Chapter 113 Laid Off?

Tuesday, December 31, 2002

Jared had been asking me if he could have a dog. I am scared of dogs and have always said no.

Today, when Jared and Richard returned from the store, Jared said he saw the cutest dogs and asked if he could please have one of them.

When they came back, everyone at the house wanted to hold the dog. I have to admit, he was pretty cute. Jared named him Bruits.

Monday, January 13, 2003

I got a call from the police telling me to go to the corner store near the school because Sarah had been caught stealing. I hurried and put the kids I was watching, Laila and Johny, in the car. Then I drove to the store. The police were waiting there with Sarah and a few other girls she had been with at the time of the incident.

The police told me that Sarah had been written up, but there wasn’t much more they could do because Sarah was only 14. I was told to take her home and have a serious talk with her.

On the drive home, Sarah tried to convince me that it was an accident. She said she had accidentally put the candy bar in her pocket and planned to pay for it before leaving the store.

Sarah’s new friends from middle school weren’t the kind of friends I wanted her to hang out with, but she tried to reassure me that they were good kids. I told her I didn’t believe she forgot to pay for the candy bar because I knew she didn’t have any money. Then Sarah tried to convince me that she had been holding the candy bar for her friend.

I asked Sarah to choose different friends. She broke down and said that the kids she had been hanging out with were the only ones willing to be friends with her. She then admitted that the girls had dared her to steal the candy bar. I was surprised she went along with the dare. It seemed to me that she was just trying to fit in.

Later that evening, the phone rang. I saw on the caller ID that it was Sander, so I didn’t answer. Richard ran over and picked it up, even though I had asked him not to. It seemed like a joke to him when he handed me the phone.

Sander was back in prison and asked me to give him $3000.00 to bail him out. I told him I didn’t have that kind of money. Sander told me to go to the bank and take out a loan. I assured him I wasn’t going to do that. Then Sander demanded that I call our dad in Denmark and ask him for the money. I told him I wasn’t going to do that either. Sander got irate. I ended up hanging up the phone. Now I’m worried he’s going to come after me as soon as he gets out of prison.

Friday, January 31, 2003

Richard has been working for the L.D.S. church for the past 12 years. When he came home from work today, he told me that he had been laid off and that he is going back on Monday to pack up his things.

I asked Richard why he had been laid off. He told me it was because his department was being shut down. I thought it was strange that he had been laid off because, normally, the church would move you to a different department.

I asked Richard why they hadn’t transferred him to a different department. Richard quickly replied that all the men on his team were being laid off, so there were too many people to transfer. This explanation seemed logical to me, so I accepted it.

Monday, February 3, 2003

All weekend, Richard appeared nervous about returning to his work and packing up his belongings. He asked me to come with him today to help him pack.

I found someone to take care of the kids so I could go with Richard to his work.

Right when we arrived at his work, a security guard took Richard’s badge and escorted us to his cubicle. The security guard stood next to us the entire time we packed up Richard’s belongings.

As I helped Richard pack up, I noticed all his coworkers kept glancing over at us. Whenever they caught me looking back, they would look away. I had a feeling something was wrong the whole time.

While we were packing up his belongings, I was surprised to see all the expensive trinkets Richard had bought for himself and placed in his office. One of these trinkets was a silver train we had seen in Park City when we brought my uncle and his family there. The train was $250.00. When we saw it, Richard wanted to buy it. I told him he needed to wait until the Visa was paid off. Richard must have gone back and bought it when no one was looking. There was also a costly waterfall in the corner of his office. I thought that might explain why the Visa was maxed out.

After we finished packing his belongings, we headed to the elevator with the security guard right behind us. None of Richard’s coworkers came over to say goodbye.

When we got in the car, I asked Richard, since they were closing down his department, why the other coworkers weren’t packing up their belongings. Richard responded quickly, as he always does. They wanted to shut his department down gradually.

Even though everything felt off, and I had doubts about the whole situation, I believed he wouldn’t lie to me.

Seeing all the expensive trinkets in his office made me feel sick to my stomach. I worked so hard to get us out of debt. I wanted to divorce more than ever. Since Richard was already so depressed and had threatened to take his own life, I didn’t want to make his depression worse. I decided I would wait until he found a new job and was doing better mentally. In the meantime, I would just have to endure being married to him.

Tuesday, February 4, 2003

I got a call today from the school to come and get Sarah because she had gotten into a fistfight. I hurriedly gathered the kids and went to the school.

On my way to the principal’s office, I saw two boys fighting in the hallway. Blood was everywhere. A teacher was trying to break up the fight. I felt bad that the daycare kids, Laila and Johnny, had seen the fight and all the blood because it was pretty gruesome.

When I arrived at the principal’s office, Sarah was waiting for me. The girl Sarah had fought with was still there, waiting to be picked up. After I talked to the principal and was leaving with Sarah, the girl she had fought with yelled, “I am sorry I didn’t finish you off when I had the chance. I’d better not ever see you again!”

I asked Sarah what had led up to this. Sarah couldn’t tell me. Sarah has always been such a sweet girl—easygoing and thoughtful. I never thought I would have to deal with these kinds of problems with her.

Wednesday, February 5, 2003

I transferred Sarah back to the school she originally attended. Sarah didn’t want to go back there. I told her I would homeschool her so she wouldn’t have to return. I thought she would be excited about it, but instead, she said she would rather die than be homeschooled. I reminded her she was excited about it when we discussed it a while back. Sarah said homeschooling was for nerds, and she wasn’t about to stay at home all day.

The school I just transferred Sarah out of has 1500 students. Grantsville Middle School has about 800 students. Grantsville seems to have a stricter dress code, and you wouldn’t see kids dressed in goth.

I talked to the principal about the boys who bullied Sarah last year. I was assured that the teachers would keep an eye out for her.

Thursday, February 6, 2003

Sander has a court hearing scheduled at the end of this month so the authorities can decide his fate. Mom wanted Beth and me to go with her to Sander’s hearing because she’s afraid they will deport him. Both Beth and I refused, telling her we hoped he would be denied permission to stay in the country. Mom was angry that we wouldn’t support her. Since we wouldn’t go, she decided not to attend either. Mom said that if he were deported, it would be all our fault. I can live with that.