Chapter 3: More Shit, Different Day

The next months were the worst of my life and they turned me into what I am today; a very angry, uncompromising middle-aged man. I no longer gave a damn what anyone thought or wanted or anything else. I showed up for work and did my eight hours and went home to an empty house. I put the house up for sale the same week Joyce filed for divorce and sold it within the first three weeks. My lawyer, Scotty Olson, told me to put the money in a separate account and then helped me minimize the damage Joyce might do to me. It was the usual divorce stuff; cut off the credit cards and bank cards, move my stuff out of the safety deposit box and protect my RRSP's.

When Scotty found out who Joyce's lawyer was, he called me right away.

"Geoff, this woman is a vulture with no morals. She will try and grab everything you have and still want half the remains. She is one vicious bitch with a very bad reputation from a male point of view. I can't represent you against her; she'll eat me alive. I suggest you get a hold of Mark Moskovitch and have him represent you. At least he will help minimize the bleeding." he said with regret. "Good luck, Geoff... you'll need it." he finished.

Truer words were never spoken. Claire LaPointe came after me like I was Jack the Ripper and had beaten Joyce every day of our marriage. I don't think vicious was quite strong enough to describe the attitude she took toward me and Mark. I had thought of contesting the divorce just to fuck Joyce around, but Mark talked me out of it and I'm glad he did. We got the settlement worked out on paper and I finally surrendered. I'm sure Joyce got more than 50%, but I didn't have the stomach for a fight, despite my anger.

I ended up with a fat legal bill and my share of the house did little more that get me a cheap condo in Guelph. The only smart thing I did was Mark's insistence that I get Joyce to sign off that the settlement was final and irrevocable. She couldn't come after me for any more later on. She had a good paying job and since she had no cause for the divorce, at least I didn't have any support payments. I had disclosed everything I thought, but no matter, it was over and done. I had not seen Joyce once during the divorce proceedings and in fact I hadn't seen her since the Sunday I walked out of our house.