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April 27, 2006-10:27 p.m. I am sometimes amazed at my own na�vet�. Nearly two years ago, thinking I was helping a good friend out in his time of need, I got married. This worked out well for both of us until that fateful day last September when our Sa was revealed to be a money-grubbing bitch from hell, if you believe Larry�s version. During this argument, I told Larry to file his own income taxes and I would file mine, still thinking he would turn the money over to me as we had previously agreed. My intention in telling him to file his own taxes was so that he would know exactly how much (or how little) money he was giving me. Without the income tax refund, there would really be no incentive for me to continue to carry him on my insurance in my mind. Sure, I was in his will and would get �everything� when he died but I wasn�t really interested in inheriting a house he had paid $20,000 too much for in an iffy suburb of Dallas and I don�t have room for or need for a big screen TV. I had told him I didn�t want that stuff before he changed the will from his sister (who actually wants the shit) inheriting everything. I probably should have recognized then that things weren�t going to turn out well. Fast Forward to January when I discovered in trying to do my taxes that I couldn�t take off my student loan interest if I filed as married filing seperately. I sent Larry an email stating this and that I wanted to file jointly so I could take that deduction. He sent me his W2 and property tax form and thanked me for doing this for him which should have raised my suspicions but somehow didn�t. I remarked to friends about how smoothly things had gone and maybe that was an indication of new civility in our now strictly business relationship. He never mentioned in any of these communications that he was expecting money back or that I should notify him when the refund came or anything, really, that would indicate to me that he wanted a cut of the refund. When I got the refund, I used it to pay extra on some bills and for new ducting to replace the snake-laden, 20 year-old, holey old ducting�still thinking everything was okay. I should probably note here that about the end of October, around my birthday, Larry began to deposit $70 every 2 weeks instead of the previous $50 every 2 weeks without explanation. At first, I thought it was a birthday present or something but it continued. I never said anything about it to him. I just assumed he�d grown a heart or something, besides I still felt I was owed an apology. I also knew that if the situation were reversed, he wouldn�t feel compelled to contact me. After all, his daughter had sent him a text message saying, �Hey Dad, I got a new phone� and he didn�t respond because he felt like she should call him and tell him her new phone number even though he could check where the text came from and it would give him the new phone number. About the first of March when I hadn�t noticed any deposits from Larry for his insurance, I emailed him. He maintained he was current. I maintained that he was not. He told me that I should apply the extra money he had been giving from November until now and I would see that he was not behind on his payments and to let him know how much his half of the income tax return was. This was the first mention of him getting money back---over a month after he sent me his W2. I replied to him saying I wish I had known he was paying ahead and that he was expecting half of the income tax refund. I told him that I had already spent the refund on the new ducting. I went on to say:
I have kept my part of the bargain by continuing to provide you with health insurance, even though we are no longer friends, and I expect you to keep your part of it as well. Otherwise, we can divorce and you will once again be in the predicament of trying to find health care coverage. Maybe *insert name of his employer* will step up to the plate and do what's right this time but I wouldn't want to gamble my life on it if I were you. I know. It was a bit harsh. Okay, that was an understatement. Did I tell you I was really, really mad? He responded first with this:
We both have miss understood. and then: Sarah I didn�t even bother to respond to that. Although, my friends and I have gotten a lot of mileage out of �Are friendship you blow.� He hasn�t paid me for his insurance since February 14. I don�t feel like I should be obligated to carry him on insurance but I can�t drop him until the first of next year or until we are divorced. I�ve checked online and I can prepare my own divorce papers for $60 but then it will cost me $195.25 just to file. I�m already out $220 for the insurance he hasn�t paid me for so in the end, I�d probably be saving money. We have a per-nuptial agreement so that should make things a little easier. I really hate that it�s ending up like this. I especially hate that I never saw it coming. Maybe Larry was right in September when he said, �I feel that your meds need adjusting�
**Disclaimer: All characters in this diary are fictional. Any resemblance to actual people living or dead, real or imagined, is purely coincidental and unintentional.** |
