Finding Sam (Featured)

Chapter 17 - Over

I pulled open the car door and helped Michael from his car seat. "What's wrong with him?" I asked. "Is he hurt?"

"Nothing's wrong with him," David snapped back. "We were just driving back from the beach, and he saw you and your boyfriend arguing back there at the corner of Pier and Monterey. Jesus Christ, Sam, don't you have some pride? Fighting out in the open like that? You didn't even hear Michael screaming for you."

I carried Michael into the house and David followed right behind me. "Now all he wants is his mommy. He wouldn't stop screaming, not even after I got onto PCH. So I figured - what the hell, I might as well give him what he wants. His mommy and her hot date."

"Shut up, David," I said, comforting Michael as he continued to cling to me. I wiped away his tears and took him to his bedroom, hoping his toys might calm him. He climbed down from my arms and settled onto the floor, sitting in the middle of his favorite rug that featured a little town for his toy trains and cars to travel around.

"You could have at least called first," I said, following David as he walked through the living room and then into my bedroom. "We really should do the exchange at a public place next time, David."

"What, so you can screw your new boyfriend?" David's eyes scanned my bedroom, lingering on the unmade bed. "That Erik dude does not waste time, does he?"

"What I do on the weekends is my business," I said, keeping my voice down. "You're supposed to drop him off at six, not at one in the afternoon or even the night before."

Satisfied at what he had seen in the bedroom, David brushed past me like I wasn't there, and entered the bathroom. "Look, he's even got his own toothbrush already," he declared, picking up the new toothbrush sitting next to its packaging and showing it to me. "Why am I not surprised, Sam?"

I didn't want to take the bait. I couldn't, for I knew it was exactly what David wanted. I'd lose my temper, say something I'd regret, and then he'd claim that I had started it. His word against mine.

"Just leave," I said, doing my best to appear confident. David knew how I feared confronting him, for I would never know when he would hit me. But I was too angry from my confrontation with Erik to worry about what David was going to do next. I was tired of being told what to do, how to feel.

"I'll have the attorney contact you about the custody arrangements, in case you need to review it again," I said.

David's face grew dark, the way it often did whenever he didn't get his way. He walked towards me. I took a step backwards and another before my back hit the wall of the bathroom. "Why? So you can fuck your boyfriend anytime you want?"

"This has nothing to do with Erik or whatever else you accuse me of. What I do during my time is my concern, not yours." This time I let my rage fuel me, not letting my fear take over like it always did, leaving me a cowering mess at David's feet. I didn't want Michael to remember me that way.

"Oh yes it is, Sam," he said. "Especially if Mikey is involved. I don't want to find out that you've been having your dearest boyfriend over here while Mikey is home. Should I make a stipulation about that to the judge? No fucking, your honor, while she has little Mikey in her custody - because I just know she would just do it."

"Just get out right now," I said, walking past him towards the front door. 'Or I'm calling the cops and report that you're trespassing private property."

David's eyes narrowed. He was trying to figure out if I was serious or not, I thought, as I held the door wide open, hoping that someone I was visible to anyone who happened to look from the sidewalk. Just then, I saw George stand up, straightening his back. He'd been gardening. He waved as he saw me, though his smile disappeared when he saw David's car in the driveway.