Chapter 1 - The Weight of the Rubber Boots
The car smelled like old rubber and industrial-strength bleach,
as we drove through the rainy streets of the city.
Holden sat in the passenger seat,
looking like a man who was prepared to fight a tidal wave.
He was wearing those bright green fishing boots,
the ones that reached his knees and made a squeaking sound every time he shifted his weight.
In his lap,
he clutched a heavy-duty drain auger,
the metal coil glinting under the passing streetlights.
I kept my hands steady on the steering wheel,
my eyes fixed on the road ahead,
while my heart hammered a rhythm of cold,
calculated fury.
"Are you sure the manager said the fourth floor?"
Holden asked,
his voice trembling with genuine concern for his mother.
"That's what he said,"
I lied,
my voice as smooth as glass.
"He said the pipes groaned like a dying beast,
and then the sewage just started bubbling up through the floorboards."
Holden winced,
adjusting his grip on the plastic buckets he had insisted on bringing.
"Poor Mom,"
he whispered,
"she's probably terrified,
standing on her dining table just to keep her feet dry."
I almost laughed,
but I caught myself in time.
I thought about the $40,000,
the money that represented every missed vacation,
every extra shift at the hospital,
and every grocery store coupon I had ever clipped.
It wasn't just paper,
it was our future,
it was the house we wanted to buy,
and the security we had worked so hard to build.
And he had handed it over like a piece of junk mail,
to a woman who treated us like an ATM with an infinite balance.
"I just can't believe the plumber sent a courier,"
I said,
probing for more details.
"Did the courier have a name,
Holden?"
"He just said he was with 'Aurelius Plumbing and Restoration',"
Holden replied,
oblivious to the trap I was laying.
"He had a white van and a very calm voice,
told me the deposit was the only thing stopping the city from condemning the building."
I gripped the steering wheel tighter until my knuckles turned white.
Master Aurelius,
the spiritual fraud who promised to open financial portals,
was now moonlighting as a plumber in my husband’s gullible mind.
It was a masterpiece of manipulation,
perfected by Evelyn over decades of feigned frailty.
"We’re almost there,"
I said,
turning into the luxury apartment complex where Evelyn lived.
She lived in a place we couldn't afford,
thanks to the "emergency" funds Holden provided every time she had a hangnail.
As we pulled into the guest parking,
Holden scrambled to get out,
his rubber boots thumping loudly against the pavement.
"Don't forget the mop!"
he shouted,
grabbing the buckets with a sense of heroic purpose.
I followed behind him,
carrying a bag of rags and a bottle of bleach,
feeling like an actress in a tragic comedy.
We reached the lobby,
and the doorman,
a man named Marcus who knew me well,
looked at Holden with absolute bewilderment.
"Mr. Vance?"
Marcus asked,
staring at the fishing boots and the drain auger.
"Is there a masquerade ball I wasn't informed about?"
"The flood!"
Holden gasped,
breathless from the weight of his gear.
"My mother’s apartment,
the fourth floor,
the sewer collapse!"
Marcus blinked,
looking at the pristine marble floor of the lobby.
"Sir,
the only thing collapsing in this building is the price of the penthouse."
"There hasn't been a leak in this building since the Great Recession."
Holden froze,
one boot hovering in mid-air.
"But... my mother called... she said she was drowning in it."
Marcus shook his head,
giving me a knowing look.
"Mrs. Vance has been in and out all day,
getting deliveries,
flowers,
and enough food to feed a small army."
"She’s in 4B right now,
having a private function."
I stepped forward,
placing a hand on Holden’s shaking arm.
"Maybe the water went down,
Holden,"
I said,
my voice dripping with false hope.
"Let's go up and check anyway,
just to be safe."
He looked at me,
confusion and doubt finally beginning to cloud his eyes.
"But Marcus said..."
"Marcus isn't a plumber,"
I interrupted,
pushing him toward the elevator.
"Let's go,
Holden."
May you like
"You have the boots on,
it would be a waste not to use them."
