I wouldn’t have listened.
I would have made excuses for them because that’s what I’d been doing my whole life.
Trevor and I made plans to meet up in a few weeks. Turns out I have other family who actually cares. I’d just been too focused on winning approval from the people who’d never give it to me.
Monday afternoon—a week after their trip started—I was at work in a meeting when I noticed someone kept trying to reach me on my work line. My assistant knocked on the conference room door and said I had an urgent call.
It was my mom’s voice.
She’d somehow tracked down my office number.
“Honey, thank God. We’ve been trying to reach you for days. Why aren’t you answering your phone?”
“I changed my number,” I said flatly.
“You what? Why would you do that?”
“Seemed like the right move. What do you want, Mom?”
“We need you to go to Olivia’s house right now. There was a pipe burst in their basement while we’ve been gone and there’s water everywhere. The house is flooding.
“You need to go turn off the water main and call a plumber.”
“That sounds like a problem,” I said.
“Yes, it’s a huge problem. That’s why we need you to go handle it right now.”
“Have you tried calling a plumber directly,” I asked, “or maybe a property management service? I’m sure there are twenty-four-hour emergency services for this kind of thing.”
“What? Why would we call strangers when you can just go handle it? You know the house. You know where everything is.”
“Actually, Mom, I can’t help you with this.”
Silence on the other end.
“What do you mean you can’t help us?”
“I mean I can’t. I’m at work. I live forty-five minutes away now. And honestly, it’s not my problem.”
“Not your problem? This is your sister’s house. She’s pregnant. Do you have any idea how stressed she is right now?”
“Then maybe Brad should have stayed home instead of going on vacation,” I said. “Or maybe you guys should have hired a house sitter like I suggested.”
“You’re seriously going to let your sister’s house flood because you’re still mad about that dinner.”
“I’m not mad about anything, Mom. I’m just not available to help. You guys made it pretty clear I’m not part of the family.
“So I don’t see why family emergencies are my responsibility.”
“That’s not what anyone said.”
“That’s exactly what Olivia said, and you and Dad agreed with her. I’m just respecting your wishes.”
“This is ridiculous. You’re being a child.”
“I’m being consistent.”
“Look, I’ve got to get back to my meeting. Good luck with the flooding situation.”
I hung up before she could respond.
My hands were shaking a little—not from fear, but from the adrenaline of actually standing up for myself for once. It felt strange, foreign, but also kind of good.
The calls kept coming to my work line. I had my assistant screen them and tell anyone from my family that I was unavailable. By the end of the day, she looked at me with concern.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
“Your mom called four more times. She sounds really upset.”
“Family drama,” I said.
“Nothing serious. If they call again, just tell them I’ll call them back when I can.”
I had no intention of calling them back.
That night, I got an email from my dad. He’d somehow found my personal email address, probably from some old family group email chain. The subject line was urgent.
Call us immediately.