Chapter 11 - Ninety-Two Thousand Dollars
Lorraine arrived the next morning without calling.
Tasha did not let her inside.
They stood on the porch.
Marcus was not there.
For once, Tasha was glad.
Her mother looked immaculate.
That had always been Lorraine’s armor.
No matter the crisis, her clothes were pressed, her lipstick precise, her posture controlled.
“You changed the garage code.”
“Yes.”
“You had no right.”
“I live here.”
“I own the property.”
“That’s being questioned.”
Lorraine’s face chilled.
“Marcus has poisoned you.”
“Stop using Marcus to avoid me.”
“He wants the house.”
“And apparently so did you.”
Lorraine exhaled.
“Can we talk without drama?”
“Tell me about the ninety-two-thousand-dollar line of credit.”
For the first time, Lorraine’s composure cracked.
Only slightly.
But Tasha saw it.
“Who told you?”
“That is your first question?”
“It matters.”
“No. Where the money went matters.”
Lorraine looked toward the street.
“Tasha.”
“Ninety-two thousand dollars.”
“It was not all used at once.”
“I didn’t ask how quickly you spent it.”
Lorraine lowered her voice.
“I kept this family afloat.”
“Which family?”
“Ours.”
“Be specific.”
“You needed help.”
Tasha stopped.
Lorraine continued.
“When Eli was born and Damon disappeared for months, who paid your bills?”
“You gave me money.”
“Twenty thousand dollars over two years.”
Tasha’s stomach tightened.
“You said it was from Grandma’s savings.”
“I said it was family money.”
“No.”
Lorraine looked directly at her.
“You heard what you needed to hear.”
Tasha felt physically sick.
“How much of the loan went to me?”
“Approximately twenty-two thousand.”
“Where did the other seventy thousand go?”
Lorraine’s silence answered before her words.
“Your uncle Raymond needed help with his restaurant.”
Tasha stared.
“Uncle Ray’s restaurant closed.”
“He tried.”
“How much?”
“Thirty thousand.”
“That’s fifty-two.”
“Medical expenses.”
“Whose?”
“Mine. Your aunt’s. Grandma had bills after death.”
“Her estate had insurance.”
“Not everything is covered by insurance.”
“What else?”
Lorraine’s voice sharpened.
“You are interrogating me like I robbed someone.”
“You borrowed ninety-two thousand dollars against a house Grandma left to me.”
“The deed says otherwise.”
“A deed signed under circumstances you refuse to explain.”
Lorraine stepped closer.
“I protected that house from you.”
Tasha laughed in disbelief.
“By putting a ninety-two-thousand-dollar debt on it?”
“You were drowning.”
“So you stole my life jacket and charged me rent for swimming?”
Lorraine’s face hardened.
“You think you survived because you were strong?”
Tasha went still.
“You survived because I absorbed every disaster you created.”
“I had children.”
“You had bills.”
“I worked.”
“You still needed me.”
“Yes!”
The word came out louder than Tasha intended.
“Yes. I needed you.”
Her eyes filled.
“That is what makes this so disgusting.”
Lorraine stared.
“I trusted you because you helped me.”
“I did help you.”
“You used help to make sure I never knew what belonged to me.”
“I kept you from losing it.”
“To who?”
“Creditors. Men. Yourself.”
Tasha’s voice dropped.
“You sound exactly like Grandma said you would.”
Lorraine flinched.
Tasha saw it.
“You knew about the letter.”
“What letter?”
“Don’t.”
Lorraine looked away.
“You went through probate records.”
“Yes.”
“You had no business—”
“My name is in the will.”
“Wills do not override deeds.”
“My lawyer knows that.”
The word lawyer changed everything.
Lorraine stared.
“You hired an attorney.”
“Yes.”
“With what money?”
Tasha almost laughed.
There it was.
Always money.
Always the assumption that money determined who had power.
“That’s none of your business.”
Lorraine’s jaw tightened.
“Tasha, listen carefully. If you challenge that deed, the bank becomes involved.”
“I know.”
“They could accelerate the loan.”
“My attorney says that’s not automatically how it works.”
“You think some young lawyer understands this family?”
“This isn’t about understanding our family.”
“It is all about family.”
“No.”
Tasha stepped closer.
“That is how you hide everything.”
Lorraine went silent.
Tasha continued.
“You say family when you mean obedience.”
“That’s cruel.”
“Maybe.”
“You think Marcus is going to save you?”
“No.”
“Then what happens when legal bills pile up?”
“I figure it out.”
“And when the house needs a roof?”
“I figure it out.”
“You’ve never figured anything out without me.”
That sentence landed exactly where Lorraine intended.
Tasha felt herself become twenty-two again.
Afraid.
Pregnant.
Calling her mother because the bank account was negative.
Then she remembered Jayden’s notebook.
She remembered her son tracking everybody’s money to predict who would be angry.
Tasha straightened.
“Maybe you made sure of that.”
Lorraine’s eyes narrowed.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“You helped me just enough to keep me grateful.”
“That is an ugly thing to say.”
“It’s an ugly thing to realize.”
Lorraine reached into her handbag.
For one terrible second, Tasha thought she might produce another document.
Instead she removed a small jewelry box.
She opened it.
Inside was a gold bracelet.
Tasha recognized it.
Her grandmother’s.
“You told me Grandma sold this.”
Lorraine stared at the bracelet.
“She gave it to me.”
“Before or after she gave you my house?”
Lorraine snapped the box closed.
“You are becoming disrespectful.”
“And you are running out of answers.”
Lorraine slipped the box away.
“Ask Marcus where his five thousand came from.”
Tasha’s expression changed.
Lorraine smiled faintly.
“You already know.”
Tasha said nothing.
Lorraine stepped off the porch.
Then turned.
“You think the loan is the worst thing you’re going to find.”
Tasha’s stomach tightened.
“What does that mean?”
Lorraine walked toward her car.
“Ask your lawyer who made the first payment on that loan.”
Tasha stood frozen.
An hour later, Alicia called with the lender records.
The first payment had not come from Lorraine.
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It had come from an account ending in four digits Tasha recognized immediately.
Her own.
