Chapter 4 - A Debt with My Daughter's Name
Dahlia spread the pages across the kitchen table with shaking hands.
The loan was for commercial kitchen equipment.
The borrower was Tatum's catering company.
The personal guarantor was Dahlia Marlowe.
“My signature isn't on any kitchen loan,” Dahlia said.
“I don't even own a toaster.”
The lender listed an opening date seven months earlier.
It had sent notices to an email Dahlia had never used and a mailing address belonging to Tatum's company.
Only the final notice had reached our home.
I called the lender's fraud department with Dahlia beside me.
The representative explained that she would have to file an identity-theft report and dispute the guaranty in writing.
Until the investigation, a collection process could still hurt her credit.
“I'm supposed to move to Richmond in three weeks,” Dahlia said after the call.
“My apartment application is under review.”
She had earned a paid fellowship restoring historical records.
Her father would have loved that she had chosen to preserve other people's stories.
I asked if she had ever given Tatum her identification.
“Last Thanksgiving,” she said.
“Tatum said she needed my license for the guest list at a fundraiser.”
I remembered that fundraiser.
Tatum had introduced Dahlia as “our little scholar” and made her stand beside a banner while guests applauded.
Dahlia pressed her fingertips against her forehead.
“Do you think Severin knows?”
I wanted to say no.
Instead, I said we would ask him.
A new message appeared on her phone.
It was from Severin.
Tatum says there's been a misunderstanding about some paperwork. Please don't tell Mom until we sort it out.
Dahlia tilted the screen toward me.
We stared at the words in silence.
Then another message arrived, this one with an attachment.
It was a screenshot of a form bearing Dahlia's name.
May you like
Below the signature was a witness line.
The witness was her brother.
