Chapter 7 - Nothing Left
The truth came apart quickly after that.
My parents’ retirement account had once held nearly $310,000.
Now it held less than $18,000.
Their home equity line was almost maxed out.
Three credit cards carried balances totaling more than $46,000.
And over four years, Jason had received more than $170,000 from them.
Mom called it helping.
Dad called it investing in his son.
Jason called it temporary.
The bank records called it gone.
When Reed told me, I sat silently.
“So they knew he had a problem.”
“Yes.”
“And they still gave him access to my money.”
“It appears so.”
“Why?”
Reed looked at me.
“You may already know.”
I did.
Because I was the responsible one.
The one who always figured things out.
Jason could burn through money because everyone believed Laura would still be standing afterward.
Then Reed gave me worse news.
“Trevor Kane is a private bookmaker.”
I stared at him.
“Jason owes him money?”
“A lot.”
“How much?”
“We don’t know exactly.”
“More than thirty-eight thousand?”
“Yes.”
Suddenly the theft made sense.
Jason wasn’t starting a business.
He was drowning.
And my parents had decided to throw me into the water so he could climb onto my back.
That evening, Mom appeared outside my motel.
I don’t know how she found me.
She stood beside my car holding a grocery bag.
“I brought food.”
I didn’t open the door.
“Go home.”
“Laura, please.”
“No.”
She started crying.
Real tears.
For years, those tears had controlled me.
This time, they didn’t.
“We made mistakes.”
“You stole from me.”
“We were desperate.”
“So was Jason holding a gun?”
Her face changed.
“Don’t be cruel.”
“Cruel?”
I opened the door.
“You helped him use my identity.”
“He said the loan would save everything.”
“Everything meaning him.”
“He’s your brother.”
“And I’m your daughter.”
Mom went silent.
I stepped closer.
“Why was saving Jason worth destroying me?”
Her lips trembled.
Then she said the sentence I would remember for the rest of my life.
“Because you were always stronger.”
I stared at her.
There it was.
The excuse for every sacrifice they had demanded from me.
Laura can take it.
Laura will recover.
Laura will understand.
I shook my head.
“You didn’t love me because I was strong.”
Mom looked shocked.
“You used my strength as permission to hurt me.”
She reached for me.
I stepped back.
“Don’t.”
Her hand dropped.
Behind her, headlights turned into the motel lot.
A dark pickup stopped.
May you like
Jason got out.
And he looked furious.
