Chapter 4: The Eviction Notice
When I pulled back up to my house, the sun had set, but the party was only getting louder. The patio lights were strung up, the music had switched to aggressive hip-hop, and several people were now inside my home, tracking mud across the living room carpet.
I walked through the front door, slamming it shut behind me with enough force to rattle the picture frames. The heavy thud drew the attention of Marcus, who was laughing on my couch with his boots resting on the coffee table.
"Hey, where'd you run off to?" Marcus slurred, holding up a beer. "Aunt Judith said you had a panic attack or something. Chill out, man."
I didn't say a word to him. I marched straight to the stereo system and ripped the power cord out of the wall. The sudden silence in the house was deafening. The chatter from the backyard slowly died down as people realized the music had stopped.
"Everyone," I said, my voice echoing in the quiet room. "Get out."
My mother pushed through the crowd coming in from the patio. She looked furious. "Colin Ashford, what on earth are you doing? You are ruining the party!"
"The party is over, Judith," I said, using her first name. She flinched as if I had struck her. "Take your guests. Take your bags. You have exactly ten minutes to vacate my property before I call the police for trespassing."
A collective gasp swept through the room.
"You can't do that!" my mother shrieked, her face turning red. "I am your mother! I live here! I have been keeping this family afloat while you've been gallivanting around the state!"
"Keeping it afloat?" I laughed, a bitter, hollow sound. "With the thirty-five hundred a month I sent you? The money you stole from my wife and child to buy silk shirts and prime rib for Marcus?"
Murmurs broke out among the relatives. Some looked guilty; others looked confused. A few of the smarter neighbors were already slipping out the front door, not wanting any part of the fallout.
"You're crazy," Marcus sneered, standing up from the couch and puffing out his chest. He was taller than me, broader, and fueled by liquid courage. "Aunt Judith pays the mortgage here. She told us. You’re broke, Colin. She owns this place now."
I froze. "What did you just say?"
My mother’s face drained of all color. "Marcus, shut up," she hissed.
May you like
"No, let him speak," I said, taking a step toward my cousin. "What do you mean, she owns this place?"
Marcus smirked, thinking he had the upper hand. "She bought you out, man. She showed me the paperwork last week. You're just a guest here."
