Chapter 3 - The Group Chat Meltdown
While my father stood in my hallway sputtering excuses to Officer Martinez, my phone screen lit up with a blinding strobe of incoming texts.
Uncle Robert: What is going on? We are boarding our connection in Chicago. Jenna, delete this immediately. This is disrespectful to your father.
Aunt Sarah: Is this true? Did they leave the kids with Jenna? Madison, explain yourself!
Madison: Jenna is lying! We asked her weeks ago! She’s just throwing a tantrum because she’s bitter she couldn’t get time off work!
Kyle: Jenna, you absolute psycho. You’re ruining our vacation over a scheduling misunderstanding. Bring the kids to Mom’s house right now. The spare key is under the mat.
I unlocked my phone, right there in front of my father and the police officer, and typed a single response into the chat of thirty-four extended family members.
Jenna: Spare key? My apartment door is unlocked. If you want your kids, turn the plane around or send someone else to pick them up. I am scrubbing into a double shift at St. Mary’s in twenty minutes, and I am not a boarding kennel.
Silence descended on the group chat. The typing bubbles vanished.
My father’s phone buzzed in his pocket. Then it buzzed again. He pulled it out, his hands trembling slightly as he unlocked the screen. As his eyes scanned the messages—and likely the screenshots of the itinerary that Aunt Sarah had demanded Madison explain—his posture collapsed.
Officer Martinez cleared his throat. “Mr. Miller, it looks like you’ve got a domestic logistics crisis on your hands. But it’s not a police matter. Jenna is an adult who never consented to taking custody of these kids today. If you don't take them right now, I’m going to have to call Child Protective Services to sort out why three minors were left unattended at an unconsenting relative’s address.”
“You can’t do that!” my father hissed, turning on the officer. “We’re leaving the state! My wife and I are already checked in at the resort!”
“Then your wife needs to get on a phone and cancel her reservation,” Officer Martinez said flatly, his tone hardening. “Because Jenna is walking out that door for work in ten minutes.”
My father turned his panicked, venomous glare onto me. “You are destroying this family, Jenna. Just like your mother did.”
That did it. The final thread of filial obligation snapped, dissolving into thin air.
“My mother died when I was six, Dad,” I said, my voice chilling the air between us. “And the only thing destroying this family is the fact that you’ve spent twenty years treating me like a ghost who only exists to clean up your mess. Get out of my apartment.”
My father opened his mouth, closed it, and then turned on his heel, storming down the stairs while furiously punching numbers into his phone.
Officer Martinez gave me a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. “Good luck with your shift, Jenna. If they pull this stunt again, call us directly. We’ll file a formal report.”
When the door clicked shut, I let out a breath I felt like I’d been holding for a decade. Then I looked down at Ava, Mason, and Ellie.
They weren't to blame. They were victims of this toxic circus too.
I knelt down, looking into Ava’s frightened eyes. “Hey, sweetie. You want some pancakes before your uncle Kyle comes back to pick you up?”
May you like
Ava sniffled and nodded.
Little did I know, Kyle wasn't coming back to pick them up. Madison had other plans—plans that involved turning the entire extended family into an active war zone.
