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My Daughter-In-Law Uninvited Me From Her Christmas Gala As A “Peasant” I’d Been Paying Her Rent A... — Transcript

by Granite Revenge · 3,739 words · 606 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00Three days before Christmas, my daughter
0:02in law phoned to uninvite me from a
0:04dinner I had spent two years helping her
0:07pay for.
0:08I was at my kitchen island in Oakville
0:11with a mug of peppermint tea going cold
0:13beside my laptop going over the month's
0:15budget.
0:17Alyssa didn't say hello. She talked fast
0:19the way people do when they've rehearsed
0:21a speech and wanted over with.
0:24So the dinner has kind of turned into
0:26something bigger, Joyce. It's a
0:28networking gala now. We've got investors
0:31coming.
0:32Serious people. She let out a little
0:34sigh, the kind you give a child who
0:36won't put on a coat. Your cardigans and
0:39that old Corolla, it just doesn't suit
0:41the room. This isn't an evening for
0:43peasants. You understand, right?
0:47My cursor sat blinking in cell B14.
0:50A peasant, I said. Oh, don't be
0:53sensitive. Nathan agrees with me. We'll
0:56drop a gift basket by on Sunday. Just
0:58stay home, okay?
0:59She hung up before I could answer.
1:02I'm 68. I buried my husband Gary six
1:06years ago and since then I've built a
1:08quiet life that I like. It doesn't have
1:10much room for theatrics, so I stayed in
1:13my chair and looked at my spreadsheet.
1:15Line 14 was $3,800,
1:19the monthly rent on the four-bedroom
1:21house in Lorne Park where Nathan and
1:23Alyssa lived. Line 15 was $1,150,
1:29the lease on Alyssa's white Porsche
1:31Macan. Line 16 was $450
1:35for what Nathan called their maintenance
1:37fund. Two years of e-transfers, all of
1:40it from my accounts. Add the extras and
1:43it came to something over $130,000.
1:47And now I was too shabby to be seen at a
1:49party my own money was paying for.
1:52I didn't reach for a tissue. I reached
1:55for the mouse.
1:56I'd like to tell you what happened next,
1:59but you should know how I got there
2:00first, because people always ask, "How
2:03does a woman who clips flyer coupons end
2:06up paying for a Porsche?"
2:08Gary and I ran Simmons Logistics out of
2:11a rented warehouse in Mississauga for 31
2:14years.
2:15We started with two trucks and a
2:17dispatch phone in our kitchen. When Gary
2:19got sick, we sold the company to a
2:21larger outfit, and the check was a good
2:24one. He didn't live to enjoy it. What I
2:26got was the money, the paid-off house,
2:29and a widow's pension. I also got a
2:31habit of frugality I couldn't shake. I
2:34buy flyer specials and drive a car old
2:36enough to vote. I like my life plain,
2:39and I never once saw my savings as a
2:41reason to change it.
2:43Two years ago, Nathan's marketing firm
2:45downsized him out of a job. Around the
2:47same time, Alyssa quit her position at a
2:50hotel group and started what she called
2:52a luxury event consultancy. They sat on
2:55my living room sofa,
2:56>> Uh.
2:57>> Nathan staring at the carpet, and Alyssa
2:59holding a glossy binder.
3:02They needed a bridge, they said.
3:04Three months of rent help while Nathan
3:06found something.
3:08I said, "Yes." He was my only son, and I
3:11had the money. Gary would have said,
3:12"Yes," too, though he'd have asked
3:14sharper questions.
3:16Three months turned into six. Six turned
3:19into a year. Nathan picked up part-time
3:21contract work that barely covered
3:24groceries. Alyssa explained that clients
3:26in her market judged you by what you
3:28drove, so the Porsche was brand
3:31investment.
3:33Whenever I mentioned tapering off,
3:34Nathan would study his shoes and talk
3:37about how brutal the job market was in
3:39Toronto.
3:40Alyssa would text me a thank you with a
3:42little heart.
