My husband’s family always expected me to pay for dinner; I finally gave them a lesson they will never forget.
For years, I paid for my husband’s family dinners because facing them seemed harder than paying the bill. Then I found out that Chris had embezzled money from a promise we had made. By the time his father’s birthday came, he could no longer bear to protect the comfort of others.
My husband’s sister kept laughing when the waiter put six separate beads on the table.
Serena opened hers first.
His smile disappeared.
“What is this?” she asked.
I took a sip of water calmly.
“Your dinner.”
On the other side of the table, my husband, Chris, paled.
Serena looked at the total again.
“You ordered two lobster tails, a steak, three cocktails, wine and dessert,” I said.
“But Natalie always pays for dinner.”
Everyone at the table was silent.
There she was.
This is not a misunderstanding. This is not a joke.
An expectation.
Chris leaned towards me.
“Please. Cover this tonight, Nat.”
I looked at it directly.
Three days earlier, he had withdrawn 850 dollars of our birthday savings to pay for another family dinner.
That’s when I stopped being his personal wallet.
Chris just hadn’t noticed yet.
—
When I married Chris, I knew I had a large family.
He had seven brothers, all married, numerous nephews and nieces, and countless birthdays.
At first, I liked it.
I grew up in a small, quiet house. Chris’ family filled all the noise rooms.
They interrupted each other, stole pieces of the dishes from each other and turned each meal into a celebration.
Then I began to realize what was always happening when the bill arrived.
Suddenly, someone checked his cell phone. Someone accompanied a child to the bathroom. Another person began to tell a long story.
The check always fell close to me.
