Chapter 17: Letters and CARS

My Dearest,

Summer’s end. They pass so quickly, too quickly, don’t they? School will resume shortly. It’s been a good summer for the band. Lot’s of paying gigs, and financially rewarding. So far, I’ve saved two thousand dollars dedicated to our reestablishing a home with our daughters when you get paroled. We won’t get custody of our daughters if we can’t prove financial solvency and the ability to provide for them. It’s so heartbreaking you have been deprived of your teaching credentials forever, and lost any pension you had previously accrued rights to. So unfair! What job can you get as a convicted felon? Waitress? Don’t worry darling. Your position as a career mom and wife, is waiting for you, with multiple open arms.

A year has passed since my mutilation and your incarceration. Susie and Cathy are four months old now, and paddling around in wheeled walkers they use like bumper cars. Hellions on wheels. I see them almost daily. My parents are deliberately confusing them. Every man is dada, is my folk’s fault. My parents encourage them to call my dad dada and Betsy and I encourage them to call me dada, so all men are dada to them. I reluctantly inform you, they call my mom, mama.

The family court judge ordered my dad to contribute to my support. Once a month I get a twenty five dollar check in the mail. Margit is slowly selling me her VW camper at twenty five dollars a month.

I endorse dad’s checks over to her, and she deposits it in her checking account. I don’t have one. The balance due is $250 bucks.

A hundred has been paid so far. In ten more months, the bus is mine.

I already have a sturdy playpen to bolt to the floor in place of the middle bench seat, using the provided OEM clips. It will be a great place for the girls to nap during road trips. It is surrounded by nylon netting to safely restrain them in any sort of crash short of flipping over. Betsy and I use it for the kids when they accompany us fishing. The netting allows them to see us, and feel secure we are near. The playpen is collapsible and transportable in the trunk of Betsy’s car...

Margit won’t even let me borrow the VW until it’s paid for in full. Claims her insurance forbids it. Loaning the vehicle to or permitting anyone under age twenty five to drive it, is verboten, prohibited in the policy. Maybe that’s true. Maybe though, the real reason is, she’s bitchy because I won’t fuck her. Only recently did she give up on asking me to. She refuses even to deliver my drums to your, our house for me. Meanwhile, Lash is stuck with storing them for me.

Possibly, Margit is being a pain, because she knows exactly how much money I’ve made from the band gigs. The same as she made. She has suggested more than once, I should just pay off the balance and take possession of the VW. She has her eye on a sports car for sale, and she wants to buy. The owner is pressuring her to buy quickly, I suspect. She worries he won’t wait, and will sell it to whomever shows up first with the cash. Reasonable that he would. Wouldn’t blame him. Don’t blame Margit for being antsy. They shouldn’t blame me for first prioritizing you and our kids. The VW can wait. I get around on my bike and I’m saving money not buying insurance, tags, and gas. I’m careful of every penny, only succumbing to temptation when an incredible deal like the playpen was offered to me for ten bucks, used but in like new condition.

My parents have matching highchairs and other baby gear, we should be able to get from them cheaply or for free when they hand Susie and Cathy over to us, in two more years. Do kids two and a half years old still need high chairs and cribs? They’ll be toddlers when they are finally reunited with you. So unfair you and they have to endure this separation, this gross injustice. What was your horrible crime? Love? You didn’t lead me into debauchery. I was debauched already, very sexually active before we made love that first time.

I’ve decided to temporarily enroll as a sophomore in High School this fall, but only until I complete my investigation of the Candy Stripers screwing Dr. Fixit. As soon as my evidence and their affidavits are collected, I intend to drop out and enroll in the prerequisite adult education courses required prior to taking the GED battery of exams. All should be accomplished before you’re paroled. I intend to work at a day job in addition to band gigs at night, to provide for our family. As soon as you are released, we’ll get married! First thing. I’ll be eighteen then and nobody can say so much as boo to us. Faye says, she’ll resell the house to us when we are financially stable. She permits me to use it rent free for now. That’s the updated plan as I see it. Advise and consent, my dearest?