April 2004, Allen Richards was sitting in his apartment going over his daughter's wedding plans. His ex-wife and daughter along with a wedding planner had planned a very elaborate wedding. He followed the plan known as "Triple S" (sit down, shut-up and shell out). As a devoted father, he was happy to do it.
Allen grew up in rural South Carolina. He was the second youngest of seven, four older sisters, an older brother, and a younger sister. They had a traumatic childhood, having been raised by emotionally unstable parents. They all survived but come away scarred. He loved to stay in touch with his siblings, but as they grew older, they drifted apart. One of the side effects of his childhood was it was hard for him to get close to anyone.
1975, Right after he graduated high school, he joined the Air Force as a firefighter. His first assignment was 85 miles from his father's house, at Myrtle Beach AFB. After a couple of years, he got an assignment overseas to Japan. While there, he met and married Patricia M. Howell. She was the daughter of a senior NCO and a Japanese mother. The wedding was a civil ceremony held at the American Embassy in Tokyo. His wife got pregnant soon after. They were then stationed in England for 3 years and finally returned to the states. There, they had their last daughter. With 3 kids in 3 ½ years, his wife had her tubes tied.
Soon after the birth of their third daughter, Allen got out of the Air Force. He got a civil service job under temporary conditions, and, after a year, he got a job in Saudi Arabia. He returned to South Carolina in 1988 where his civil service job was waiting. He was able to be on permanent status. That allowed him to have benefits including a retirement that he could contribute to.
Upon his return to South Carolina, he had saved enough money to put a down payment on a 3-bedroom 2 bath house with a basement. He finished the basement and made it into a fourth bedroom and third bath.
His daughters were 6,5 and 3. Tatyka was the oldest, Jessica was next and finally Jennifer. As the girls got older, Pat went back to school to finish her degree in business. Upon graduation she got a job at a local bank. Allen worked 6 days out of 14, so he was able to spend a lot of time at home with the girls while Pat worked. Every other week he was off for 3 days in a row. He had an arrangement with his sister to pick the girls up after school on the days he worked. When his sister could not pick them up, he arranged for a neighbor to watch them.
As the girls got older, he got a second job delivering furniture. After a couple years he decided to go into the moving business. He initially hired a couple of guys and handled local moves. As his business grew, he hired more people and expanded his area. His daughters helped in the office when they reached their teens.
Pat advanced in her career using her linguistic skills. She was fluent in Japanese, French and English. As her career advanced, she spent less time at home. She never went to any school events.
Over the years, she seemed to be losing respect for her husband. He was a good man and a great father, but he appeared not to have any ambition. She knew he had a side business but thought it did not earn much money. He did not have a business account at her bank. She was unaware he was moving up and was now an Assistant Chief of Operations.
As the girls got older, they started to want to spend less time with their father and seemedto be getting closer to their mother even though she had little to do with them. After work, she would come home, take a bath, read and then go to bed. She even ate in the bedroom and started having "girls nights out."
As soon as the girls started withdrawing from Allen, his business was starting to take off. The girls had stopped working with him.
One day, Allen came home from work starting his 3-day break. Pat was at home, which was very unusual, but the girls were not.
Pat: "Allen sit down I have a lot to tell you. I have filed for divorce on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. I have already seen a lawyer. I am asking for half of your salary and retirement, plus, the house until the girls graduate college or get married. They will be living with me. I also need a copy of what is in your Thrift Saving Plan as of today's date. You will be required to vacate the premises immediately. That's about it. I did love you once, maybe you can find someone else."
With that she left to go to work.
