Trust in the LORD
with all your heart
and lean not on your own
understanding ~ Proverbs 3:5
I had been working at the hospital in Colorado for a couple of years when it comes time to upgrade our hospital wide computer system. It is a huge undertaking and this is the season that 17 (yes 17) of my 153 employees decide to have babies! It must have been a long cold winter...... or these 17 would do anything to avoid putting in all the work it takes to complete a total system conversion! Either way, it was well played on their part. We hire 3 consultants to come in and help us through this upgrade and baby boom.
One of these consultants, let's call her consultant #3, happens to get engaged to #1 stepson. There is a very strong nepotism policy and because I am a rule follower I inform my boss that they plan to marry. This is April and they plan to marry in October. The upgrade will not be completed until mid to late December and I still have several more employees that will be having babies. My boss and I have many discussions about timelines, upgrade, vacancies and end of year tasks. He decides that she can continue to work until December 31 and then she must find another job. This sounds more than fair to me.
You should know that these consultants were all making a very hefty salary plus had their living expenses paid and a travel budget. They were paid under a 1099 status and were responsible for their own taxes.
#1 stepson has never held a job for more than 2 pay-periods in his life, even to this day. He either gets aggravated at something/someone and quits or he pulls something stupid and is fired. He couldn't hold a job, but loved to spend money. Up until consultant #3, he was good at buying things for a cheap price and turning around and selling them for a huge profit. To be honest, this always amazed me. He could buy a 4 wheeler for $400 and without doing a thing to it, turn around and sell it the same day for $4000. I'm not kidding. Over and over and over he did this type of thing. After consultant #3 started giving him access to her weekly paychecks he no longer had to put any effort into having money to spend. She would get paid on Friday and by Monday if we asked them to go out to dinner they would decline because they had no money. Just a reminder, she had zero living expenses come out of her checks, so he was literally plowing through her entire check in less than 72 hours.
I watched this cycle of her giving him complete reign over her money for a couple of weeks and finally had to say something. She was literally giving him every penny and he was spending it as fast as he could. She was not making her income tax payments and I knew she was headed for trouble. After our talk, she decides to give me a portion of her check to cover her taxes prior to putting the rest in the bank where #1 stepson had complete access and control. Together we put this in a lockbox and once a quarter we were to make a tax payment. May, June, July, August every week she makes a deposit to the lockbox. July we pay her tax bill. Now September rolls around and the wedding is getting close. Consultant #3 does not have any help from family to fund her wedding expenses. #1 stepson does not see the importance of a formal wedding and continues to spend all the money each week on what he pleases. Consultant #3 really desires to have a pretty dress, flowers, a cake and so on for the wedding. She comes to me and says she wants to take some of the money out of the lockbox to pay for the wedding. She convinces herself that she will be able to cover the remaining amount due in October. It is her money; I can give her advice, but she doesn't have to listen. She did not head my advice.
Flash forward to February 23, 2011.....
Consultant #3 still has not found a new job. Not because she couldn't, but because she didn't. A letter arrives in the mailbox from the IRS stating she is 2 quarters behind on her taxes. #1 stepson gets letter, consultant #3 has never told him she took tax money and paid for wedding expenses. Consultant #3 also told #1 stepson that because the hospital wasn't able to finish out her original contract due to the marriage and the nepotism rules, they were going to go ahead and pay a portion of her tax bill in lieu of paying out her contract and she doesn't have any idea why this hasn't happened. None of which is true. Now, I will say consultant #3 was a sweet girl and was probably just trying to buy some time to figure everything out. I feel in my heart of hearts that she never dreamed things would get so out of hand. She knew his temper and she was afraid.
#1 stepson is furious with me because he states if I didn't have such a big mouth "No one would ever know we (#1 stepson and consultant #3) were married. She didn't have to change her name and she could still be working. You (talking about me) love your job more than your family. This is all your fault......"
The papers I signed on this dreadful day were directly related to these things. The havoc caused in other areas of the hospital were #1 stepson demanding a check be written to consultant #3 for these things.
Flash forward again to November 2011......
