Chapter 12 - Her Own Account
“I never paid that loan.”
Tasha repeated it three times.
Alicia waited patiently.
Marcus sat at the dining table across from her.
The children were at a neighbor’s house.
“What year?” Tasha asked.
“Five years ago.”
“Month?”
“September.”
Tasha closed her eyes.
September.
Eli had been three.
She had been working two jobs.
Her memory of that year existed mostly as exhaustion.
“Can you send me the payment image?”
“It’s already in your secure portal.”
Tasha opened her laptop.
There it was.
Electronic payment.
$816.42.
Originating account: hers.
Marcus frowned.
“Could Lorraine access your bank account?”
Tasha didn’t answer immediately.
“Tasha?”
“Yes.”
Marcus stared.
“She had access?”
“Back then.”
“Why?”
“I was working nights. She paid bills for me sometimes.”
Marcus rubbed his forehead.
“How long?”
“I don’t remember.”
“That matters.”
“I know it matters.”
Her voice cracked with frustration.
Alicia interrupted gently.
“Do not blame yourself for giving a trusted family member financial access.”
Tasha laughed bitterly.
“That sentence sounds like something you say to clients a lot.”
“I say it when it’s true.”
Tasha opened old statements.
September.
There were three strange withdrawals.
A $900 transfer she had assumed was rent.
An $816 payment.
Another $400 withdrawal.
She had never questioned them.
There were always so many transactions.
Gas.
Groceries.
Daycare.
School lunches.
Late fees.
Life.
“How did I not see this?”
Marcus answered too quickly.
“You had too much going on.”
Tasha looked at him.
He backed off.
“That wasn’t judgment.”
“I know.”
She did know.
That almost made it worse.
Alicia said, “We need complete statements from that period.”
“I can request them.”
“And we need to determine whether your account made additional loan payments.”
Marcus leaned forward.
“What if it did?”
“Then we ask whether Tasha knowingly participated.”
“I didn’t.”
“I understand.”
The lawyer’s voice remained calm.
“But Lorraine may eventually claim otherwise.”
Tasha stared.
Her mother’s warning returned.
You think the loan is the worst thing you’re going to find.
“She’s setting me up.”
Marcus’s head lifted.
“What?”
Tasha stood.
“She told me to ask who made the first payment.”
Alicia became quiet.
“She knew.”
“Yes.”
“Then save any message related to that conversation.”
“It was in person.”
“Write down everything you remember now.”
Tasha grabbed a notebook.
Her hand shook.
Marcus watched.
Finally he said, “Can I help?”
“With what?”
“Anything.”
She almost told him no automatically.
Then stopped.
“Call the bank.”
“What?”
“You still have my old account number from when we used to split Jayden’s daycare?”
“Maybe.”
“Help me identify transfers.”
Marcus nodded.
For the next hour, they worked.
Side by side.
No accusations.
No speeches.
Just numbers.
They found six payments over eight months.
Total: $4,896.
All from Tasha’s account.
Each was disguised among transfers to Lorraine.
Marcus pointed at one.
“You paid Lorraine twelve-fifty that month.”
Tasha nodded.
“And this eight-sixteen came out separately.”
“Yes.”
“So she was getting rent while using your account to pay the loan.”
Tasha covered her face.
Marcus did not touch her.
He wanted to.
He knew better.
After a moment, Tasha whispered, “I was paying debt on my own stolen house.”
Neither spoke.
The front door opened.
Jayden entered with Maya and Eli.
“We’re back.”
Tasha quickly wiped her face.
Jayden saw anyway.
His eyes went to the paperwork.
“What happened now?”
“Nothing you need to fix.”
He stared.
Tasha forced herself to smile.
“I mean it.”
Maya walked over.
“Grandma called Ms. Parker’s house.”
Tasha’s smile disappeared.
“What?”
“She asked for us.”
Marcus stood.
“Did you talk to her?”
Jayden shook his head.
“Ms. Parker said she should call you.”
Tasha exhaled.
“Good.”
Then Eli handed Tasha a folded piece of paper.
“What’s this?”
“Grandma left it in Ms. Parker’s mailbox.”
Marcus and Tasha exchanged a look.
Tasha unfolded it.
A typed notice.
NOTICE TO VACATE FOR NONPAYMENT.
Tasha’s heart stopped.
Thirty days.
The document claimed she had failed to pay rent.
Marcus swore under his breath.
Jayden read over her arm.
His face went pale.
“She’s putting us out?”
Tasha folded the paper immediately.
“No.”
“It says vacate.”
“No.”
Marcus stepped beside Jayden.
“Your mom has a lawyer.”
Jayden’s breathing had changed.
“What if Grandma really owns it?”
Tasha took his face in both hands.
“Look at me.”
He did.
“No one is taking you from this house tonight.”
“What about next month?”
Tasha hesitated.
Then chose truth.
“We’re going to fight.”
Jayden nodded slowly.
Maya began crying.
Eli looked at his shoes.
The same new shoes that had started the argument.
Marcus crouched in front of all three.
“You know something?”
They looked at him.
“This is not because of backpacks.”
Jayden swallowed.
Marcus continued.
“Not because of shoes. Not because any of you needed something.”
Tasha watched him.
“We adults made choices before you knew anything about them.”
Marcus looked at Jayden.
“And we’re responsible for fixing those choices.”
Jayden’s shoulders lowered slightly.
Tasha’s phone rang.
Alicia.
Tasha answered.
“I’m sending you a notice my mother just delivered.”
Alicia read it.
Then said something that changed Tasha’s fear into anger.
“She cannot legally evict you by dropping a homemade notice into a neighbor’s mailbox.”
Tasha closed her eyes.
“So it’s meaningless?”
“Not meaningless.”
“What is it?”
“Evidence.”
Tasha looked toward the window.
Lorraine’s car was parked across the street.
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Her mother sat behind the wheel.
Watching the house.
