I had to go to community college and, because the day only has 24 hours in it, it took me six years to finish my BA in business management. I still planned on going back for my Masters one day.
I had also started working at All Things Alice, a small coffee shop that sold baked pastries, while I was in college. The claim to Alice’s fame was that every pastry she sold was a homemade hand-me-down family recipe. And each item she sold was delicious. She also had a small one-bedroom apartment over the shop that she had let me live in rent-free as I went to school. If I owed anyone, I owed her. Everything she ever did for me was to help me be a better me, not to cash in on whatever I’d achieved.
I looked my dad in the same brown eyes that mirrored mine. “Are you seriously asking me to risk my home and my business to pay off your gambling debts?”
The man had no shame, but then, most people with addictions didn’t. “We’re asking our daughter to help us out in our time of need.”
I looked back at my mom. “I suffered through our financial struggles growing up just like you did, and I didn’t ask you guys for anything when I chose to go to college. I worked, and I studied, and I created a life for myself with no help from you. Are you telling me, as my mother, I’m obligated as your daughter to risk it all for him?”
She broke down in sobs. “We’ll lose everything, Fiona.”
Well…I guess she’s telling me exactly that.
I should feel some sort of sympathy for her, but I couldn’t help it. I was done being a doormat the night of my high school graduation. “Even if I did mortgage my house to the hilt and get a loan against Fiona’s, it’s not enough to cover the total amount of your debts. So even on the off chance that whoever holds your loans would work with us, how do you plan on paying off whatever’s left?”
She darted a look at my dad and I knew what she’s going to say next. “Well, Fiona’s is very successful. We were thinking that you could arrange a payment plan or something. You can afford it, honey.” She shook her head. “We simply can’t.”
I barked out a humorless laugh. “There are no words to describe just how callous and selfish you two are.” I found I was more upset with my mother than I was with my father. “You are willing to stand by and watch your daughter lose everything she’s ever worked hard for in order to save a man who doesn’t give a shit about anything other than his next bet.”
“That’s enough Fiona!” my father finally interjected.
“Oh, on that we agree.” I stood up to leave. I was not going to bail out my ungrateful, self-absorbed parents. “You guys are going to have to find your own way out of this mess. I’m not risking everything I have worked my entire life for because you have a problem you refuse to get help for.”
My mother stood up with me. “What if he agrees to get help?”
And, at that, my father stood up…incensed. “Maryanne, I do not need help. I enjoy betting from time to time and that’s it. It’s not my fault if the bets fall bad!”
“Do you hear yourself?” I shrieked. “You owe hundreds of thousands of dollars in gambling debt and you’re seriously standing here telling us that you don’t have a problem! You are on the verge of losing everything and you’re still in denial? You are a real piece of work, Dad.”
“Fiona! That’s enough. This situation is hard enough without you pointing fingers and assigning blame,” my mother snapped. “It doesn’t matter how or why we got here, all that matters is that this is where we are, and we need your help.” It seemed like my mom only had balls when it came to her daughter, but not when it came to Jared Eldstead.
“Mom, I am not going to bail you guys out just so he can continue with his not-a-problem gambling problem. If you end up homeless, you are more than welcome to live with me until you guys get back on your feet. But I am not jeopardizing my home and business for you guys and, quite frankly, you guys are shitty parents for asking me to.”