This week, I'm going to focus on some people who were major contributors to the downfall of the relationship between me and Kelz. I acknowledge that the actual problem was Kelz, and that things were going to go south without their involvement. However, the men I will write about this week all played crucial roles.
A couple of weeks after Kelz and I had reconciled and appeared to be on the right track, I was awakened from my slumber by the sounds of people talking in the living room. This was after 11pm. Kelz was not in bed with me. I went out and saw three men sitting down and talking to Kelz. One looked like a homeless Vietnam vet I will refer to as "Wod." Another was a younger Hispanic man I will call "Twod." The third man was someone I only saw that one time. I looked at the three of them. Wod looked at me and said, "We're just visiting. You got a problem with that?" I said no and went back to the bedroom. I just didn't know what to make of the situation.
I wasn't going to make a big deal about it because I didn't expect them to hang around very long. I just stayed in the bedroom and hoped they would leave soon. An hour later, I came to the realization that this was not going to be a short visit and Kelz was not going to do anything to make them leave. I also recalled that one of them appeared to be smoking. If I had thought about it at the time, I could have stood my ground and said that yes, I had a problem because one of them was smoking around the baby. At any rate, I knew I wasn't going to be able to get any sleep until they left.
I couldn't hear much of the conversation, but around 2am, I could tell that they were leaving. I went out into the living room. Twod and the other guy were heading out the door, but Wod was starting to lay down on the spare bed we had in the living room. Okay, I was going to stand my ground this time. I told him he couldn't sleep at the apartment. He refused to budge. I told him I could drive him where he needed to go, but he needed to leave. Kelz told him to go ahead and let me drive him somewhere. He put up a fit, but I was able to get him into the car and drove him just a few blocks away.
When I came back home, Kelz was sleeping in bed. I laid down, but I still couldn't get any sleep. However, I never asked Kelz what was going on. I figured she wasn't going to tell me anyway. I just hoped that I wouldn't see him again.
Those hopes were dashed a few days later when he came by the apartment looking for her. She went outside and talked to him for awhile out in the common area of the apartment building. She came back in before our regular bedtime. I had a problem with this, but I tried hard not to let it get to me.
On May 11th, 1997, Mother's Day, I had gotten Kelz a card and some flowers to celebrate. Since it was Sunday, it was my day to take care of Sasd. Wod came over in the afternoon. He had brought some alcohol. He and Kelz went into the bedroom. She kept the door open, but I could hear them getting drunk over the next two hours.
During this time, I was starting to get a grasp on what was going on. Wod was likely one of Kelz' former johns. Somehow, he had found out where she lived and came over that first night hoping she would show him and his buddies a good time without having to pay for it. My presence kind of squashed those plans. When the good time wasn't forthcoming, he was hoping that if he was still there after I'd left for work, he'd still get that good time.
I know nothing sexual happened that Mother's Day, but it was rather clear that he was aiming for that. But she never got so drunk that she was going to let him have his way with her. After they ran out of alcohol, he decided to leave. He said he would come back later around 7pm and take her out to go do something.
I got mad at Kelz. I had planned for us to go out and do something special as a family, but there was no way we could do that in her condition. I told her I did not agree to take care of Sasd on Sundays so she could hang out with guys and get drunk like that. She said she didn't care. She was still going to go out with him when he came back. It wasn't really a good conversation to have when one party is drunk.
I'm certain that he was thinking that if he got her away from the apartment, Sasd and me, things would go as he had planned. However, 7pm came and went. So did 8pm and 9pm. I was relieved. I figured he had flaked, in a good way. However, the doorbell rang at 10pm. It was Wod. He called to Kelz, "Are you ready to go?" I said, "She's not going anywhere. It's after 10:00. We have to put Sasd to bed." He replied, "IT'S MOTHER'S DAY!" Kelz said, "I'll come out there, but we're not going anywhere." I put Sasd to bed and tried to get some sleep. I felt like it was the early part of our relationship all over again.
An hour later, I heard Kelz come back in and make the distinct noise of tearing a piece of aluminum foil off the roll. I was ready to end this. I called Child Protective Services' 24-hour hotline. I told them what was going on and that drugs were likely involved, but they said they couldn't do anything. I didn't know what to do. Kelz came back in an hour later and came to bed. I had another sleepless night.
The next day at work, Kelz called me and yelled. She claimed that she had gotten a call from CPS telling her that I had reported her. This struck me as odd, because they're supposed to keep the reporting parties anonymous. I figured that she must have hit the redial button on my phone to find out who I'd been calling. I admitted to reporting her, but that they said they couldn't do anything. I told her I would talk to her later when I got home.
When I got home, we had a big fight. I told her I didn't want Wod to come around anymore. She said I couldn't keep her from hanging around with him. I told her I could hear her tearing the aluminum foil and that I knew what it was for. She claimed that Wod was the only one taking the drugs. I then went to the refrigerator, where there was a full bottle of some alcoholic beverage. "Okay, but I know you're doing this! You have to take care of your daughter. That means you can't be doing this anymore!" I opened the bottle and poured the entire contents down the drain. She didn't try to stop me. I could tell she was just getting madder and madder.
Did anything change? Well, yes they did. They got worse. WAY worse. More worse than you could imagine.
You won't have to imagine after tomorrow.
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