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My Daughter's Mother-in-Law Mocked Me in Secret Shorthand—She Didn't Know I Was a Court Reporter — Transcript

by Shadow Revenge · 2,542 words · 347 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00At my daughter's rehearsal dinner, the
0:02groom's mother leaned over to her
0:03sister, picked up a pen, and wrote a
0:06little note on the back of her place
0:08card. Just loops and hooks and squiggles
0:10like a child's drawing. She slid it
0:13across the table, and they both laughed,
0:15and then they looked straight at me. For
0:177 months, those two women had been
0:19writing notes about me, right in front
0:21of my face in a secret code they learned
0:24as secretaries back in the 1970s. They
0:27were sure nobody else at that table
0:29could read it. They were wrong. I spent
0:3130 years as a court reporter. And that
0:34night, I picked up my own pen and wrote
0:36back. Before I tell you what I wrote on
0:38that card, if you love stories where the
0:40quiet ones turn out to be the smartest
0:42people in the room, please subscribe to
0:45Shadow Revenge. It really helps me keep
0:47sharing these stories. Now, let me tell
0:50you how it started. My name is Helen.
0:53I'm 60 years old and I live in a small
0:55brick house in Pittsburgh for 30 years.
0:58I was a court reporter. If you've never
1:00met one, we're the people who sit in the
1:02corner of the courtroom and write down
1:04every single word anybody says, every
1:07lie, every confession, every time a
1:10lawyer says objection. Nobody ever looks
1:13at us, which is exactly how we like it.
1:16But before I ever touched a court
1:17reporting machine, my mother taught me
1:19something called shorthand. My mother
1:21was a legal secretary, and back in her
1:24day, every good secretary knew it. It's
1:26a way of writing very fast with little
1:28curves and hooks instead of letters. A
1:31whole sentence can fit in a space the
1:33size of your thumb. Mom taught it to me
1:35at the kitchen table when I was nine,
1:38and I've used it every day of my life
1:40since. My grocery lists are in
1:42shorthand. My diary is in shortorthhand.
1:45My daughter used to say my handwriting
1:47looked like spaghetti that fell on the
1:49floor. My daughter's name is Emma. She's
1:5129 and she's a pediatric nurse. I raised
1:55her mostly on my own after her father
1:57passed away when she was 11. She is
2:00stubborn and funny and kind and she has
2:03never once in her life been impressed by
2:04money, which is probably why she fell in
2:07love with Ryan. Ryan comes from a very
2:09wealthy family. His late grandfather
2:12started a construction company and now
2:14it builds half the parking garages in
2:16western Pennsylvania, but you'd never
2:18know it from Ryan. He drives an old
2:21pickup truck. He volunteers at a food
2:23bank on Saturdays. The first time Emma
2:26brought him home, he fixed my leaky
2:28kitchen faucet without being asked, and
2:30then he apologized for using my good
2:32towel. And then I met his mother. Her
2:35name is Patricia. Patricia is elegant in
2:38the way that hurts to look at. Silver
2:40hair cut very sharp. Pearls at
2:43breakfast. She worked as an executive
2:45secretary for 20 years at her father's
2:47company before she married and she still
2:50runs that family like it's a board
2:52meeting. Patricia has an older sister
2:54named Joan who goes everywhere with her.
2:57Joan was a secretary at the same
2:59company. They're like two halves of the
3:01same pair of scissors. The first dinner
3:03was at Patricia's house, a big stone
3:05place with a circular driveway. I wore
3:08my good navy dress and my mother's
3:10little gold earrings. Patricia greeted
3:12me at the door, looked me up and down,
3:14and said, "Helen, how brave of you to
3:16wear navy." Then she smiled and walked
3:19away. At dinner, Patricia asked what I
3:21did. I said I was a retired court
3:24reporter. She said, "Oh, like a typist."
3:26I said something like that. And I went
3:29back to my soup. Then halfway through
3:31the main course, I saw Patricia take a
3:34little silver pen out of her purse. She
3:36wrote something on the back of her place
3:38card very fast and slid it over to Joan.
