I didn't answer. Another message came 30 seconds later. My rent payment didn't go through. I put my phone face down. A few minutes later, it started buzzing again. Car payment. Insurance. Phone bill. Credit card. Five notifications in less than 10 minutes. Then Chris called again. I answered. What? What did you do? Say. I stopped paying your bills. You can't just do that. Quote. I can. You said you'd help me. Um, I did. For how long? You never gave me a date. Silence. Then his voice changed. You're really going to screw me over because of one stupid comment? No. I paused. You screwed yourself over when you told me to stop begging for money. He started yelling. I held the phone away from my ear. When he finally stopped, I said, you wanted to be treated like an adult. Now you are. Then I hung up. For the next week, my family called constantly. Mom said Chris was panicking. Dad said I was being harsh. My sister said I should at least give him another month. I asked one question every time. Why? Nobody had an answer. Then Chris showed up at my house. He stood on my porch with his hands in his jacket pockets. You're really doing this? Yes. I thought family helped each other. We do. Then help me. I already did. Quote, he stared at me. You know what your problem is? He said, you keep score. I almost smiled. No, Chris. I keep receipts. His face changed. I had saved every payment confirmation. Every text where he asked for money. Every message promising he would pay me back. I never sent any of it to the family. I didn't need to. Three days later, mom called. Her voice was different. Chris told us you were only paying a couple of his bills. I wasn't. I know. She went quiet. Your dad found the bank statements. I leaned back. How much did he see? All of it. Nobody spoke for several seconds. Then mom
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