Chapter 5 - A FAMILY FAVOR
Patricia Sloan had known my mother for thirty years.
She came to birthdays.
Christmas dinners.
My wedding.
She had held Sophia when she was three weeks old.
And apparently, she had certified a document saying she watched me sign something I had never seen.
Nathan called it a gift.
I called it betrayal.
“A bad forgery is difficult to prove,” he explained. “A notary who falsely claims personal appearance? That creates a trail.”
I sat across from him.
“What happens now?”
“We ask questions.”
“Will Patricia tell the truth?”
“She might if she understands the alternative.”
Two days later, Nathan arranged a meeting.
Patricia arrived wearing a gray sweater and the expression of someone walking toward her own execution.
She saw me.
“Oh, Laura.”
I didn’t answer.
She sat down.
Nathan placed the notarized affidavit in front of her.
“Did Laura sign this in your presence?”
Patricia stared at it.
Her hands began trembling.
“Diane told me—”
Nathan cut her off.
“That wasn’t my question.”
She swallowed.
“No.”
My chest tightened.
“Why?”
Patricia looked at me.
“Your father was desperate.”
“So you committed fraud?”
“I thought you knew.”
“You literally certified that you watched me sign it.”
She started crying.
“I was trying to help your family.”
“My daughter slept in a boarding house because that family threw us out.”
Her face collapsed.
Nathan continued.
“Who gave you the document?”
“Diane.”
“Who signed Laura’s name?”
Patricia hesitated.
Then she whispered, “Arthur.”
My father.
For some reason, hearing it hurt more than I expected.
Maybe because Mom was cruel openly.
Dad had always hidden behind silence.
That silence had been a costume.
He wasn’t passive.
He was participating.
“What happened to the money?” Nathan asked.
Patricia shook her head.
“I don’t know all of it.”
“All of it?”
She looked terrified.
Nathan leaned forward.
“What do you know?”
Patricia wiped her face.
“I know Diane said some of it was for Karla.”
“How much?”
“I heard sixty thousand.”
I felt sick.
Sixty thousand dollars.
Then nearly four years of $850 payments from me.
Karla hadn’t needed help with a mortgage.
She had been draining me.
Patricia continued.
“And Arthur needed the rest because of his business debts.”
Nathan glanced at me.
“Did they ever repay the loan?”
Patricia’s silence answered.
That evening, I finally went back to the apartment to collect our things.
Nathan came with me.
So did a locksmith.
My mother opened the door before we knocked.
“You are not changing my locks.”
“My locks,” I said.
Dad appeared behind her.
He looked ten years older.
“Laura, please.”
“No.”
“You don’t know what you’re doing.”
“I know exactly what you did.”
His face changed.
“Patricia talked.”
Mom turned toward him.
“What?”
I watched them.
That was the first crack.
Dad whispered, “Diane…”
Mom suddenly shoved past him.
“She had no right!”
I stepped back.
Nathan moved between us.
“Do not touch my client.”
My mother screamed at me from the hallway.
“You’re going to ruin this family!”
I looked at her.
“No, Mom.”
Then I pointed at the apartment.
“You did that when you decided the responsible daughter was the easiest one to steal from.”
Dad looked down.
Karla arrived fifteen minutes later.
She came running up the stairs.
“What the hell are you doing?”
I held up the locksmith’s receipt.
“Changing my locks.”
“You can’t kick Mom and Dad out!”
“I haven’t decided anything yet.”
She laughed bitterly.
“You think you own everybody now?”
I looked at her.
“No.”
Then I handed her a printout.
She stared at it.
“What is this?”
“Your mortgage payment history.”
Her face went white.
I smiled without warmth.
“You might want to call your bank.”
May you like
“Why?”
“Because I canceled my payment.”
