Chapter 11 - The Account Colin Could Not Explain
Richard urged Colin to get independent advice.
He was still my son, but he was also an adult with his own financial life and his own choices to make.
"Don't turn this into something where you have to rescue him," Richard warned.
"He needs to understand the facts himself."
I agreed.
A week later, Colin called from his car.
"I finally spoke to a financial adviser."
"Good."
"There's more debt than I knew about."
He told me about a home-furnishing account, balances on credit cards, and payments for a consultant whose name he didn't recognize.
Nothing he described proved wrongdoing.
It proved that he had been living inside a financial picture he barely understood.
"Are you sure Jessica made those charges?" I asked.
"Some are hers. Some are mine. I wasn't exactly careful either."
That admission mattered.
For the first time, he had not put everything on her.
He had included himself.
"What are you going to do?"
"Make a budget. Ask questions. And move."
He laughed bitterly.
"I suppose you were right about that."
I did not enjoy hearing him struggle.
I did, however, feel relief that he had begun carrying his own responsibilities.
Three days later, a small moving truck pulled into the old driveway.
Colin sent me a photograph of boxes stacked beside the front door.
Lucas held the blue hat I'd knitted for him.
Beside him was his little sister, Sophie, with her backpack over one shoulder.
My eyes filled.
Then my phone rang.
Jessica was calling.
I almost let it go to voicemail.
Instead I answered.
"Margaret, you have no idea what you've done to this family."
"Tell me specifically what you mean."
"You've humiliated us. Everyone knows you own the house. Everyone knows about the ticket."
"Everyone knows because you told them."
She ignored the point.
"I gave you that ticket. Without me, you'd have nothing."
I watched the rose bushes move in the breeze.
"You gave me a birthday present, Jessica. You didn't give me permission to be independent."
She made a small, angry sound.
"This isn't over."
After she hung up, I received a message from an unfamiliar email address.
Attached was a purported copy of my lottery claim paperwork.
Across the subject line someone had typed: YOUR FAMILY DESERVES THE TRUTH.
I forwarded it to Richard without opening the attachment.
May you like
There were now people reaching toward records they had no reason to possess.
