The Bill That Broke Us - FULL | Reelshort
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00:02mom and dad emptied their savings every dollar from the last 20 years to buy me a condo in los
00:08angeles they did it over my brother jason's objections i moved in with my heart full
00:13one month later the se app pinged with a new bill notification the amount due fifteen thousand
00:20dollars i'm cooked i drove straight to the se customer service center in rosemead and asked
00:25them to pull usage report the woman behind the counter looked at the printout and shook her
00:29head ma'am your bill is system generated all usage data comes directly from the smart meter assigned
00:36to your unit there's no error to figure out what was going on i unplugged every single appliance in
00:42the place everything disconnected i even started charging my phone at the office in culver city
00:47the second month's bill came in fifteen thousand dollars i'm a junior product manager at a tech
00:53startup barely clearing six figures a year fifteen thousand dollars a month in electricity is more
00:58than most people's mortgage se sent an overdue notice first then a collections warning then
01:04they reported it straight to the credit bureaus my score cratered overnight 780 down to 520
01:12with a lawsuit breathing down my neck mom and dad borrowed money to bail me out they went to a
01:17small
01:17storefront lender on vermont avenue i found out later it was a predatory lender charging over 400 apr i tried
01:24to sell the condo but the electric bill situation had already spread through the building listed on
01:29zillow for two months not a single showing what realtor would touch a unit with a fifteen dollars
01:35monthly electric bill and no explanation especially in a market as cold as la's the bills kept stacking
01:42i pulled every breaker in my panel refused to use a single what sat in the dark eating cold food
01:48went
01:49downstairs to the 24-hour fitness to shower third month's bill arrived fifteen thousand dollars
01:57emily you're nothing but an ungrateful leech using your electric bill as a scam to bleed mom and dad
02:03dry they spent their entire lives getting up before dawn to run that laundromat and this is how you repay
02:08them mom and dad gave up on me after that left me to fend for myself within months the collectors
02:15stopped calling they showed up in person in the parking structure of my own building they beat
02:20me to death i open my eyes i'm standing in the lobby of the condo building sunlight pours through
02:26the glass doors this is moving day after graduating from ucla i spent three months searching zillow studio
02:33apartments at 2200 a month one bedrooms at 2800 buying was out of the question so when mom and dad
02:40said
02:41they wanted to buy me a condo outright i thought it was the only shot i'd ever have at owning
02:45a home
02:45how could i possibly say no and now here i am again dad dangles a set of keys in front
02:50of my face
02:51emily what are you spacing out for don't tell me you're so touched you short-circuited
02:56well come on let's go upstairs your room's all ready for you
03:11dad jason just got married last month you guys already helped him buy a house in rancho
03:15cacahama and now a condo for me the very next month that's way too much money maybe we should
03:22return it sweetheart you think this is costco you can't return a condo emily whatever your
03:28brother gets you get too we don't play favorites that's our bottom line non-negotiable
03:36your dad and i need to get back to the shop to close out the books go on up and
03:40see your new home
03:41with a weight sitting heavy on my chest i push open the door the condo is brand new the air
03:47smells like
03:47fresh paint and new furniture mom and dad clearly spent serious money they said if they were going to
03:52do it they do it right turnkey move in and enjoy i scan every inch of the unit even if
04:00you added
04:00everything together there's no way it hits fifteen thousand dollars a month i open my phone pull up
04:05the sce app the screen shows that since the account activated this unit has consumed 237 kilowatt hours
04:14237 kilowatt hours is what a normal american household uses in an entire month i've had the
04:19keys for one hour that's impossible what the hell is going on i tear through everything i can find
04:24sc's faq reddit's electrical forums every google result about abnormal electric bills then something
04:31catches my eye a news article man's electric bill triples overnight turns out his neighbor was stealing
04:36power through the walls it hits me like a freight train of course last time around i searched my
04:42own unit inch by inch every outlet every wire nothing wrong i even pulled every single breaker
04:48in my panel and the smart meter kept spinning but if someone tapped into my electrical system from
04:53outside my unit everything would make perfect sense i get on yelp and find the highest rated licensed
04:57electrical inspection company in all of los angeles mike shows up takes one look at the building
05:02and his expression darkens mrs rivera auditing the electrical system of an entire building
05:07is no small job i'll need access to every single unit which means you need written authorization from
