Chapter 7 - Sunday Dinner
By Sunday, Lucy could walk with a cane.
Her doctors didn't love the idea of her attending a family gathering.
Neither did I.
But Lucy insisted.
“I've been talked about in rooms I wasn't allowed to enter for almost a year.”
She pulled a soft blue scarf over her head.
“I want to be in the room this time.”
So we went.
Theresa had invited everybody.
Aunts.
Uncles.
Cousins.
Two neighbors who had known me since childhood.
Even our old pastor.
That told me exactly what she was doing.
This wasn't dinner.
It was a jury.
She wanted enough people present to pressure me into forgiving her.
The moment Lucy and I entered, conversations stopped.
My wife squeezed my hand.
I squeezed back.
Aunt Carolyn approached first.
“Lucy.”
Her eyes filled when she saw how thin she was.
“My God.”
Lucy hugged her.
Theresa appeared from the kitchen.
“She looks much better.”
I stared at my mother.
Better.
As though Theresa deserved credit.
Dinner lasted fourteen uncomfortable minutes before she began.
“Nathan, I think we should clear the air.”
I put down my fork.
“Please.”
Theresa looked around the table.
“People have heard terrible things.”
Brianna nodded solemnly.
“Things that aren't fair.”
Uncle Ray frowned.
“What things?”
Theresa sighed.
“Nathan came home unexpectedly and saw Lucy outside doing chores.”
“Doing chores?” I repeated.
My mother continued.
“He misunderstood the situation.”
Lucy went still.
Theresa looked toward her.
“Lucy has been very ill. Illness changes people's perception.”
I stood.
Lucy touched my hand.
I stopped.
She shook her head slightly.
Let her talk.
So I sat down.
Theresa continued.
“Lucy refused help many times.”
Aunt Carolyn looked confused.
“Why was she living in the shed?”
Theresa's face tightened.
“She wanted privacy.”
Lucy spoke for the first time.
“No.”
The room went silent.
Theresa looked at her.
“Lucy.”
“I didn't want privacy.”
Her voice trembled, but she continued.
“You locked the back door.”
Brianna jumped in.
“That happened once!”
Lucy looked at her.
“Thirty-seven nights.”
Brianna's face changed.
Everyone heard the number.
Lucy had counted.
She turned toward Aunt Carolyn.
“I slept outside because Theresa said sick people made the house depressing.”
Carolyn covered her mouth.
Theresa stood.
“That is not what I said.”
I opened my folder.
“Good.”
Everyone looked at me.
“Then let's use records instead of memory.”
I placed the first bank statement on the table.
“Ninety-eight thousand four hundred sixty-two dollars.”
Uncle Ray frowned.
“What is that?”
“Money I sent home over four years.”
I placed another page beside it.
“Six hundred eighty dollars.”
“What?”
“Documented medical spending on Lucy from those funds.”
Theresa slammed her palm on the table.
“That accountant doesn't know everything!”
I placed the SUV records down.
“Twenty-two thousand.”
Then renovation receipts.
“Nineteen thousand.”
Then salon transfers.
“Seventeen thousand directly traceable at first. Thirty-one thousand total transfers into Brianna's private account.”
Every face turned toward my sister.
Brianna stood.
“This is disgusting.”
“What?”
“You investigating your own family.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“What happened to Lucy was disgusting.”
Theresa pointed at me.
“You gave me that money.”
“For household expenses.”
“You never told me exactly how to spend every dollar.”
I opened my phone.
“May 7.”
I read.
Mom, please use this transfer to make sure Lucy has food, bills, and anything she needs.
“June 3.”
Please keep some money aside for Lucy in case of an emergency.
“November 28.”
I'm sending extra for Christmas. Buy Lucy something beautiful and keep the rest for household expenses.
I looked at the hummingbird pendant still hanging around Theresa's neck.
“Apparently you decided to wear the beautiful thing yourself.”
Several relatives stared at the necklace.
Theresa grabbed it.
“She tried to sell it!”
“To see a doctor.”
“She stole from this family.”
“It belonged to her.”
“I bought—”
“You didn't buy it.”
My voice finally rose.
“I did.”
Theresa fell silent.
I placed another document down.
“This is the insurance reimbursement connected to Lucy's medical care.”
