When I Cut Off the Payments, My Mama’s Boy Husband’s Family Panicked Chapter 03
Margaret came over the next morning with a bag of oranges in one hand and an opened box of protein shakes in the other.
“Olivia, I don’t like these protein shakes. You can have them. They’re good for you.’
I looked inside the box. There were only two small bottles left.
Margaret slipped off her shoes and glanced at the play mat in the living room.
“Why are Lily’s toys everywhere? You can’t spoil a child like this.”
I was tying Lily’s hair.
“She just finished playing. I’ll clean it up later.”
Margaret sat on the sofa and took out her phone.
“Were you fighting with Ethan over money again yesterday?”
The hair tie was looped around my fingers for the third time. Lily’s hair was thin and soft, and a few strands kept slipping loose.
“It wasn’t an argument. We really can’t keep the household running like this.”
Margaret smiled.
“You young people spend money like water. Your take-home pay is over $4,000. How is that not enough? Back in our day, we raised children on a few hundred dollars a month.”
I zipped Lily’s little backpack.
“Mom, we have a mortgage now.”
“Your name is on the deed, isn’t it?”
“Yes. We own it together.”
“Then it makes sense for you to pay the mortgage. A woman needs a house in her name to feel secure.”
She said it so smoothly, as if that so-called security were not a pile of debt built with my money. As if it were a prize I should thank them for.
Lily ran up to Margaret with her little backpack on.
“Grandma, I’m going to draw a bunny at daycare today.”
Margaret pinched her cheek.
“Why draw? Children shouldn’t waste time on useless things. Your dad never took hobby classes when he was little, and he still got into an Ivy League school.”
I took Lily downstairs. When I came back, Margaret had already opened my refrigerator.
“Why is there so little food?”
“It’s the end of the month.”
She shut the fridge, and her face sank.
“Olivia, I came here today to talk to you about something. Ryan is getting engaged next month. The bride’s family expects a wedding contribution, an engagement ring, and matching jewelry. Your dad is under a lot of pressure, so stop pushing Ethan to bring money home.”
I froze.
‘Ryan is getting married. Why does he need Ethan’s money?”
Margaret looked at me as if I had told a joke.
“What’s wrong brothers helping each other? Ethan is the older brother. He’s successful. Of
course he should take on more.”
“What about his own daughter?”
“Lily has you. She isn’t starving.”
I stood beside the dining table, my palm pressed against the edge.
“Mom, I owe $13,000 on my credit card.”
She paused, then frowned.
“How did you rack up that much debt? Have you been buying things behind Ethan’s back?”
I opened my phone and showed her the statements: hospital bills, mortgage payments, car payments, daycare charges, groceries. Every charge was accounted for. Every dollar had gone to this family.
Margaret glanced at it for two seconds, then pushed the phone back.
“I don’t understand all this. Anyway, if your household has problems, solve them yourselves. Ethan’s money is already with his father. You’re not getting it back.”
“What if I can’t solve it?”
She stared at me, her tone hardening.
“Then spend less. Pull Lily out of daycare. Walk to work. You’re a woman. Learn to stretch what you have, and you’ll get by.”
I thought of the half bowl of leftovers I had eaten the night before. I thought of the black down jacket I had worn for three years. I thought of the postpartum follow-up the doctor had told me to schedule, the one I had kept putting off and still had not gone to.
Margaret stood and picked up her bag.
“Robert is waiting for me to look at engagement rings and jewelry. I’m leaving. Drink those protein shakes. Don’t waste them.”
The door closed.
I stared at the box with only two protein shakes left. Then I picked it up and threw it into the trash.