of that money each month. I talked to my lawyer about it, and he said if I could get custody I wouldn’t have to pay it anymore,” he whines, sounding like a petulant child.

“That’s what we figured. Damn, we’d hate for you to have to contribute to cover costs for your kids. And if you get custody…you do realize that you’d still have to pay for shit right? Extracurriculars, sports, food, clothes…” I say, reminding myself to keep my temper under control.

“Says who? Your mother has spoiled you and your siblings. All the sports and extra shit isn’t necessary. Plus, they’re all old enough to get a job,” he answers, shrugging his shoulders.

I wait for him to say something else or let on that he’s joking, but nothing ever comes, and I feel my control start to fade.

“Oh my God, you’re fucking serious…” I mutter, staring at him as hate feels my chest. “First of all, you make triple what mom does, and you’re still complaining about having to send a couple hundred dollars to take care of the kids you wanted. I bet the suit you’re wearing costs three times what you’re being asked to pay each month. And I know you probably don’t know this since you haven’t seen her in over six years, but Kit’s only fourteen. She’s not getting a fucking job.”

He just glares at me as I talk before finally saying, “Fine, but she can still help Sandy with the baby. Having a live-in babysitter would definitely be nice.”

I freeze at his words before laughing coldly at him. “For fucks sake, do you even hear yourself? You are by far the most selfish person I’ve ever met. No, you don’t get to move my sister away from her friends and her school because you decided to have another kid. You can’t even take care of the ones you have, but whatever. You certainly don’t get to move them all in together and act like one big happy family.”

My father glares at me, and I feel the heat of hatred on my skin. Too fucking bad. I’m over this shit. “Yeah?” he questions, continuing to glare at me. “And what exactly are you going to do about it? We both know my lawyer’s better than that cheap ass billboard attorney your mother hired.”

I feel a new wave of hatred running hot through my veins when I say, “If you don’t drop it, I’m gonna go to Sandy and tell her about the woman who just left out of here. And I’d be willing to bet she’s not the only woman you’ve been sneaking around with because you just can’t seem to help yourself. And when she divorces you and takes this new baby with her, you’ll have another eighteen years of paying child support you don’t want to pay. Drop all this shit, and you only have a little over three years.”

I hate resorting to his tactic of making this about money, but since that seems to be the only thing motivating this whole shit show, I decide to go with it, ignoring the pang of guilt I feel at what I’m doing. And clearly it works because he narrows his eyes at me in frustration before throwing his hands in the air.

After a moment, he blows out an annoyed breath and growls, “Fine, I’ll call my lawyer off. But the deal’s off if you go to Sandy. Are we clear?”

“Fine,” I agree, smiling as he tears the legal paperwork that’s caused my mom so much heartache over the last few days down the middle.

“Now get the hell out of my office,” he says, looking angry and annoyed at me as if I’m the one that started all of this bullshit.

“Fucking gladly,” I tell him, turning and striding out of the door without looking back.

CHAPTER 41

HANNAH

“So not only did I have my observation the Monday that we came back from Thanksgiving break, but right as Principal Hale was finishing my observation, one of my juniors asked if I thought Jay Gatsby’s parties would have gone viral on TikTok. Then when I said maybe, he added that Gatsby needed to get over Daisy because he could have had and I quote ‘mad bitches with all his money’,” Caroline says, using her fingers for air quotes while Margaret and I giggle. “I mean, I swear this kid has barely said anything all year and then decides to say that!”

“Hey, at least your observations are done though! I always dread them until they’re over. And let’s be honest, there’s an eighty percent chance Principal Hale didn’t even realize what was going on,” I admit with a laugh, taking another sip of my margarita.

“Yeah, you’re right. Honestly, I just feel like we’re crawling toward Christmas break. That freak snowstorm we had this weekend combined with the excitement about the state championship has completely ruined any momentum going into these next few weeks,” Caroline says, and we clink our glasses in agreement.

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