Custody Battle, part three

Leta had to hold onto the wall for a few moments to maintain her balance. This was not how she anticipated spending her morning. The petition from the county court of common pleas she had just been handed was something she never could have suspected. Her ex-husband Ralph Chetister was petitioning for custody of their two children!

She nearly dropped the declaration and summons onto the floor. After a few moments, her shock and fear transformed to anger.

How dare Ralph challenge her? She and Al were good parents, raising the children in a happy, healthy home. Ralph barely saw them, and now he wanted to take them away from her? Maybe it was his parents putting him up to this. His mother Ida always disliked her, and she was furious when Leta filed for divorce. Ralph’s father used to question everything she said or did, warning his son that a child of divorced parents, which she was, would bring shame to their family.

Leta’s surprise and fear turned to rage, and she stomped around the house, cursing her ex-husband for attacking her happiness. He was alone, unemployed and miserable, sponging off his parents, even while his own brother was an educated lawyer. She was in love and living comfortably. She had everything; he had nothing. Now, if putting her through years of pain and suffering when they were married was not enough, he was taking action to upset her current life.

This was not acceptable. She was not the downtrodden wife who begged him for enough money to buy food to feed their children or cried throughout their divorce proceedings. She was Leta Mohr, a beloved wife and mother. She was Leta Scott, a fighter. And she would defend herself against this attack with all her soul.

Early that evening, after ushering the children outside and out of hearing, she showed her husband Albert the petition. With an ache in her heart and her body tense with uncertainty, she watched him. While reading the brief document, he stiffened physically and his face narrowed and tightened. When he looked up at her, her lip was quivering, and tears clouded her eyes. He reached across the kitchen table and grabbed her hand.

“We’ll fight this, love,” he said. “Our children belong with us.”

Three days later, after much conversation and deliberation and before contacting an attorney, Albert drove Leta to her former in-law’s Lewis and Ida’s house. Ralph was waiting on the front porch. She asked him to be alone, and he agreed. Al left her at the curb and then continued down the street. There was a drinking establishment in the neighborhood, and he would wait there for her.

For several minutes, Leta and Ralph just stood silently several feet from each other on the front porch, both standing as firm and tall as they could. Ralph was looking directly at her, and Leta met his stare with equal force. Their world became so still and concentrated that Leta could hear her own heartbeat. It started quietly, but then grew in volume and strength, increasing her determination and certainty.

She then cocked her head.

“Well?” she said.

The word cut through the silence and the distance that separated them. Ralph barely reacted, but she felt his resolve shrink, just enough to encourage her to continue.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” she continued, and then moved in a circular fashion a few steps closer.

Ralph’s eyes moved with her, and her new location required him to turn. As he started to speak, he took two steps back.

“They’re my children,” he said quietly.

“They’re my children, too,” she replied quickly.

“The law says that children belong with their father. I’m their father,” he continued. “When you divorced me, you surprised me, and so I let you get your own way, as usual. Now, I have my bearings, and enough is enough. They’re my children.”

“You said that.”

He was calm—rehearsed—but the air between them settled like leaked gas in an enclosed room. One little spark would result in an explosion.

“You’re a selfish woman, Leta,” he continued. “You broke up our family. You ran around on me with this gangster and God knows who else. You broke up my family. You shamed me in front of my community. And now you’re bringing up my children in what is a very unhealthy environment. They need stability and a safe home. They’re never going to get that with you.”

“Ralph,” Leta said with clenched teeth, “if I were a man, I’d sock you right in the face.”

“Of course, you would,” he snarled.

Feeling he had the upper hand, he started prowling around the porch, taunting her with his newly understood authority.

“It’s not all about what you want, Leta. This is about doing what’s best for Dale and Vivian.”

“I know what’s best for my children,” Leta declared. “I’m not going to let you take them away from me. We have a happy, good life. What do you have to offer them?”

“A better one,” he answered and stopped to where he could look right into her eyes.

“You don’t even have a job. Am I right?”

He glared at her.

“How are you going to support them?” she continued. “Albert has a good job. We have a house. You live with your parents.”

“I can support them,” he answered confidently.

“I’m going to fight you,” she said, raising herself to meet his gaze.

“You are a bootlegger,” he snarled. “A criminal. Once the court knows this, you’ll lose.”

Then he smiled in a devilish way. Combined with the statement, delivered with supreme arrogance, he silenced her. She felt herself shrink like a drying fruit. Suddenly, she was tired and thirsty, and she wanted nothing better than to be rid of her former husband once and for all.

“Your gangster just pulled up,” Ralph said, more calmly and confidently than he had ever spoken.

Without another word Leta turned, descended the four steps and walked to her car. The tears started, but she maintained a steady pace. Albert had gotten out of the car to open the door for her as he always did. If he could not perceive from how she carried herself that she was in distress, there was no misunderstanding from her expression when he could see her face.

He saw her and then looked at the porch, where Ralph was watching like a king from his balcony. Once Leta was seated, he closed the door and walked around the car, but before he got in he took one last look at Ralph, then smiled and waved. Later, he would tell his wife that the man simply looked too smug, and he could not leave the situation in that way.

To be continued.