3:44I kept sending money. If I'm honest, I'd
3:46gotten used to being needed.
3:48That Thursday, with the call still
3:50ringing in my ears, I opened my banking
3:53page. I'd been going to that page every
3:561st of the month for 2 years, and I knew
3:58where everything was.
4:01Recurring transfer, $3,800.
4:04Cancel.
4:06Recurring transfer, $1,150.
4:09Cancel.
4:11Recurring transfer, $450.
4:13Cancel.
4:15Then I logged out, closed the laptop,
4:17and made a fresh pot of tea.
4:20I wondered how long it would take their
4:21picture to crack.
4:23I didn't spend the rest of that evening
4:25in a rage. I spent it curious,
4:28which is a different feeling and a more
4:30useful one.
4:31I wanted to know what exactly I'd been
4:33paying for.
4:35Nathan had always been careless with his
4:37email.
4:38Over 2 years, he'd forwarded me dozens
4:40of PDFs to justify requests for extra
4:43money, and I'd never opened half of
4:45them. I sat down with a second cup of
4:48tea and went through them in order.
4:50In September, he'd asked for an extra
4:53$800 a month.
4:55A special assessment from the condo
4:57corporation, he'd said, which made no
5:00sense for a detached house, but I hadn't
5:02questioned it.
5:03I opened the attachment and enlarged it.
5:06The letterhead read Lakeshore Golf and
5:09Racquet Club. It was a membership
5:11invoice with a line for dining minimum.
5:14I laughed out loud in my empty kitchen.
5:17It wasn't a happy laugh.
5:19I found more. Last spring, Nathan had
5:21asked for $3,000 for an urgent procedure
5:25at a private clinic that OHIP wouldn't
5:27cover after Alyssa's health scare. I'd
5:30wired it that same day. Her Instagram,
5:33which is public and which she updates
5:35religiously, showed her in a white robe
5:37at a spa in Banff on those exact dates,
5:40holding a green juice.
5:42They hadn't been scraping by.
5:45They'd been living in a Muskoka brochure
5:47version of my money.
5:49And I was the one in the cardigan
5:50standing outside it.
5:52I took the spare key they'd given me for
5:54emergencies off the hook by the front
5:56door and dropped it in the kitchen bin.
6:00I hadn't realized how much I wanted to
6:02do that.
6:03At 8:14 the next morning, my phone lit
6:06up with Nathan's face. I let it ring
6:08four times while I finished my sip of
6:10tea.
6:11Mom, did your bank freeze something?
6:14He sounded winded. The January rent
6:17transfer is showing as canceled and so
6:19is the car payment. You have to call
6:21them and sort it out. Alyssa's got
6:24vendors on her neck for tomorrow night.
6:26Nothing's frozen Nathan. I canceled
6:29them.
6:30Silence. Then a laugh that didn't quite
6:32land. That's not funny. We don't have
6:35time for this.
6:36I'm not joking. Alyssa told me yesterday
6:39that I don't fit the picture you two are
6:41painting. She called me a peasant.
6:44She didn't mean it like that. She's
6:47stressed.
6:48She meant exactly what she said and I
6:50agree with her.
6:52I kept my voice level. The way I see it,
6:55people who want a life like that ought
6:56to pay for it themselves.
6:59I heard a rustle and a muttered word and
7:01then Alyssa's voice came through, high
7:03and sharp.
7:05Joyce, you cannot do this right now. The
7:08caterer needs her final deposit by noon
7:10and Nathan was going to use the rent for
7:12that until my client invoices come in.
7:15You're going to ruin everything.
7:17It's not my event Alyssa. I'm just the
7:20peasant, remember?
7:22I pressed the red button and set the
7:23phone face down.
7:25By noon there were 11 missed calls.
7:29I ran my errands anyway.
7:31I bought potting soil at the garden
7:33center and talked to the cashier about
7:35whether the snow would hold off till the
7:37weekend.
