Chapter 6: The Version Mom Never Told
By the time Vance finished talking, it was past two in the afternoon.
Leo would be home from school in an hour.
I had that much time.
The full picture was worse than Carla's documents had suggested, and Carla's documents had already been bad.
The nineteen thousand wasn't owed to one place.
It was spread across three — an online platform with a collections process, a private card game run out of a back room forty minutes away, and one individual.
A man named Garrett who had lent Vance six thousand dollars eight months ago at terms Vance had not fully understood when he agreed to them.
"How much does Garrett think you owe him now?" I asked.
Vance looked at the table.
"Closer to ten."
"In eight months."
"He charges interest."
I didn't say anything.
"I know," Vance said.
"I know how it sounds."
"Has he threatened you?"
"Not directly." He turned the water glass in his hands.
"He's just very clear about what happens when people don't pay."
I thought about what Ruth had said on the phone.
*Be careful.*
"Does Mom know about Garrett specifically?"
"She knows I owe someone.
She doesn't know the details." He paused.
"I didn't want her to panic."
"She already panicked," I said.
"She called Carla.
She tried to get me to restart the transfers without telling me why.
She impersonated me to a hospital to cancel my son's medical procedure so she could redirect money to you." I kept my voice level.
"She panicked, Vance.
She just did it quietly and in a direction that hurt Leo."
He flinched.
Good.
"What I need to understand," I said, "is whether Mom knew the transfers were going to you.
Whether she made that choice knowingly, or whether she was just trying to hold everything together without understanding what she was actually doing."
Vance was quiet for a moment.
"She knew," he said.
"Not at first.
At first she thought she was just helping me through a rough patch.
But about a year ago, I told her the truth.
About the gambling.
About how much." He exhaled.
"She cried for about an hour.
Then she told me we'd figure it out together.
That we couldn't tell you because you'd cut us off."
"And then she kept sending you money anyway."
"Yes."
"And when that wasn't enough, she remortgaged the house."
"I didn't ask her to do that."
"But you knew she did it."
A long pause.
"Yes," he said.
I stood up and walked to the window.
The street outside was quiet.
A neighbor's dog was sitting on a porch across the road, watching nothing in particular.
"I'm not going to pay Garrett," I said.
"Or the card room.
Or the online platform."
"Diane—"
"I'm not." I turned around.
"But I'm also not going to leave you in a situation where you're physically at risk.
So here's what I'm willing to do." I came back to the table.
"I know a lawyer.
She handles financial disputes and she's dealt with informal debt arrangements before.
I'll pay for one consultation.
One.
You go, you tell her everything you told me, and you follow her advice about how to handle Garrett legally and safely."
Vance stared at me.
"That's it?" he said.
"That's it from me.
The rest is yours to solve."
"And Mom?"
I picked up the manila envelope and straightened the papers inside it.
"I'm going to see Mom tomorrow," I said.
"And that conversation is going to be different from every conversation we've had before."
Vance opened his mouth.
"Don't," I said quietly.
"Don't tell me to go easy on her.
Don't tell me she was trying to help.
You've both been making decisions with my money for two years without telling me the truth.
Leo's procedure almost disappeared because of those decisions." I looked at him.
"I love you, Vance.
I do.
But I'm done being managed."
He didn't argue.
When he left twenty minutes later, he paused at the front door.
"The comedy program," he said.
"I really did want to do something different."
"I know," I said.
"I just kept thinking one more win and I could fix everything before anyone found out."
"I know that too."
He nodded once.
Then he walked to his car.
May you like
I watched him drive away.
Then I went inside to wait for Leo.
