Chapter 17

Previous chapters can be found here.

I could not have messed this day up any worse if I tried.

Before my EPO, she had set this court date to drop her DVO. Given that I had filed an EPO and was poised to get my own DVO, that was no longer her plan.

This day should have been a soft ball. I could have knocked it out of the park. The magnitude of evidence I had in my binder far eclipsed anything she had brought up to the court or could bring up to the court.

I find my way to the family court waiting room. Much to my chagrin she is already there. She’s sitting at one side of the waiting room and I sit on the other. Her gaze never broke the entire time we were there. She was staring at me like an angry psycho. So I just flip through the pages of my binder. I know this made her angry. I had a plastic bag with a bottle of Coke and a Reese’s Fast Break Bar.

I hear her very loudly talking on the phone with an angry tone. I hear a few things like “he’s trying to sabotage me” and “he brought Reese’s to piss me off.”

Just classic REDACTED. Everything is about her. The very thought that one could be defending themselves is then “sabotaging” her.

I’m already feeling very uncomfortable. My friend texts me saying “REDACTED says you’ve looked better lol.” I’m just thinking “why would she tell me that?” It just further psyched me out.

Then I see her following behind a tall man with slicked back gray hair. She’s yelling to him “he’s trying to sabotage me!”

It would appear she has a lawyer. I guess she was that worried that she got a lawyer. I should have recognized this man, but I didn’t at all. All I know is I felt so alone and outnumbered.

Five minutes later or so he approaches me and introduces himself as Darren Wolfe. Alarm bells go off in my head. I knew that name. I was so overwhelmed by the situation that I just ignored them.

He pulls me to the side to make a backroom deal with me. He asks me if I had representation first. He couldn’t speak with me if I did. He starts the conversation saying he wasn’t here to twist my arm or anything but just wanted to talk.

I’m feeling in way over my head. He offers to amend REDACTED’s DVO to “no unlawful contact” if I dropped my own.

He went on to sell the idea explaining that he and I had a no unlawful contact order in the sense that everyone has a no unlawful contact order with everyone because that’s just how life works. No one can commit unlawful acts to one another.

He explained this would be best for Apollo. That her and I could freely talk and be around one another and coparent better.

I agree to this. I just wanted this to be over. I wanted all the BS to be over and have a normal life.

We go into the courtroom and the deal is put into place. My DVO on her would get tossed and she’d get to keep her’s on me, but amended to “no unlawful contact.”

We all exit and the 3 of us have a brief chat in the waiting room. He gives us a pep talk and explain how good this is for Apollo.

Then he hands me his card.

I look down at the card. I recognize the card. I had one at one point. Wait a minute… I exclaim “I KNOW YOU!” I had consulted with him months ago. I was referred by the aforementioned friend that said I didn’t look my best according to REDACTED.

I explained that I had consulted with him and mention my friend’s name.

He knew he had meased up. He turned around for a brief moment as this realization set in. He turns back around and said “well I wish you would have told me that before. I wouldn’t have been able to represent her. I won’t be able to represent her in the future against you.”

We leave. We take the elevator down together. I was trying to be hopeful. Her attitude seemed anything but. I had a sinking feeling I had really screwed up.

I did screw up. I can’t stress that enough. Everyone knows I did. My family even made the agreement with one another that I never go to court alone again. I had everything I needed to protect myself from her, and I gave it up for a dream that she could act right and we could be great parents together.