Chapter 5 - THE FIRST BOX
Friday morning, the front door opened before I finished loading my car.
Derek came in carrying a coffee and wearing the expensive watch he had bought the year he told me he couldn’t afford Christmas gifts.
Behind him stood his children, Evan and Lucy, with backpacks and tired faces.
Mom hurried toward him.
“My boy.”
She hugged him.
Then she reached for the first box she had packed for me.
“This goes out.”
I stepped between her and the box.
“That one has my dishes.”
Derek looked around.
“Seriously?
You’re taking dishes?”
“They’re mine.”
“You’re leaving Mom with nothing?”
“The cupboards are full.”
Lucy stared at the floor.
I softened my voice.
“Hey, Luce.
Your room’s upstairs.
The window faces the big oak.”
She gave me a small smile.
Derek set down his coffee.
“We should get this over with.”
He pulled a folded document from his jacket.
“What’s that?”
“A receipt.
So nobody can say anything was left behind.”
I opened it.
The first paragraph said I had received all personal property.
The second said I had no outstanding financial claim against my parents.
The third described every payment I had made as a gift.
I looked at Mom.
“You want me to sign away the money.”
She reached for the paper.
“You’re making it sound ugly.”
“It is ugly.”
Derek lowered his voice.
“Don’t do this in front of my kids.”
“You brought them into this room.”
Dad stood near the staircase.
“Naomi, maybe we can discuss—”
“Where’s my grandmother’s jewelry box?”
Mom blinked.
“And the original agreement?”
Derek smiled.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Then you won’t mind opening the desk drawer.”
His expression changed for half a second.
It was enough.
I walked toward the desk.
Mom caught my wrist.
“Don’t you dare.”
I looked down at her hand.
Then at her face.
“Let go.”
She released me.
I opened the drawer.
The blue binder lay beneath a bank envelope.
May you like
My jewelry box was beside it.
And inside the envelope was a loan application that listed me as someone I had never agreed to be.
