Chapter 8 - THE NIGHT ERIC LOST THE KEYS
Linda removed Eric from the house.
Not permanently by magic.
She gave written notice.
Thirty days.
Eric laughed.
“You need me.”
“For what?”
“Everything.”
She looked around.
Jenna had hired contractors.
Daniel handled trust matters.
A neighbor cut the lawn.
Linda could order groceries.
Need was smaller than habit.
Then Eric said:
“You’ll call me in a week.”
Linda almost did.
On day four, the water heater failed.
She reached for the phone.
Then stopped.
Called Jenna.
Jenna said:
“Call the plumber.”
Linda sounded offended.
“You’re in construction.”
“I supervise commercial work. You need a plumber.”
That was boundary disguised as practicality.
Linda called one.
Paid invoice herself.
Survived.
Then Eric showed up drunk on day seven.
Pounded on the door.
Mason was not there.
Good.
Linda did not open.
He shouted:
“This is my house too!”
Not yet.
Future interest did not equal present occupancy.
Police eventually told him to leave.
No arrest.
Then Linda cried.
Jenna sat with her.
Not as rescuer.
As daughter.
Linda said:
“I don’t know how we got here.”
Jenna answered:
“You kept making sure he never had to know.”
That hurt.
Then Linda said:
“I was afraid he’d leave.”
There.
Preference had fear underneath.
Eric was always unstable.
So Linda gave more to keep him close.
Jenna was dependable.
So Linda assumed she could survive neglect.
Same old family pattern.
Then child welfare closed Mason’s case with findings:
no concern regarding Jenna’s care,
documented inappropriate discipline and unsafe exposure by Eric,
Linda failed to intervene adequately,
recommendation that Mason not be left unsupervised with either Eric or Linda until Jenna chose otherwise.
Linda cried when she read it.
“You too?”
Jenna said:
“You stood there.”
No escape.
Then Mason asked Jenna:
“Is Grandma bad?”
Jenna looked at him.
“No.”
“Is Uncle Eric?”
She paused.
“He did something bad to you.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Eight-year-olds hated nuance.
Jenna answered:
“I don’t think people are only one thing.”
Mason frowned.
Then:
“I still don’t want to see him.”
“You don’t have to.”
Good.
Choice.
Then Eric called Mason directly.
Jenna blocked the number.
May you like
First time she had ever blocked family.
It felt less dramatic than expected.
