Chapter 10 - The Children Who Heard Everything
Marcus stayed for dinner.
Not because Tasha invited him.
Because Jayden did.
“You can eat.”
Marcus glanced at Tasha.
She shrugged.
“There’s enough.”
It was spaghetti, salad and garlic bread.
Nothing special.
But Marcus realized halfway through the meal that it was the first time in nearly a year he had eaten at the same table with all three children.
Eli talked about his dinosaur backpack.
Maya barely spoke.
Jayden kept glancing between his parents.
Finally Maya put down her fork.
“Do we have to give the stuff back?”
Tasha’s chest tightened.
“No.”
“Even my backpack?”
“Especially your backpack.”
Maya looked at Marcus.
He understood.
“No,” he said gently.
“You keep everything.”
“What about Jayden?”
Marcus looked toward his son.
“We’re going shopping again.”
Jayden shook his head.
“I’m good.”
“You need more than two shirts.”
“I have old ones.”
“That isn’t the point.”
Jayden looked at Maya.
Marcus caught it.
“Maya keeping her things does not mean you don’t get yours.”
Jayden stared at his plate.
Marcus added, “And you getting what you need doesn’t mean anybody else loses.”
Tasha looked at him.
He heard his own words too.
After dinner, Eli carried his plate to the sink and dropped a fork.
The noise made everybody jump.
Eli froze.
Then Tasha laughed.
Unexpectedly.
Marcus did too.
The tension cracked for three seconds.
It felt almost like an old family memory.
Then Tasha’s phone buzzed.
Lorraine.
She declined it.
Maya whispered, “Grandma’s mad.”
Tasha turned.
“Why do you think that?”
“She called me.”
“When?”
“While you were at the lawyer.”
Tasha’s stomach twisted.
“What did she say?”
Maya looked frightened.
“That I shouldn’t repeat private things.”
Marcus pushed his chair back.
Tasha raised a hand.
“Let me.”
She sat beside Maya.
“Did Grandma ask you to keep secrets from me?”
Maya nodded.
“What secrets?”
“She said not everything adults tell kids needs to go back to their parents.”
Tasha’s face hardened.
“That is not true.”
Maya stared.
“If an adult asks you to keep a secret from me about money, the house, where you live, or anything that makes you uncomfortable, you tell me.”
“What if it’s Grandma?”
“Especially then.”
Maya started crying.
“I don’t want her to be bad.”
Tasha pulled her close.
“She’s your grandmother. You’re allowed to love her.”
“Are you mad at her?”
“Yes.”
“Can I still love her?”
“Yes.”
Marcus looked away for a moment.
That sentence was bigger than the dispute.
Tasha’s own relationship with Lorraine had never allowed such complexity.
Loving her mother had always meant defending her.
Questioning her had always been described as betrayal.
Jayden asked, “Are you going to call the police?”
Tasha looked at Marcus.
“No one knows yet what happened.”
“But the deed.”
“We have questions.”
Marcus added, “A lawyer is helping.”
Eli looked confused.
“What’s a deed?”
“The paper that says who owns a house,” Jayden answered.
Eli considered that.
“Who owns this one?”
Nobody answered.
Eli’s eyes widened.
“That’s bad.”
Marcus sighed.
“Yeah.”
Tasha almost laughed again.
After dinner, Marcus helped clear the table.
Tasha watched him wash dishes.
“You remember where those go?”
He glanced toward the cabinet.
“I painted this kitchen.”
“Twelve years ago.”
“Cabinets didn’t move.”
“Some people do.”
He accepted the jab.
“Fair.”
Tasha dried a plate.
“You shouldn’t have tried to buy the house.”
“I know.”
“You keep saying you were protecting Jayden.”
“I believed I was.”
“That’s what my mother says.”
Marcus stopped washing.
“I know.”
Tasha looked at him.
He turned off the faucet.
“That bothers me more than you think.”
“Good.”
“I deserved that.”
“Yes.”
He leaned against the sink.
“There’s something I need to tell you.”
Tasha closed her eyes.
“Please stop having things to tell me.”
“It’s about the five thousand.”
“What now?”
“It didn’t come from my checking account.”
Her eyes opened.
“Where did it come from?”
Marcus hesitated.
“The emergency account.”
Tasha stared at him.
“You used Jayden’s emergency money to put a deposit on my house?”
“Five thousand of it.”
“You said there was seventy-four hundred.”
“There was twelve-four before the deposit.”
Tasha put the plate down.
“You took five thousand dollars you said was for Jayden and secretly gave it to my mother.”
“To buy the house.”
“Without telling Jayden.”
“He’s twelve.”
“Without telling me.”
“We aren’t together.”
“And yet somehow you thought buying the roof over my head was your business.”
Marcus looked ashamed.
Tasha laughed bitterly.
“You came in here yesterday furious because I redirected part of six hundred dollars.”
“I know.”
“But you redirected five thousand.”
“I know.”
“From the same son you were defending.”
“I know.”
The repetition infuriated her.
“Stop saying that.”
“What do you want me to say?”
“That you understand the hypocrisy.”
Marcus met her eyes.
“I understand it.”
Tasha’s anger faltered.
He continued.
“I thought my purpose made my decision different.”
“Exactly.”
“And you thought your purpose made the six hundred different.”
Tasha went still.
Neither liked the mirror between them.
Marcus’s phone rang.
Alicia.
He answered.
She spoke quickly.
Then Marcus’s expression changed.
“What?”
Tasha moved closer.
Alicia said, “We found something in the title history.”
“What?”
“A home-equity line was opened against the property five years ago.”
Tasha frowned.
“How?”
“If Lorraine is the record owner, she could apply.”
“How much?”
Alicia paused.
“Ninety-two thousand dollars.”
Tasha grabbed the counter.
Marcus stared at her.
Alicia continued.
“And according to the current records, there’s still more than sixty-eight thousand outstanding.”
Tasha slowly looked around the kitchen.
The house her grandmother had owned outright was not merely disputed.
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Someone had borrowed almost a hundred thousand dollars against it.
And Tasha had no idea where the money had gone.
