head. âThat was the job before last. He was working on commission, with a group of guys, trying to sell apartments in a renewal development downtown.â
âBut he got laid off?â
Ellen nodded.
âWhen?â
She shrugged uncertainly. âIâm not sure. Three months ago, maybe four. Iâm not sure.â
Jill had been listening, her head moving backward and forward like a spectatorâs at a tennis match. She said abruptly, âHoney, weâve been up here twice in the last four months! Why didnât you tell us?â
âMy business,â Ellen said, little girl again.
âNo, honey,â Jill said gently. â Our business.â
âIt was all right at first. He kept seeing Billy and â¦â she trailed away.
âAnd what!â demanded OâFarrell, guessing already.
âAnd the payments,â Ellen finished.
âHow much is he behind?â
There was another uncertain shoulder move. âTwo months.â
âAlimony and child support?â OâFarrell pressed.
Ellen nodded. âActually itâs three months.â
âAnd when did he last want to see Billy?â
âItâs not that he doesnât want to see him! He and Jane have two kids of their own now; heâs got a lot of priorities.â
âYou and Billy are his prior commitments!â OâFarrell insisted. âHe married you first. He had Billy first. He owes you first.â
âHe asked me to give him a little time, just to sort himself out. Janeâs still jealous of me, he says.â
âSheâs jealous of you , for Christâs sake!â Jill erupted. âShe was his mistress for a year before she became pregnant to make him choose between the two of you. And youâre doing her favors! Come on!â
âLeave it, Mom. Please leave it!â
âYou could have died in that car,â OâFarrell said. âBeen badly hurt at least.â
âI was saving, to get it done. But I didnât want to fall behind with the mortgage.â
âHave you?â OâFarrell asked. Heâd put up the down payment for Ellen for the apartment, believing she could manage the monthly installments.
There was a jerking nod of her head. âOnly this month.â
âYou still make the same?â OâFarrell asked. Ellen worked as a medical receptionist; sheâd cut short her training to be a physiotherapist like her mother in order to marry Patrick. Billy had been born nine calendar months later.
âIt averages around a thousand a month; sometimes I work overtime and it comes to a little more.â
âYou canât afford to live here on a thousand a month!â Jill said. âYou canât afford to live anywhere on a thousand a month. Youâve got to get Patrickâs payments going through the courts, like you should have done in the first place.â
âYou canât get whatâs not there.â
âHow do you know itâs not there?â OâFarrell asked.
âI know.â
âTell me something,â Jill said. âYou surely donât think thereâs a chance of you and Patrick getting back together again, do you? Heâs got two other children by her!â
The girlâs shoulders went up and down listlessly. âI donât know.â
âWould you get back together if he asked you?â
Another shoulder movement. âI donât know.â
OâFarrell and Jill frowned at each other over their daughterâs head, shocked by the lassitude. Each tried to think of something appropriate to say and failed.
It was Jill who spoke, with forced briskness, trying to break the mood. âWhy donât I make supper?â
Without asking either woman OâFarrell fixed drinks for all three of them. Jill took hers without any critical reaction and didnât comment or even look when he made himself another before they sat down. Largely for