Chapter 6 - THE BIRTHDAY PLAN
Louis planned the seventieth birthday party without asking Ernest.
He invited relatives Ernest had not seen in years.
Neighbors.
Former coworkers.
People Louis wanted to impress.
He ordered a blue-and-white cake using Ernest’s card.
Bought expensive liquor.
Rented extra chairs.
Carla created a private group message called “The Old Man Roast.”
Ernest discovered it when a message preview appeared on the family tablet.
The group contained jokes about his clothes.
His weight.
His grief.
His habit of speaking to Margaret’s photograph.
Louis promised a surprise no one would forget.
Carla replied with a photograph of the cracked dog bowl.
Ernest looked at the messages for several minutes.
Then he photographed every screen.
He did not cancel the party.
May you like
He did not confront them.
Instead, he called his bank.
