No More: Cutting Ties With My Golden-Boy Brother

04

The only reason Cary pulled this off was because I worked at the grain depot. A table at the state-run restaurant wasn't easy to book, so he used my name to lock down the banquet and puff himself up.

And on top of that, he wanted me to foot the bill for the whole thing. I doubt this was Cary's idea alone. This was something they'd all cooked up together.

Since starting work, I'd lived in the staff dorm and rarely went home.

Living on my own suited me just fine. Back at the dorm, I washed up and turned in, and whatever was happening over at the restaurant had nothing to do with me anymore.

After I left, they went right on entertaining their guests. When I filed the report, I made a point of telling the officers at the police station to get over there fast, or the people involved might slip away. Better to head out right now.

I was, after all, an official state employee. Using my name to impersonate someone was grounds for real disciplinary action.

Sure enough, the police moved quickly and headed straight for the restaurant.

My parents were basking in the flattery of friends and relatives. Not many families could put a son's wedding banquet inside a state-run restaurant, and Walter's face was glowing with pride.

Sheila was grinning so wide she couldn't close her mouth, and Cary was so full of himself he'd completely forgotten who he was.

The restaurant had actually been worried the banquet money would vanish, but my cousin's husband kept vouching hard for it, so they were only half convinced.

Just as the banquet hit a fresh peak of noise and cheer, two officers from the police station walked into the reception hall.

"Which one of you is Cary Summers?"

The drunken guests caught the wrong smell in the air and cut off their racket. Cary, ringed by his good-for-nothing buddies, was still drinking.

It took everyone a beat before someone pointed at Cary. "That's him."

My parents saw the situation turning bad and moved to stop it, but the officers weren't having any of it.

They walked straight up to Cary, showed their badges first, then announced in a flat official tone, "Cary Summers, you've been reported for using someone else's identity to obtain a large sum of money. You'll need to come with us for questioning."

Of course Cary wasn't going to go along with it. He swayed on his feet. "Who reported me? I'm getting married today. On a day this happy, who'd dare report me?"

My parents' faces went ugly, and so did the faces of the guests at the tables, especially Sylvia's side of the family. Some in the room were there for the show, and some were plainly worried.

My father rushed over to smooth things over, even fishing out cigarettes to curry favor, but the officers didn't bite.

"It was Ms. Darlene Summers who filed the report under her own name. She says he brought her ID here to book this banquet, and she knew nothing about it."

"There are also several employees of this restaurant involved. We'll be taking them in for questioning as well. Please come with us."

The moment my name came up, the whole room boiled over. They probably couldn't fathom how someone as obedient as me could have done such a thing.

When my parents heard it was me who'd reported him, their faces went green with rage. If I'd been standing in front of them, they'd probably have wanted to beat me to death.

My father hurried to explain. "This is all a misunderstanding. Darlene is my daughter, and Cary is her brother. We're all family. There's no impersonation here."

"Without the person's consent, it's impersonation. Please come with us."

The officers weren't buying it and stood firm on taking him in.

It was their son's wedding day. They'd fight to the death before they let anyone haul Cary off.

"Is there really no other way? My son's getting married today. If he's arrested now, where does that leave our faces?"

The officer was still fairly civil, and he laid out the road for them plainly. "The only way is for the person who filed the report to drop it."

My mother heard that and thought it was easy enough. She scrambled to reach me, calling my workplace over and over, but I'd arranged in advance for no one to take her calls.

She fainted right there from the fury. The banquet guests should have cleared out long ago, but not one of them left. They all stayed to watch the show.

By eight that night, just as I was getting ready to sleep, someone started pounding on my dorm door.