as I watch Mark try to slide his hand around Olivia’s waist. Smiling, she pushes his hand away and Mark scowls at her. Evelyn begins to talk, but I can’t hear anything through the rage pounding in my ears.
“By now you must be wondering about the eviction notices you received yesterday. I wanted to sincerely apologize for any pain or inconvenience our family might’ve caused you. Since my arrival in Fair Oaks, I’ve been enchanted with your beautiful town. I couldn’t help but notice its potential for real estate. The heads at Cranbury Resorts were blown away by the few pictures I sent them of Fair Oaks.
“They decided to approach the local government since so many of you have in the past, refused buy-outs for your homes.” She smiles at the bristling crowd, ignoring the hands raised into the air. “Then Olivia told us how much this town means to all of you, and how we’d be making a mistake if we went through with the demolition.
“I weighed her opinion seriously, along with everyone else’s opinion at Cranbury Resorts, but decided to go ahead with what we planned.” She hits a switch on the podium, and a projector blasts light onto the wall behind her.
There’s a detailed artist’s rendering of a giant resort from a bird's-eye view. A massive block where all the houses are on my street. The surrounding forest is cut in half to make room for tennis courts, swimming pools, and a giant outdoor bar. A half dozen or so chain restaurants surround the monolith of swimming pools, the giant stage for live bands, the bar, and the Starbucks right where my auto shop should be. My lungs freeze. That’s what they’d replace my auto shop with. A fucking Starbucks.
Olivia claps her hands to her mouth, looking horrified at the display on the wall. She shoves Mark aside, glaring at Evelyn, who stares out into the stunned crowd.
She lowers her voice, her silhouette trembling. “That wasn’t our deal!”
“I’m altering the deal,” Evelyn snaps back. “Pray I don’t alter it any further.”
An angry voice rings out. “What the fuck is this?”
The prodigal son sneers at the man who spoke, lifting his hand to stroke the title of the artist’s render.
“Cranbury Family Resort at Fair Oaks.”
Fourteen
Olivia
It’s like a bomb going off.
People jump up in the overcrowded room, hurling insults at Evelyn and Mark.
“You’re replacing my restaurant with a Chili’s? Are you fucking kidding me?”
A hysterical woman points at the screen. “Where’s my house?”
“They’re getting rid of it—they’re getting rid of all of us.”
And then there’s Jack, standing from the second row beside Gage. “You can’t do this!”
Dozens of people shout their agreement. “Yeah!”
It’s loud in the room. In the corner, Chris straightens as he places his hands on his belt. I watch with deep satisfaction as Evelyn loses her composure at the vitriol thrown her way.
She bellows over the shouting. “You haven’t heard what we’ll be compensating you. Every house and business will be compensated two hundred thousand dollars.”
The uproar continues. “My house is worth double that!”
Frustrated, Mark walks toward the podium and turns on the microphone, steering away from his mother. “We’ve had all your houses and businesses appraised. Two hundred thousand is more than generous.”
He might as well have called them greedy little bitches.
It’s as though someone cranks up the volume. The uproar explodes. Chairs fall over as people kick them aside. They glare at the stage, seething with rage.
Vicious anger courses through my limbs. This is what I bargained for the terrible things I said to Gage? “You’re both a bunch of fucking morons.”
“Where do you think you’re going?” Mark’s voice is lost in the sea of enraged people demanding for answers.
I step down from the stage, anything to get away from them, but the crowd is too thick to get to Gage. Evelyn grabs her son’s arm when he looks like he wants to run after me.
Once again, she smiles at the crowd hurling insults at her, and bends her head to the microphone. “This next slide will show you the five-acre campgrounds that will be installed near Lake Cranbury, which will be re-named after the acquisition.” She gestures toward the screen, which shows very sparse forest.
“There will be campgrounds that guests will be able to rent, a communal shower and bathrooms, along with a small convenience store. Each campsite will be equipped with a fire pit and there will be tents available for rental at our Fair Oaks Village shop. We thought it was