PART 3 (Finale): Our neighbor steps in and destroys my mom's plan.
He didn't expect to see Chuck the mechanic stepping onto the porch, casually gripping a heavy steel wrench. He didn't expect to see the corner store owner standing in our doorway with his arms crossed.
And he definitely didn't expect Mrs. Miller.
Our sweet, 60-year-old neighbor stepped right in front of Lucy. She looked Mr. Vance up and down like he was a stain on the bottom of her shoe.
"You must be the garbage we've been hearing about," Mrs. Miller said loudly, making sure the police officers sitting in the cruiser at the curb could hear her. "I suggest you back away from this house before I walk over to those officers and explain exactly how your cleaning company is employing desperate teenagers under the table and violating federal labor laws."
Mr. Vance froze. His face went completely white.
"And as for you," Mrs. Miller turned to my mother. "Abandoning seven minors for over a week is a felony. Should we ask the officers about that, too?"
My mother physically took a step back, hiding behind Vance.
The social worker, who had been watching this entire exchange, finally put the pieces together. She looked at my mother’s designer clothes, then at the massive pot of soup on our stove, and the wall of angry, protective neighbors standing shoulder-to-shoulder with my sister.
The social worker pulled out her pen, crossed something out on her clipboard, and looked right at my mother. "Ma'am, I suggest you leave. Now. I will be recommending full legal guardianship be transferred to Lucy, with community supervision."
Mr. Vance didn't say a word. He just grabbed my mother’s arm, turned around, and walked bac
k to his car. They didn't even take the pink suitcase. They just drove away.
When the taillights disappeared, Chuck fixed our locks so her key would never work again. The
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social worker helped Lucy file the emergency guardianship papers the very next morning.
We didn't have much money, and our house was still loud and chaotic. But that night, for the first time in a long time, all seven of us went to sleep with full stomachs. And my sister Lucy finally slept through the night.