7:38For the first time in two years, I
7:40couldn't feel the weight that had been
7:42sitting on my chest. I hadn't known how
7:44heavy it was until it lifted.
7:47When I got home, I read the texts. One
7:49from Nathan's stood out. Mom, please.
7:52This gala is my shot at pitching a
7:54private equity guy on the real estate
7:56fund. If the vendors walk, we look
7:58broke.
7:59We look broke. He hadn't written we are
8:02broke. That told me everything I needed
8:05to to about the two of them.
8:07The dinner wasn't a Christmas dinner at
8:09all. It was a stage set. They'd rented a
8:12hall, hired a string quartet, and booked
8:15a caterer, all to convince wealthy
8:17strangers that they were already
8:19wealthy.
8:20They'd meant to pay for the performance
8:22with the rent money I sent for a roof
8:25over their heads.
8:26I wasn't uninvited because I lacked
8:28style. I was uninvited because I was
8:31evidence.
8:32That afternoon, I changed the keypad
8:34code on my front door. I know my son.
8:37When phone calls fail, he turns up in
8:39person.
8:40He came at 4:00.
8:42I watched through the side window as he
8:44punched in the old code and got the
8:46angry little buzz.
8:48Then he stood on the porch in a camel
8:50hair overcoat that I had bought him last
8:52Christmas.
8:54I opened the door as far as the chain
8:56would let me.
8:57You changed the code.
9:00I did.
9:01Mom, let me in. You can't cut us off
9:03with no warning.
9:05I can, and I have. And you've had
9:08warnings for 2 years, Nathan.
9:10Every time I asked when you'd start
9:12covering your own bills.
9:14He leaned a hand on the frame and tried
9:16for a pitiful look. One more month. Just
9:19to get through tomorrow night. Alyssa's
9:21having a panic attack. If this falls
9:23through, her business is done.
9:26I'd printed the club invoice earlier,
9:29folded it in my cardigan pocket, and
9:31kept my hand on it that the whole time.
9:33I slid it through the gap.
9:35He unfolded it. The color went out of
9:38his face.
9:39"You told me this was a condo
9:40assessment." I said. "There was no heat
9:43in it. You used my money to eat lunch in
9:45a clubhouse while I checked the price of
9:47eggs.
9:48The bank is closed, Nathan. Go home."
9:52He started to say something, then
9:54stopped. The paper had taken away his
9:56one defense.
9:57I shut the door and slid the deadbolt,
10:00and I listened to him go down the steps.
10:03On the day of the gala, I had brunch
10:05with Cathy, my oldest friend, who taught
10:08grade four for 35 years and still knows
10:12everything that happens in this town
10:13before the local Facebook groups do.
10:16We'd barely ordered our eggs when she
10:18leaned across the table.
10:20Joyce, is it true you're the silent
10:22backer on Alyssa's agency?
10:25I put my fork down. Excuse me?
10:27I ran into Dale Pedegrue at the
10:29pharmacy. He owns that event rental
10:32place on Spears Road, he said. Alyssa
10:35ordered about $12,000
10:37of lighting and staging for tonight. He
10:40was nervous about extending her credit.
10:42But she assured him you were
10:44underwriting everything.
10:46Her wealthy mother-in-law, she said.
10:48My stomach tightened, but my face stayed
10:51still. They hadn't just spent my money.
10:54They'd been spending my name.
10:56Kathy, I said, loud enough for the booth
10:59beside us to hear. I haven't invested
11:01one cent in Alyssa's company and I'm not
11:04backing anything Nathan has going
11:06either. They run on their own.
11:09Kathy's eyebrows climbed to her
11:10hairline. Oh, oh dear. Dale's not going
11:13to like that.
11:15I don't imagine he will, I said and went
11:17back to my eggs.
11:19I didn't call Dale. I didn't have to be
11:21anyone's savior or anyone's executioner.
11:24I had told the truth in a public place
11:26to a woman who talks to everyone.
11:28And that was all.
