Chapter 5 - SEVENTY-FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS
Mom didn’t scream.
That somehow made it worse.
She simply sat there staring at Derek as if she no longer recognized the boy she had raised.
“I trusted you.”
Derek rubbed his face.
“Mom—”
“I trusted you.”
“I was going to pay it back.”
“With what?”
He didn’t answer.
Mom’s hands began shaking.
I moved beside her.
Melissa looked equally stunned.
“You took seventy-four thousand dollars from her?”
“Don’t act innocent.”
Derek’s voice turned sharp.
“You benefited from every cent.”
“I didn’t know it was hers!”
“You never asked where the money came from.”
“That’s not the same thing!”
“You wanted a new kitchen.”
Melissa stepped back.
“You said your business was doing well.”
“My business failed!”
The guests looked from one to the other like they were watching a car crash.
Derek continued.
“I was drowning, Melissa. Credit cards. Loans. Taxes. Then you kept spending.”
“So you stole from your mother?”
“I borrowed.”
Mom looked up.
“No.”
Her voice was stronger now.
“You stole it.”
Derek’s face collapsed.
For one second, he looked ashamed.
Then Melissa turned toward Mom.
“This is partly your fault.”
I actually thought I had misheard her.
“What?”
Melissa pointed at Mom.
“You kept giving him money.”
Mom stared.
“I thought he needed help.”
“And you never said no!”
I moved before I realized it.
I stepped between them.
“Finish that sentence very carefully.”
Melissa looked at me.
“You’re threatening me?”
“No. I’m giving you an opportunity to stop being disgusting.”
She laughed.
“This family is unbelievable.”
Then she grabbed her purse.
“I’m leaving.”
I blocked the doorway.
“No.”
Her eyes widened.
“Move.”
“Not until Mom’s bank cards are returned.”
“I don’t have them.”
“Then you won’t mind opening your wallet.”
She stared at me.
“You’re insane.”
“Open it.”
“No.”
“Fine.”
I looked toward the guests.
“Would anyone like to know why Melissa bought that three-thousand-eight-hundred-dollar handbag using a credit card in my mother’s name?”
Melissa froze.
Linda stood.
“That’s a lie.”
I pulled out my phone.
“I photographed the statement.”
I read the charge aloud.
Date.
Store.
Amount.
Melissa’s face changed.
Mom looked confused.
“I don’t have a credit card.”
I turned to her.
“Yes, you do.”
“No.”
“You never applied for one?”
“No.”
Now I looked at Derek.
His face told me everything.
“You opened a credit card in her name?”
He shook his head.
“Not me.”
Everyone turned toward Melissa.
Her mouth dropped open.
“You bastard.”
Derek stared at her.
“You did?”
She slapped him.
Hard.
The sound echoed through the room.
For half a second nobody moved.
Then Derek laughed.
A dark, bitter laugh.
“You hit Mom for breaking a plate, but you’re stealing her identity?”
Melissa screamed,
“I paid the bill!”
“With her Social Security money?”
Silence.
Mom suddenly stood.
“I want you out.”
Her voice was shaking.
But she said it.
Melissa stared at her.
“What?”
Mom swallowed.
“I want you out of my house.”
Melissa laughed.
“No.”
Mom’s face fell.
“You heard her,” I said.
Melissa looked at me.
“You can’t just throw us out.”
“Actually, I can begin the legal process tonight.”
“You wouldn’t.”
I smiled.
“Try me.”
Derek stepped forward.
“Rachel, stop.”
I turned to him.
“You stole Mom’s savings, forged my signature, used my property as collateral, and watched your wife assault her.”
His eyes filled with anger.
“You think you’re better than me because you worked overseas?”
“No.”
I looked toward Mom.
“I think I’m better than you because I don’t hurt her.”
He shoved me.
Not hard enough to knock me down.
Hard enough to tell me exactly who he had become.
Mom screamed.
Guests jumped up.
I regained my balance.
Then I saw something behind Derek.
One of the guests was holding up a phone.
Recording.
Derek noticed too.
“Put that down.”
The man stepped back.
“No.”
“Give me the phone!”
Derek lunged.
I grabbed his arm.
He spun around and raised his fist.
Mom screamed again.
And from the hallway came a voice none of us expected.
“Sir, lower your hand.”
Two police officers stood inside the front door.
Melissa went completely still.
I hadn’t called them.
Then I saw our neighbor, Mrs. Patterson, standing behind them.
Her face was pale.
May you like
“I called,” she whispered.
“Because I’ve heard your mother screaming through the wall for months.”
