Chapter 6 - The Gathering of the Excluded
The next afternoon, the dining room of my new home in Frederick was filled with the aroma of roasted garlic, beef stew, and fresh sourdough bread.
Seated around the rustic oak table were the very relatives Michael had attempted to humiliate me in front of on Christmas Day: my younger sister Joanne, her husband David, three of my favorite nephews, and Patricia.
At Christmas, they had sat paralyzed by Michael’s sudden rage and Claire’s cruel smirks. Today, the atmosphere was entirely different.
"Eleanor," Joanne said, reaching across the linen runner to squeeze my hand. "When Michael started screaming at you two nights ago, David and I didn't know what to say. He made it sound like you were living off his generosity, like you were squatting in his property."
"He relied on your shock to hide his theft," I said simply.
I stood up and laid a stack of photocopied bank records in the center of the table. The room fell into total silence.
"Look for yourselves," I said.
David, an accountant by trade, pulled the top sheets toward him and put on his reading glasses. Within ninety seconds, his jaw dropped.
"Good heavens, Eleanor... this isn't just a few favors. In the last three years alone, you transferred over one hundred and eighty thousand dollars directly to Michael Bennett Construction and Claire’s design boutique."
"And look at this," Patricia added, pointing to a ledger line. "The mortgage for their townhouse in North Bethesda? Eleanor’s checking account paid it on the first of every single month for six straight years. They never paid a dime of their own principal."
Joanne covered her mouth with her napkin. "And he stood over you at Christmas dinner and demanded you pay him rent?"
"He didn't just demand rent," I said. "He had already listed the Oakridge house for sale behind my back. The closing was set for three days from now. He forged a document claiming I was senile to bypass my signature."
A collective murmur of disgust swept through the room. My nephew Greg, who had worked for Michael's contracting firm three summers ago, slammed his glass down.
"I knew he was running shady games," Greg said angrily. "He told everyone on the job site that Aunt Eleanor was 'set for life' and that he was managing her affairs out of the goodness of his heart. He was pocketing client deposits and using Aunt Eleanor’s money to cover payroll when the clients threatened to sue him!"
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"He’s done," David said firmly, pushing the papers back. "Legally and socially, he has severed his own branch. No one in this family will offer him a solitary dollar. If Claire calls Joanne or me, she’ll get a dial tone."
"I don't want your vengeance," I told my family, looking at each of them in turn. "I only want the truth known. Michael gambled with my life because he believed an old woman would be too frightened of loneliness to fight back. He forgot who raised him."
