Chapter 8 - The Turning Tide
The sight of the cash sitting on the mantelpiece did something strange to the room. The frantic panic shifted into a tense, heavy avarice. Luke stared at the bills as if he could pull them across the room with his mind. Aunt Linda leaned forward on the sofa, her eyes wide, her lips parted in silent pleading.
“Aiden...” Luke started, his voice dropping all pretense of anger, replaced by a pathetic, sycophantic whine. “Come on, man. We grew up sharing a bedroom. You know I’m an idiot sometimes. I get stressed out. Business is brutal. You can’t just cut me off over a bad joke.”
“It wasn’t a joke, Luke,” I said, my voice unwavering. “And the money on that mantel isn’t for you anymore.”
“Then who is it for?” Aunt Linda chimed in quickly, her voice dripping with false sweetness. “Surely you wouldn’t punish your own aunt who raised you practically, over a little misunderstanding about a rent payment—”
“Aunt Linda,” I interrupted, holding up a hand. “You haven’t paid your own rent in twelve months. You haven’t bought your own groceries in two years. You treat me like an indentured servant with a checkbook.”
My mother finally managed to pull herself together enough to sit upright, dabbing dramatically at dry eyes with a corner of her blouse. “Is this how you treat your mother? After everything I sacrificed to raise you?”
“What did you sacrifice, Mom?” I asked softly, stepping closer to her chair. “Did you sacrifice your savings? No. Did you work sixty-hour weeks to pay off my siblings' mistakes? No. You sat back and watched me bleed my bank account dry because it kept peace in the house. You loved my compliance, not me.”
The words hit her like a physical blow. For the first time in her life, my mother had no scripted cliché to fall back on. She simply stared at me, her mouth opening and closing soundlessly.
Maya stepped forward, her hand still holding my niece’s small shoulder. “My car is packed,” she announced to the room at large. “We’re going to a hotel tonight. Luke, you can explain to your business partners why you lost everything because you couldn’t stop treating people like garbage.”
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Luke lunged forward, but I stepped squarely into his path, blocking his way to Maya. My eyes locked onto his with a cold, unyielding fury that made him freeze in his tracks.
“Try it,” I whispered.
