relations and decorating the house with a tree and lights and stocking up on holiday goodies, Sherry was flat broke by the end of December. She thought of selling or pawning something, but Billy might notice. A scheme to stall for time formed in her fertile mind.
At the loan window to the bank, she asked the teller to check the balance on her mortgage. She said that she and her husband had come into some money and were trying to decide whether to pay down some of their debt or refinance. While the teller was off looking up the figures, Sherry reached through the window and snatched up the stamp used to mark her payment book and slipped it into her purse. The teller returned with the numbers; she thanked him and said that she would discuss the matter with her husband.
At home, she stamped the book “Paid” and filled in the date in a hand copied from previous entries. At the end of January, she stamped the book again.
One day in February, Billy confronted her. What in hell was going on? Mr. Terwilliger had called from the bank today at work. Theywere two months behind in their mortgage payments. If they didn’t pay up, the bank would plant a For Sale sign in their front yard. What had Sherry been doing with the money?
“Terwilliger’s a fool,” Sherry said. “You can tell him his horse-and-buggy bank’s fouled up, and it’s no surprise, some of the morons he’s got working for him. You wonder how they stay in business.” She had been paying up faithfully, as always. To prove it, she showed him the payment book. There was her receipt, in black and white. Nor did she appreciate Billy’s making accusations.
Billy was convinced. There was quite a to-do, but the bank gave in and marked their account current. As Sherry had assumed would happen, the teller had never reported the missing stamp, undoubtedly having blamed himself for misplacing it; he would be afraid now to admit his mistake. You could get away with a lot, Sherry took satisfaction in knowing, never underestimating how timid and slow-witted people were.
At the end of the month she was still broke and out of ideas. A notice arrived that the electricity was about to be shut off, then the phone. Circumstances dictated that it was time to tell the truth.
She told her husband everything, or almost. She announced that she was in love with another man and wanted a divorce. She would file herself. And yes, she would ask for custody of Renee.
Billy was more stunned, at first, than angry. Sherry refused to say who the other man was. He was no one Billy knew, she assured him. If he didn’t mind, she would stay on in the house until she located a place of her own.
Billy tried to talk her out of her decision, but no, she said she had to do it, she was deeply in love and Billy ought to admit that their marriage had been in trouble for a long time. “You have a drinking problem, and I have a running-around problem,” was the way she put it. Her advice to him was to “bow out gracefully.” She was asking for very little, only her personal belongings, her car, and her daughter.
When Billy found out who his wife’s lover was, he vowed to fight for custody of Renee, and he and Sherry could no longer speak without screaming at each other. She was counting on the courts to recognize the sacred bond between mother and child.
Sherry took a job in Clinton with Protective Apparel, a factory that manufactured bulletproof vests, camouflage jackets, and otherparamilitary fashion items. She worked as a cashier in the retail shop. She also moved to Clinton, into one room in the house of a girlfriend whose husband was working in Arkansas. Benny was able to visit her there because Sheriff Trotter, a broad-minded man, had made good on his promise of weekend passes.
Renee remained with her father for the time being, but Sherry took her on outings and began telling her about Benny and preparing her to meet him. The prospect made Sherry anxious. Benny had often said how much he
At the loan window to the bank, she asked the teller to check the balance on her mortgage. She said that she and her husband had come into some money and were trying to decide whether to pay down some of their debt or refinance. While the teller was off looking up the figures, Sherry reached through the window and snatched up the stamp used to mark her payment book and slipped it into her purse. The teller returned with the numbers; she thanked him and said that she would discuss the matter with her husband.
At home, she stamped the book “Paid” and filled in the date in a hand copied from previous entries. At the end of January, she stamped the book again.
One day in February, Billy confronted her. What in hell was going on? Mr. Terwilliger had called from the bank today at work. Theywere two months behind in their mortgage payments. If they didn’t pay up, the bank would plant a For Sale sign in their front yard. What had Sherry been doing with the money?
“Terwilliger’s a fool,” Sherry said. “You can tell him his horse-and-buggy bank’s fouled up, and it’s no surprise, some of the morons he’s got working for him. You wonder how they stay in business.” She had been paying up faithfully, as always. To prove it, she showed him the payment book. There was her receipt, in black and white. Nor did she appreciate Billy’s making accusations.
Billy was convinced. There was quite a to-do, but the bank gave in and marked their account current. As Sherry had assumed would happen, the teller had never reported the missing stamp, undoubtedly having blamed himself for misplacing it; he would be afraid now to admit his mistake. You could get away with a lot, Sherry took satisfaction in knowing, never underestimating how timid and slow-witted people were.
At the end of the month she was still broke and out of ideas. A notice arrived that the electricity was about to be shut off, then the phone. Circumstances dictated that it was time to tell the truth.
She told her husband everything, or almost. She announced that she was in love with another man and wanted a divorce. She would file herself. And yes, she would ask for custody of Renee.
Billy was more stunned, at first, than angry. Sherry refused to say who the other man was. He was no one Billy knew, she assured him. If he didn’t mind, she would stay on in the house until she located a place of her own.
Billy tried to talk her out of her decision, but no, she said she had to do it, she was deeply in love and Billy ought to admit that their marriage had been in trouble for a long time. “You have a drinking problem, and I have a running-around problem,” was the way she put it. Her advice to him was to “bow out gracefully.” She was asking for very little, only her personal belongings, her car, and her daughter.
When Billy found out who his wife’s lover was, he vowed to fight for custody of Renee, and he and Sherry could no longer speak without screaming at each other. She was counting on the courts to recognize the sacred bond between mother and child.
Sherry took a job in Clinton with Protective Apparel, a factory that manufactured bulletproof vests, camouflage jackets, and otherparamilitary fashion items. She worked as a cashier in the retail shop. She also moved to Clinton, into one room in the house of a girlfriend whose husband was working in Arkansas. Benny was able to visit her there because Sheriff Trotter, a broad-minded man, had made good on his promise of weekend passes.
Renee remained with her father for the time being, but Sherry took her on outings and began telling her about Benny and preparing her to meet him. The prospect made Sherry anxious. Benny had often said how much he
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