11:30At 3:00 that afternoon my phone rang
11:32with a number I didn't know.
11:35Is this Joyce Mason?
11:36A deep polished voice. My name is Aaron
11:40Elliott of Elliott and Brooks Capital.
11:42I've been invited to your son's event
11:44this evening.
11:45I knew the name. He was the heavy
11:47hitter.
11:48Nathan had been trying to impress for
11:50months.
11:51How can I help you, Mr. Elliott?
11:54I'll be brief.
11:56Your son has pitched us a commercial
11:58real estate fund. In our conversations,
12:00he implied your family trust is
12:02providing the seed money.
12:04My office couldn't find any entity
12:06connecting you to his company and I like
12:08to know where I stand before I walk into
12:10a room.
12:11Are you the capital partner?
12:13There it was. I could have smoothed it
12:16over. A mother's reflex is to cover for
12:18her child, and I'd been doing it for
12:20years.
12:22I said,
12:23"Mr. Elliott, there is no family trust.
12:25I'm a retired widow. I have no financial
12:27involvement in my son's company or in my
12:30daughter-in-law's business, and any
12:32suggestion otherwise is untrue."
12:35The line went quiet for a good while.
12:38"Thank you for your candor, Mrs. Mason."
12:40he said at last in a much cooler voice.
12:43"You've saved me an evening. Happy
12:45holidays."
12:46I put the phone on the coffee table. I
12:48wasn't triumphant. I felt tidy, the way
12:51a house does after you finally open the
12:53windows.
12:55That night, I put on flannel pajamas,
12:57baked shortbread, and watched White
12:59Christmas for the hundredth time.
13:02My phone stayed on the counter, silent.
13:04I didn't need to be there to know how
13:06the night went, and the next day Cathy
13:08told me anyway. Her niece waits tables
13:12for the caterer.
13:13Dale Pedegrue had arrived at the hall at
13:165:00 with two of his crew and a printed
13:19invoice.
13:20When Alyssa couldn't pay, they started
13:22un-clipping the lighting rig from the
13:24ceiling while the string quartet tuned
13:26up.
13:27The caterer's deposit check had bounced
13:29that morning, so the kitchen staff
13:32stopped plating the canapés. Aaron
13:34Elliott never showed, and neither did
13:36the two other investors.
13:38A handful of Alyssa's friends turned up
13:41in cocktail dresses and stood under
13:43half-dismantled lights eating bread
13:46rolls from a basket.
13:47Nathan spent most of the night in the
13:49parking lot. Alyssa, apparently, cried
13:53in the coatroom.
13:54At 11:30, I checked my phone. Three long
13:57texts from Alyssa. I'll spare you most
13:59of it. You sabotaged us on purpose. Dale
14:03showed up demanding cash because of a
14:04rumor. Our reputation is ruined. We
14:07can't make rent. You're so selfish.
14:10I didn't reply.
14:12A reply would only have given her
14:13something to throw things at. They had
14:16built a bridge out of lies, walked out
14:18to the middle of it,
14:20and now they were furious with me
14:21because of gravity.
14:24Then came the letter, which I'm still
14:25glad about, in a grim sort of way.
14:28On December 29th, an envelope arrived
14:31from a property management company in
14:33Mississauga. Inside was a notice of
14:35default on a lease for a second unit, a
14:38commercial office suite on Dundas
14:40Street.
14:42The tenant was listed as Alyssa Mason
14:44Events. Under guarantor, it said Joyce
14:47Mason with my address, my birth date,
14:50and a signature that looked like mine,
14:52written by someone who had studied it
14:54from a birthday card.
14:56I hadn't signed anything. She'd put my
14:58name on a lease and forged my hand to do
15:00it.
15:01I called a lawyer the next morning. Her
15:04name was Barbara Burns. She had a small
15:07office near the lake, gray hair, and a
15:09way of listening that made me feel less
15:11foolish about all of it.
15:13She read the notice twice and took her
15:15glasses off.
