Page 6 of Jake

“In the marriage of Jake Anderson Winslow, ten-twenty Lawrence Park, Zanesville, Ohio,” then it listed his social security number. “Petitioner. What the fuck is a petitioner?”

Carol wrote it down to ask her daddy when she spoke to him again, and continued to read until she got to the bottom where it said the word “respondent.” Getting a headache from trying to figure this out, she decided to get some information from someone who always did what she wanted when she wanted. Picking up the hotel phone, she called her parents. Daddy answered on the first ring.

She told him what she had in her hand and asked him what it meant. Carol was really pissed and might have hung up on him when he started cursing, but she wanted answers. And since she had no one to ask but him, she had to endure his ill temper.

“He’s gone and done it. The boy is going to have to cancel this shit right now. Yes, sir. He’s going to cost me a pretty penny, but he’s going to stop this nonsense today. As for what that says, he’s divorcing you, Carol. He’s gone out and grown some balls after all. And petition is the term for what you have in your hand. A formal document stating that he’s gotten stupider in his years since you brought him home, a hell of a lot more irresponsible too if he thinks I’m going to just let this go.” Carol asked him what respondent meant, even though she had a pretty good idea what it was now. “That would be you, the defendant in this. He’s named you as the party that he’s filed against. Holy damn, this is going to cost us both. Never thought he’d have the balls to do it. You had him so pussy whipped I thought for sure that he’d die an unhappy man. I just knew that you taking off the way you did was going to come back and bite me in the ass. And it has, my wallet too.”

“Daddy, I don’t care what he does to your wallet. He’s divorcing me and you think this affects you somehow? That’s not fair. He can’t do this to me. He’s even moving furniture into my home. I never gave him permission to do that.” Her dad stopped swearing again and she thought she might have finally gotten through to him. “Daddy, you have to help me by talking to him. He can’t do this. It’s not in my plan.”

“Your planning is going to put me in the poor house, Carol. I can’t have you doing this to me again. Do you hear me? Not again. You’ve done nothing, not one thing, since the day you set your sights on him to give him an inch without it costing me a bunch of money. The things I’ve had to do for you…well, it just makes me sick. You cannot imagine the amount of money that went to his father for you to have him. But this? It’ll be nothing compared to what he’s going to demand now. And how have you repaid me? Nothing. Not a damned thing. You have been sucking us dry, that’s what you’ve done. All of us. When this gets back to his parents, there will be hell to pay. And I’m not sure I’m going to help you out with it either.” He let out a long breath and she felt her heart twist up. Jake was turning her daddy against her. “I’m not going to help you, Carol. I’m going to have more going out than I can possibly afford right now.”

Carol put the phone back and sat there on the side of the bed and cried. Her own daddy wasn’t playing by her rules either. He’d been the one person in the world she could count on. And now he was treating her as badly as Jake was. She was going to have to do something soon, because she was going to be out of this hotel in a few hours and she had nowhere to go just yet. She glanced at her notes and decided she needed a new list. And she had to talk to Jake. He needed to get with the program.

Chapter 3

Jake wasn’t sure how to conduct himself in another attorney’s office. He’d been on the other end of the desk when dealing with people for a long time, but this was the first time that he could remember when he wasn’t in charge. He decided that this side wasn’t as nice as he’d thought it would be. When his grandma shifted on her seat, he looked over at her.

“You’ll like Forrest. He’s a good man and a better attorney. Did you know that he delivered the paperwork to Carol himself? Just so he could see her face? I wish I could have been there. I bet she was fit to be tied.” Jake said he’d told him when he spoke to him yesterday. “Good. I guess she made a call to her daddy too. He called me right after to ask me for a meeting. I think that there is something there too, but I told him to speak to my attorney. Carol isn’t right in the head; you’ve figured that out, haven’t you?”

“Yes. She called the house yesterday too. Demanded to speak to me about something. I told Harley to hang up on her if she calls back.” Grandma told him good for him, but he should get his number changed. “I will. I thought her dad would be pissed off, but I had no idea that he’d call you. What do you suppose he wants from you? Oh yeah, then Carol called the furniture store where I bought some of my things. I’m really glad you told me to make sure that everyone knew she wasn’t on my charge cards anymore. I think you might have saved me a great deal of money.”

“From what I’ve been able to find out, I think there was more to you marrying his daughter than was told. And I think perhaps your father knows a little about it as well. I also believe that at one point, he told her you were a good man and that you deserved better. But Carol usually gets her way.” Jake nodded. He was coming to figure that out as well. “I heard you got a few things delivered yesterday.”

“Oh yes. It’s great. I even called to get the rest of the set. The couch is as soft as butter and smells so good. I took a nap on it last night and swear I’ve never slept better. My bedroom set is coming tomorrow. And I’ve decided to hire Harley to come in and cook for me full time. It’s really nice to have someone there when I come home, and a hot meal as well. He’s is wonderful; thank you for telling me about him. I think I’ve turned over a new leaf.”

