A Tale from Colorado Symbolising Why Foster-Sis is FS
The Caper: I’m being blamed for wrecking Goddaughter’s new car. I didn’t do $1500 of damage, which is what they’d like to fleece. It’ll get whacky, if you can hang.
The car is so new, it doesn’t have plates. It was GdD’s gift -bribe to stay in high school and graduate. She’s going to beauty school on her mum’s dime (of which, she’s not rolling in). I’m proud of GdD for sticking it out because of her blood family influences (not FS, obviously) who constantly say she’s worthless, stupid, evil (she was not a Christian; hell, she converted last year and that’s not getting them off her back — this is an important aside as we can think about ‘how Christian’ they are, if you didn’t already notice any Caper shouldn’t be coming from such Godly Creatures). They were saying she was burning in hell when she was a babe in arms (her parents weren’t married). Nothing has changed.
Backstory (skippable): Birth Sister (FS’) was the first to move out here with her husband, who is going to school to be whatever kind of Christian acts this way. Birth Sister isn’t the healthiest bird. Truly. That’s not faked, although it’s why Birth Mother -are the new readers gone yet? summers here and is looking for a job to move here to ‘help out.’ Birth Sister has a toddler. The point of this aside is to show that even when FS gets away from them, they come to her. It’s little wonder as she ‘does’ whatever they ask and more from paying bills, giving them her car/s to drive, buying Christmas presents for them to give others. It’s mental.
In my opinion this is a lot like me but I never made enough money for others to attack. We are compulsive caretakers who subconsciously are trying to prove we’re not as worthless wastes of life our parents -and society said we are/were. Hey, I’ve had a lot of therapy and I’m still mental. I have a minor in Psych because all nutters and halfwits from nutty families always try to fix things — or choose to be a part of the Manson Family. People always say, ‘Why do you have anything to do with family like that?’ Easy question when it’s a) not you and b) you weren’t raised from birth breathing this. We didn’t get therapy as kids, we didn’t get saved. We got to our thirties and realised some therapy might’ve been good medicine back then but we’re living today. Start when you can.
The Beginning: Fair to say Goddaughter hasn’t driven her brand new car yet not only because it has been constantly on loan to blood family or blood family’s friends but also because she let her permit lapse. Perhaps if she hadn’t, they wouldn’t have been borrowing it. GdD is bemoaning this or I wouldn’t even include it. It’s a good point but I gotta say FS probably would’ve still ‘made’ her loan her car to them. I’ve known this family for 36 years. I was there before Birth Sister!
I arrived in Colorado Sunday night. I didn’t mind that FS’ Birth Mother and Birth Sister didn’t bring GdD’s car for me, which was promised, because her family always promises things and doesn’t do them or if they do something, it’s half-arsed and late and then they expect amazing praise; e.g. when I had nobody else to turn to and needed medication, they promised they’d be RIGHT THERE. Three hours later they showed up. They are 15 minutes from where I was. And you know what? I was extremely thankful still as I needed the meds! I paid for them in full and gave them gas money that was about 10 times what they used to help me. I don’t know where else they went during those 3 hours but that’s them and I’m accustomed to that. Didn’t so muchly know they’d try to scam anybody.
The Week of House Arrest: FS left the state on business, which she does I suppose most of the time–actually, she travels within state a lot but also out of state. That left GdD and me here, without wheels. You can walk a few miles to a spot that has some fast food places but of course, I can’t eat conventional food out. I’ve been watching tons of TV. Thursday PM a little after 9, Birth Mother showed up to hand me the car keys, you know, so I could have some fun. It’s dark. I don’t know where I am and FS will be home the next day. Whatever.
The Admission: FS gets home and Birth Mother calls. ‘I want you to know, I bumped the car on the garage the other night. I hit the mirror, which bent in, and then it scraped down the car. I stopped and tried to right the angle but it scraped again. I’ll pay to get it fixed.’
GdD freaks out — not even angry but LOUDLY. ‘I haven’t even driven it yet.’ I don’t think her reaction was over the top. She’s 18. It’s her brand new car that she hasn’t driven. She’s just emotional. I think that in my 40s, I’d have said the same thing at the same volume, sheerly out of shock and grief for your shiny toy somebody just unshinied. Her grandmother (Birth Mother to FS) got all kinds of angry and telling her how not to talk to her. Whatever. Honestly, I was here. I promise you, that wasn’t even anger. It was a kid wailing cos you broke her toy. Period.