15:17Joyce, this isn't family drama anymore.
15:19This is fraud, forgery, and
15:21misrepresenting a guarantee to induce a
15:24contract.
15:25I don't want to put my son in prison.
15:28You don't have to decide that today.
15:30She tapped the page. But the first thing
15:33we do is put everyone on notice in
15:35writing, so none of this can ever be
15:37hung on you.
15:39By the second week of January, Barbara
15:41had sent letters to the property
15:43manager, to Dale Pedegrue's company, to
15:46the caterer, and to the lender behind
15:48the Porsche lease. Each said the same
15:50thing.
15:52I had never guaranteed any debt of
15:53Alyssa Mason Events, and I would
15:55cooperate with any inquiry. The white
15:58Porsche left their driveway on a flatbed
16:01that same week, towed by a repossession
16:03company, before the neighbors had their
16:06coffee.
16:07Alyssa's website went dark a few days
16:09later. A mutual acquaintance said the
16:12hosting fees were 3 months behind.
16:15In late January, Barbara called.
16:17Alyssa's asking to meet. Nathan will be
16:20with her and her parents."
16:22I hadn't expected the parents. I'd met
16:24Larry and Barbara Freeman exactly twice,
16:27at the wedding and at a baby shower for
16:29someone else's baby. They were retired,
16:32lived in Guelph, and had always struck
16:34me as the quiet sort. I had never once
16:37heard Alyssa mention them asking for
16:39anything, which, now that I thought
16:42about it, was a sign.
16:44We met in Barbara Burns's boardroom on a
16:46bright, bitterly cold Thursday morning.
16:49Nathan sat in the same gray sweater he'd
16:51worn to his father's funeral. His eyes
16:54were swollen.
16:56Alyssa came in without her heels, her
16:58hair pulled back plainly. She looked
17:00like she hadn't slept since the week
17:02before Christmas. Larry and Barbara
17:05Freeman sat on either side of her
17:07and neither looked at her.
17:09Larry spoke first. He's a big man with
17:11careful hands, a retired machinist.
17:14"Mrs. Mason, we found out about all of
17:17this 3 days ago," he said. "We want you
17:20to know we had no idea. We'd have
17:22stopped it long ago if we had."
17:24"I'm sure you would have," I said.
17:26"We aren't here to ask you to make this
17:28go away," said Barbara Freeman.
17:31Her voice steady and her eyes wet.
17:33"We raised our daughter better than this
17:35and we're ashamed.
17:37But we also won't pretend she's a child.
17:39Alyssa is 34."
17:42Alyssa made a small sound. Her mother
17:44didn't turn her head.
17:46Barbara Burns slid two documents across
17:48the table. The first was an
17:50acknowledgement of debt. Alyssa and
17:53Nathan agreed, in writing, that every
17:56transfer I had made over 2 years,
17:58$134,000
18:00in all, was an advance and not a gift,
18:04and that they would withdraw every claim
18:05to vendors and lenders that I backed
18:08anything of theirs. The second was a
18:10sworn statement, three pages long,
18:13describing how a guarantee bearing my
18:15name had come to exist.
18:17"I filed a report with Peel Regional
18:19Police on Monday, Barbara Burns said in
18:22the same even tone she'd used all
18:24morning. A detective is waiting in the
18:27next room. Alyssa, you're entitled to
18:30have your own lawyer here, and I'd urge
18:32you to call one. But I'm going to be
18:34plain. That statement doesn't make this
18:36go away. It only means you stop lying
18:39about it.
18:40Nobody spoke.
18:42Down the hall a printer started up and
18:44stopped again.
18:45Alyssa's hand shook when she picked up
18:47the pen.
18:48She read the first page twice, her lips
18:51moving slightly.
18:53When she got to the paragraph about the
18:55signature, she stopped. And for the
18:57first time since I'd known her, she
18:59looked directly at me.
19:01"I thought you'd never find out," she
19:02said very quietly. It wasn't an apology.
