Chapter 5 - MOM ASKED ME TO SAVE THE HOUSE
Mom came to the boarding house six weeks after they received notice.
Mrs. Gable met her at the door.
“You Laura’s mother?”
“Yes.”
Mrs. Gable looked her up and down.
Then:
“The soup woman.”
I nearly died.
“Mrs. Gable.”
“What?”
Mom’s face reddened.
Wonderful.
I invited her inside.
She looked around the room.
“You’ve had Sophia living here?”
“We’re safe.”
“This is humiliating.”
I stared.
“For whom?”
She sat.
For the first time in my life, Diane Bennett looked unsure.
“Your father and I spoke to the bank.”
“Good.”
“They want repayment.”
“That tends to happen with loans.”
“Laura, please.”
There it was.
The voice she used when she wanted motherhood to outrank ownership.
“We can’t refinance without your cooperation.”
“No.”
“We could lose everything.”
“No.”
She stared.
“What?”
“You could lose the apartment.”
“But you cannot lose what you never owned.”
Her mouth tightened.
“This was our home before you were born.”
“And you transferred it to me voluntarily.”
“Because we were desperate.”
“Yes.”
“And I paid the debt.”
“We’re your parents.”
“I know.”
Her eyes filled.
“What do you expect us to do?”
For one dangerous second, I almost answered.
Almost solved it.
Found an apartment.
Paid a deposit.
Covered moving expenses.
That was my reflex.
Then I looked at Sophia.
She was asleep beside me.
“I expect you to make a plan.”
Mom began crying.
“We’re too old to start over.”
“You’re sixty-three.”
“I am thirty-four and starting over after a divorce.”
“That’s different.”
“Why?”
No answer.
Then she said:
“Karla needs us too.”
I laughed.
“Of course she does.”
“Her mortgage is behind.”
“She earns more than I do.”
“She has expenses.”
“So do I.”
Mom looked at me as if the concept were new.
Then:
“Do you really hate us this much?”
“No.”
That surprised her.
“I don’t hate you.”
“I just stopped treating your emergencies as instructions.”
She left ten minutes later.
I cried after.
Not because I wanted them homeless.
Because boundaries feel cruel when you were raised to believe love means endless access.
Rachel later reminded me:
“They have ninety days.”
“They have income.”
“They have options.”
“You did not create this situation by stopping.”
Correct.
May you like
Still painful.
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