“You’re young,” my mother pressed on, talking over me like my words were background noise. “You can earn another house. Clara and Michael could be seriously hurt if they don’t pay this money back.”
I looked around the room at all of them, and it was like seeing the family dynamic laid bare on an operating table.
“So let me get this straight,” I said slowly, voice getting colder with each word. “You kicked me out of the family five years ago because I wouldn’t give Clara money. Now that business has failed, and you want me to sell my house to bail her out.”
“Family helps family,” my father said, as if he hadn’t disowned me.
“Family?” I laughed, but there was no humor in it. “You told me I wasn’t family anymore. Remember? You cut me off completely.”
Clara’s tears spilled faster. “I know we messed up,” she said. “But this is different. These people aren’t going to just take us to court. They’re going to hurt us.”
“Then maybe you should have thought about that before you borrowed money,” I said.
Michael’s face reddened. “You have no idea what kind of pressure we’re under.”