Chapter 6 - The Mother's Gambit
On Thursday evening, the phone rang again. This time, it was my mother.
I answered it, sitting at my kitchen table while Laura watched me from across the room.
"Jack," my mother said, her voice soft, sweet, and trembling with the delicate sorrow she usually reserved for funerals. "I’m calling because I’m worried about you. You’ve been under so much stress with work lately. We all know how hard you work for us, and we are so, so grateful."
"Are you, Mom?" I asked, my voice flat.
"Of course we are, darling!" she gasped, as if the question itself were an insult. "Your father and I pray for you every single night. We know last Sunday was... tense. I was just so overwhelmed with organizing the dinner, and Melissa’s children have been going through such a difficult transition with their father’s absence. I didn't mean to make Tyler and Emma feel left out. It was just a silly misunderstanding."
"It wasn't a misunderstanding, Mom," I said. "You set seven places. You invited Melissa’s family and excluded mine. You did it to make a point: that my family is only welcome when we are paying, but not when we are participating."
"That is not true!" she cried, her voice rising into a sharp, defensive whine. "How can you say such a horrible thing to your own mother? After everything I sacrificed to raise you? We are a family, Jack! We are supposed to stick together! If you evict us, your father’s heart condition... the stress will kill him! Do you want that on your conscience? Do you want to tell your children that you killed their grandfather over a house?"
It was the ultimate card. She had played it a dozen times before—using my father’s health as a shield to protect her own vanity and Melissa’s lifestyle.
"Dad’s heart is fine, Mom," I said, my voice steady. "The doctor told us last month his vitals are better than they’ve been in five years. But if you are worried about stress, you should probably ask Melissa why she used Dad’s name to commit tax fraud."
The line went dead silent.
"What... what did you say?" she whispered.
"Melissa committed fraud using Dad’s name," I repeated. "And if we go to court, the whole town is going to find out that the perfect Collins family has been living on stolen money and forged signatures. If you want to protect Dad, you will have Melissa out of that basement by Friday night. And you and Dad will sign a voluntary surrender of tenancy by the end of the month."
"You... you cold, heartless monster," my mother spat, her sweet voice completely vanishing, replaced by a venomous hiss. "We made you who you are, Jack. You would be nothing without us."
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"No, Mom," I said. "I would have been free a lot sooner. Goodbye."
I hung up the phone and looked at Laura. She didn't say a word; she simply walked over and poured me a fresh cup of coffee, her eyes full of a deep, quiet pride.
