Chapter 5 - THE LAUNDRY ROOM
Grant wanted to believe the insurance issue and the children’s treatment were separate.
They were not.
Ava called the laundry room:
“the hiding room.”
Grant hated that phrase.
When adjusters, contractors, or inspectors visited, Patricia sometimes told Ava and Lucas:
“Stay in here and be quiet.”
Why?
Because the claim said the family was displaced.
If an adjuster found the children living normally in the house, questions would begin.
At first, Patricia put cartoons on a tablet.
Snacks.
Blanket.
Toys.
Then visits became more frequent.
Patricia became stricter.
“No noise.”
“No asking for food.”
“No opening the door.”
Ava learned that milk before an inspection was dangerous because Lucas might spill it.
That afternoon, Ava asked for milk anyway.
Patricia snapped.
“STOP BEGGING!”
Then poured it across Ava’s shirt.
Not because milk mattered.
May you like
Because Patricia was panicking.
The adjuster was twenty minutes early.
