LMPYITP: The Random Passages

You Got How Many Bills to Pay and How Many Kids?

                  

"Well, would ya look at that!" Noel said as he sat on the couch scrolling through something on his iPad.

            "What?" I asked as I looked up from my laptop as I sat in the armchair diagonal from him.

            He held up the iPad to show me what was on the screen. "Our Kid's got his name in the paper as well."

            I set my laptop down and went to sit on the couch beside him so I could see it better. Once I sat down, I took his iPad from him and read what he had up.

            It was an article about Liam and his ex-wife, Nicole. The article discussed how Nicole's band, All Saints, was about to release a new album featuring a song dissing Liam. It also mentioned their recent divorce settlement.

            "D'you reckon your gran'd wanna cut that one out and save it as well?" Noel asked as he nodded at what was displayed on the screen.

            I shook my head. "Come on! Don't take the mick." I told him.

            "What? It's his own fault!" Noel pointed out. "That was well shitty what he did to her. Not to mention there's a kid involved now."

            My heart began to crack a little. I didn't feel bad for Liam or Nicole or the other chick. The only one I felt sorry for was that child.

            Liam already made this mistake once years back. And now, a teenage girl was growing up without a father. Sure, he paid child support for her, which he felt was better than nothing. But he didn't acknowledge her or see her, and that was just sad.

            Now here was another little girl, in America no less, who would likely succumb to the same fate.

            The adults involved in this situation had no one to blame but themselves. Liam could've worn a condom. His mistress could've made sure he did, as well as use whatever to protect herself. And Nicole, well I didn't really know what to say about her. I mean, he'd just done the same thing to Patsy Kensit before getting with her so...she had it coming?

            Not really but it was something she should've taken into consideration when she decided to be his girl.

            Maybe it was my small town naivety. My country life roots. But I just didn't understand how people could do stuff like this to each other.

It's not like I'd never seen stuff like this happen before. There was gossip where I came from – a ton of it. Like the time a secretary at my high school had an affair with a teacher from the middle school, who was one of the coaches for the (American) football team. Both of them were married to other people and had children with their respective spouses as well.

            Everyone in town knew about it. How the teacher had a separate cell phone for contacting the secretary so his wife wouldn't find out. But she did. Apparently he was playing with his kids or something and the phone fell out of his pocket. The wife found it and the text messages and such between him and his lover.

            The secretary got a transfer to the elementary school. Both left their spouses and began shacking up with each other and the rest, as they say, is history. It would be pretty embarrassing to have everyone in town know you were a part of something like that. They're both pretty ballsy to just keep on keeping on.

            I glanced back at the article.

            'And of course they talk about the money.' I thought.