Maddy and I just got the last customer for lunch tended too, as the lady left with a smile on her face.
"I am going to go check stock in the back." I let Maddy know.
"Ok, I will be wiping the counters down again." Maddy smiles.
It may seem crazy but after every rush hour we wipe the counters down, just to keep things clean.
I pull the clip board off the wall and start counting items on the shelves. Leaving the fridge for last count check.
It registers to me when the bell rings, but knowing Maddy has the customer I keep counting the inventory.
"Hey Doll." Liam's voice behind me causing me to jump and hit the shelf.
I rub my head some and turn to face him. I am shocked when Merissa is standing with him.
"Hey. Everything okay?" I ask.
Merissa would have texted us if she was coming to visit and it being middle of the week, it is odd she is here. Liam also looks to be in a ticked mood.
"Not really. Do you happen to have any of your lunch sandwiches left?" Liam asks.
"No, but I will make some up. Give me ten minutes." I smile.
"Please don't go to any trouble." Merrissa stutters, shaking some.
"It is no trouble at all." I pull out the items needed and get them together in the oven within a few minutes time.
"Could we go to the office?" Liam looks at me.
"Sure." I follow behind Liam and Merissa.
I give the chair to Merissa, as Liam leans against the wall. I can tell he hasn't even washed off, so I pull out the cleaning soap and towel he left here a few weeks ago.
Liam walks over to the sink in the attached bathroom and starts cleaning off.
"Is everything okay?" I ask Merissa.
"Chad showed up at my house this morning. Once, I got to where I could lock up my house I drove straight here." Merissa still shakes lightly.
Chad? Why isn't his name ringing a bell.
"My father being a piece of work is what is going on. Chad is demanding that Mom pay back all the child support money that he was force to pay on me." Liam explains more.
Oh, that is his fathers name.
"Why after all these years is he just now showing up? Merissa doesn't have to pay anything, all of that is on court documents." I wonder.
"That is the question. He is the one that filed for divorce and the judge forced the child support. It is not like he was ever around and if he wanted to raise some sort of fight about it why wait until after I am well past the age it stopped." Liam fumes.
"Unless he is having issues with money currently and thinks that the scare tactics will work on you Merissa." I muse over, trying to figure something out.
None of this makes sense. Why would he show up after almost nine years demanding money? Other than the obvious fact that he is having issues with money.
Liam stops in his tracks, having started pacing after cleaning up. Something he does trying to relief the anger if he doesn't work out.
Merissa's eyes go wide at my statement too, like it clicked in her mind.
"When we were married he did have a gambling addiction. Chad would spend the weekends at places betting or at the race tracks." Merissa whispers.
"Mom, can you tell us about before the divorce. I remember hearing you guys fight or more like him yelling and you crying when it was thought I was asleep. Then it was like we were moving the next minute." Liam goes over and his voice sounding softer.
"Chad would wait until you was in bed and he thought you was asleep. He never hit me, but came close a few times. At the end of the marriage he started drinking to much on nights that he would lose money and he got so mad. Everything would set him off and it always seemed like it was my fault." Merissa sniffs.
"I wanted to divorce him before he filed, but I didn't have the money for the lawyers at the time and I was afraid he would fight for custody. If he done it to me when you was asleep, I didn't care so much because he left you alone. Then about a month before we moved, I found out he filed for divorce. As soon as I got the papers and I signed them. He started sleeping around not even caring it wasn't official yet." Merissa continues.
"When it went to court over splitting things in half and being equal, I told the judge about his affairs. That is when the judge finalized everything and made him pay child support. That was the day we left this town. For a few years after that several of the ladies I was friends with was telling me what was being said in this town after we moved. I learned who all he slept with. The only true friend I had was your parents." Merissa starts crying when she looks at me.
I stand up and walk to her, giving her the warmest hug I could. No one should have had to go through that.
"After everything that happened, I just became a shell of myself. I would work, come home make dinner for Liam, clean and then sleep. Chad threw a bunch of hate for even having a child with me and Liam was upset we moved. I felt so alone and lost." Merissa cries.
She stands and walks to Liam.
"As you grew up, I was hard on you because I didn't want you to turn out like your father. Now, I see you haven't and I am so sorry for how I was." Merissa hugs Liam and cries against him.
For the first time, I seen Liam let a few tears fall.
The timer goes off on the sandwiches and I quietly walk out to the oven to remove them. Placing them on plates, I take them to the office and place them on the desk.