Rod

Chapter 2

I guess I should add that the chapters I write are stories, all names have been changed, and will not always be in successional order.I guess I plan on writing them in the order in which they appear in my mind, in order of importance.

I’d just gotten home from work, and picked my daughter up from school, and I was in basic nun clothing that I picked out, only made palatable due to my love for constant change and accepting a good challenge.I went to get the mail. Mail from the State Social Services organization always made my heart race.

It was a letter requesting, through their organization,to modify child support, now that I had made a financial choice a certain salty somebody never had, that he was jealous of. I was heavily reliant, due to said choice, on the child support I was receiving.

An individual who made a career and had earned ( in California) 105k/yr., and brought in 85k/yr. in Idaho Falls, doing similar work, was asking to modify child support, citing the reason being as his inability to find similarly paying work, and had only managed to find work at Walmart, and Pets R Us.

He had developed a habit ( apparently) of not paying the IRS.I had discovered this while first dating.

His apartment was empty, save but for a mattress in the middle of the floor, a tv, and a tv stand.

“ I don’t understand how he could make all this money and have no furniture,” I said to my room mate at the time.

“He’s probably lying.” “ I wouldn’t see this guy anymore.He sounds like a psycho.”

When we met,he had nothing to do,and was starting a new job the following week at a swanky advertising agency, a short walk away from where he (and soon thereafter I) lived.

Some weeks after he starting working there, I would come and visit him at lunch time. There were bean bag chairs,ping pong tables,beers on draft ( like whole kegs), and he spoke of Fridays wherein masseuses and nail artists would come in. There was a fridge full of snacks and complementary drinks.Incredible.

Therefore, I knew he was not lying, and months into dating him, I watched him get a letter wherein he was given a raise and would now be making 106k/yr.

Sick of being infuriated, rage filled, and completely powerless, and every other week consisting of watching my daughter go into full on mental break downs scream crying and freaking out, knowing full well the silence that screamed volumes to me, without her saying anything to me, the horrors of what could be happening that was so bad, she would consistently return this way to me each week, so I decided to use his request for less money, based on his new career choices, as an excuse to just wipe the whole damn board clean and start the fuck over. Maybe he should be paying less, and also having a whole lot less access to her. The problematic behaviors between his infant-man bullshit, and whatever dog shit layeth upon her small shoulders to handle it all was too much, so I decided to hire a lawyer. No more psychological chess for fun. Enough was really enough.

I found Rod through the bar’s referral service. We met. He seemed certain, given all the evidence I showed him, and stories that were relayed to him, that he could move the needle and do something, and so the next day, I came in and delivered my 2k retainer, to get this diarrhea flowing. I then made an appointment for a couple weeks later.

I had to reschedule last minute, mind you, there was no contractual agreement I signed about drive in even potentially inclement weather. I am neurotic that way. Call me crazy if you must, but one fine Idaho winter, I drove to work one early morning on a road glazed with black ice, and spun 3 times before almost launching into a semi, who was also on the struggle bus and had slid angularly, nearly into me.

I showed up at the appointment. 15 minutes went by, and no one was there, which I found odd, considering I figured at least Candice, his secretary, would be.20 minutes go by, which I figured would account for any last minute traffic or snafus. So… I called and left a message asking where he was. Had I made a mistake? I know I had not, and had correctly put the time in my calendar.

With any other job, a no call/no show/ days later still no call is a “no job” situation. So I e-mailed him, after not hearing from him, to fire him. I think I may have waited all the way til Monday? There was more than enough time to give any resemblance of a decent excuse. I believe the subject line said,” you’re fired.”

Much to my surprise, I got an e-mail back (an e-mail), saying I would have to prove that I was not the no show.

So I responded with “Please return my retainer at your earliest convenience.”

I went to print out the e-mails, and low and behold….. some of them had mysteriously disappeared from my inbox. I called my computer wizard friend.”Mark???” “ Is it possible that someone could hack into my e-mail and tamper with evidence?”

“Yes, but it would be really hard, and that’s… not very likely.” “I don’t understand,” I said. It was here, and now it’s gone!!!!! “ “ I really fucking needed that!!!!!!”

You can use your imagination as to what didn’t happen next, so… I filed a complaint with the state bar.

I didn’t manage to recover them all… but sure as hell had some, and the ones that mattered.

