Why does Denny get himself drunk and say that neglectful fathers don't get custody of their little girls?

In the story, Denny makes the comment that 'rapists don't get custody of their little girls' after he is charged with the third degree rape of a minor. The supposed victim is fifteen year old Annika, the sister of one of Eve's relatives. Eve is, of course, Denny's deceased wife.

With the custody battle for his six year old daughter, Zoe, looming large on the horizon and the false rape accusation by Annika in play,...

In the story, Denny makes the comment that 'rapists don't get custody of their little girls' after he is charged with the third degree rape of a minor. The supposed victim is fifteen year old Annika, the sister of one of Eve's relatives. Eve is, of course, Denny's deceased wife.

With the custody battle for his six year old daughter, Zoe, looming large on the horizon and the false rape accusation by Annika in play, Denny finds himself in a deplorable situation. Although he did not rape Annika, the young teenager is determined to make his life miserable because he rejected her sexual advances. Although Denny's attorney, Mark Fein, thinks the false rape accusation is a ploy by Trish and Maxwell (Eve's parents) to win custody of little Zoe, Denny is committed to fight for his daughter.

Meanwhile, Maxwell tells Trish that he is determined to exploit Denny's fragile situation to their advantage in custody proceedings. So, at this point in Denny's life, everything seems to be conspiring against him. He knows without a shadow of a doubt that rape is a felony and that no felons will ever be given custody of innocent little girls in a court of law. Although Denny tries to stay calm, the text tells us what Enzo notices about his owner: Denny is stressed out and depressed. This is possibly the reason that Denny gets drunk and says what he does.

At a moment of weakness, Denny gives in to his despair. However, we later learn from Enzo that Denny does put away the liquor. With the love of his daughter and the memory of his wife buoying him, Denny decides to fight to win custody of Zoe despite his seemingly hopeless situation.

"No race has ever been won in the first corner," he said. "But plenty of races have been lost there."... "That's right," he said to me. "If we're going to be a cliche, let's be a positive cliche."Yes, the race is long- to finish first, first you must finish.