My sweet daddy and I have made the long trek from Texas to Colorado. It is 3:40 a.m. on November 28th. I exit the warmth and comfort of my daddy's car. With tears running out of my eyes and down my cheeks so fast they are literally pooling in the indention of my collar bone, I dial the number to the sheriff's office. I proceed to tell the deputy on the other end of the phone "I am here to turn myself in. I have been told there is a warrant for my arrest and I needed to be here by 4:00." I don't even have the words to explain how I felt as the big metal doors opened and the officer met me in the parking lot to place handcuffs on me.
Never, ever, ever ....... ever would I have thought I would be sitting in a wobbly plastic chair with my hands cuffed together answering questions about my identity and being read my rights. Surreal.
After all the questions are answered and the paperwork is completed, I am told to go into a room where they will take my clothes (including ALL of my undergarments) and in exchange I will be given a black and white striped jumpsuit to put on. I do as I am told. I stop at a desk for them to take my picture, a picture that will be front page news the next morning. A picture that will be on news stations. A picture that is not facebook worthy. After my photo shoot I am led into a very small cold room with a bench, a stainless steal toilet with no seat, a tiny sink and a phone with no receiver. With the loudest echoing thud I have ever heard the heavy door with a small window and a horizontal slot shuts behind me. I am all alone. I still don't know exactly what my charges are or how I am going to get out of there.
At 6:00 a.m. a tray is slid through the slot with an apple, some toast and a rubber cup. The lady on the other side of the door asks "Tea or koolaid?" I respond with "Koolaid please." The lady says "Hold your cup through the slot and I will fill it up." I do and she does as promised and without another word walks away.
Every so often a man walks by, looks at me through the small window and walks away. After several trips I finally get the nerve to ask him what was going to happen to me. He told me I needed a bail bond's man and an attorney and that I would see a judge at 1:00. I asked how I went about getting the bail bond's man and he chuckled and said "Well, you call one." He leaves and comes back with a list of bail bond companies. Without instructions on how to use this phone on the wall with no receiver, I finally figure out how to call a bond's man. He is kind and not at all what I expected. He asked if I had an attorney and I tell him I have a divorce attorney. He states "That's a start." I give him my attorney's name and my daddy's cell phone number. He assures me that everything is going to be okay. He tells me to call him back in about an hour and he will hopefully be with my daddy and I can talk to him for a second.
The longest hour of my life to date passes (I am calculating by the number of times the deputy walks by and looks
in my window, I have decided he is coming every 15 minutes or so) and I call the bond's man. My daddy is with him. Thank you Jesus! Thank you!
The quivering in my daddy's voice as he says "Hang in there baby girl, we are going to get you out of there. I love you." was almost more than I could handle. I had been brave and strong and full of faith since the moment I got the call from the detective. Those kind, heart felt, bottom lip quivering words undid me. To this day, as I type them and remember them so vividly tears are again running down my face.
Just as I hung up the phone and collapsed on the floor heaving heavily in sorrow and distress, but so thankful to be loved and cared for there is a tap on the window. I force my eyes up and see a man standing there. He motions for me to come over. It is the detective. As he speaks to me, he has the same compassionate voice he had at the end of our call almost a week before. He explains to me that he doesn't know if I did the things I was accused of or not. He states he wants to speak on my behalf at the arraignment regarding my bail. He tells me he is the fact gatherer and the DA makes the decisions on charges to be filed or not to be filed. His talk is strangely comforting to me.
A few minutes before 1:00 I am shackled at my wrists and at my ankles and escorted down a long dingy green hallway into the courtroom. I'm a few down on the docket, so I listen as the magistrate reads off other inmate's counts and decisions are made. I am a complete nervous wreck. My name is called, I am asked to stand. I obey. Six counts are read against me. Six horrible counts. I am asked, do you understand what you are being charged with? I say yes, but I honestly don't understand them at all. Not at all. Even if she had read them again, I still wouldn't understand, so yes is the best answer. She says my bail is $100,000! I almost fainted. Seriously, knees buckled, room spinning, I can't hear anything, I need to throw up almost fainted. At this point the detective stood up and asked permission to address the court. Permission was granted and he stated that he felt like I should be released on a personal recognizance bond. He stated that he called me and I did just as I was told. He stated I could have stayed in Texas and they would have had to hunt me down and bring me back, but I came just as he had asked. I could have ran, but I didn't. The DA said no and the magistrate agreed. $100,000 bail and I will need permission to leave the state of Colorado to return home........gavel slammed, end of story.
I told you it wasn't my best photo shoot.....and just for the record.....Not my worst day.
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