“No.” His answer came quickly, but he still would not meet my eyes.
“I told her you might leave it to me someday.”
Thalia snapped her head toward him.
“You said we were building our future here.”
“I said Mom was letting us stay while I found work.”
“You said she wouldn’t sell.”
Desmond’s silence answered for him.
Thalia looked back at the contract.
“You can cancel this.”
“No.”
“You haven’t thought it through.”
“I have spent four months thinking it through.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Then why didn’t you tell us?”
“Because I was trying to arrange a soft landing for you.”
I explained that the closing was scheduled far enough away to allow them to move.
The attorney had prepared the occupancy notice using the period required in our area.
I had planned to help with their deposit because I knew Desmond had not yet found a job matching his old salary.
Thalia’s expression changed when she heard the word help.
“How much?” she asked.
Desmond stared at her.
I almost laughed, but there was nothing funny about it.
“You just told me to buy my own food,” I said.
“And your first question is how much money I planned to give you?”
“I’m trying to understand the situation.”
“No.
You are calculating what you can still take from it.”
She slapped her palm against the counter.
“This is unbelievable.
We have rights.”
“You do,” I said.
“That is why an attorney prepared the notice instead of me putting your suitcases on the porch.”
Thalia reached for the papers again.
I closed the folder.
“You cannot hide documents from us.”
“They are my documents.”
“This affects our home.”
“This is not your home,” I said.
“It is the house where I allowed you to live without rent.”
Desmond flinched.
Thalia pointed toward my old refrigerator.
“After everything I have done to improve this place—”
“You moved my breakfast table.”
“I organized the kitchen.”
“You put your name on my milk.”
“I was setting boundaries.”
“You were testing how much disrespect I would tolerate.”
The words landed harder because I did not shout them.
Thalia’s mouth tightened.
She turned to Desmond as if expecting him to take control.
“Tell her she’s overreacting.”
He stared at the stickers covering the food.
For once, he seemed to see the kitchen as I saw it.
“Did Mom buy all of that?” he asked.
Thalia crossed her arms.
“That isn’t the point.”