19:06I think it just came out.
19:08"I know," I said. "That was the
19:10problem."
19:11She signed the acknowledgement. Then she
19:14set the pen down on the statement and
19:16did not pick it up again.
19:18"Alyssa," her father said.
19:21"Dad, they'll arrest me."
19:23"They'll do that either way,"
19:25Larry Freeman said without raising his
19:27voice.
19:28"Sign it. Tell the truth once to
19:30somebody who isn't selling something."
19:33She signed. Barbara Burns stood, opened
19:36the boardroom door, and a woman in a
19:39dark blazer came in with a man in
19:41uniform behind her. The detective
19:43introduced herself, read Alyssa her
19:45rights from a small card, and charged
19:48her with forgery and fraud. Alyssa asked
19:50if she could finish her coffee. The
19:52detective said she was sorry, no.
19:56Barbara Freeman put her hand over her
19:58mouth. Larry stood and held his
20:00daughter's coat for her, then walked
20:02beside her to the door, and I watched
20:04his careful machinist's hands shake.
20:07Nathan had not moved. The detective
20:09turned to him and told him, politely,
20:12that he'd be asked for an interview
20:14about the clinic money and the club
20:16invoices, and that he should bring a
20:18lawyer.
20:19He nodded at the table. He signed the
20:21acknowledgement with his own name
20:23beneath his wife's and he did not look
20:26up while he did it.
20:28Before he left, Larry Freeman pulled a
20:31thin folded check from his jacket and
20:33set it in front of me. It was for $6,000
20:37drawn on his own account.
20:39"That's ours." he said, "Not hers. We'll
20:42send another every month until our
20:44daughter can pay for herself."
20:46Out in the hallway, as I buttoned my
20:48coat, Nathan caught up with me.
20:51He looked about 9 years old.
20:53"I'm sorry, Mom. I let her talk to you
20:55that way and I let myself believe it. I
20:58was scared to admit we were broke."
21:01"I know you were."
21:03He waited and I knew exactly what he was
21:05waiting for.
21:07He wanted me to reach for my purse and
21:08say, "Let me help with the deposit on a
21:11new place."
21:12I patted his arm. "I'm proud of you for
21:15signing that. I have a book club at
21:171:00, so I should go."
21:19He nodded slowly and stood there while I
21:21walked to the elevator.
21:23In April, Alyssa pleaded guilty to
21:26forgery and fraud. The judge gave her a
21:2812-month conditional sentence served at
21:31her parents' house in Guelph, then 2
21:33years of probation and a restitution
21:36order for the full amount that she'll be
21:37paying off long after I'm gone. She has
21:41a criminal record now, which is a hard
21:43thing to carry into any hotel's front
21:46office. Her business no longer exists.
21:49Nathan was never charged, but he sold
21:51his watch and his camel hair coat and he
21:53drives a delivery route for a logistics
21:56company, which I'll admit gave me an odd
21:58pang given how my own life began. His
22:01first payment arrived by e-transfer on
22:03the 1st of May, $400 with the memo line
22:07payment one. There has been one every
22:10month since and not one has been late.
22:13Nathan comes by for coffee on Sundays.
22:16We talk about the garden and the leaves.
22:19Last week, he asked whether Gary had
22:21ever made a mistake like his.
22:23I I him his father once lost a client
22:26over a handshake, and that the hard part
22:28isn't the mistake. It's what you do the
22:30following Monday.
22:32I still drive the Corolla. My accounts
22:34are fine. My house is quiet. And I sleep
22:38through the night. I was uninvited from
22:40a Christmas dinner for being a peasant.
22:43It took one afternoon and three clicks
22:45of a mouse to find out that the people
22:47who called me one couldn't even afford
22:50to throw their own party.

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This page contains the full transcript of My Daughter-In-Law Uninvited Me From Her Christmas Gala As A “Peasant” I’d Been Paying Her Rent A... by Granite Revenge, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 3,739 words across 606 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

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