Chapter 13

I couldn't decide if I wanted to cry or scream. I couldn't believe that after all the years I'd lived in my apartment and all the things I'd done to help Mr. Peterson, the family would treat me like that. Texting Miguel had happened automatically. It occurred to me that he was one of only two people I could reach out to when I needed someone to talk to. I was surprised he was at Moonlight. Monday was supposed to be his day off. I wasn't going to question my good luck though. Maybe Mr. O'Neil could give me some advice.

When I pulled into the parking lot behind Moonlight, I texted Miguel.

Me

Where should I meet you?

Miguel

In Mr. O'Neil's office.

Me

Ok

I grabbed the letter from my passenger seat and headed inside. To my surprise, Liam, Caitlin, and Albert were there, in addition to Miguel and Mr. O'Neil. They'd brought in extra chairs from the dining room and were sitting around Mr. O'Neil's desk. Liam was currently talking to someone on his cell. I paused just inside the doorway. "Oh, did I interrupt a meeting?"

Mr. O'Neil waved me in. "No, we're all done with the meeting. They just wanted to be here to have your back."

My eyes stung and my throat constricted. "Wow. That's…thank you." I didn't trust myself to say anything else.

Miguel caught my attention and patted the empty chair next to him. "Have a seat. Liam is on the phone with Marco's brother. He's a big-time lawyer. He's going to help you."

I hadn't even sat completely when I started to stand. "I don't have money for a lawyer."

Liam looked up from his phone and said, "Sit down. This is family. Your money's no good here." Everyone in the room looked at him in surprise. I sat back down like I was told.

Mr. O'Neil stared at his brother open-mouthed. Liam frowned at him and whispered, "What?"

"I'm not sure whether you dating Marco is good or bad," Mr. O'Neil said.

Liam rolled his eyes and flipped his brother off, then returned his attention to his phone call. He said something to the person on the phone and then asked me, "Do you have the letter?"

I nodded mutely, still trying to process that a big-time lawyer was doing something for me for free. I handed Liam the letter. He opened it and took a picture of it. "I'm texting it to you now," he said.

Miguel leaned over and said quietly, "I think we've been adopted."

"You too?" I asked.

He nodded. "Mr. O'Neil heard about what Carlos did and asked me about it. When I said I was alone in my family, he told me Moonlight was all about found family."

"What's that mean?" I asked. "I've never heard of that before."

He looked thoughtful. "It's kind of a thing in the LGBTQIA+ community. A lot of folks on the rainbow spectrum have been thrown out by their families. They end up forming their own families out of people they meet on their journey."

"Oh. Okay." I wasn't sure I would fit into this found family they were talking about since I wasn't on the rainbow spectrum. I was just plain old me.

Miguel patted my hand. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

Before I could respond, Liam came over with his phone extended to me. "He wants to talk to you."

"Uh, okay," I said as I took the phone from him. "Hello?"

"Zach," the man on the other end said. "I'm Santino D'Angelo."

"Hey, Mr. D'Angelo. Thank you for helping me out with this."

He scoffed. "Eh. It's nothing. And call me Tino. You're a friend of Marco's, so we're practically family anyway."

I wasn't sure how much of a friend I was to Marco. I'd only met the guy a week ago. But I wasn't going to turn away help when it came to me. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

"So," Tino began, "the good news is, they can't make you leave with only a two weeks' notice. Are you up to date on your rent payments?"

"Yes," I replied. "I paid this month's rent a week early because I was going to be at National Guard training on the first."

"You're in the National Guard, and they're doing this? Assholes," Tino grumbled. "Anyway, they have to honor the lease you signed, and so does the new owner, unless there's a ‘termination due to sale' clause in the lease. If that's the case, the new owners don't have to honor the lease."

"Shit, I have no idea if that clause is in the lease, and I didn't think to bring it with me."

"Don't panic," Tino soothed. "Even if the clause is in there, they have to give you sixty days from the sale of the property to leave. As far as I can tell, they haven't sold it yet."

"You can tell that?" I asked.

"Sure. Property sales are a matter of public record. There's nothing in the records for that property yet."

A wave of relief washed over me. "That's good. At least I have time to find a place." What I didn't say was I wasn't sure I would be able to find anything as close to my job. I'd lived in my apartment for seven years, and the rent was really reasonable. Rent in the area had gone insanely high after the pandemic lockdown. All the New Yorkers decided to flee to New Jersey and buy or rent the properties down here. It was driving the average renter out of the area entirely.

"You do," Tino said. "I'm going to send a letter to the idiot who wrote this. It's a good thing another lawyer didn't write it because they'd be breaking the law."

"How did they think they could get away with this?" I asked.

"Because most people don't know their rights, and landlords take advantage of that," he replied.

"Well, thank you again for helping me out," I said.

"No problem. And if you see my brother before Easter Sunday, tell him to bring his boyfriend to dinner. My mother is expecting both of them."

I gazed wide-eyed at Liam, who looked at me like I'd lost my mind. "Uh, sure."

After we said our goodbyes, I handed the phone back to Liam. "What was that look you gave me?" he asked.

I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. "He said if I see Marco before Easter, I should tell him his mother is expecting both of you for Easter dinner."

Liam snorted a laugh. "Marco was vague about Easter when he was talking to his mother because we didn't know what my mother was doing." He glanced at Mr. O'Neil. "We worked out something that worked for my mom and her boyfriend's family. We just haven't told Marco's mother yet."

"Oh, okay." I was at a loss for what to do next. My lease wasn't up until the end of July, but I wasn't sure I wanted to stay there until then. This whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth. I looked around at the people in the room and felt so overwhelmed that they'd rallied around me when some of them barely even knew me.

Miguel put his hand on my arm. "How are you holding up? You look a little freaked out."

"I am freaked out. I honestly don't know what to feel," I said quietly. "I'm so pissed about the apartment shit. But I'm also in awe that people who hardly know me would pull together for me like this."

Apparently, I wasn't quiet enough. "We care about what happens to you," Mr. O'Neil said. He stood and added. "And since we've been talking about family, behind closed doors, please call me Sean." He glared at Caitlin. "That goes for you too."

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, sir." Everyone laughed.

This day just kept getting stranger and stranger.

"So, we're all set for now," Sean continued. "You have at least until the end of May to find a place. When is your lease up, anyway?"

"The end of July," I replied.

"Okay. You just let us know when you find a place, and we'll arrange a day to help you move."

Once again, I was left speechless. "Yeah. Sure." I managed.

As everyone rose to leave, Miguel pulled me aside and said, "Let's go grab us a drink and you some lunch at Reilly's, that Irish pub in Belmar." He looked over at Albert. "You want to join us?"

"I won't say no to some day drinking," he answered with a broad smile.

We said our goodbyes to Caitlin, Liam, and Sean—it was just weird to call him that—and headed out to the parking lot. We decided to take Albert's car because his was the biggest—and the cleanest. The drive to Belmar didn't take long, and soon, we were sitting at a table in the corner of a cozy pub with our beers, waiting for my lunch and their appetizers. Someone played piano in the back of the room while a few people sang along. It was nice.

Once we had settled and made a toast to free legal advice, Miguel leaned forward and said, "I have a possible solution to your apartment situation."

"What's that?" I asked.

"Move into my place."