“… shiftless, thriftless, and hopeless.” Her overpriced attorney continued listing what she thought were his short-comings as a father, while his ex, in a $1,000 silk suit, smiled like a Cheshire Cat.
Sitting with his infomercial lawyer, wearing jeans he had since college, he was grateful the judge wouldn’t allow their son in the courtroom.
She wanted more child support. No matter how much he paid, he knew their boy didn’t benefit from any of it.
When his lawyer stood to talk, he turned toward his ex, he wanted to see her face when he asked for full custody.
After a much deserved hiatus, Velvet Verbosity is back with her 100 Word Challenge. The Challenge was my first foray into flash fiction, so will forever hold a spot in my heart. I’m glad she’s back.
The Challenge is to take the prompt and craft a story in exactly 100 words. This week, the theme is “Thriftless.”
Thin spiral notebook 
This is fantastic. All three of my parents have been through something similar to this (My mom and dad divorced, mom married my step-dad (he was also divorced), and my dad proceeded to marry and divorce three other women. Thankfully, he’s now single and hoping to stay that way for a while.)
LikeLike
Oooh, neat. I’d like to see her face, too. Nice details. Nice tension.
LikeLike
Excellent piece! That opening line really grabs you.
LikeLike
Interesting that our first two words are the same – reversed, but the same.
great minds and all that.
this is a great piece.
LikeLike
I had an emotional reaction to this. I only read it twice because the memories of what I went through in 2006 were just too harsh.
You excelled at the provocation of ass kicking emotions this carries.
great work.
LikeLike
I had to read this twice to get it but oh, when I did, it gave me chills. I’m someone who’s had to sit in court with an ex. There’s no place you’ll be depicted in a worse light than in family court.
LikeLike
Without the use of names I had to reread the first sentence a couple of times to figure out who was “talking”, and who was who. But once I got it, the pace was fabulous.
And thank you dear for the kind words. I’m always touched when I realize that this little blog of mine brought a little joy to some people. 🙂
LikeLike
Love that! 🙂
LikeLike
Oh! And I love your story. I love that the husband clearly feels he either hasn’t got a prayer or that he has an open and shut case, since he plans to ask for full custody. I feel terrible for these kids, trapped in between a mother who doesn’t actually use the child support for the children and a father who cares but who hired an “infomercial lawyer” (and what a kickass image “infomercial lawyer” is)
LikeLike
Yay hoooray, some GOOD news on a Monday!! I never got to play with Velvet Verbosity!! I was SO BUMMED OUT and I’m SO GLAD she’s back!!
LikeLike