Iris Held On to Her Paid-Off Title When Her Father Threatened to Call the Police

I took my phone out of my coat and called Monica’s direct line in Sacramento.

She picked up on the third ring, her voice clear and dry over the speaker.

“How’s Portland?”

“My father took ten thousand dollars out of the cabin fund today,” I said, leaning my shoulder against the damp wooden siding of the house.

“He used it as the cash down payment on Chelsea’s new BMW.”

There was a short pause on the line.

I heard the faint plastic click of Monica taking off her rimless glasses to polish them on the hem of her sweater.