Chapter 9 - The Moving Out
The sale of the house was finalized twenty-two days later.
Because of the booming Austin real estate market, a developer bought the lot for cash, planning to tear down the older structure and build two modern townhomes. The sale price was six hundred and fifty thousand dollars. After the remaining mortgage was paid off and the legal fees were deducted, the net equity was three hundred and ten thousand dollars.
Under the court’s distribution order, I was awarded two hundred and eighty thousand dollars.
My parents received thirty thousand.
I stood on the curb of the Austin suburb one last time, watching the moving truck back into the driveway. My parents were packing their things into a small rental truck, preparing to move to a small, two-bedroom apartment in a distant town two hours north of the city.
Jason was carrying a box of video games, his expression sour and silent. He didn't look at me.
My father walked down the driveway, stopping a few feet from where I stood beside my clean, beautifully running car.
"I suppose you're happy," he said, though there was no anger in his voice anymore. Just a profound, empty exhaustion.
"I'm not happy, Dad," I said. "But I am free. I spent three years trying to save this family from drowning, only to realize you were all holding my head under the water."
May you like
"We're still your parents, Emily," he whispered.
"Parents protect their children, Dad," I said, opening my car door. "They don't use them as a financial shield."
