Page 77 of Bobby

One that gets three times worse the moment my phone rings and I see Trevor’s name flash on the screen. Something’s wrong. I knew it. My stomach drops as I answer.

“Trevor? What’s wrong? Where are the girls? Are they okay?” He never calls. Something must be terribly wrong.

“They’re fine,” Trevor says, clearly annoyed that I didn’t let him speak first.

“Oh, thank God.” I can breathe for half a second before the next thought pops into my head. “Then why did you call?”

“I wanted to let you know that Jessica and I are moving.”

“Oh, okay.” Dare I hope that this means we won’t see him as much?

“To Texas.”

Joy bubbles to the surface for a millisecond. We might not even see him at all if he gives up on the holiday exchanges, because it would require him to deal with logistics, which I know he doesn’t like to do. “Oh, really? When?”

“Today.”

What? “Today? What about the girls?” I stand, ready to get my shoes on and go get my girls.

“They’re with us.”

His words stop me in my tracks, and my ears start ringing. “They’re where? In Texas?”

“Yes.”

One word and my heart stops.

“But… but you can’t do that. You can’t take them outside the state. The court—” I’m shaking as my heart races double time. Everything feels like too much all at once.

“Fuck what the court says. As their father, I can do whatever I want.”

His words just keep making the world shrink, everything closing in on me as I try to remember to breathe. “But they’re my girls too.”

He can’t be serious. He’s not that narcissistic to think that he’s above the law. Right?

I’m taking gulps of air to try and not black out at his words.

He lets out a deep sigh as if I’m not the rational one in this. “Then move to Texas. No one’s stopping you.”

“I can’t just move to Texas. I have a place here, a home.” I wave my arm around as if he can see my place through the phone.

“I thought the girls meant everything to you.”

My shoulders slip at the low blow. Low enough that my legs wobble as if they can’t hold my weight much longer. God, I hope they can’t hear me and think I’d choose a place over them.

“You know they do,” I say on a whisper as I realize all at once that panicking isn’t going to help them. It will only make things worse. Trevor will use my panic for what he wants. He always did before.

“Then fine, you can have them back.”

I feel like I have whiplash. Still, I give thanks where it’s due. “Thank you.”

“For five million dollars.”

“What?” My body slumps against the wall and my legs give out as I sink to the ground. I can’t breathe.

“You heard me. Get me five million and they’re yours.”

He’s selling me my own girls.