(5/8) “I fought for my child. I really did. I talked to two...

(5/8) “I fought for my child. I really did. I talked to two different lawyers. The first one seemed excited about extorting Vicky’s family. ‘They’re going to pay a lot of money for you to sign away your rights,’ he told me. Fucking sleazebag. But the other lawyer was even more depressing: ‘You can spend $50,000,’ he said. ‘And you might still lose the case, never see your child, and still have to pay child support.’ At the time I was working at the deli. I couldn’t take the risk, so I said ‘fuck it.’ I punted on everything. I stopped chasing Vicky. I never spoke to Blanche again. These women had hurt me to the core of my being. Especially Blanche. She’d known me since I was a child. For years she’d been teaching me about karma, and love, and moral justice. Only to rip out my heart in the most sadistic way. How did any of it make sense?  But I did my best to move on with my life. I focused on my acting. I got promoted to manager at the deli. And several months later I’m working my shift, and we get a call from Mt. Sinai hospital. They want to order some sandwiches. A shit load of sandwiches. Apparently they have a big meeting every two weeks, with all the doctors, and they want us to cater the thing. Now remember, I’m not a delivery guy. I’m the manager. But this is such a big piece of business, I decide to make the first delivery myself. I’ve never even been to Mt. Sinai before. But I drive over there with the food. I introduce myself, shake a few hands, and say: ‘We are so grateful to have your business.’ It was 3 pm exactly. Why do I remember the exact time? Because that night Blanche got really drunk and called my mother. ‘I’ve got some news for you,’ she said. ‘Vicky gave birth to Brett’s daughter today at 3 pm. At Mt. Sinai hospital.’ So it turns out I was there when my daughter was born. I’ve got goosebumps on my arm just talking about it. But OK, OK, weirder things have happened. Maybe just a crazy coincidence. But when you think of everything that happened later, it’s like: ‘Holy fucking shit.’”