He got into fights, skipped class, and once smashed a door so hard that the frame split. When I wasn’t working, I was bouncing between caring for my mom, meetings at school, and arguments with Liam.
One night, the police brought him home and told me they’d caught him and some other boys toilet-papering a neighbor’s house.
“Nobody’s going to take legal action this time,” one officer said, “but he might not be so lucky if there’s a next time. We take vandalism seriously.”
After the officers left, Liam stormed down the hall and into his room.
He slammed his door so hard that it woke Mom.
I stood there, staring at my son’s shut door while my mother cried out, and thought, I can’t do this. It’s going to kill me. That was one of the lowest points in my life.
A few weeks later, Liam was suspended from school. Again. He was on his last chance.
That was my breaking point… and it made me do something I’ve regretted ever since.
When Rick approached me, I thought he was offering salvation.
He’d seen me at my worst, sobbing in his kitchen as I told him and Sandra I didn’t know how to handle Liam anymore.
Instead, he was establishing leverage.
A month later, Rick knocked on my door and said, “If you want me to keep your secret, then you’ll pay me $3000 every month from now on.”
His eyes narrowed. “No jokes. Either you pay up, or I’ll tell Liam everything.”
So I paid, and I kept paying.
It seemed worth it as I watched Liam dish up soup for us that evening. I shouldn’t have needed to pay my FIL to safeguard the peace and stability in my home, but it was definitely worth fighting for.
We sat down to eat.
“You working late again tomorrow?” Liam asked.
He nodded. “I can sit with Grandma after school while I do my homework. Also, Grandpa Rick wants me to come by on Saturday before Grandma’s birthday party. He says the shed door is sticking again, and I should learn how to fix it.”
That was the hardest part to stomach.
Liam trusted Rick. He loved him. He visited his grandparents on his dad’s side regularly.
Sandra told him stories about Adam, and Rick taught him how to use tools. And I had to pretend that same man wasn’t squeezing money out of me.
But it was all about to come crashing down. I just didn’t know it at the time.
It all came to a head during Sandra’s birthday party that Saturday.
The birthday party was in Sandra and Rick’s backyard, all bright summer light and paper lanterns.
There were burgers on the grill, bowls of fruit sweating on the patio table, and one of Rick’s brothers telling loud stories no one cared about.
Rick caught my eye and tilted his head toward the house.
I found him inside, waiting by the counter. “I think it’s time we adjusted our little arrangement.”
My stomach dropped. “What do you mean?”
“From now on, it’s $4,000 a month.”
I felt like I couldn’t breathe. “I don’t have that kind of money, Rick. I’m already working three jobs. I can barely keep up as it is.”
Tears burned my eyes. “Please… don’t do this. I’ll keep paying the 3000. Somehow. But I can’t do more.”
“This isn’t a negotiation.” He jerked his thumb toward the door. “So… should I go tell Liam the truth?”
Before I could answer, the worst thing imaginable happened.
“THE TRUTH ABOUT WHAT?”
Liam’s voice split the room open. He was standing in the doorway, hand still on the frame, flushed from the heat outside. He looked from me to Rick.
“Grandpa, are you blackmailing my mom?” Liam stepped closer. “About what?”
Rick did exactly what I had feared for years.
“When you were 12, your mother wanted to get rid of you. You were out of control, and she couldn’t handle you. She said she needed to choose between you and her mom. I couldn’t bear the thought of you going to Child Services, so I offered to take you in,” Rick said.
“That’s NOT how it went!” I snapped at Rick. I turned to Liam. “Listen to me—”
“You wanted to get rid of me?” Liam cut me off. “I-I know I was bad. I was awful. But I-I…” his voice cracked.
He looked at me with such heartbreak in his eyes. It shattered me. I’d always known the truth would break him, but Rick had purposefully twisted it to sound far worse than it was.
“No. Not like that. Listen. I was overwhelmed, and I said I didn’t know what to do, and he—”
“She was ready to sign you over,” Rick cut in. “The paperwork was drawn up for me to take guardianship of you.”
“Is that true?” Liam looked at me.
I couldn’t lie to him, not now, so I nodded. “But I never planned to sign it. I never wanted to get rid of you.”
“Well, maybe you should’ve.” Liam’s jaw clenched. He stepped back. “I’m not going home with you. I don’t want to see you again.”
Behind him, Rick smiled.
“You can stay here, Liam. You’ve always been wanted here,” Rick said, dropping the smile as he stepped forward and placed a hand on Liam’s shoulder. He looked at me then and said, “I think you should leave.”
