Chapter 4 - The Collapse of the Façade
Drew’s face didn't just change; it disintegrated.
The smooth, arrogant composure she had worn for six years fell away like wet tissue paper, revealing a pale, sharp-featured terror beneath.
"What did you just say?" Drew gasped, stepping toward me, her iced latte cup crumpling in her tight fist, dark liquid dripping onto her camel-hair sleeve. "Maggie! Are you insane? You're kicking us out? Over a cake?"
"You have thirty seconds to gather your children and leave, Drew," I said, my voice completely devoid of anger, which made it ten times more terrifying than if I had been screaming.
"You can't talk to me like that!" Drew shouted, her voice screeching across the bowling alley, causing the parents from the neighboring party to turn around and stare. "Cody is a child! He made a mistake! I’ll pay you fifty bucks for your stupid cake!"
"You don't have fifty bucks, Drew," I said softly, looking her dead in the eye. "You don't have fifty bucks because your car payment is five days overdue, your husband’s consulting firm is a phantom, and your children’s tuition account is currently sitting at zero."
Drew stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes widened until the whites were visible all around her blue irises.
"What are you talking about?" she whispered, her voice suddenly trembling.
"I just canceled the recurring transfers, Drew," I said, leaning in so only she could hear my words over the sound of the arcade games. "All of them. St. Jude’s. The Audi. Chloe’s allowance. Julian’s hockey fund. Effective ninety seconds ago, you are on your own."
"No..." Drew breathed, her phone slipping from her fingers and cracking against the concrete floor. "No, no, no... Maggie, you can't do that! The tuition deadline is Tuesday! If it’s not paid by five o'clock on Tuesday, they won't let Chloe take her midterm exams! They'll unenroll them!"
"Then I suggest you and Julian figure out how to write a check for sixteen thousand and fifty dollars before Tuesday afternoon," I said.
"Maggie! We don't have sixteen thousand dollars!" Drew shrieked, grabbing my coat sleeve with both hands, her fingernails digging into the fabric. "Julian doesn't have a job! We haven't paid our mortgage in two months! We have twelve dollars in our checking account! You can't do this to my children! They're your family!"
I looked down at her hands on my coat sleeve.
Then I raised my eyes and looked at Cody, who was watching his mother scream with a confused, panicked expression on his eleven-year-old face.
"They were my family, Drew," I said, reaching down and unclasping her fingers from my sleeve one by one. "Until you taught your son that destroying my child's happiness was a joke worth an iPhone."
"You monster!" Drew screamed, her face contorting into a mask of pure, unadulterated hatred as Marcus, the venue manager, stepped between us and placed a polite but firm hand on her arm. "You bitter, lonely, jealous bitch! You're doing this because David left you! You hate us because we have a real family!"
The sixteen parents in the room gasped. Several of them pulled their children back toward the door.
I didn't flinch. I didn't raise my hand. I didn't even blink.
"Marcus," I said calmly to the manager. "Please remove her."
"Ma'am, you need to step outside right now," Marcus said, his voice firm as he signaled two other bowling alley employees in red shirts to assist him. "Let's go. Right now."
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"Don't touch me!" Drew howled, dragging Cody by the arm as he began to cry, her camel-hair coat flapping behind her like the wings of a dying bird. "Maggie! You'll rot in hell for this! My mother will hear about this! Julian will sue you! You hear me? Julian will sue you for every penny you have!"
I turned my back on her before she reached the double glass exit doors.
