Chapter 6 - Cleaning House
Two hours later, our house on Elm Street looked like a disaster zone.
Two uniformed Columbus police officers stood by the front porch while Derek packed his remaining belongings into large black plastic garbage bags. The expensive gaming console sat unplugged on the living room floor; the new football jerseys were crumpled on the sofa.
Dad and I stood on the sidewalk, watching the final chapter of my marriage dissolve into trash bags.
Derek walked out onto the porch, his shoulders slumped, dragging a large duffel bag behind him. He looked at me, his face twisted in a bitter mixture of humiliation and lingering resentment.
“Are you happy now?” he muttered, stopping at the edge of the porch. “You destroyed our family over a few bills.”
I stepped forward, looking him straight in the eye—not with anger, but with absolute, unbreakable clarity.
“You didn't destroy a family, Derek,” I said quietly. “You built a parasite. And today, the host finally kicked it out.”
Derek opened his mouth to retort, but one of the police officers cleared his throat and gestured toward the driveway. “Time to move along, Mr. Bennett.”
With a final, venomous glare, Derek turned, climbed into his mother’s aging sedan, and slammed the door. The car sputtered to life and rolled down the street, disappearing around the corner.
The street grew quiet again.
The bright orange utility shut-off stickers were still taped to the front door, but as I walked up the steps, a city maintenance van pulled into the driveway.
A friendly technician stepped out, carrying a clipboard. “Mrs. Bennett? Work order came through from the court receiver. Power and water are fully restored, and all fraudulent utility locks have been cleared.”
“Thank you,” I breathed, a genuine smile breaking across my face for the first time in years.
Dad walked up beside me, pulling the orange stickers off the front door one by one and tossing them into the trash bin.
“Well,” Dad said, wiping his hands on a clean rag. “The house is empty, the utilities are back on, and the legal mess is being untangled. But there’s one more thing we need to fix before Lily comes home from school.”
I looked at him, confused. “What’s that?”
Dad walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door.
May you like
It was still completely empty—just the half-bottle of ketchup, the jar of pickles, and two lonely eggs.
“Can't have a pharmacy manager and a brilliant mother living in a house with an empty fridge,” Dad grinned, tossing me his truck keys. “Grab your purse, Claire. We’re going to the farmers market and the organic grocery store. And this time, we’re buying whatever the hell we want.”
