Chapter 4 - THE LOAN THAT SHOULD NOT EXIST
“What loan?”
Melissa’s voice cut through the room.
Derek folded the papers.
“Nothing.”
I grabbed them from his hand.
He tried to stop me.
Too late.
The documents showed a private loan for $180,000.
Collateral:
The property we were standing in.
My property.
The forged transfer document had apparently been used to convince a lender that Derek controlled half the house.
My stomach turned.
“You borrowed against my home?”
Derek looked around at the guests.
“Can everybody just leave?”
Nobody moved.
Melissa snatched the foreclosure notice.
“One hundred eighty thousand dollars?”
She looked at him.
“Where is it?”
“Melissa—”
“Where is the money?”
He said nothing.
Her face slowly drained of color.
I watched them.
This was becoming more complicated by the minute.
“You didn’t know?” I asked.
She snapped toward me.
“Stay out of this.”
“I would love to.”
I pointed around the room.
“But you committed fraud using my address.”
Derek grabbed his coat.
“I’m done.”
I stepped in front of him.
“You’re not going anywhere until Mom is safe.”
“Move.”
“No.”
His eyes changed.
For one terrible second, I saw the same rage I had seen in Melissa.
Then Mom cried out.
“Derek!”
He stopped.
Mom’s entire body was shaking.
“Please don’t fight.”
Derek exhaled and stepped back.
I looked at Mom.
“Did you know about the loan?”
She shook her head.
“Did Derek ever ask you to lie about who owned the house?”
Another pause.
“Mom.”
Her lips trembled.
“He told me you had given it to him.”
The room went silent.
I looked at Derek.
“You told her I gave you the house?”
“I was going to explain.”
“When?”
No answer.
“Before or after you put her in a laundry room?”
Melissa suddenly laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because she was panicking.
“This is ridiculous. Your mother wanted the smaller room.”
Mom looked up.
“No.”
Everyone turned.
Melissa froze.
Mom swallowed.
Then repeated,
“No.”
Her voice was quiet.
But firm.
“I didn’t want it.”
I saw fear flash across Melissa’s face.
“Dorothy, you’re confused.”
Mom looked at her.
“I’m not confused.”
Melissa stood.
“You said your knees hurt on the stairs.”
“They do.”
“So we moved you downstairs.”
“You moved me beside the washing machine.”
Melissa’s cheeks reddened.
“You were grateful!”
Mom flinched.
Then I stood beside her.
“No more yelling at her.”
Melissa pointed at me.
“You don’t get to walk in here after abandoning everyone and start making rules.”
“I didn’t abandon her.”
“Yes, you did!”
She laughed.
“You sent checks. Congratulations.”
I took a breath.
“I bought the house.”
“And then you left.”
There it was.
The argument she had probably been feeding Derek for years.
“You know what, Rachel? We were here. We dealt with the doctor appointments. We dealt with her forgetfulness. Her moods. Her complaining.”
Mom stared at her plate.
“You made us your servants,” Melissa continued.
I almost couldn’t believe it.
“My mother cleans your toilets.”
“Because she lives here for free!”
Every guest heard it.
Mom’s head slowly lifted.
I felt something inside me turn to ice.
“For free?”
Melissa realized too late what she had said.
I stepped closer.
“She lives here for free because it is her home.”
“No, it’s not.”
Melissa waved the forged transfer document.
“Derek owns part of it.”
“No, he doesn’t.”
She turned to him.
“Tell her!”
Derek said nothing.
“Derek!”
He finally whispered,
“The transfer wasn’t filed correctly.”
Melissa stared.
“What?”
“The county rejected it.”
“When?”
“Two years ago.”
Her mouth opened.
“So you knew?”
“Yes.”
“You told me we owned half!”
“I was trying to fix it.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
Melissa threw the paper at him.
“You lied to me?”
I almost laughed.
The woman who had been lying to everyone suddenly felt betrayed.
Derek snapped,
“You think your lifestyle paid for itself?”
Melissa stepped back.
“What does that mean?”
He pointed at her handbag.
“The vacations. The renovations. Your mother living here. The parties.”
Linda gasped.
“Leave me out of this.”
Then Mom whispered something.
I barely heard it.
“What?”
She looked at Derek.
“I gave you money.”
Derek closed his eyes.
My stomach dropped.
“How much?”
Mom started crying.
“I don’t know.”
“Mom, how much?”
“After your father died…”
She covered her mouth.
“I gave Derek access to my savings.”
I turned toward my brother.
“How much was in the account?”
He didn’t answer.
Melissa stared at him too.
“Derek?”
Finally, he said,
“About seventy-four thousand.”
Mom whispered,
“It’s gone, isn’t it?”
Nobody breathed.
May you like
Derek looked at the floor.
And that was answer enough.
