Chapter 2 - Get Out of My House
The dispatcher answered.
“911. What’s your emergency?”
“My name is Connor Bradley. I’m at my home in Nashville. There are approximately twenty people inside my house who I did not invite.”
My mother stared at me.
“You invited family.”
I turned away from her.
The dispatcher asked, “Are they threatening you?”
“My wife was prevented from leaving the kitchen, her phone was taken, and she was forced to work while caring for our sick one-year-old.”
Amy lowered her head inside the car.
I continued.
“And I just discovered people moving documents from my office.”
Teresa stepped toward me.
“Hang up.”
I ignored her.
“Sir,” the dispatcher said, “are there weapons?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Remain outside if you feel unsafe. Officers are on the way.”
I ended the call.
Teresa exploded.
“You called the police on your mother?”
“I called the police on people refusing to leave my property.”
“You ungrateful little—”
“Where’s Amy’s phone?”
“You’re obsessed with that phone!”
“Because you took it.”
“I confiscated it.”
I stared at her.
“She’s thirty years old.”
“She behaves like a child.”
Amy opened the car door.
“I asked you for it back six times.”
Teresa pointed at her.
“You stay out of this.”
I stepped forward.
“Don’t point at my wife.”
“Oh, now you’re a hero?”
“No. I’m a husband who finally walked in at the right time.”
Relatives began gathering near the front entrance.
Uncle Richard tried calming everyone.
“Connor, this is getting ridiculous. Let’s just finish the party.”
“There is no party.”
“We bought all this food.”
“I didn’t.”
Betsy scoffed.
“Your mother did.”
“With whose money?”
Nobody answered.
I looked at Teresa.
“How much did today cost?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“It happened in my house with the money I send you. It is literally my business.”
Sirens sounded in the distance.
Mason suddenly appeared behind the relatives.
He still had the folder.
I pointed.
“What’s that?”
He stopped.
“Nothing.”
“Give it to me.”
Teresa spun around.
“Mason, go inside.”
He moved immediately.
I started after him.
Mom grabbed my arm.
“Leave him alone.”
I looked down at her hand.
“Let go.”
For whatever reason, that was the moment she lost control.
Maybe she realized the officers were coming.
Maybe she knew Mason couldn’t reach his car in time.
Or maybe she was simply furious that I had stopped obeying her.
She shoved me.
Not hard.
But enough.
Amy gasped.
Two police cruisers pulled up seconds later.
Four officers stepped out.
One approached me.
“Connor Bradley?”
“Yes.”
“This your residence?”
“Yes.”
My mother marched toward him.
“There has been a misunderstanding.”
The officer held up a hand.
“Ma’am, give us a moment.”
“This is my son’s home.”
“Do you live here?”
Teresa hesitated.
“I manage the household.”
“No, she doesn’t,” I said.
The officer looked at me.
“Do you want these people removed?”
“Yes.”
Teresa snapped.
“You can’t remove me.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the officer said calmly. “If the homeowner asks you to leave and you don’t reside here, you need to leave.”
“This house belongs to my family.”
“It belongs to me,” I said.
Mom smiled strangely.
“We’ll see.”
That sentence chilled me.
At that exact moment, Mason slipped through the side gate.
Another officer noticed.
“Sir.”
Mason kept walking.
“Sir, stop.”
He ran.
He made it maybe fifteen yards.
The officer caught him before he reached the neighboring driveway.
“What are you doing?” Mason shouted.
“What’s in the folder?”
“Personal documents.”
“Whose?”
“My aunt’s.”
I walked closer.
“That came from my office.”
Teresa suddenly pushed past the first officer.
“Give me that!”
He blocked her.
“Ma’am, step back.”
“That is private family property!”
The officer opened the folder.
I saw the first page.
My name.
My address.
And across the top—
Warranty Deed.
My original deed.
I stared at Mason.
“Why do you have my deed?”
He said nothing.
The officer looked at Teresa.
“Ma’am?”
She reached for the folder.
He pulled it away.
“Do not grab evidence from my hands.”
“Evidence?”
Her voice rose.
“It belongs to me!”
“No,” I said. “It belongs to me.”
Teresa turned on Amy.
“This is because of you!”
Amy flinched.
My mother lunged one step forward.
The officer intercepted her.
“Ma’am, back up.”
“You ruined my son!”
“Stop,” I warned.
She tried pushing past him again.
This time, the officer caught her wrist.
“You are being detained.”
Teresa screamed.
“You can’t arrest me!”
“You shoved an officer.”
“I was trying to get to my daughter-in-law!”
“That isn’t helping your case.”
Betsy began crying.
Mason started talking fast.
“Aunt Teresa told me to get it. That’s all. She said Connor wanted us to update something.”
Mom whipped around.
“Shut your mouth!”
Every face turned toward her.
I looked at Mason.
“Update what?”
He swallowed.
“I don’t know.”
“Try again.”
“The house.”
My chest tightened.
“What about my house?”
Mason glanced at Teresa.
“She said she needed the original deed before Monday.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Mom shouted, “He’s lying!”
Mason shook his head.
“No, I’m not! You told me Uncle Raymond already had the forms.”
My mother went completely still.
Officer Daniels, according to his name tag, looked between them.
“What forms?”
Nobody answered.
Then Amy spoke from behind me.
“Connor.”
I turned.
She was holding Frederick.
“He’s getting worse.”
Every other problem disappeared.
I took my son.
His little eyes barely opened.
“We’re going to the hospital.”
I looked at Officer Daniels.
“Do whatever you need to do here.”
He nodded.
“We’ll secure the property.”
Teresa shouted as another officer cuffed her.
“You walk away now and you’ll regret it!”
I opened the passenger door for Amy.
“No, Mom.”
I looked back at her.
May you like
“I think walking away from you is the first smart thing I’ve done all year.”
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