UPDATE!
Update! There was a silver lining.
The XABF showed up. He never came through on practicing. He never got me the photo of the little girl for whom we were collecting tips. The family for whom we were raising the money never showed or contacted me. I gave him the $ to pass along, no idea if it will ever reach its destination. He did a passable job, but also brought along his new A girlfriend. It was an uncomfortable four hours to say the least.
The silver lining? His daughter showed up part-way through. She's 19 and I was going to be her stepmom. (Met her when she was 12.) She helped me with some face painting. At the end, she lingered when everyone had left and invited me to dinner.
She talked about her relationship with her dad, and how she was tired of him demonizing me periodically and telling her I'm nuts. She said she wants to learn how to face paint professionally; she misses me; and doesn't want to ever lose contact with me again. She said she attended the event because she hadn't seen me for a while, and she knew her dad would be sober to do the event. (Otherwise, she doesn't visit him because she hates it when he's drunk, which is most of the time at home.)
I bid her dad farewell yesterday, knowing that it's unlikely I'll see him again, or if I do, it will be brief and rare.
Making contact with my almost-daughter was a rare and precious moment. I'm glad that she's back in my life and she's thrilled too. She said she's old enough to choose her own friends now, and she chooses to have me as a close one.
Overall, despite it being a tough afternoon, it was a WIN in the end!!!