3:41Joan read it, covered her mouth, and
3:43laughed. I could read it upside down
3:46from across the table. It was
3:47shortorthhand, perfect, old-fashioned,
3:50secretary shorthand, the exact kind my
3:52mother taught me. And it said thrift
3:54store mother. Look at those shoes. I
3:57want you to know what I did. I put down
3:59my fork and I picked up my napkin and I
4:02dabbed my mouth very carefully and I
4:04didn't say a single word. I'm not sure I
4:07can explain why. Partly I was too
4:09surprised, but mostly I think it was 30
4:12years of courtroom habit. When you're
4:14the court reporter, you don't react. You
4:16just listen and you write it all down
4:19and you let people show you exactly who
4:21they are. So that's what I did for 7
4:24months. At the engagement party,
4:26Patricia wrote, "The mother laughs like
4:28a goose." At the bridal shower, while I
4:31was helping Emma open presents, Joan
4:33wrote, "Did she buy that gift at a gas
4:35station?" Patricia wrote back, "At least
4:38it isn't used." At the cake tasting,
4:40Patricia wrote, "Emma is pretty, but
4:43she'll never be one of us." Ryan could
4:45have married the Whitaker girl. And
4:47every time after they left, I quietly
4:50picked up those little cards and napkins
4:52and programs, and I took them home. I
4:54kept them in a shoe box on the top shelf
4:56of my closet. I didn't know why yet. I
4:59just knew you don't throw away the
5:01record. I never told Emma. She was so
5:04happy and it was only words. Silly,
5:06snobby words from two women who still
5:08thought it was 1978. I could live with
5:11silly words. And then in April, 2 months
5:14before the wedding, I found a note that
5:17wasn't silly at all. We were at the
5:19wedding venue, a beautiful old hotel
5:21downtown doing the final walkthrough.
5:24Patricia sat down her leather planner on
5:26a table by the window and went off to
5:28argue with the florist. The planner had
5:30fallen open. And on the page for that
5:32Friday, in neat little shorthand, it
5:35said this prenup signing Friday 10 m.
5:39Mr. Hail's office, Hail put the house in
5:42clause 14. She won't read it. Ryan never
5:45reads anything. Do not let her bring her
5:47own lawyer. I read it three times. Then
5:50I closed the planner very gently and I
5:53went and stood by the window and I
5:55looked out at the river for a long time.
5:57I knew about the printup. Emma had
5:59mentioned it. She'd said, "Mom, his
6:02family wants one and honestly, I don't
6:04care. I don't want their money. I'm
6:06happy to sign whatever they want." And
6:09I'd thought, "Good for you, sweetheart."
6:11But I sat in courtrooms for 30 years. I
6:13have typed up more divorces than I can
6:16count and I have heard a hundred women
6:18say I didn't read what I was signing. I
6:21trusted him. So that night I drove to
6:23Emma's apartment with a bag of Chinese
6:25food and I said, "Sweetheart, I want you
6:28to do one thing for me, just one. Before
6:31you sign anything on Friday, I want you
6:34to have your own lawyer read it." She
6:36said, "Mom, that's going to look like I
6:38don't trust them." I said, "It's going
6:40to look like you're a grown woman who
6:42reads before she signs. Any good family
6:44would respect that." She looked at me
6:46for a long moment. She said, "Do you
6:49know something?" And I said, "I know
6:51that a contract is a contract, and
6:53you're my daughter, please." She did it.
6:56She found a family lawyer named Ms.
6:58Aafer, a very sharp woman who used to
7:01work in the same courthouse as me. Miss
7:03Aaffer read the whole thing in one
7:05evening. And she called Emma the next
7:07morning and she said, "Emma, do not sign
7:10this. Here's what Claus 14 said in very
7:13long and very boring legal words."
7:15Ryan's family was planning to buy the
7:17couple a house as a wedding gift. Emma
7:20and Ryan would live in it, and Emma
7:22would help pay the mortgage, the taxes,
7:25and the repairs every month from her
7:27nurse's salary. But the house itself
7:29would belong to a family trust that
7:31Patricia controlled. Not to Ryan, not to
7:34Emma, to Patricia. So, if anything ever
7:37went wrong, if there was a divorce, or
7:40even if Patricia just decided she didn't
7:42like her daughter-in-law anymore, Emma
7:45would walk away with nothing, not even
7:47back the money she put in. Years of her
7:49salary gone. Emma called Ryan crying.
7:52And Ryan, who it turned out had never
7:54actually read his own prenup because his
7:57mother's lawyer had handled everything,
7:59drove straight over to Miss Aafer's
8:01office. He read Clause 14 and he went
8:04very, very quiet. He told Emma, "I
8:07didn't know. I swear I didn't know."
8:09Then he called his mother's lawyer, Mr.
8:12Hail, and canled the Friday meeting.
8:14Over the next 3 weeks, Emma and Ryan sat
8:17down with two lawyers of their own, one
8:19each, and wrote a brand new printup. a
8:22fair one. Whatever they bought together,
8:24they'd own together. Whatever Ryan
8:26inherited from his family would stay
8:28his. Everything clear, everything equal.
8:31They signed it the morning of the
8:33rehearsal dinner, and they agreed not to
8:35tell Patricia until that night. Patricia
8:38didn't know any of this. As far as she
8:40knew, the signing had just been
8:42postponed. Mr. Hail, it turned out, was
8:45a little afraid of Ryan. So, the
8:47rehearsal dinner, a private room at an
8:50Italian restaurant with candles and long
8:52tables and about 60 guests. I wore my
8:55navy dress again on purpose. Patricia
8:58and Joan were seated directly across
9:00from me. Of course, they were. About
9:03halfway through dinner, I watched
9:05Patricia take out that little silver
9:07pen. She wrote something on the back of
9:09her place card and she slid it to Joan.
