The Ex-Wife by Candice Dow Page A

to pick him up. Don’t bother.”
    “Who is the someone?”
    “Don’t worry. It’s not you.”
    “Yasmin, don’t play with me.”
    “Cam, I have to go.”
    I hung up the phone and I knew he’d be wondering where Caron was but I wasn’t going to give him the pleasure. I wanted him
     to be stressed and worried the same way I was about the divorce. I’m tired of being mistreated. It is time for Cameron to
     get a taste of his own medicine.
    Just as I expected, he showed up at Caron’s school only to discover Caron wasn’t there. He called me, yelling in my ear, “Where
     the fuck is my son?”
    “Inquiring minds want to know.”
    “Yasmin, don’t fuck with me.”
    His voice was filled with anger. Cameron’s coolness was blown, so I knew I’d gotten under his skin. It felt good that he was
     hurting. I kept seeing the grin on his face as he walked out of the courtroom and I had no sympathy for him just as he had
     no sympathy for me. I didn’t care if he or his family ever saw Caron again.
    I hung up the phone and stared out the front window, waiting for him to come. Close to an hour passed and it became obvious
     he wasn’t going to show up. I called my girlfriend and told her the coast was clear for her to bring Caron to the shop. Cameron
     didn’t call later and he didn’t call the next day either. It was his weekend to keep Caron and when I didn’t hear from him,
     I figured I’d give him a call.
    The phone rang and rang and I was furious. Although I had no plans to go anywhere, I was pissed that he was acting like he
     no longer cared for me or our son. My head started pounding and I felt betrayed. I hated Cameron for this. When I picked Caron
     up later that evening, his first question was, “Why didn’t Daddy get me?”
    “Daddy don’t care about us anymore.”
    I thought Caron would ask more questions, but instead he hung his head low and water filled his eyes. I almost wanted to take
     back what I’d said, but I didn’t. If his father didn’t plan on being a part of his life, it was best for him to know the truth
     now.
    Caron and I went to visit one of my girlfriends and her kids. When we pulled up, Caron said, “I hate coming here. My dad and
     I always do something fun.”
    “What would you like to do?”
    “We go bowling or something.”
    I felt bad because I hadn’t planned anything. I had hoped that Cam would fight a little harder to see his son. He obviously
     had better plans. As I sat in front of my girlfriend’s house, I realized that all I was going in there to talk about was how
     men are no damn good. I was already angry and I didn’t need any more ammunition to go knock down Cameron’s door.
    That’s what he expected of me, but that’s not what I was going to do. I wanted him to realize that he wanted to be with me.
     I was tired of chasing him. I told Caron to call him and leave a sweet message. Caron called and said, “Hey, Dad, I thought
     we were chilling this weekend. Call me back.”
    Seconds later my phone rang and it was Cameron. Well, he was skilled in ignoring me, but it was really hard for him to ignore
     Caron. He had such a big heart for his son. Where was his compassion for me? I wanted to cry. When I picked up, I said, “Hi,
     Cameron.”
    “Hey, Yasmin. How are you?”
    “I’m good. So I take it you’re not picking up Caron this weekend.”
    “Well, if you knew how to communicate like you were older than a teenager, maybe we could have discussed what my plans were
     for the weekend.”
    Whenever he doubted my ability to communicate, that took me to the next level, where I wanted to slash tires, bust windows,
     and do harm to him and anyone else who cared about him. I took ten deep breaths before responding.
    “What are your plans?”
    “We need to swap weekends. I want to get him next weekend instead of this weekend. I have a few meetings.”
    “Where are you? It doesn’t sound like you’re at a meeting.”
    “Yasmin, I’m not at a