Unfortunately, that was the last 2k I had available, so I was unable to hire a different attorney. Thus… the child support amount defaulted, because I had no one to respond.If you have ever had to fight an attorney, you know that it’s a timely process.When you complain to the bar, you are waiting in a line with an unknown amount of people in front of you. It all depends on how many lawyers decided to play FAFO recently, and how many people decided to not let them.Also due to the fact I couldn’t hire alternative representation, when it came time to face him at the bar trial, I had no choice but to represent myself.

I felt confident in representing myself because first of all, dealing with lawyers, sadly, is not my first rodeo. I have had to defend myself in previous scenarios with power tripping sociopaths. I understand how my demeanor must be, how to cross examine, and what I need to prove to sway the table of bar trial lawyers gathered around me, him, across the table from me.

To articulate the process for you…you complain about said attorney, and then you get a trial if you get to advance.There are bar attorneys, a certain number, required by each state’s laws, I would imagine. They hear the arguments, examine the evidence, and listen to cross examinations from each party. Then eventually ( later, after the fact) come to a conclusion, which you hear about in the letter, as to how they have decided to proceed, and if you ask for money back ( I did), how much money they are deciding to give you. I had asked for my retainer back, a forensic examination of evidence ( since the e-mails were missing), and any and all punishments they see fit.

I begged my partner to come with me, but at the time, our relationship was on shakey ground, and he was distant on a good day. It was one of those relationships that got cancer, and slowly ( and painfully) died.

So nevertheless, I persisted.

I can’t recall how many attorneys were there, but I will tell you that it was incredibly intimidating to be surrounded by wealthy professionals with law degrees,facing someone actually psychotic enough to e-mail me proof of malicious intent to illegally withhold my retainer. Who e-mails that shit?!!!! I am still authentically perplexed at his choices. One of the attorneys was heading out of town, and was driving, and on speaker phone. During the first part of the trial, the call was lost. I am guessing they likely lost their signal. Nevertheless, the trial persisted, despite being down a bar professional.

He came to the table with the legal version of ,”my dog at my homework.” Mind blowing, yet clear to me how he imagined his behavior with me was appropriate thus far. Clearly, no one, possibly including his mother, had held this guy accountable. No motions were filed, no real evidence (that I can recall), and certainly no body of work insinuating that he had earned any of what he strived to keep. I really think he imagined this body of lawyers would allow him to keep it all with no evidence just… because. Because he was white, male, cis gender, and had a job that rolled with the fat cats who shot called. There was little cross examination, and I can’t imagine we were there for too terribly long, except for it felt like an eternity.

Trial court let out, and I went to see my boyfriend at the time, who was working at Murphys, the local punk/junkie/hipster/alternakid hang out at the time. I was shaking. He was on the patio with a cheerful, spritely 20 something ( we were in our 30’s), in a plaid fuchsia colored school girl skirt, cheap, Walmart combat boots with shitty cheap bottoms, batting eyelashes at him, full of giggles and glee, as I stood shaking so hard, I could barely hold the cigarette I begged him for.5’2”, 112 pound me, standing there 300 lbs. of intensity. On a punk bar patio on a weekday afternoon with carefree patrons, enjoying their drinks, bleary eyed. It was probably a blessing I drove downtown, because otherwise, I most definitely would have been alcoholic style day drunk after my nerves were frayed to the absolute bone. To this day, there are few, if anything I’ve done in my life that was as scary. I had just represented MYSELF against someone WITH A LAW DEGREE who was entirely sociopathic, and completely unhinged AND entitled ( the worst combination of them all!)Alone, and realizing how very alone I was.Together with someone whose vacancy sign was intermittent.

A year later, I got a letter in the mail saying that they came to the decision to give me half back. I mean…1k when you need it is a happy letter to receive. The news was received as very bittersweet. My boyfriend read me the letter while in the car, on his way to work. The cup was half full, but for no reason that I could establish, they also had determined that my cup deserved to also be half empty. One attorney argued that day that how dare I “waste his time.” And how tacky it was of me to cancel last minute. The letter also said that within 5-10 business days, I should be receiving my check from them.

Sure enough, I got it, and I even remember it being much earlier than they said it would arrive (much to my delight!)It came with a letter, mentioning that this money was conditional on me not going to the media with this. Sold.Dinner was on me for our whole family that night ( my boyfriend and I had blended family consisting of my daughter and his son.. whose mom was a previous relationship).Celebratory Big Bad Burgers indeed.

Some time passed ( months? another year?), and much to my surprise, I received another letter from the bar. I was puzzled, because … check cashed ( a very long time before I received this letter), and issue solved.

