Page 89 of Game Change

“I can take the basement,” he says. “You won’t be out any money that way.”

I turn my head to the side because I clearly did not hear what I thought I heard. “What?” I ask. I step closer, ready to shove him, but Colin walks with me, not fully blocking me from Oliver.

Oliver doesn’t reply; he grabs his suitcase and goes to the door, but I don’t move.

“You have five seconds to turn around before I call the police,” I warn. “I’m not going to discuss your living situation with you again. Get out of here.”

“I know you’re not about to do this, Brynne.”

“And I know you did not roll up in here with a suitcase expecting to live in my house. Were you planning on being a squatter?”

“I don’t have anywhere to go.” Oliver says it as if that’s my problem to fix.

“Would you do this if someone else had bought the house?”

He doesn’t answer. He looks away and stares at his pathetic suitcase.

“She said leave,” Colin says in a tone I’ve never heard from him. I’m used to him being playful. I’ve even seen him angry, or so I thought, but he sounds downright dangerous now.

“I looked up your little boyfriend,” Oliver says, pointing at Colin. “Colin Kincaid of the Kincaid family. I thought you were being foolish throwing pussy at your boss, but you’re smarter than I thought you were. He’s rich. Let him buy you a few houses, and let me have this one. It belongs to me anyway.”

I shake my head and decide I’m not going to waste my time arguing with someone as delusional as him, but he tries to go around me. Colin steps in front of him, and Oliver stops before they can make contact.

I pull out my phone, but Oliver knocks it out of my hand, and it falls to the ground. I bend to pick it up, but Colin grabs Oliver by the lapels of his coat and shoves him away. He stumbles a few times before he falls on his ass.

“Touch her again, and you’ll lose that hand,” he warns. He walks to him, grabs his lapels again, stands him up, and points to the suitcase.

“This is my house,” he insists.

“Oliver, have you had a break from reality?” I ask. “You lost the house. I bought it. It belongs to me. You have nothing to do with it. Are you nuts? Why didn’t you take care of this place when you had it? What did you think would happen once it got foreclosed?” Whatever issues he’s had, he’s never been delusional. “Go back to your mother’s.”

“That bitch put me out,” he says. I’d feel bad for him if he didn’t treat me like garbage all those years ago. I know firsthand how hurt he’s been over the years by his mother’s treatment of him, but he turned around and treated me the same way. “All you bitches are the same. My mother. You. As soon as things got rough with Shay, she left me.”

“You mean as soon as she and her kids were facing possible homelessness, Oliver? Because you mismanaged a house that was handed to you free and clear? Now you want to blame everyone else for your circumstances?”

“Free and clear? I had to pay taxes. The house was a piece of shit that needed constant repairs.”

My mom and stepfather had a list of vendors to fix whatever my stepdad could not do himself. The house still functioned, and they were never without tenants. It went into disrepair within a few years of Oliver getting the house, and everyone moved out, including the third-floor tenant who had lived there for over a decade.

“If it was so bad, why do you want to come back?” Colin asks.

“Because it’s fixed now,” he says as if it’s the most obvious answer in the world. “I’ll take care of it in exchange for rent.”

Colin chuckles, but I don’t find this funny. “Oliver, get the hell out of my face and off my property. You have five seconds.”

He grabs the handle of his suitcase, and I wait to see what he does next. I’m not a fighter or a violent person, but if I had on a stiletto right now, I’d take it off and shove the heel in his eye.

I think he’s weighing his options, but he must know he’s outnumbered. Colin is about four inches taller and is in better physical shape. Oliver looks frail lately.

“But I don’t have anywhere to go,” he all but whines.

“Neither did I when you kicked me out of my mother’s home,” I remind him. “Only I was younger than you and still in college. You’re a fully functional adult, Oliver. Find a job and figure it out.” I gesture for him to leave.

“So, this is about revenge.”

“I’m done with this conversation. Think what you want, but think about it elsewhere.” I pull out my phone again, but Colin snatches the suitcase from him and pushes it down the sidewalk. Oliver runs after it.

We stand there and watch until he reaches it. He looks at us, and I stand there with my arms crossed. He finally pulls the suitcase down the street. I watch until he turns the corner, and I can no longer see him.

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