Chapter 4 - The Fake Boyfriend
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"First," Maya said, "we need to know what lie she told you to get you here today."
"She said you were wasting the laptop money, and that you were running around with a boy who doesn't go to school."
Maya rolled her eyes in absolute disgust. "The laptop money was probably spent on Uncle Greg. And the 'boy' is Leo."
"Who is Leo?"
"He's twenty-two. He's the line cook at the diner where I wash dishes," Maya explained. "He noticed I was coming to work starving. He brings me leftover food from the kitchen and helps me with my math homework in the alley out back. He's like a big brother to me. Grandma saw him walking me to the bus stop once and lost her mind because she thought he'd report her to child services."
My mother was weaponizing the only person who was actually feeding my child.
"Okay," I said, pacing the small counseling office. "Here is the plan. We pretend everything is exactly the way she wants it. I will show up at the house this evening, pretending to be the furious father."
Maya nodded slowly. "She'll expect you to yell at me in front of her. She loves the drama."
"I'll yell," I promised, feeling sick at the thought of it. "But it will all be an act. While she's distracted playing the victim, I need to get into her office and find her financial records. I need proof of where my money went before I call the police."
"Her office is locked," Maya warned. "She keeps the key on a lanyard around her neck."
"I'll figure a way in," I said. "Where do you think the money is going?"
"Uncle Greg," Maya said without hesitation. "He hasn't worked in three years. He drives a brand-new truck, and he's always coming over to get envelopes of cash from her."
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My younger brother, Greg. The golden child. He had always been our mother's favorite, but to think she was funding his lavish lifestyle by starving her own granddaughter was a level of evil I couldn't comprehend.
"I'll pick you up after school," I said. "We'll go get a real dinner. Then, the performance begins."