The letter said that they had sent this case to the state Supreme Court, and had made an error. The state Supreme Court had reviewed my case.MY case. THIS guy. They said that they decided to yank his license , and that he may never practice law in state again, and that my case was closed (probably noting the financial big time discrepancy in the amount of the check they cut me I would imagine), in hopes I would not push the issue?

My jaw was on the ground, but also… I guess it served him right for mistaking me as a doormat. So I punched the air in front of me and let out a “fffffuck yes, $#^ you $#^ .”

However, I was worried about retaliation. If someone could be that emboldened and that nuts, and that entitled…. should I be worried about my physical safety?

All of this happened in 2019-2020-ish. Maybe early 2021. Fast forward to October 2025. The political landscape has changed. There is an increasingly unhinged, arguably elected man in office, and sociologically things have really changed, especially in overtly, confidently right wing Idaho, where our governor campaigned on .. “men being …REAL MEN…” to be an Idaho man. Basically, peddling toxic masculinity as cheap for purchase.Ice agents were murdering fucking white people in broad daylight, and it was clear that Project 2025 wasn’t just a hazey alt right daydream, but something that threatened organizations, and unqualified government, were putting into practice and practical application.

I had just gotten hired at an assisted living facility, and as part of the process, had had a background check. Background checks were something I was familiar with, as I had worked several previous jobs wherein they were needed, as I was dealing with people’s “PII” (private info.) Never had there been a problem, because (somehow) I’ve managed to stay out of trouble.

I sat in the office, filling out my first big day paperwork. The HR person brought up something that had been flagged. Under Homeland Security was something. I was born in the U.S., lived in that state for most of my life, and was 75% Scandinavian, and 10%English/ Irish. The rest was a super weird smattering of middle eastern nations. I was not only alarmed, but completely confused.

That flagging by Homeland Security was a juvenille misdemeanor from when I was 16 for (quite literally) taking a sip of alcohol on school property that was supposed to have fallen off of my record upon turning 18, due to having chosen youth court ( a court system where kids are the attorneys and prosecute and defend other kids for misdemanor trials.I was aware of this existing because I was usually on the other side, and was lawyer.) The whole thing was completely haneous. Someone brought a water bottle of mixed beverages to school, told me it was delicious, said ,” here try this! It’s so good!” “ Yeah, it is!” I said. I spent countless hours doing community service, scraping dog piss off the animal shelter poles in winter time, my hands red and burning, community service raking leaves at a retirement home, and alcoholics anonymous classes for juvenille delinquent kids. We had to talk about how young we were when we,”started drinking”, as though I went home and downed a six pack everyday. The judge in that case was in agreeance that that sentencing was highly inappropriate, given the offense. It’s not like I was shit canned wandering the halls, getting other kids totally shit canned.

So the next day when I came into work, I explained that to her, as she typed away with her confederate flag ring. I thought it was from the time someone stole my social security number, but that’s a different story for a different day. Perhaps I’ll write a chapter on it in the future, but for now, let’s come back to the assisted living facility office. She comforted me in saying that when she was young, she had gotten in trouble for a drinking and driving offense. I thought it kind she was reassuring me.

After that job had ended ( a different chapter that will most definitely be a chapter), I called the county courthouse to see if perhaps there was an error, and it just never cleared my record for some reason, although I know that’s not true, due to the fact I’d had mulitple background checks previously. The clerk was….chaotic. Disheveled in demeanor. Very odd.I’d never encountered that sort of personality type (easily frazzled) in a court house records setting, and said ,” it has nothing to do with the state Supreme Court.” Completely confused, I said ,” excuse me? What does the state Supreme Court have to do with this?”

“I didn’t say that.” Said the clerk.

“I will not be gaslit, thanks,” I said, and told her I would try calling the county the said juvenille alcohol sip took place in, and hung up on her. so I called my homeown county courthouse,where the clerk, indeed, confirmed it had been removed from my record, and additionally, sent me those documents confirming such.

Much to my surprise, the next day, I got a phone call from the county clerk in my current city (wherein the Homeland Security questions arose).Yes, that’s right, the clerk who I hung up on, and who brought up the state Supreme Court out of nowhere, saying that that offense had been removed from my record. I told her I had contacted the county courthouse, in which the offense happened in , and had confirmed, and had documentation of such.

How did she get my phone number?Why did she bring up the state Supreme Court, and I never said it had anything to do with them, and why did she gaslight, and why would you call someone back that hung up on you that you exchanged harsh words with, calling you out on gaslighting? This was not only terrifying, but raised a lot of questions, all seeming to point to my 6 years of horrific, terrifying events being possible collusion of several different corporations, people in power, and government entities if I am right.