Chapter 4

The blowup finally came on Caleb's seventh birthday.

I'd always made a big deal of his birthday.

I'd started planning two weeks out, ordered him the car-themed cake he loved, and promised him he could invite his two best friends over for a little party at the house.

His birthday fell on a Saturday, and I was up early hitting the grocery store for ingredients, ready to cook the kids a real feast with my own hands.

George took charge of the balloons and streamers, turning the place into something bright and playful.

Caleb tore around the apartment, wild with excitement. For once the house felt like a holiday.

Around noon, while I was going full tilt in the kitchen, Aunt Leona came shuffling out of her room in her pajamas, yawning.

She stretched, glanced at the decorations in the living room, and drifted over to the kitchen doorway.

"Well, well, all this fuss?"

She leaned in, looking at the vegetables I'd chopped and laid out. "So much food. You'll never finish it. Such a waste."

I ignored her and kept working.

Then she went on. "Nat, honey, let me tell you something. My two old girlfriends, your Aunt May and Aunt Lisa, they heard I'm staying here in this big place of yours and they're just green with envy, been wanting to come sit for a while. Today's already lively, so how about I give them a call and have them come over this afternoon too? They can help celebrate while they're at it."

My knife came down on the board with a hard thunk.

I turned and stared her dead in the eye, spacing out every word.

"Aunt Leona. Today is my son Caleb's birthday. We just want to keep it simple, family and his little friends."

My voice was cold, without a trace of warmth.

The smile froze on her face. She probably hadn't expected me, always the one who swallowed it, to speak to her like that.

She pursed her lips and muttered.

"What kind of attitude is that. It's just two people. Your place is huge, you scared of two extra pairs of chopsticks? So stingy."

With that she turned to go, still grumbling under her breath. "Never met anyone so cold…"

Something in me caught fire and shot up fast.

I threw down the knife, strode out of the kitchen, and called after her back.

"Aunt Leona! This is my home, not yours! You want to throw a party, go throw one at your own place!"

The living room went dead silent in an instant.

George stopped what he was doing and looked at me, stunned.

My mother came rushing out of her room, saw the standoff, and immediately roared.

"Natalie! Is that any way to talk to your Aunt Leona?"

The second my mother appeared, Aunt Leona's spine went straight again.

She turned around, dropped onto the couch, and her eyes reddened as she started dabbing at tears.

"Priscilla, look at this daughter of yours. I was only trying to make the house a little more cheerful, out of the goodness of my heart, and this is how she treats me? She's stabbing me right in the heart! Treating me like an outsider, resenting me for eating your food and living under your roof…"

"She didn't! Nat didn't mean it that way!"

My mother comforted her with one breath and glared at me with the next. "Apologize to your Aunt Leona right now!"

"Apologize? For what?"

I laughed, furious. "Mom, ask her what she's done these past six months! AC cranked to the coldest setting, an hour soaking in the tub, the utility bills doubled. Has she ever once said sorry? She picks apart the food I cook, tells me how to raise my own kid. Has she ever respected me as the woman of this house? Today is my son's birthday. She won't lift a finger to help, fine, but now she wants to drag her random friends over to ruin it too! Mom! You tell me, who exactly is the outsider here!"

Every bit of grievance and resentment from the past six months came pouring out of me at once, like beans spilling from a jar.

"My best friend of a lifetime, so she stays with you a few days, so what? Don't you have even that much human warmth in you?"

My mother was shaking with rage, and still she trotted out the same tired lines.

"A few days? You call this a few days? It's been half a year!"

I gave it right back to her. "If she really thought of you as a best friend, she'd know to spare you, to spare your daughter! Not sit here without a shred of shame, turning your daughter's home upside down!"

"You… you ungrateful girl!" My mother, choked with anger, clutched her chest and gasped for breath.

"Mom!" My heart lurched. But in that instant, one thought came to me with total clarity.

This couldn't go on.

I took a deep breath, walked over to George, and took the phone from his hand.

Then, right in front of my mother and Aunt Leona, I calmly opened the hotel-booking app.

"Aunt Leona, I'm done arguing with you."

My voice wasn't loud, but it was unshakable. "There's a five-star hotel not far from here, very nice. I've already booked a deluxe single room for a week under your name, and I'm covering the bill. At two o'clock this afternoon, I'll call a car to take you there. After the week's up, whether you go back home or find somewhere else, that's up to you. But you can't live in this house anymore."

Aunt Leona's crying cut off mid-sob. She and my mother both stared at me like I was some kind of monster.

I didn't look at either of them. I bent down to Caleb, who was too scared to make a sound, and said,

"Caleb, I'm sorry. We'll do the birthday party another day."

Then I took George and Caleb by the hand and walked out the door without looking back.