“I understand.” Olivia struggled to speak. Her throat closed off her words. “What you’re sharing is tough to swallow. I can’t figure out how to handle this.” Olivia rocked in her seat and panic filled her mind. “I’m a horrible mother. I’ve ruined my children’s lives. Oh, my Lord. My daughter wishes I were dead. I need to discuss this with her.”
“Try to calm down, Olivia. Whatever you do, don’t confront Simone. I’ll work with her from my end of things. Share this information with your therapist. See what Dr. Fluellen recommends for you. In the meantime, keep loving on Simone. She’ll come around.”
Olivia released a groan of defeat. The nerves in her trembling body were difficult to calm. “Arnelya. There’s something you should know.”
“What is it? What’s going on?”
“This morning, Malcolm told me he’s moving to Miami and taking the kids with him.
“What? Do Simone and Christian know yet? No one mentioned this to me in their counseling session.”
“No. We’re supposed to meet with them this weekend. I’m concerned about how I’m going to deal with not being able to be with my children. I don’t know if the kids will want to move away. This is the only city they’ve ever lived in. We may need you on standby to handle the wrath,” Olivia exhaled with a shaky voice.
“I’m here for the kids. No question. It may be a rough beginning. We’ll get through it day by day,” Arnelya said.
“Okay. I appreciate you working with the children and for
keeping it real with me. Thank you, Arnelya.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll keep you updated on anything else I discover and think you should know. Good luck when you meet with the kids. Call me if you need me. Goodbye, Olivia.”
Olivia tossed the phone onto the living room table. She leaned across her knees with hands clutched to her eyes. Tears flowed from the storm cloud in her mind.
Olivia mourned the loss of the daughter she once knew.
SEVEN
Savvy
“Oh no he didn’t,” Savvy exclaimed on the phone.
“Yes, he did,” Olivia said, point-blank.
Savvy turned her car onto her job’s garage ramp and parked. “You mean to tell me, Malcolm got engaged to one of the women he cheated on you with? And she’s pregnant? And they’re moving to Miami with the children? Olivia, you’ve got to be kidding.”
“I wish I was. He spent all of the money I paid to him in restitution, taking care of his new baby mama whore,” Olivia screeched.
Savvy heard the blare of a horn. “Okay, calm down. Are you driving?”
“Yeah. I’m on my way to my appointment with Dr. Fluellen. These stupid drivers keep cutting me off. I’m not trying to have a second road rage incident today.”
“A second one? Olivia. Are you losing your mind? What are you trying to do? Go back to jail?” Savvy shuddered at her friend’s hot temper. Their friendship since college survived a plethora of Olivia’s outbursts. Savvy refused to let her go off a cliff again with her drastic behavior. Being associated with her had to be the hardest assignment in life.
“He shouldn’t have cut me off and flipped me the bird. I didn’t do anything to him. He wanted to play scared when I confronted him.”
“Do you realize he could’ve pulled a gun on you or snatched you into his car? This isn’t the time for road rage.”
“It’s no big deal. I could’ve broken his scrawny body in two if he laid a hand on me. Quit worrying. He would’ve had nothing but nubs to stick up at people by the time I finished with him.”
“Olivia, it is a big deal. You need to control your reactions to people. There’s no telling who witnessed it. Next thing you know, a video will pop up on the news about Dr. Olivia C. Maxwell going off on an innocent driver. Get a grip, please. Stop acting like a Tasmanian devil whenever someone makes you mad.”
“Alright already. Geesh. You’re such a mother hen.”
“Call me what you like. I think you need to drive into a parking lot and calm yourself down. Your emotions are running too high.”
“Don’t worry. I’m fine. I promise. I’m parked in front of Dr. Fluellen’s office now. I won’t do it again.”
“You better not. I think you’ve forgotten the fact you’re on probation. You’ll end up locked away again if you can’t restrain yourself,” Savvy continued to fuss. “Now, get back to what you were telling me about Malcolm. What happened?”
“Malcolm said he told the kids not to tell me about the engagement. Remember when I told you I suspected something didn’t seem quite right when I spent time with Simone and Christian last month?”
“Yes. I recall you mentioning they were keeping something from you.”
“My intuition was correct. He’s going to pay for this.”
“Don’t make threats, Olivia. If someone is tapping your phone, we don’t need them assuming you’re considering harming him. Do you get what I mean?”
“Savvy, are you watching those forensic investigation shows on TV? No one is tapping my phone. Plus, I won’t be setting any houses on fire again,” Olivia chuckled.
“You better not. Don’t say those kinds of things. Okay?” Savvy couldn’t stop thinking about the horrific scene of Olivia’s family home engulfed in flames.
“Don’t worry. My therapy sessions are working. Thank God for you as my accountability partner. You were afraid of what I might do and didn’t want me to move out of your house. You’re serious about this stuff.”
Upon Olivia’s release from jail, Savvy had insisted she live with her until she found a home to rent. Having a place to call her own would help in having the kids visit at some point.
“That’s what friends are for,” Savvy reassured. “Okay, now go back to telling me about how Malcolm wants to move.”
“He claims they’ll live in Miami with his new manufactured family at a lower cost. I can’t
