Chapter 5 - The House on the Hill
My father looked up, his jaw dropping in utter bewilderment. ""What are you talking about? This is my house! Karen and I have lived here in Loudonville for twenty-two years! You gave us this house when Ben was born!""
""I gave you the privilege of occupying this house,"" Grandma Evelyn corrected him, her eyes flashing with cold fire. ""The deed to this property remains in the Cross Family Foundation trust. The trust that I control as sole managing director. You pay neither rent nor property taxes on this estate; the foundation covers all expenses under the stipulation that you act as an honorable steward of family assets.""
Arthur Vance slid another document forward. ""A formal Notice of Immediate Revocation of Tenancy, Bradley. Signed by Mrs. Cross this morning. Under New York emergency provisions regarding fiduciary breach and elder abuse, your license to occupy has been terminated effective 9:00 PM tonight.""
""You can't do this on Thanksgiving!"" Mom wailed, clutching her pearl necklace with both hands. ""Where are we supposed to go? Our friends, our church, the club—everyone will know! What will people say?""
""You can sleep in your car,"" Grandma replied without a flicker of emotion. ""I hear the 24-Hour Fitness parking lot on Route 9 has excellent lighting.""
Ben jumped up, his face twisted in panic. ""Grandma, please! Lily is three months pregnant!""
Grandma turned her icy gaze onto Lily. Lily froze, shrinking back into her seat like a guilty child caught red-handed.
""Is that meant to soften my heart, Benjamin?"" Grandma asked softly. ""You and your wife moved her parents into Zara's home, lived off Zara's stipend, and watched your sister waste away into skin and bones. You knew she was starving. You saw her when she came to this house three weeks ago begging to borrow fifty dollars for gasoline, and you stood on that porch and told her to stop being a moocher.""
Ben swallowed hard, unable to speak. The guilt in his eyes was sickeningly late, hollow, and utterly useless.
""Lily's parents have forty-eight hours to vacate 414 Heron Point Lane,"" Grandma declared. ""Arthur has already dispatched the Warren County Sheriff's Department with an emergency eviction order based on fraudulent conveyance. If Harold and Brenda Miller take so much as a single towel that was purchased with trust funds, they will be arrested at the county line for possession of stolen property.""
""Grandma, please,"" Lily wept, dropping to her knees right there beside the dinner table, clutching at Grandma’s skirt. ""My parents are old! My dad has a heart condition! They can't survive in a homeless shelter! It wasn't their fault, it was Ben's idea! Ben said the house was an inheritance advance!""
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""Don't touch me,"" Grandma said, stepping back so sharply that Lily fell forward onto the carpet. ""You had no trouble watching Zara survive in the winter cold. Your father’s heart condition did not prevent him from posing for photos on my granddaughter's cedar deck with a glass of champagne in his hand.""
Grandma Evelyn took my arm. Her grip was remarkably strong, steady, and filled with a warmth I hadn't felt in years. ""Come, Zara. Your dinner is getting cold, and we are not staying in this house of thieves.""
