Chapter 4 - Family Business
I drove to Greensboro that afternoon with the company filing on the passenger seat.
Mom opened the door before I knocked twice.
“Please don’t start yelling.”
“I’m not here to yell.”
That scared her more.
Dad sat at the kitchen table with his glasses in his hands.
I placed the filing between them.
“Why is Dileia’s company registered here?”
Mom looked at Dad.
Dad looked at the paper.
“We get mail for her sometimes.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Mom finally sat down.
“She said she was starting something in real estate.”
“And you never thought to mention it?”
“She asked us not to.”
I laughed once.
Of course she had.
Dad rubbed his forehead.
“She said it was temporary.”
Then Mom said the sentence that changed the room.
“She told us you were going into business together.”
I stared at her.
“Based on what?”
“She said you bought the duplex because she found the opportunity.”
“She didn’t even know I owned it.”
Mom’s eyes shifted away.
There it was.
The tiny movement people make before admitting something they know will hurt you.
“How did she find out?” I asked.
Mom swallowed.
“I saw an envelope on your desk when I stayed with you in October.”
“What envelope?”
“Your insurance paperwork.”
“And you told her.”
“I was proud of you.”
“No. You gave her information I deliberately kept private.”
Mom started crying.
Dad tried to interrupt, but my phone buzzed.
Gretchen, my property manager.
I answered.
“Renata, I’m at Caldwell.”
“What happened?”
“Ben and Yolanda say Dileia came by last week.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“She never told me that.”
“She told them the duplex was being sold.”
I stood up.
May you like
Gretchen continued.
“And she gave them thirty days to move out.”
