Chapter 6 - Rebecca Thought Mom Was the One Paying for Her
The morning after Diane slapped me, Rebecca called.
I was eating hotel waffles with Lily.
I almost ignored it.
Then answered.
“Where are you?”
“Hotel.”
“Mom said you stormed out because she gave me the guest room.”
I laughed.
“That’s what she said?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“Isn’t that what happened?”
“She threw sleeping bags at us and told us to sleep on the floor.”
Silence.
“Claire.”
“Then she slapped me.”
Longer silence.
“What?”
Lily looked up.
I stood and walked toward the window.
“She hit me in front of Lily.”
Rebecca whispered:
“Oh my God.”
That did not sound like someone who had demanded:
the room.
I asked:
“Did you ask Mom to give you our room?”
“No.”
“She told me you said you preferred the floor because Lily likes camping.”
I closed my eyes.
There it was.
Diane had told each daughter a different story.
Rebecca continued.
“I thought you offered.”
“No.”
“I wouldn’t have—”
“I know.”
That surprised me.
Then she said:
“Mom said you barely contribute anymore.”
I opened my eyes.
“What?”
“She said you’ve been pulling back financially because you think she should sell the house.”
“How much do you think I give Mom?”
Silence.
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe a couple hundred sometimes?”
I almost dropped the phone.
“Rebecca.”
“What?”
“I pay thirteen hundred a month toward the mortgage.”
She said nothing.
“I paid the property taxes in October.”
Nothing.
“I paid for Thanksgiving.”
“All of it?”
“Yes.”
“Last year too?”
“Yes.”
“The furnace?”
“Half.”
Rebecca whispered:
“Jesus.”
Then:
“Mom told me she was doing all that from Dad’s retirement.”
That was the first major crack in the family story.
Diane had been taking my money.
Then using the image of her own sacrifice to retain:
authority,
sympathy,
and leverage over Rebecca.
Why?
Not because she was secretly hoarding millions.
Something emotionally messier.
If Rebecca knew I financed so much, Diane feared Rebecca would see:
Claire as the reliable parent of the family.
Diane wanted to remain:
needed.
So she accepted my money privately.
Then distributed gratitude publicly to:
herself.
May you like
That hurt in a way I had not expected.
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