“Hey,” she said, breathless. “I wasn’t sure you’d call.”
“It’s good to hear your voice,” I replied, and I meant it.
She sighed.
“I heard what happened. Janine’s been blowing up my phone all day, talking about how you ruined Easter and made your mom cry.”
I laughed dryly.
“That sounds about right.”
She also said, “You canled the hotel rooms during dinner. Is that true?”
“Right before dessert,” I corrected. “Didn’t want to waste good cake.”
Lisa snorted.
“God, I wish I’d seen their faces. You know how long I fantasized about doing something like that.”
“You were always the black sheep,” I said. “They just pretended I wasn’t one because I paid the bills.”
There was a pause.
“I’m proud of you, Alex,” she said softly. “Seriously, you finally did what we all wanted to do, but were too scared to.”
I didn’t know what to say to that.
No one had said they were proud of me in years.
Not without a price tag.
“You know what’s funny?” I said. “The house is still in my name.”
Lisa was quiet.
“You’re kidding.”
“I’m not. They never transferred it. I think they just assumed I would eventually or that it didn’t matter.”
She whistled.
“Wow. So, what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know yet,” I said. “But I’m done letting them treat me like a bottomless bank account.”
“I can help,” she offered immediately. “I’ve got a friend who’s a real estate attorney. If you want to pull records, draft notices, explore options, you name it. Just say the word.”
I smiled.
For the first time in days, I actually smiled.
“I might take you up on that.”
We talked for another hour about family, about how Lisa had cut them off 2 years ago and never looked back. How she’d been painted as selfish and ungrateful for moving away.
Even though she’d spent her whole teenage life raising her younger siblings while her parents took weekend breaks, she wasn’t selfish.
She just stopped bleeding for people who sharpened knives behind her back.
After the call, I sat on the couch with my laptop again.
I started drafting a letter.
Not emotional, not angry, just formal, legal.
I laid out the facts.
The deed was in my name.
The mortgage was paid by me.
The house was by every legal definition mine.
If they wanted to remain in it, they’d need to sign a rental agreement.
Fair market value, monthly terms, no more free rides.