Chapter 4 - The Panicked Assembly
By eight o'clock that evening, the illusion of my family's upper-middle-class stability was completely shattered.
My parents had summoned Karla to the apartment. They were sitting around the glass dining table—the same table where my daughter had been refused a simple bowl of soup forty-eight hours earlier. The yellow legal document from Marcus Vance lay unfolded in the center, surrounded by old tax bills and yellowing paper folders.
Karla was pacing back and forth across the hardwood floor, clutching a glass of white wine. Her face was red, her eyes puffy from crying.
"This can't be real!" Karla yelled, throwing her hands up. "Mom, tell me this is a mistake! How can Laura own this apartment? You’ve lived here for twenty years!"
My mother, Evelyn, looked ten years older. Her hair was unstyled, and her hands trembled as she picked up the deed. "Your father... when he had that legal trouble with his business partner five years ago... the lawyer told us to temporarily transfer the title to protect our assets from seizure. We picked Laura because she was married to Richard at the time and had a solid credit history."
"Why didn't you transfer it back after the lawsuit was settled?!" Karla demanded, turning on her father.
Arthur sat hunched over in his armchair, staring at the floor, looking completely defeated. "The lawyer charged three thousand dollars to draw up the original deed transfer. Once the lawsuit dropped, I didn't want to spend another three grand to transfer it back to our names. I thought... I thought Laura would never question it. She was always quiet. She always did what she was told."
"Well, she’s not quiet anymore!" Karla screamed. "She canceled my mortgage payment! My lender told me if I don't pay eight hundred and fifty dollars by Friday, they are slapping me with a late penalty and reporting it to the credit bureau! I don't have eight hundred dollars, Mom! I spent my whole paycheck on my vacation deposit!"
"Quiet down, Karla!" Evelyn snapped, though her own voice trembled with panic. "We need to think! We just need to explain to Laura that she can't do this to her own flesh and blood. She’s just emotional because of what happened the other day with the soup."
"Emotional?" Arthur muttered, finally lifting his head. "Evelyn, did you read the bottom of page three? Her lawyer isn't just asking for the keys. He’s filed a preliminary lien for forty-eight thousand dollars in unpaid property taxes and building maintenance fees that Laura has paid out of her personal account over the last five years. If we don't sign over full possession, she’s going to sue us for reimbursement!"
Karla sank into a dining chair, her wine glass rattling against the glass tabletop. "We don't have forty-eight thousand dollars."
"None of us do," Arthur whispered.
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Evelyn reached for her phone with shaking fingers. "I'll call her again. I'll apologize. I'll tell her she can bring Sophia back. I'll make her a fresh pot of soup."
"She’s not going to answer your call, Mom," Karla said bitterly, looking at the door. "She’s not the stupid girl who used to clean your floors anymore. She’s coming for everything."
