Chapter 3 - The Breaking Point
I walked out of the kitchen, the swinging door shutting behind me with a sharp click. The living room was exactly as I had left it. Brooke was still on her phone, Tessa was laughing, Erin was complaining, and my mother was comfortably ensconced on my couch, eating the food my manual labor had paid for.
I walked over to the television, grabbed the remote, and shut it off. The sudden silence in the room was deafening.
Darlene blinked, looking up at me with an annoyed scowl. "Marcus! What are you doing? The movie wasn't over."
"Get out," I said. My voice wasn't loud, but it carried a weight that made Brooke instantly drop her phone.
"Excuse me?" Darlene scoffed, sitting up and adjusting her blanket. "Who do you think you're talking to? I am your mother. If your stuck-up wife went in there and started crying to you—"
"I said, get out," I repeated, walking over to the couch. I grabbed the blanket off her legs and tossed it aside. "All of you. Gather your things and leave my apartment right now."
"Marcus, you're being completely unreasonable!" Erin chimed in, crossing her arms. "It's late, it's raining outside, and we don't have a ride!"
"Use the phones I pay for to call an Uber," I snapped, turning my gaze to Brooke. "Or better yet, use the money you made from your brilliant investments. Oh wait, you don't have any. Because you lost it all, didn't you?"
The color drained from Brooke's face. She looked at Darlene in a panic.
Darlene's eyes narrowed, her maternal facade completely dropping, replaced by a cold, defensive malice. "So, she told you. That ungrateful little girl couldn't keep her mouth shut. Family helps family, Marcus! Your sisters were in trouble. What was I supposed to do? Let them drown? You weren't using that land anyway! You're stuck in this warehouse, you'd never have the money to build on it!"
"It wasn't yours to take!" I roared, the anger finally exploding out of me. The sheer volume of my voice made all three of my sisters flinch. "You stole from me. You stole from my wife. You stole from your unborn grandson. I have broken my back working 14-hour days, skipping meals, sacrificing my health to pay for your rent, your medicine, your phones, and your food. And how do you repay me? You rob me blind and treat my pregnant wife like a maid!"
"Marcus, family doesn't sue family," Tessa whimpered, finally looking afraid.
"You're right," I said, pulling my phone out of my pocket. "Family doesn't do that. But criminals do. And right now, I don't see my family in this room. I see a group of thieves and enablers. You have exactly five minutes to get out of this apartment before I call the police and report the identity theft, the forgery, and the grand larceny."
Darlene stood up, her face twisted in rage. "You wouldn't dare put your own mother in jail, Marcus! I gave you life!"
"And you just ruined mine," I whispered. "Four minutes. Start moving."
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Seeing that I was dead serious, a frantic scramble ensued. My sisters grabbed their bags, crying and shouting insults at me, while my mother muttered curses under her breath, predicting that my marriage would fail and that I would regret the day I abandoned my blood.
I stood by the open front door, a statue of pure ice, watching them drag themselves out into the rainy Kansas City night. When the last of them crossed the threshold, I slammed the door shut, locked every deadbolt, and fell to my knees, burying my face in my hands.
