ONE
What, and I can’t stress this enough, the entire fuck did I do to piss off the universe?
I came outside to my precious Audi getting hitched to a tow truck while some grungy asshole stood there watching for sport.
“Hey! That’s my car!” I shouted, rushing to the scene. My Stuart Weitzman heels were not built for running, and let’s be honest here, neither was I. I hauled my ass over there to the greasy gentleman in blue overalls though.
“It’s getting repossessed, sweetheart. You didn’t pay.”
“Um, okay? I’ll pay right now just don’t take my baby. Oh, you’re going to scratch the paint,” I pouted.
“You’ll pay whoever your car is financed through and then they’ll release your car and you come pay me.”
“This is bullshit!”
“Sign here.” He leaned forward, handing me a clipboard and a grimy pen that I was not putting my damn hands on. I turned my head to fend off the scent of old earring backs wafting from the man’s face and scrunched my nose up.
“No thanks.”
“Xari, what the hell is going on?” Thank god my big sister, Navy came out of the nail salon behind me. She was much better equipped to deal with shit like this.
I pressed my hand to my racing heart and shut my eyes for a moment to gather my thoughts. “This lovely hygiene-challenged man is towing my car.”
“You didn’t pay your car note? Are you serious?” She frowned.
“Serious as a heart attack, little lady.” The tow drunk driver smiled at Navy baring one mustard yellow tooth against a row of canary yellow teeth. What the hell did he do to that one tooth? I stared in awe before blinking and shaking the disgust from my face.
“Can you tell me where it’s being towed so I can pay the fee and we can get this taken care of?”
See? Navy was amazing. She knew how to act when I was clueless and ready to resort to either insults or tears.
I watched the driver hand her an oil-smudged business card that she tucked away in her bag before smiling at him. I spun to face her with a scowl pinching my face.
“You mean I have to watch my car get dragged away kicking and screaming?”
“The only thing that’s kicking and screaming is you, Xari and for the love of God, I wish you’d stop. This is your fault. Who doesn’t pay their car note?” Her top lip curled in disgust and my feathers ruffled in response. Heat pricked the tops of my ears. I cut my eyes at Navy and folded my arms.
“Mom and Dad are supposed to…”
“Mom and Dad cut you off, remember?”
“They say that every week and…”
“And this time they did it.” She pulled out the keys to her Benz and hit the unlock button. “You need a ride?” The question slipped out with a thread of laughter tied around it.
“Yes,” I huffed, tipping my nose in the air.
I couldn’t believe my mother and father cut me off. They’d been threatening me with it since I graduated from Julliard but I never expected them to follow through. I mean yes, I was a little irresponsible and I took things for granted but didn’t every child? I didn’t plan to live off their money forever, just until I secured a seat as a principal harpist.
Maybe I could convince them to let me off the hook.
“Xari, you have to get your shit together. We’re all tired of bailing you out of situations you put yourself in. I’m sure if you were doing what you were supposed to do, Mom and Dad would still be helping you out.”
“Spare me the lecture, please. I’m going to call them and grovel.”
“Or you could get a regular job like you said you would until you get a seat on an orchestra.” Navy’s hand flew up, irritation staining her words gray.
“I can’t find anything,” I shrugged. I pressed the phone to my ear and waited for my father to pick up. He was much easier to talk to than my mother. She was like Navy. She didn’t let me get away with shit. I had Daddy wrapped around my little finger though.
“Has your car been towed yet?” He asked the moment the call connected. I blinked a few times with my mouth open. No words came out.
He knew?
“Xari, you there?”
“Yeah, Dad. I’m here. You knew my car got towed?”
“I knew it was about time. We haven’t made a payment and the bank doesn’t take that lightly.” My knee bounced up and down as Navy followed behind the tow truck with my car hitched to the flatbed.
“Why would you risk tanking your credit just to prove a point?” I whined.
“The car isn’t in my name. Good lord child, you didn’t even pay attention to who your car is registered to? You assumed that me and your mother put the car in our names?” His laugh was a gut punch.
“Yeah,” I muttered.
“No. We thought you’d have enough sense to hold up your end of the bargain which was what?” He paused and waited for my answer making me feel like a toddler repeating the rules.
“To get a job until I got a seat as principal harpist.” My lips were heavy and poking out.
“You haven’t done that, sweetheart. You know I’ll always go to bat for you but you’re in the real world. You have been for six months now. You graduated and you’ve been running amok ever since. Life is not about shopping sprees and vacations, Xari. You were supposed to find a sustainable job, get a credit card in your name, build credit on your own, and start taking over payments for rent and your car note.”
Fuck. Rent.
“Wait…Daddy, if you guys let the car get repossessed, what about my apartment?” I stayed in a beautiful studio apartment in a neighborhood that boasted celebrity and politician neighbors. Living in Maryland meant I was D.C. adjacent. I got to see all the fine senators and congressmen. I did not want to give that up because my parents had something to prove.
“Have you paid the rent, Xari?” He asked quietly.
“No…” I never saw the rent. I assumed it came out of my parents’ account automatically every month.
“Have you gotten any eviction notices?” He quizzed. He was far too calm for this conversation. My heart was about to pop from uncertainty.
“I don’t think so. I haven’t checked the mail. Do they send stuff like that in the mail?”
“God, Xari. We did you such a disservice. No more. That stops now. Better late than never,” he huffed. “Go home. Check your mail. You need to know if you’re getting evicted.” The call ended and I sat there holding the phone in a daze. All the luxuries I’d been afforded blinked in my head like blaring red lights.
My phone.
My internet.
Netflix. Hulu. Amazon Prime.
Oh my god. My Neiman Marcus card.
“So, as usual, you have no idea what’s going on in your own life since it doesn’t revolve around music and shopping?”
“What if I get evicted, Navy? Can I live with you?” I stared at her with wide, hopeful eyes.
“Um, no.” She pulled onto a gated lot and parked on a gravel lot before getting out. “Come on, you’re going to learn how this goes. Pull up the bank information for whoever Mom and Dad make your payments through.” She looked at me before opening the door to the small, rundown building and sighed. “Oh my god, you have no idea what I’m talking about do you?”