“It shows.” Jake grinned. “I’ve not seen you this happy in a long time, Jake. I’m so glad that you’re finally doing something for you.”

“I’m not saying that it’s been all roses and wine. I mean, for all the things that I find that make me feel good about myself and doing this, I find out more and more about Carol and her misdeeds. Forrest told me that Carol has had two abortions since we were married. And one of those in the last year. We don’t even reside on the same floor of the house, much less sleep together. It’s been a couple of years now since I’ve touched her. How did she think she was going to get away with this, Grandma?” He didn’t feel as embarrassed as he thought he should talking to her about this. Grandma was his rock. “I guess I’ve been a fool.”

“Not a fool. But a man that has been dealt a shitty hand. This will get better. See if it doesn’t.” He nodded and leaned back in his chair. “Jake, don’t let her talk you into letting her back in your life.”

“No. I won’t. She’s gone as far as I’m concerned. I can’t do her way of living again. I guess I realized how bad it was with her, but not how it was making me feel all the time. I was hurting, and I don’t mind telling you that I think she was making me sick as well. The stress of trying to guess what she was up to was taking its toll on me.” Jake looked at his grandma. “You were right about her all along, it appears. But I did have a learning experience. Not a nice one, but I did learn.”

When the door opened behind him he stood and looked at the man there. Christ, Jake thought, he was huge. But the longer the man stood there just staring at him, Jake began to feel uncomfortable. Well, that wasn’t all of it; he was feeling something odd as well.

“Forrest?” The man turned to look at his grandma when she spoke. “What is it? Are you unwell? Has Carol said or done something to harm you?”

“No. I’ve not seen her since.... Is this a joke?” Jake looked at his grandma to see what the man was talking about. He wasn’t sure even after glancing in her direction. “This can’t be right, Jenna. What have you done? Are you trying to make me feel better or something?”

“I don’t know what you mean. This is my grandson, Jake Winslow. Jake this is—” His grandma stood up then, her entire body stiff. And when she started laughing, Jake was more confused than before. “Oh Forrest. You’ve found him, haven’t you? This is wonderful. I’m so happy for you.”

“Well I’m certainly not. You don’t understand, Jenna. This can’t happen to me.” Forrest moved into the room but walked as far from Jake as he could go, even pressing against the wall as he went. When he was seated in his chair, the man looked broken. “I don’t know what’s going on right now. This can’t be real…it’s surreal is what it is.”

“What are you talking about? Maybe if I understood, I could help you.” Forrest started to laugh, then looked at him. It wasn’t a humorous laugh; more of a saddened one. Like he was too upset to cry and laughing was all he had. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”

“You won’t after I tell you either. Or I don’t think you will. Not yet at any rate.” Jake sat back down but he wasn’t sure if he should stay or go. The man was upset about something, and he had a feeling that it was bad. “If you don’t mind, I’d just like to get this part with your divorce finished up. Then we’ll…I guess we can talk then if you’d like. Okay, so I talked to your soon to be ex-wife yesterday. She called here just as I was leaving. She told me to tell you that you’re not allowed to divorce her.”

“That sounds like something she’d say. She was forever telling me what I could and couldn’t do. I think that’s why I…are you sure you’re all right? We can do this some other time if you wish.” Jake wanted to…well, he wanted to hold the man. Tell him that things would be better. Whatever they were. And he didn’t understand that any more than he did what was going on. “Perhaps you should just tell us and then you’ll feel better.”

“I just don’t know if this…. You know what a shifter is?” Jake told Forrest that he knew several. “I would have thought so. And I’m assuming that you have no opinion about them either way.”

“If you mean that it doesn’t bother me what they are, then yes, you’d be correct. I don’t care what a person is, just how they treat those around them. Did Carol say something about one of them? She cannot stand the thought of…well, anything that is not what she wants.” Jake laughed slightly. “She’s a horrible person. I mean, I guess I knew that all along, but things are beginning to take shape in my head now. I’m very sorry if she insulted one of your friends. She is, as you said, not a nice person.”

“It wasn’t me or anyone that I know, but I thank you for that. I’m a cat, Jake. A tiger, as a matter of fact. Born one, even though my father is a human.” Jake nodded, not sure what he was supposed to say to that. “Do you know much about shifters? Other than what you read? What I mean is, have you talked with one of my kind? About anything?”

“Not much. A little. I know that they can shift when they need or when their other part thinks they need to. They mate for life and it’s usually a good relationship. Not all, but most of them are good. I’ve never taken a domestic violence nor a divorce case for any of them, so that’s all I have to go on.” Jake smiled at him. “I think there is more, but right now I’m more concerned with what is going on with you. Is there anything at all that I can do for you?”

“Let me tell you this first, then we’ll see what you want to do. Yes, we mate for life. And we don’t abuse or divorce for that very reason. I know there are bad relationships between mates…my father hated my mother and me too because of what we were. But for the most part, it’s a long and very loving relationship. Christ, this is harder than I thought it would be.” Jake waited for him to continue. “I’m homosexual. A gay shifter male that was without a mate until today.”