Deadbeat Dads Read Free

still didn’t work. No blinking green light. Johnny had complained about it for over a year.
    A few minutes later , I heard footsteps and looked at my watch. Five after six, right on schedule, Mr. Morris. I backed up on the landing and waited for the door to open. Johnny came out and looked as handsome as the day I married him.
    My heart did a little flutter. I still had feelings for him even after all he put me through. He sported an expensive new top coat and, as usual, his sandy brown hair looked perfectly styled. How dare he ignore his responsibility to his kids?
    “Well, Mr. Morris, we finally meet.” I stepped out of the shadows.
    “Erica, what are you doing here?” Johnny looked at his watch. “I can’t talk now, I have a dinner engagement.”
    “Oh you’re going to do more than talk, Johnny. You’re going to pay and pay now. And don’t give me that crap about your checkbook being at home. You probably carry enough cash on you to pay a year’s worth of child support.” I stepped in front of him.
    “Erica, don’t be ridiculous. I’ll send you a check first thing tomorrow morning.” He put his hands on my shoulders and pushed me aside.
    “No more false promises, Johnny. You’ve told me that too many times , and I’m not falling for it this time. I want money for your kids, and I want it now.”
    Johnny looked at me, tipped his head back, and laughed. “Or what, you’re going to throw me in jail? Get a life, Erica.”
    That did it! Anger welled up in me. Bitterness filled my mouth. I raised my hand to strike out at Johnny. He grabbed my hand midway.
    “That’s not a good idea.” He shoved me backwards and turned to leave.
    I’ve heard the saying saw red before, but never really knew what it meant until now. Vivid shades of red flashed in front of my eyes. Everything I saw had a red tint to it. I rubbed my wrist where Johnny had squeezed it. Tears stung my eyes. Try as I might, I couldn’t hold them back. That bastard was going to pay now. I was tired of him putting me off.
    “Johnny!” I screamed at him. He half turned to look at me, missed the step, fell forward and tumbled down the stairs. I stared at him lying at the bottom. His head turned to the side, blood oozed from his mouth. His eyes stared up at me. It didn’t look like he was breathing.  I rushed down the steps.
    Oh my God, what had I done?  I knelt next to him, felt for a pulse, nothing. “He’s dead.” My voice echoed in the stairwell. I leaned back on my knees, covered my mouth to squelch the scream rising in my throat. “Oh my God, oh my God, I’ve killed him.” My body trembled, but somehow I pulled myself to my feet and looked around the empty stairwell. I had to get out of here.
    I stepped over his body and looked around. Thank goodness, no one was around. I gathered up my purse, and raced down the steps to my car. I started it and squealed out of the garage, glad the attendant was gone. Tears blurred my eyes. Johnny was dead, and I killed him.  He was a rat, but he didn’t deserve to die.
    I pulled into Becky’s a few minutes later.
    “What’s wrong?”  Becky only had to take one look at me to see something was wrong.
    I didn’t even take off my coat. I sank in a chair, wishing it would swallow me. “I’ve done a horrible thing.”
    Becky poured each of us a cup of coffee and sat at the table next to me. “What happened?”
    I couldn’t hold back the t ears. They streamed down my face as I told my friend about Johnny. I still couldn’t believe he was dead. Couldn’t believe I had something to do with it. “I panicked. I ran.”
    “You have to call the police.” Becky rubbed my hand. “It’s okay, Erica, it was an accident, but you have to call the police. He fell, it wasn’t your fault.”
    “No, I can’t. How can I prove it was an accident? We were arguing. He laughed at me. Do you know how humiliating that is? He laughed at me. I shuddered and the anger returned. “That bastard laughed at me.