He Takes All The Credit

Monday, July 20, 2009

Dick came home from work late this afternoon and told me he needed to talk to me. He had a shifty look in his eye and a cool, calculated demeanor. I knew more trouble was brewing. Very calmly and with great pleasure, he said, "Because I'm such a nice guy I'm telling you that I cancelled the credit card today and took one out in my name only. I don't want you to get embarrassed by trying to charge something and finding out that you can't use the card."

Realizing that Dick was systematically cutting me off from all sources of money, the muscles in my jaw and neck immediately clenched down tightly, creating a choking sensation in my throat. Struggling to breathe, I just wished I would die quickly and be put out of my misery. I didn't feel I had the energy, desire or will to face the onslaught of nastiness that my sick, mean husband was looking forward to torturing me with as this divorce process progresses.

Somehow I looked at him with an emotionless gaze and said, "When did you become such an angry, bitter, hateful person?" He replied, "I'm a very kind person." I responded, "You are one of the few people who actually think so."

Fortunately, soon after this conversation, he took Marni to his mom's house for dinner. I then had the luxury of privately melting down. Totally panic stricken, I called my attorney to report this latest incident. He advised me to call the credit card company to verify that Dick actually took me off the card and wasn't just lying to intimidate me. Then he told me, "If he did cancel your card, get one in your name." "What?" I thought to myself. "I can actually do this?"

With my fingers quivering and heart roaring, I dialed the customer service number on the back of my credit card. The representative on the other end of the line confirmed that I was no longer able to use the card. "How is this possible, when both of our names are on the account?" I questioned. "Because the account is in your husband's name and he authorized you to use his card. Today, he requested to take you off and because the card is in his name, he has the right to do that," responded the voice coming from the phone. I wasn't sure if I heard this correctly, because the swooshing of the blood pulsating through my head along with the pounding that was thumping away in my chest was muffling what was being said to me. Somewhere in this stupor, I heard myself say, "Then I would like to get a card in my name." "No problem," was the reply. "Let me connect you with someone who can take care of that for you."

After being put on hold for an indefinite period of time, finally a gentleman came on the phone. After he asked me a number of questions, I was put on hold again. When he returned, he told me that I now have credit in my own name, explained the plan, credit limit, benefits of the card and that I should receive the card in the mail within 10 business days. Great... now I'll have credit but no cash to pay for anything!