All Chapters of No Room for Mom: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

When I rushed downstairs, Mom was sitting beside one of the flower beds outside the building."Mom," I called.She turned around, her eyes red from crying. The moment she saw me, she wiped her face with her sleeve."Justin, what are you doing down here? It's getting dark, and it's not safe out here. Go back upstairs."She reached into her jacket pocket. She'd had that jacket for ten years. The collar was frayed, but it was always spotless.Without looking up, she searched her pocket and murmured, "I should've told you before I came. That was my fault. Deborah and Ella are from the city. They care a lot about keeping things clean."Mom reached deep into her pocket and pulled out a bundle wrapped in several layers of plastic. She carefully unwrapped it.Inside was a wad of cash, mostly fives, tens, and fifties, neatly held together with a rubber band.She pressed it into my hand. "Here's 2,000 dollars. This money's clean. Go buy yourself some pecan pies. I know how much you like

The moment Tina started crying, Deborah rushed over and stepped between us. "Justin, why are you yelling at a child?"Kevin came over and pulled Tina into his arms, his tone offhand. "Justin, it's just a photo. Do you really need to make such a big deal out of it?"I stared at the family photo in my hand. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't wipe the marker off. My hands shook with anger."Just a photo?"Kevin rolled his eyes. "Yeah. That's all it is."I stood up, gripping the photo, my voice shaking uncontrollably. "My dad's gone. This is the last photo we ever took as a family."The room fell silent, but only for a moment.Ella came up behind me, glanced at Tina sobbing, then at the photo in my hand, and sighed."Enough already. The photo's ruined, and getting angry isn't going to fix it. Tina didn't do it on purpose. We're family. Stuff like this happens when you live together. Do you have to turn everything into a huge fight before you're satisfied?"Family?In their ey

Early the next morning, I took Mom to the bus terminal and saw her off.Before she left, she kept reminding me, "Justin, don't fight with Ella. Just get along with her and live your life."I smiled and nodded. "Don't worry, Mom. I know what I'm doing."As soon as the bus pulled away, my smile faded. I called a cab and went straight to the real estate office.Ms. Crosby, the agent, was a sharp woman in her 40s. We'd been in touch before.I put the deed on her desk. "Ms. Crosby, I want to sell my condo."She looked over the paperwork, and her eyes lit up. "This one? It's in a great area with a good school district. It's worth at least 2.2 million dollars right now.""List it at two million dollars. I only have one condition. I need people coming to see it within three days, and I want it sold as soon as possible."Ms. Crosby looked surprised. "You're in that much of a hurry?""Yes."She saw the look on my face and didn't ask any more questions. She turned to her computer and go

Ella couldn't answer. Her face went pale, then flushed.Deborah rushed out of the kitchen and stepped in front of her."Stop twisting everything around! Your mother's from the sticks. So what if we put her in the storage room? Our family was doing her a favor by letting her stay here!"I scoffed. "Your family? Who paid for this condo? Did you put a single dollar toward it?"Deborah's face turned red. "H-how dare you talk to me like that? Ella's your wife. What's yours is hers. This condo is marital property!""Let's see if the law agrees."I was done arguing with her. I went into the bedroom and locked the door.Outside, Deborah started screaming, crying, and throwing things around.I put on my headphones and played an old song.On the third day, Ms. Crosby called. "Mr. Hurst, we have a buyer. They made an all-cash offer of two million dollars and can sign today. Can you come in?""I'll be there."I got changed, grabbed the deed and the rest of the paperwork, and headed out.

Ella took the divorce agreement with trembling hands, her face pale.She stared at it for a long time before looking up at me, her eyes red. "Justin, are you really going to be this heartless?"I said nothing."Does our marriage really mean nothing to you anymore?"I laughed, but there was no humor in it. "Our marriage? Did you care about it when you made my mom sleep in the storage room? When you threw the pecan pies she brought me in the trash?"When she ended up curled up at a bus terminal just to save 80 dollars?"Ella had no answer.Finally, I said, "Just sign it. Don't make me think even less of you."The divorce went through faster than I expected.Ella fought me on it for a few days. She had a bunch of relatives try to talk me out of it, then hired a lawyer and tried to go after my assets.But I'd bought the condo outright before we got married. We each kept our own income, and we had no joint assets.She dragged things out for two weeks, but in the end, she didn't g