Chapter 5: $30,000

"Do you really have 30,000 in credit card debt?" I asked.

Snooping around for a couple of days had revealed a lot of things I didn't think I'd find. More condoms. Male erectile cream. And now this.

"That's from before."

"Before...when?" I asked.

"That's from before we were married."

"And you just kept it a secret all this time?" I was incredulous. We had been married over seven years.

Further investigation showed that the creditors were closing in and particularly so in recent months. You can only hold them off for so long before they start calling and threatening you.

It was clear my then-wife's world was imploding. Friends tried to convince her that divorce was the way out.

"You're going to pay my rent, child support, alimony plus or you don't need to see your kids ever again." I was told. She had added up something like $2,500 a month she was going to squeeze out of my local government salary. I got the impression this is what all the divorced women at Lowe's were telling her. One wonders what else she was told.

"I need $700."

"For what?" I asked.

"I have to make a payment. I'm on a payment plan for the credit cards and it is due this week."

My then-wife was in charge of the checkbook during our marriage. Now that we had separated, I controlled my bank accounts. Looking into the history of these accounts I learned that I had in effect been making payments to this debt for a long time.