Chương 6
“Then why are you telling me?”
“Because you’ve probably got some picture of us.”
Emily almost laughed.
“You have one of me too.”
“Probably.”
A long silence followed.
Emily heard a door close on Lauren’s end.
Then Lauren lowered her voice.
“Dad lost the business.”
“I know.”
Lauren went still.
“How?”
“The loan file.”
“Oh.”
Another silence.
“He kept saying it would turn around.”
Emily looked down at the tea.
“That sounds like him.”
“Mom took money out of retirement.”
“I saw that.”
“Of course you did.”
Lauren’s voice sharpened.
“You get to read everything.”
“Lauren.”
“No, I’m sorry.”
She took a breath.
“I’m trying not to fight with you.”
“You’re not very good at it.”
To Emily’s surprise, Lauren laughed.
It was brief and exhausted.
“No.”
The sound unsettled Emily more than anger would have.
“What happened to Miami?” Emily asked.
Lauren was silent for so long that Emily wondered if the call had dropped.
“What?”
“Seven years ago.”
“Oh.”
“You canceled the trip.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Mom couldn’t get Noah to stop screaming after you left.”
Emily closed her eyes.
Lauren continued.
“And because I didn’t want to go anymore.”
“That wasn’t what you said then.”
“I said a lot of stupid things then.”
Emily opened her eyes.
Across the street, a man was sweeping cigarette butts away from a restaurant entrance.
“Did you know they were going to lock me in?”
Lauren did not answer immediately.
Emily’s body tightened.
“Lauren.”
“I knew Mom said she was going to make sure you stayed.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“I didn’t know she meant literally lock the door.”
“Did you see the key?”
Silence.
Emily stood from the table.
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
The coffee shop seemed suddenly too warm.
Lauren spoke quickly.
“I saw it after.”
“When?”
“When I came downstairs with my suitcase.”
“And you left.”
“Yes.”
Emily walked outside.
Cold air struck her face.
“You left me locked in there.”
“I was selfish.”
“That’s not enough.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I know it’s not enough.”
Emily stopped beside the curb.
Cars hissed over damp pavement.
Lauren’s breathing shook.
“I thought Mom would let you out after I left.”
“She didn’t.”
“I know.”
“You knew about the interview.”
“Yes.”
“You told me I’d get another one.”
“I know what I said.”
Emily pressed her free hand against her forehead.
Seven years of imagined conversations crowded toward her, but none fit the actual woman on the phone.
“Why are you telling me this now?”
“Because you called.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“Because I need something from you.”
There it was.
Emily almost felt relieved.
Lauren continued before she could speak.
“And because if I pretend I didn’t do it, you’ll know I’m lying.”
Emily closed her eyes.
“What do you need?”
“A little time.”
“For the house?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then what exactly are you asking me to do?”
Lauren hesitated.
“Come here.”
Emily opened her eyes.
“No.”
“Just come once.”
“No.”
“Dad thinks he can explain everything.”
“That makes me want to come less.”
“I know.”
“Then why ask?”
“Because Mom won’t tell you the whole thing on the phone.”
Emily went still.
“The whole what?”
Lauren exhaled slowly.
“The reason the debt got this bad.”
Emily looked toward the river at the end of the street.
“What are you talking about?”
Lauren’s next words came quietly.
“Not all of the money went into Dad’s business.”
Emily’s fingers tightened around the phone.
“What money?”
Lauren did not answer immediately.
A horn sounded somewhere behind her, followed by the hollow metallic slam of a dumpster lid.
“Lauren.”
“I’m here.”
“What money?”
“Some of the refinance.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
“You’ve lived in that house this whole time.”
“That doesn’t mean Dad gave me spreadsheets.”
Emily started walking again, not toward home so much as away from standing still.
“Was it your debt?”
Lauren inhaled sharply.
“No.”
“Mom’s?”
“No.”
“Then whose?”
Lauren went quiet.
Emily stopped at the corner.
“Whose?”
“Yours.”
The traffic light changed.
People stepped off the curb around Emily while she remained on the sidewalk.
For a moment, she was sure she had heard wrong.
“My what?”
“The old student loans.”
Emily actually laughed.
It came out thin and disbelieving.
“I paid my student loans off three years ago.”
“I know.”
“No, clearly you don’t.”
“I mean before that.”
Emily stared at the red hand flashing across the intersection.
“Lauren, my loans were federal and private loans in my name.”
“I know.”
“You don’t refinance a house to secretly pay somebody else’s student loans.”
“Dad didn’t pay the loans.”
Emily’s patience snapped.
“Then stop talking in riddles.”
“He paid the judgment.”
“What judgment?”
Lauren went silent again.
This time Emily heard something else beneath the traffic on her sister’s end.
Crying.
Not Lauren.
Linda.
Emily’s stomach tightened.
“Is Mom there?”
“Yes.”
“You put me on speaker?”
“No.”
“Did she tell you to call me?”
“No.”
“Lauren.”
“She told me not to tell you.”
Emily closed her eyes.
Of course.
Seven years without contact, and somehow she was back in the family’s oldest arrangement.
Everyone knew something.
Emily knew last.
“Tell me.”
Lauren exhaled.
“After you left, Dad found some mail in your room.”
“What mail?”
“A collection notice.”
Emily frowned.
“That’s impossible.”
“Apparently not.”
“I never had anything in collections.”
“I’m telling you what happened.”
“You’re telling me badly.”
“I’m trying.”
Emily crossed the street when the light changed again.
Her condo was only six blocks away, but she no longer wanted to go there.
“What was the notice for?”
“An account with some education lender.”
“What lender?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Lauren.”
“It had some name with Capital in it.”
Emily stopped again.
May you like
A memory surfaced, not because she wanted it but because the word had reached backward and pulled.
During her sophomore year, Robert had insisted on handling the paperwork for a small private education loan because he said the interest rate was better through one of his business banking contacts.
