“Where are you, Dad?”
“I’m here at McGuire’s Irish Pub with my buddies. “Is that Cam I hear bawling?”
“Yes. I can’t get him to stop.”
“Why is he crying?”
“I told him he can’t see Matt.”
“Why not?”
“As long as Matt’s seeing Melania, he can’t see Cam.”
“Gina, you can’t do that. It isn’t right.”
“Is it right that Matt’s divorcing me?”
“You’re punishing him for that?”
“I’m not punishing him.”
“Gina, let Matt see his son.”
“No, Dad.”
“Do it or I’ll tell him about you leaving Cam in a hot car.”
“You can’t.”
“Don’t make me.”
100 Words
This post is for the Friday’s Fictioneers hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. You can find this week’s prompt here. To read other stories or to participate, click here.
Notes to Women 
Very much a today’s story. Relatable to today’s society 😊
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Oof, that’s a nasty dispute, Great story.
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Yes, it is. Thanks, Mason.
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Not too nice…at all…
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There’s much truth in your story, particularly the way the daughter can’t take her father’s advice, and his resorting to emotional blackmail. Infidelity prompts so many negative emotions, and everybody gets sucked in. Good story, Adele.
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Yes, these things happen, unfortunately. Matt isn’t cheating on Gina but he is attracted to another woman and will most likely have a relationship with her once he is divorced. It’s a shame when a child is caught in the middle and a father has to resort to emotional blackmail to make his daughter do the right thing. Thanks, Penny. Am happy you liked the story.
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What a horrible-sounding family. I feel so sorry for the child.
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The child loves his father and wants to spend Christmas with him. I feel sorry that he’s caught in the middle. It’s a shame that his grandfather has to threaten his mother so that she is forced to do what is right for the child.
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You know, if someone threatened me that way, my connection with that person would end. No sh*t! I’m starting to see why the woman is the way she is. If only adults would grow up, children would have a decent chance for a trauma-free childhood 😦
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I agree with you. The father should have tried to persuade her to do the right thing instead of threatening her. Thankfully, the boy’s father’s family are a decent lot who want what’s best for him. Indeed, there are many adults out there who need to grow up.
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There’s an uncomfortable feeling of reality about this.
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I was hoping that the story would ring true and am pleased to hear that it does.
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Ah, the family blackmail saga so suffer the little children
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Yes, sadly, more often than not, the children are the ones who suffer in the end.
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One has to feel sorry for the child in such situations. Sadly, your tale seems very believable.
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Yes, one can’t help but feel sorry for the little boy who is caught in the middle. All he wants is to spend time with his father and his mother is denying him that. This tale is fiction but sadly, there are real stories like this one.
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Wow. Lots of dysfunction in that story. And the poor child will bear the brunt of most of it.
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Yes, sadly, the children are the most affected. All this boy wants is to spend time with his Dad which his mother is denying him out of spite towards her husband who has filed for a divorce. This is a sad reality for some people.
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Oh yes, McGuire’s Irish Pub (Dustin, FL). A fine place for Shepherd’s pie, a good stout, and to whine about lost love.
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Dear Adele,
They certainly put the D in Dysfunctional family, don’t they? Lots of emotional blackmail on all sides of the fence. Sad story that I’ve seen some of in my own family. 😦
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Rochelle,
Yes, they do. It’s truly sad to see this sort of thing and the poor children are the most affected. I’m sorry that you witnessed this in your own family.
Shalom,
Adele
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Them Irish pubs, I do love them, they are fully of stories, and I enjoyed yours
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I saw Rick Steves in an Irish pub on one of his shows. Was a very lively place with lots of beer flowing. I’m happy you enjoyed my story, Michael 🙂
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This story makes me angry on so many levels – which means you succeeded! There are too many stories in the real world like this one. Well done!
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It’s the kind of story that would get a rise out of you and it’s sad that there are so many true stories like it. Thanks, Dale.
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Truly.
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Oh, the evilness of divorce. I remember not seeing my dad for 2 whole years… Mom told me he was dead… then, I saw him working at the post office. I used to sneak down there after school just to see him. A few months later, he died. Mom made me flip the switch off on his life support. How damn cruel that was. Still haunts me.
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Yes, divorce can be a very messy business, especially for the children who suffer the most. Bear, I’m so sorry for what you went through. You had a right to see your father and shouldn’t have been told that he was dead. And then having to turn off his life support, how horrible that must have been for you. I can understand how you are still traumatized by this. It’s sad there are so many stories like yours and like this one out there. My heart breaks for the children.
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Forever, My Mom told people that I was the reason he died. I’ve learned a coldness about it, and an acceptance that it was “okay”… supported by doctors who explained his chart to me when I was old enough to comprehend.
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Did your mother tell people that you were the reason your father died because you were the one to switch off his life support, albeit forcibly?
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Yes. Up to the day she died in 2012… and Daddy died in 1979.
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Bear, I’m truly sorry to hear all that you’ve been through.
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As Poppa Bear (foster dad) said,”What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, except bears of course… Bears will kill you.” It was always a joke between us.
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Yes, all that you have been through has only made you stronger. Good for you, Bear 🙂
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Oy vey, poor Cam! 😦
Well written, my friend!
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Yes, poor Cam. Thanks, Na’ama 🙂
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The cast of adults around poor Cam … oy vey.
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Yes, poor Cam. However, things are going to look up for him soon.
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a poor child has to pay for their sins, strange
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Cam’s Dad isn’t cheating on his mother. The two are separated. Cam wants to be with his Dad but his mother is acting out of spite by keeping the two apart. It’s a terrible situation of the child.
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Dad must be disappointed Gina grew up to be so petty. At least he had something to “persuade” her to do the right thing. How terrible mothers (and fathers, but mostly mothers I hear about) would let their own children cry to hurt their fathers. Those kids often grow up to cut off contact with ol’ mom. It hurts Matt’s family too. Grandparents etc. are cut off from Cam. I know my brother divorced and when his daughter was four his ex went to court and proved he wasn’t the father all along. It crushed my parents because the woman didn’t let the little girl still see them, even though she thought they were grandma and grandpa. She was visiting one day, I was there, then without warning she never came back. Judge didn’t give my brother any visitation. He didn’t even bother to order to find out who her father was.
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It’s a sad state of affairs when a mother has to be blackmailed into the doing the right thing. These sorts of situations hurt families but especially, the children. Lisa, it broke my heart when I read about your your niece. That poor little girl. I can’t imagine the pain your brother and your parents must have felt because of his ex’s actions. All that time he believed that the girl was his but it turned out that she wasn’t. I have heard of biased judges who tend to rule in favor of the mothers and deny the fathers their rights. He should have done an order to find out who the child’s father is. Clearly, he wasn’t thinking about what was best for her. My heart goes out to your brother who loved and raised that little girl. There ought to be laws against these terrible things that parents do to each other and to their children.
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A sad reality that the child gets hurt the most in these sorts of situations. Well written dialogue.
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You’re right, Brenda. It is a sad reality that the child is the victim. Thanks 🙂
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