Same responsible party.
Me.
Nobody ever asked.
Monday after the dinner, I was up at four as usual.
Hospitals still need clean linen when your marriage is ending.
By 4:40, I was counting carts.
Later, sitting in the truck with a sandwich, I thought about four monthly payments leaving my personal account.
Willadine’s condo.
$800.
Rolene’s insurance.
$190.
Marcel’s tuition.
$1,167 monthly.
And $240 for a storage unit containing Buffford’s late father’s tools.
I had paid that storage bill since 2013 because Buffford could never bring himself to sort through the unit.
That night, I opened my banking app.
I didn’t cancel anything.
Not yet.
I slept on it.
Worked another full day.
Then Tuesday evening at 7:40, I canceled all four.
The app asked twice each time.
Are you sure?
Yes.
Are you sure?
Yes.
Then I wrote one letter to Seaggraves Academy.
I explained that I was withdrawing my financial responsibility for Marcel’s account after the September payment already made and that future billing should go to his mother.
Certified mail cost me $6.85.
That was it.
No announcement.
No family group text.
No revenge speech.
Two days later, Rolene’s phone rang at the veterinary office where she worked.
The school told her the remaining annual balance was now her responsibility.