Chapter 12 - Derek’s Seattle Past Catches UpWhile Eleanor was scrambling to protect the family home, Derek’s carefully constructed illusion of being a successful businessman undergoing a temporary setback fell completely apart.
On Wednesday morning, a process server from the State of Washington arrived at the front door of the Oak Ridge house—not for me, and not for my mother, but for Derek.
His former commercial landlord in Seattle had secured a foreign judgment for $84,000 in unpaid rent and lease default damages, successfully registering the claim in Tennessee to freeze any local banking assets attached to his name. Furthermore, his ex-wife’s legal counsel had filed an emergency petition to halt his unsupervised visitation rights, citing financial instability and his failure to secure permanent, independent housing for the boys.
The neighborhood gossip mill, fueled by the delivery of multiple certified court letters, was in full swing.
I learned the details through an unexpected visit from Uncle Richard—my father’s younger brother—who stopped by my new apartment with a box of pastries and a look of deep concern.
"Your brother didn't just come home to reset, Naomi," Richard said, shaking his head as he sat at my kitchen counter. "He came home to hide. He thought if he could get Eleanor to put his name on the house deed, he could use the equity to pay off his Seattle creditors before they found him here."
"And Mom was going to let him?" I asked, setting down two mugs of coffee.
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"Eleanor was practically begging him to take over," Richard sighed. "She’s always viewed Derek as her proudest achievement and you as her reliable safety net. She never expected the safety net to pull back and let them both fall."
He looked around my bright, immaculate apartment, nodding slowly. "You did the right thing, kiddo. If you had stayed, they would have drained you dry until you had nothing left either."
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