“I know what you’re talking about. I’m not stupid. I just don’t know the login information. I’ve never had to put it in.” I felt my cheeks turn red under Navy’s judgmental gaze. I’d never hated myself so much for not paying attention to simple adult details that most people paid attention to daily.
“Okay, call Dad back and get the information.” For the next twenty minutes, I felt like a complete ass having to be walked through the process of making a payment online then having to pay the tow company their fee once the payment was processed. It was slow, torturous, and it made me never want to ignore a car payment again.
“Thanks, Navy for having my back.” I hugged my sister before she got into her car, which was current on all payments.
“Uh-huh. I love you, Xari but I expect you to pay me back. I just came up off twelve-hundred dollars between your late payment and the towing fees.”
“How am I supposed to pay you back? How am I supposed to pay this shit next month?” My heart was racing again.
“Looks like you have a lot of growing up to do in a little bit of time, sis.” She gave me a polite smile before getting in her car and driving off.
…
Turns out, I’d missed so many weeks collecting mail from my mailbox that they returned it all to the post office and I had to go pick it up before they closed for the night. I walked into my apartment with an armful of mail. I was quickly starting to regret every decision I’d ever made when it came to ignoring responsibilities.
I never needed to be responsible before though. Navy or my parents were always there to take care of things. All I had to do was get good grades and excel at playing the harp, which I did. I got a scholarship to Julliard when I was fifteen. I started as a freshman when I was only sixteen and graduated last year at twenty.
Was it wrong that I wanted to celebrate a little bit? Whenever I worked hard, my parents let me play harder. Because of that, I was lavished with the finer things in life and maybe…maybe I got a little spoiled. That didn’t mean I should be abruptly cut off like some side baby though.
I fell over on my slate gray leather sofa and kicked off my heels frowning at the haze of dust coating them.
Stupid fucking gravel parking lot.
I hadn’t been home for ten minutes and I was already tired of sorting through mail and figuring out what the fuck everything was. Didn’t bills get paid online now? Why did I have so much paper to go through?
I called Navy and whined into the phone. “Don’t they tape pink eviction notices to your door if they’re going to kick you out?” I asked.
“You live at The Alpine, Xari. They’d never tape anything to your door. They should have sent you a notice in the mail if you’re going to be evicted or you can check your app.”
“Oh shit, they tell you stuff like that in the app?” I put her on speakerphone and opened the app for my apartment building.
“Yes, look in your messages tab.”
“Have you lived here before?” I asked, amazed that she knew all this.
“No, but I researched the complex before you moved in and I saw they had an app that told you important billing information, building notifications, and social gatherings.”
“I knew about the social gatherings,” I said proudly.
“I bet you did, Xari.”
“Shit,” I muttered. “They do have an overdue notice here.” Just as I skimmed over it on the app, I plucked an envelope from the mile-high stack of crap on the coffee table. It was bright pink and even I knew that wasn’t good.
“So how long before you get kicked out?”
“Um…” I skimmed the lines of text and my eyes widened. “The end of the month.” I dropped the letter and swallowed a hot and sticky lump in my throat. “Let me call you back, Navy.” Something wasn’t right. How the hell could all this pile up in just a month? I had to call my mother. I didn’t want to sit through her lectures but at this point, maybe I needed to.
“I figured you’d be calling soon after your father told me about the car getting repossessed. Let me guess, Navy bailed you out.”
“Of course she did. She didn’t want to see me fall flat on my face, Mom.” My voice was ripe with indignation.
“Watch your tone, little girl. I’ve been taking care of you and funding your carefree lifestyle for years.”
“I wonder how I got that lifestyle.” I folded my arms tightly across my chest and pressed the phone to my ear with my shoulder.
“Oh, you got it honestly. However, we had an agreement once you accepted that scholarship. We sat down and talked about it. This wasn’t something we did in passing.”
I felt the lecture coming and I rubbed my temples, bracing for impact.
“We sat down over the course of weeks and mapped out this plan. You were supposed to go to school and get good grades, which you did. Once you graduated, you were to apply for a seat in the orchestra of your choice. If principal wasn’t available, you were supposed to find a job that would support you until the seat opened up. You had three months, Xari.” Annoyance creased her voice turning it sharp.
“If you at least tried to find a job, your father and I would have continued to support you but you didn’t. In three months, you went to Aruba and racked up thousands of dollars of charges in clothes and shoes.” Memories of Aruba’s sweet humid air and lush beaches flashed against my mindscape. “You ordered food every night, you stocked your bar every weekend, and you had several spa retreats.”
I cringed hearing everything laid out. Was I that spoiled?
“See, when you say it like that it sounds bad but I was just celebrating being done with school.”
“That’s not what you were supposed to be doing though. We offered to help you find a job but you turned us down time and time again.”
I heard myself telling my parents to back off and let me find a job on my own. Again…cringe.
“Wait…wait you cut me off three months ago?!” My words squeaked out louder than I expected.
“That was the deal. Three months and you didn’t even try to find a job. You’re only noticing now because things are finally catching up with you.”
“Wow, you could have told me you were going to cut me off. I’ve seen you countless times in the past three months.”
“Yup, and you never once asked what the state of finances was. Maybe it’s abrupt, Xari but you needed it. Me and your father have always coddled you because you were so gifted. This will teach you to pay attention and to honor the agreements you make…especially with your parents.”
“Mom, where am I supposed to live? I have until the end of this month to come up with the rent and it’s…” I looked down at the letter from the rental office and gagged on the price. “Nine thousand dollars.”
“Wow. That’s a lot, baby. You know how to sit down and budget though. We’ve shown you.”
“Yeah but I’ve never had to actually…do it.”
“No time like the present. Listen, I have to go. Me and your father are having dinner at our favorite restaurant.”
“The one with the cream puffs and blackberry tea?” I asked, pouting.
“That’s the one.”