3: 3
3
"Clementine Henson!"
My refusal had lit a fuse in Jesse. His voice came shouting down the line:
"Don't act like I don't know why you're going after Tracey. It's because I chose her instead of you, isn't it?"
"You've had a thing for me all along, and you can't stand that she got to be my wife, so now you're deliberately making her life hard!"
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I asked,
"Jesse, don't you think a little too highly of yourself?"
"Am I wrong?" Jesse said. "You won't admit it unless I put the proof right in front of you?"
I asked,
"Then go ahead, show everyone your proof!"
Jesse said, unhappy,
"Every time you look at me, there's longing in your eyes. If that's not proof, what is?"
I was stunned.
When had I ever looked at him with longing?
Was there something wrong with him?
Jesse's voice came again:
"You're too shy to say it out loud, but I see all of it. I just don't call you out on it."
I shook my head.
"You're imagining things. There's nothing to it."
Jesse gave a little laugh.
"Be good, stop making a scene. Worst case, once this is over I'll agree to have dinner with you."
"And if that's not enough, I can even stay the night at your place."
"So it's settled."
That was the end of my patience.
"Jesse, you narcissistic freak. Who do you think you are!"
With that, I hung up on him.
I figured that after a mouthful like that, even Jesse would be too embarrassed to say another word.
But not a minute later, he posted in the group chat:
"All you aunts and uncles, family and friends, I've worked it out with Clementine Henson. End of the month, bring your money and we'll all go pick up the cars together."
The group broke into cheers at once:
"That's our Jesse. One move and it's handled."
"Jesse and Tracey, you two are the good ones. Come to my place for the holidays and you'll sit at the head of the table. When Clementine shows up, she can sit at the kids' table."
"That's exactly how it should be. A few years in the city, a couple of stores, and she thinks she's something. One word from Jesse and she's selling to us like a good girl after all."
"Hmph, if she'd just agreed this easily to begin with, she wouldn't have had to drag it out and be such a pain."
"If you ask me, she's got a little money now and looks down on us. Has to put on airs, like we're the ones begging her."
"Jesse and Tracey are still the best."
"It just hit me, we need money at the end of the year to replace the fridge. That thousand for the car, let me owe it for now and I'll pay it back in a while."
"Same here, my family's short on cash too. I'll bring an IOU then."
Reading their shameless little messages, I finally snapped and typed back:
"I'll say this one last time. There is no thousand-dollar car, and I never agreed to any of this with anyone."
"Whoever said yes, go buy your cars from them!"
The second I sent it, I left the 'One Big Happy Family' group.
But less than half an hour later, Grandpa Henson called, cursing the moment I picked up:
"Clementine Henson, what is wrong with you, girl? They tell me they want to come to your store and give you their business, and you're not even willing?"
"You get a little money and suddenly your uncles aren't good enough for you?"
"You've disappointed me. How did our Henson family end up with an ungrateful little snake like you?"
"You go apologize to them right now, this instant, or don't blame me when I strike you from the family records!"
He tore into me the moment he opened his mouth, never gave me a chance to explain, and the line was already dead.
I held down the rage in my chest.
Family?
Family records?
What a joke.
Since you're all so set on driving me into bankruptcy.
Then let's find out who the lamb led to slaughter really is!
