The Dilemma of the Lion

Howdy peeps and peepettes.

So, here's the scoop as of late. I have daddy-drama once again. If you want to hear my sap story about my father, you can read it here. If not, just sit, relax, and listen to me bitch. That's "listen to me bitch", not "listen to me, bitch".

Back in April-ish, I stopped my child support payments from him. My mom was getting hit (hard) by claiming the support, even though I was receiving the money (because Canada is just so efficient that way). Here is an excerpt of an email he wrote at one point, months ago, in terms of what money he would donate to me rather than the child support:

"...the ball is
therefore in your court to tell the judge that the child support is no
longer needed and that you have sufficient funding for university. That is
the reason I have never gone back to court to have the order ended. Most
orders end when the child turns 18. If you have the order ended then money
can still be available to you for tuition. I would like a receipt for the
tuition that I would pay and get a tax deduction. This would allow me to
continue to support your education without changing my budget drastically."

So I, of course, assumed that he was paying for my tuition, which would cost approximately half of what he had been paying in child support per year. I thought "yes, of course that's fair" and went along my merry way.

About a month ago, I realized I hadn't talked to him about it since I received that email in late March and thought I should give him a call to make sure he is still paying my tuition. He isn't exactly a model moral citizen, so my mom and I both could see him turning around and saying "screw you", leaving me with no money. Normally, I could fall back on a student loan co-signed with my grandpa, but since my grandpa is still very sick, I have to work through the year, and have Paul pay for my tuition.

I've called him at least ten times in the last month, trying desperately to get a hold of him and make sure he is still paying. I continuously get my step-mother, a judgmental bore of a woman, who talks to me about illness and religion and how my youngest brother is a "good boy", over and over. I leave my number numerous times, but of course, I get no call.

Today, I finally get him when he's home; not that I want to talk to him, but I have to, so here it comes. He comes on the phone and speaks in a sullen tone.

"Hello Mr. McDonald. What can I do for you?"
"Hi. You're a very hard person to get a hold of!"
"Well, I work." (Gasp! Really!?)
"Ah, yeah. I've noticed. How is that treating you?"
"Tiring. You?"
"Yeah, tiring too. I know the feeling."
*laughs* "Yeah." (The laugh and the "yeah" were more like "Yeah, right. Like you could ever know my kind of tired.) "Anyway, what did you want?"
"Well, I've been trying to get a hold of you because my tuition is due next week and I wanted to make sure you're still paying it."
"I never said I was paying your tuition." (Oh lord.)
"Oh. Well I thought (knew) you had said that in an email a while back."
"No. I had said I would put money towards your education."
"Oh." (Well what the hell do I say now?)
*sigh* "How much is this going to cost me?"
"Well.." *insert numbers.. bla bla*
"Great. More debt for me."

This continues for quite some time. Him bitching and moaning about something he clearly promised months earlier, and me staying perfectly calm, telling him facts. I felt like a lion tamer. Keeping my strength and confidence but not making sudden moves, for fear the lion would pounce and rip my tuition money to shreds, leaving me helpless to die.

In the end he sort-of agreed, and I'm emailing him a bill in a couple days when my courses are all confirmed. I called my mom after and she was furious, saying I had more patience than her. She basically wanted to go over to his house and give him a piece of her mind, but of course, she didn't.

Anyway, I guess that's resolved. If he doesn't pay it, I can't go to school, so that should be a fun chat to have at Christmas dinner. "So everyone, did you know my dad wouldn't pay half the money he had been paying in child support to go towards my tuition? Did you know I was pulling off a 3.3 GPA and was in an honours program? Did you know the most Christian of all of you is actually a neglecting, disgusting human being? You didn't? Well, my oh my! Grab some more stuffing and let's talk turkey!"

--Jam