9:11Joan read it and snorted into her
9:13napkin. Then they both looked at me. I
9:16could read it from where I sat. It said,
9:18"Same navy dress." Poor thing. Can't
9:21wait to see her face when Emma signs.
9:24And for the first time in 7 months, I
9:26picked up my own pen. I reached across
9:28the table very politely and I took that
9:31place card from right in front of Joan.
9:33Joan blinked at me and underneath
9:36Patricia's note in my own neat
9:38shorthand, the kind my mother taught me
9:40at the kitchen table, I wrote my reply.
9:43Then I slid the card back across the
9:45table. right in front of Patricia. And
9:47this is what it said. Emma's lawyer read
9:50clause 14. They signed a new one this
9:52morning. Also, this dress cost $40. And
9:55I look wonderful in it. Love, Helen. I
9:58watched Patricia read it. I watched her
10:01read it twice. I watched all the color
10:03leave her face from the top down like
10:06someone pulling a window shade. Joan
10:08leaned over to see and her mouth fell
10:10open. Patricia looked up at me. Her
10:13voice came out as a whisper. She said,
10:15"You can read it." I said, "Patricia,
10:18I've been able to read it since the
10:19first night. I am a court reporter. I've
10:22been writing shortorthhand since I was 9
10:24years old." Joan put her hand over her
10:26mouth, but it wasn't shock. Joan was
10:29laughing. She was laughing so hard that
10:32she had to put her head down on the
10:34table. Patricia stood up very fast and
10:36said she needed some air. But at that
10:38exact moment, Ryan stood up to give his
10:41speech. And Patricia had to sit back
10:43down. Ryan thanked everyone for coming.
10:46He said nice things about Emma that made
10:48her cry. And then he said, "And I want
10:50to thank someone else. Someone who
10:52taught Emma and me a very important
10:55lesson this spring. Always read before
10:57you sign." He looked straight at his
10:59mother. He said, "Mom, Emma and I signed
11:02our printup this morning. Our own
11:04lawyers wrote it. It's fair to both of
11:06us, and we won't be accepting the house.
11:09We're going to buy our own, a small one
11:11with our own money, and both our names
11:14will be on it. Then he turned and looked
11:16at me. He said to Helen, who never
11:18misses a word. 60 people clapped.
11:21Patricia clapped, too, very slowly
11:24because there was nothing else she could
11:25do. Here's what happened after. Patricia
11:28didn't talk to me at the wedding, but
11:30she was polite. And I'll give her this.
11:33She didn't make a single scene. Emma
11:35walked down the aisle in my mother's
11:37veil and looked more beautiful than I
11:39had ever seen her. And Ryan cried so
11:41hard the minister had to wait. At the
11:44reception, Joan came and sat down next
11:46to me. She said, "Helen, I owe you an
11:48apology. Most of those notes were
11:50Patricia's, but I laughed at every one
11:53of them, and that's just as bad." Then
11:55she said, "You really kept them all." I
11:58said, "Everyone in a shoe box." She
12:00said, "Can I tell you a secret?" I said,
12:03"Of course." She said, "I've wanted
12:05somebody to put my sister in her place
12:07for 62 years." Then she asked if I
12:10wanted to have lunch sometime. I said,
12:12"Yes." Joan and I have lunch every other
12:15Thursday now. We write each other notes
12:17across the table. In shortand, the
12:20waitresses think we're crazy. Patricia
12:22took longer, almost a year. Then, at
12:25Emma's baby shower last month, I was
12:28helping set out the cake when I found a
12:30little card next to my plate, a place
12:32card. And on the back in very neat
12:34shorthand, it said, "Helen, I was wrong
12:37about you. I was wrong about Emma. I was
12:40wrong about a lot of things. I'm sorry."
12:42I looked up. Patricia was sitting at the
12:45other end of the table pretending to be
12:47very interested in a plate of
12:49sandwiches, but her hands were shaking a
12:51little. I took out my pen. And
12:53underneath her note, I wrote, "Thank
12:55you. Apology accepted. And for the
12:58record, I'm wearing the navy dress." I
13:00slid it down the table. Patricia, read
13:03it. And for the first time since I'd met
13:05her, she really laughed. As for that
13:07shoe box full of notes, I still have it.
13:10I'm going to give it to my granddaughter
13:12one day. And I'm going to teach her
13:14shorthand at the kitchen table the way
13:16my mother taught me because you never
13:18know when it's going to come in handy.
13:20Being the one who can read what everyone
13:22else thinks is a secret. If this story
13:25touched your heart, please subscribe to
13:27Shadow Revenge. There's a new story
13:29every day and I'd love for you to be
13:31part of it. So, let me ask you, if you
13:34found out your in-laws had been mocking
13:36you in a secret code for 7 months, would
13:39you have stayed quiet like I did or said
13:41something at that very first dinner?
13:43Tell me in the comments.

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