Brianna went pale.
“Twelve thousand dollars.”
Aunt Carolyn whispered, “Theresa.”
“Ten thousand was transferred to Brianna's business three days later.”
Uncle Ray pushed his chair back.
“Is that true?”
Brianna looked at Theresa.
That was answer enough.
Theresa turned toward everyone.
“You don't understand!”
“Then explain.”
I sat down again.
“We're listening.”
My mother looked around the table.
She had invited witnesses.
Now she hated every one of them.
“Brianna's salon was struggling.”
I stared at her.
“And?”
“She has employees!”
“Lucy has cancer.”
“I was trying to keep this family afloat.”
“By starving my wife?”
“I did not starve her!”
Lucy spoke quietly.
“You locked the pantry.”
Theresa looked at her.
“I locked expensive food because you were wasteful.”
“You counted slices of bread.”
“You barely ate!”
“Because chemotherapy made me sick!”
Silence.
Theresa's breathing quickened.
Brianna started crying.
Not for Lucy.
For herself.
“My business would have failed.”
I looked at my sister.
“So you took cancer money.”
“No!”
“You knew where it came from.”
“Mom said it was extra.”
“Did you ask?”
She didn't answer.
I pulled out the document she had tried to make Lucy sign at the hospital.
“Then there's this.”
Our pastor read the title.
His expression hardened.
Theresa snapped, “That document was only meant to prevent misunderstandings.”
“You asked a hospitalized cancer patient to sign a statement saying she voluntarily refused medical treatment.”
“She did!”
Lucy shook her head.
“No.”
“You missed appointments.”
“Because you took the car.”
“I couldn't drive you everywhere.”
“I asked for bus fare.”
“You could have found a way!”
That sentence hung over the table.
Lucy looked at Theresa for a long moment.
“I did find a way.”
Everyone watched her.
“I walked.”
Theresa froze.
Lucy continued.
“Eight miles.”
Aunt Carolyn began crying.
“I walked to the clinic because you wouldn't give me money for transportation.”
Her voice broke.
“I fainted near a gas station.”
I had not known that.
I turned toward her.
Lucy looked at me apologetically.
“I didn't want to tell you everything at once.”
Something inside me cracked.
I stood and moved beside her.
The room disappeared.
For a few seconds, only Lucy existed.
Then Theresa said the worst possible thing.
“She always knows how to make people feel sorry for her.”
I turned.
Nobody at that table looked at my mother the same way anymore.
Even Brianna looked stunned.
Theresa realized it.
Too late.
I picked up the final envelope.
“I have one more announcement.”
My mother crossed her arms.
“More humiliation?”
“No.”
“The settlement.”
The word changed the room.
Theresa's eyes fixed on the envelope.
I opened it.
“The final amount after deductions is nine hundred thirty-four thousand dollars.”
Brianna stopped crying.
Theresa sat straighter.
I continued.
“I created a trust.”
My mother swallowed.
“For who?”
“My wife.”
The room went silent.
“Lucy is the primary beneficiary.”
Theresa's face emptied.
“The trust will pay for treatment, housing, recovery, and long-term financial security.”
Brianna stared.
“All of it?”
“No.”
She almost relaxed.
I smiled.
“The remaining funds are in accounts only I control.”
Theresa stood.
“What about us?”
There it was.
After everything.
Not an apology.
Not regret.
What about us?
I looked at her.
“You got yours.”
“What does that mean?”
“Ninety-eight thousand dollars.”
Her face turned red.
“You cannot treat money you voluntarily gave your mother as some kind of debt!”
“I'm not.”
I closed the folder.
“The investigators can decide what it was.”
A glass fell somewhere near the end of the table.
Theresa whispered, “Investigators?”
I looked toward the front window.
Two dark vehicles had just pulled to the curb.
Marcus had told me not to exaggerate.
Not to threaten.
Not to pretend anyone was being arrested.
So I simply told the truth.
“People reviewing the financial records wanted to speak with you.”
Brianna grabbed her purse.
Theresa stared at me.
“You called the police on your own mother?”
“No.”
I held her gaze.
“You called them yourself every time you took money meant for Lucy.”
May you like
The doorbell rang.
And for the first time since I came home, my mother had nothing to say.