It’s evening but I decide to take GdD out for coffee because we’d both been sitting in the house from Sunday to Friday evening. We met FS, visited, and headed home.
The ‘Rub’: Get this shite: nobody has even looked at Birth Mother’s damage to the car because it was parked in the garage and it was pitch dark when she returned it — admitted it was messed up and would fix it. We had nothing to do about it and didn’t bother worrying about it. We go to park the car in the garage and I notice, dude. This is a tight corner to make to get in a narrow garage. I moved super slowly and…
Rubbed against the rubber bumpers installed to prevent you hitting the sides (it’s obviously a known issue). I just rubbed against that bumper. Thank GOD I knew there was an issue and moved very carefully! I’m sooooo sorry that I touched it at all, obviously.
GdD and I jumped out of the car and looked at exactly where it rubbed. To my RELIEF, GdD was the first to say, ‘There’s no mark, it’s just dust from that rubber part.’
Yes, it was. Am I guilty of rubbing against the rubber guard? Yes. Is that $1500 damage? No. A wet cloth would’ve fixed what I did.
The Fuck Up: Look the car’s already got issues from Birth Mother, to my surprise, FS was extremely relaxed about it. Obviously, it helped that unlike Birth Mother:
I had a witness. The witness is the car’s owner. The witness said it was only mud on the car. You’d think the owner might be the best witness to have, right?
FS thought it would be nice to make Birth Mother feel better about the damage she did to the car by telling her, ‘Hey, Lily rubbed against the bumper, too. It’s a tight space.’
You Can Guess What Happens Next: Since FS is home for the weekend, Birth Mother took GdD’s car again for two more days.
Father’ Day, Birth Mother: ‘Did you get a chance to look at the damage to the car yet?’
FS: ‘No.’
BM: ‘You have to see what Lily did to it!’
.
.
.
Huh?
She claims that the mirror and door damage is hers but the wheel well is mine. ‘Lily mangled the wheel well.’
The Fighting Commences: Oh, the screaming. FS, BM, Blood Sister and her husband. I can’t recall all the bullshite stated (on their side, not on FS, who basically keeps saying, ‘Why am I being yelled at? I’m the only completely guiltless party?’ I corrected her to include GdD. Neither of them have anything to do with ‘damage.’
Fecking BM waited til Father’s Day to ‘report’ all this damage she’s blaming me for — again, I have a witness, she doesn’t. The car was in my possession for literally less than 20 minutes. She has had it for weeks and she’s widely known for running into things, including other cars, all the time. ALL THE TIME. Birth Sis and FS have the joke that she drives ‘with the Force’ but the Force is not strong in this one. Then, she started screaming that I’m lying and that FS ruined Father’s Day. FS (after everybody yelled and screamed for at least 2 hours) decided we were heading out and away and that she was not loaning out the car.
BM is saying, ‘I did less than $500 damage but I’ll give you some cash but I’m not turning that into my insurance. Lily needs to.’ Fuck that.
I stayed really quiet, walking away, hiding in bathroom, etc. I then rang my brother who said, ‘under no circumstances let them bully or cajole you into handing over insurance info — this is NOT your fault. I then started texting a local friend who is saving the day.
BM was supposed to drive GdD to DMV to renew her permit on Monday.
That’s not happening cos as BM screamed at GdD: ‘You didn’t have my back!’ Meaning: you should have lied to cover me wrecking your car to get Lily to pay.’
Nice.
Tuesday, she was going to drop me at DIA to fly home. During the screaming, she tossed that out. ‘You can FORGET me taking GdD (her granddaughter) to the DMV and Lily can make her own way to the airport.’
When we got away from them, FS mentioned these things, which of course I’d heard! I had been quiet and trying to be sensitive cos FS was sooooo upset. Her family were being soooo mean and I know for a fact lying!
I said, ‘That Liar-Mouth can save herself the trouble. I’ll find my own way. I don’t want to see her face.’ This was not nice or good of me but I’ve been listening to a bunch of BM, BS and BS’s husband being ASSHOLES. I lost my cool. I apologised and said that wasn’t nice to say but seriously. I’m grand.
My friend who lives in Boulder rode in to my rescue. She picked me up and we had a nice chit chat before taking me to DIA. I’M SO THANKFUL and RELIEVED!
