I tried to be patient because, you know, family. I thought it was temporary. Spoiler: it was not temporary.
Anyway, yesterday I hung a Do Not Disturb sign because my stepmom kept barging in, and I couldn’t focus. Apparently that was enough to spark a full-on conspiracy melt down.
Later that night, I went to grab water and heard whispering in the kitchen. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but then I heard my name, so yeah, I froze. Trina goes, “She’s getting restless.”
And Mason’s like, “She won’t leave. She’s tied down with work.” Then Trina says, “Not if she stops getting those work calls. She won’t be going anywhere.” My blood boiled.
The next morning, I checked my email. A few companies I’d interviewed with wrote to me, thanking me for reaching out and warning them that I would not be continuing with the process. I hadn’t spoken to anyone.
At first, I honestly thought I’d messed something up. But later that day, I overheard Trina in the hallway telling someone on the phone that “I wasn’t available for interviews right now,” like she was speaking for me. It wasn’t even subtle. That’s when it finally hit me that she had found the list of companies in my documents and was cancelling interviews on my behalf.
When I confronted her, she did this offended gasp and said, “I was PROTECTING you. If you get a better job, you’ll move out, and we’ll be screwed!” I’m like, “…so your brilliant plan was to tank my entire future??” Her response: “We’re family. Families stick together.”
Honestly, I was done. Two weeks later I packed up, rented a short-term place, moved out, and only paid my part of the last month’s bills. When I grabbed my last box, Trina went, “We thought you’d take care of us.”
And for the first time it hit me, she didn’t want a stepdaughter. She wanted a free safety net. I told her, “I did. For three years.” Then I left.
So Bright Side… Was I wrong for leaving? Should I have handled it differently, or am I just super late to realizing I had “DOORMAT” stamped across my forehead?
