Where was I? Oh yeah, I woke at 6:30 with a crick in my neck and a whopping headache. I texted my boss to see if my paycheck was coming and she said she was working on it and had some money she could give me. My wife's paycheck had not come in. I needed the money, so, I drove to work to meet with her. She gave me a gift card and I headed back to the friend's house to pick up the girls.
I decided to take the girls swimming to help destress them a little. We ran out of time and had to get to visitation with April at the looney bin.(don't mean offense, just what it was always called where I grew up.)
The first visit was emotional. April was very tired and withdrawn. I told her that I would support her and be with her til she gets better. I figured she was a cleptomaniac and she needed help. The girls were happy to see her alive and it was over all a positive meeting.
The next punch came in the parking lot after the visit. April's oldest daughter told me that April had taught her to shoplift at age 12. My knees buckled and I got light-headed and I don't know how I kept my feet, I just did. She got caught when she was 16 and swears she hasn't stolen since, and I believe her. She absorbed a lot of values from me and she makes me proud.
I felt my heart let April go on hearing that news. I gets worse.
The next morning, I went to the friend's house to pick up some things. I sat and had coffee with her and we talked. She told me what April was being charged with, but, she had it wrong. She also told me that April's second oldest had been instructed in the art at 12 as well, but, the friend had put a stop to it when she moved in. She is 16 and does pretty good in school and is glad she doesn't steal, she said it was too much stress anyway.
The second visit was not as emotional. I wanted information, and I wanted the truth. She was more animated this time and told me that she began stealing when she was six. She stole because it was challenging and she wanted to see how big a thing she could get away with. She told me she once stole a two tier birthday cake from a grocery store. She just picked it up and left, she told me. She also told me that she took a whole brisket! Those cost like $75! How do you steal a whole brisket?! I noticed that she was kind of proud of these evil doings and it shook me. She talked of using her kleptomania as a defense for he impending trial. I couldn't believe my ears. She asked many times if I had found housing for us.
I sold a tiny amount of Bitcoin to keep us afloat, sigh. Today was the worst. I took the girls to picnic at the park before our visit. We got there and went into the conference room to wait for April. When she walked in, she was happy and cocky. I miss the reason why, because, what she told me was that her doctor said that she wasn't a kleptomaniac, she steals for the thrill. For pleasure. This means no insanity plea. She pushed me on the housing again because " if we have a place, maybe I can do house arrest". She has no remorse whatsoever for anything that has transpired. She still blames me. She didn't hug me or tell me she loved me when we left.
The last nail came a little later after I had brought the second oldest back to the friend's house after her soccer bbq. I talked to the friend about the visit and she told me she had gotten the charges wrong. The charge besides grand theft is fraud/extortion of a disabled person by a person in trust. That comes with a 20 year maximum sentence. She has two of those charges. So between the theft and the other charges, she is looking at between 45 and 50 years in prison.
She has said again and again that she will die before she does any time.
I am staying at a friend's house, in their downstairs pool room for the next couple of weeks until my boss can replace me, then we are headed for sunnier pastures.
My youngest is devastated, the other one is pissed. One thinks we should stand by April and the other one wants to cut bait and head for more fertile waters. You can tell what I want from the tone of these articles.
I cannot in good conscience let this woman raise my children any longer. Everything I thought I knew about her was a lie. She is in my opinion a horrible human being and I hope they throw the book at her. She is a remorseless, narcissistic, psychopath. She would have cleaned up in Washington. Maybe they will recruit her.
Stay tuned to the hopefully less eventful exploits of the Townsend family, right here 