05:12the heo board first and the cost a full building audit runs eight to ten thousand dollars minimum
05:18you sure you want to do this i check my banking app balance 487 and 32 cents i clench my
05:27jaw open
05:28capital one and max out my credit card then i download a firm and finance the rest through by now
05:33pay later
05:34after putting down the deposit i spend two solid days going door to door knocking explaining pleading
05:41practically begging every neighbor to let mike's team in then i track down the hoa president mrs patterson
05:48a woman in her 60s with hair dyed an aggressive blonde and sweet talk her into signing the authorization
05:53letter mike's team begins the full building audit my heart is in my throat unit by unit floor by floor
06:00panel by panel when mike finishes the last unit on the top floor i'm waiting for him in the hallway
06:06eyes wide desperate for an answer any answer a mislaid wire an illegal splice a neighbor secretly
06:14running a grow house anything as long as it explains this mrs rivera nobody's stealing your power
06:22every unit in this building is clean all the usage is coming from your unit i'm sorry i honestly can't
06:29explain it my eyes go wide that's impossible last time i stripped the place bare not a single
06:37appliance left not even a usb charger there was nothing left to draw power this time around i haven't
06:43gone that far but all i've got running is a fridge a washer dryer combo and a few led lights
06:49that's 30
06:49to 40 kilowatt hours a month tops there's no universe where it hits 237 in a single hour
06:55ms rivera i've been doing this for 20 years never seen anything like it i'd recommend you contact se
07:02and have them send a field engineer to check your smart meter he signs the invoice on his ipad and
07:07walks out without looking back i sink to the floor last time i called everyone i could think of se
07:14customer service at least 20 calls the la department of building and safety came out twice when i had
07:20nowhere left to turn i called the state attorney general's consumer complaint hotline every single
07:25person told me the same thing we don't see any irregularity in your account ma'am nothing nobody found
07:31anything jason stands in the hallway the second i open the door his eyes sweep the freshly renovated
07:42interior every detail registers as resentment and rage emily congrats you finally won one i've still
07:48got 28 years left on my mortgage four grand a month just in principle and interest but mom and dad
07:54they drop cash on a condo for you no loan no payments just here you go must feel pretty damn
07:59good
07:59huh i don't feel good i feel like crying growing up mom and dad always said we don't play favorites
08:06but jason got sylvan learning center i taught myself at the public library the college fund
08:11only had his name on it even the laundromat succession plan was quietly decided at the dinner table
08:16all his me i walked into the financial aid office alone to figure out my student loans
08:22the one time they actually give me something better than my brother and it turns out to be this
08:29jason kicks the door from the outside curses his way down the hall i stare at my phone
08:34the numbers on the se app are still climbing fast anger injustice hurt confusion every emotion hits
08:43at once i dig through the coat closet by the door and pull out the sledgehammer i borrowed on moving
08:48day
08:50i swing like i've lost my mind the quartz countertop the hardwood floor the ikea pax wardrobe the casper
08:58mattress and its frame mike says it's my power fine i'll smash everything to pieces i'll find whatever's
09:05pulling electricity if it kills me shrapnel bites into my skin sharp searing pain i don't feel it i just
09:12keep swinging when there's nothing left to break i pull out my phone with trembling hands the se app
09:18reads 2500 kilowatt hours how is this possible everything reduced to rubble but the number keeps
09:26climbing i refuse to accept this i post an emergency ad on craigslist 500 cash for someone to tear out
09:33the
09:33walls two hours later three-day laborers show up two mexican guys and a young guatemalan picked up
09:40straight from the home depot parking lot they brought their own tools nothing left in the
09:44apartment electricity still surging maybe the answer is inside the walls they work the entire day
09:51kitchen bedroom bathroom every partition wall demolished the unit is gutted nothing remains
09:58but bare wooden stud frames and four load-bearing walls shredded drywall hangs in strips i stand in
10:04wreckage hands shaking and open my phone this time it has to stop the sc app number is still climbing
10:11ice floods my veins from the base of my spine to the top of my skull
10:17this time it isn't just me all three-day laborers are staring at the screen passing my phone between
10:22them one of the mexican guys mutters in spanish then switches to english lady there's literally nothing
10:27left in here how the hell is it still pulling juice the guatemalan kid crosses himself barely above a
10:32whisper maybe this place is cursed he doesn't finish the sentence the other two are already packing up
10:42their tools no invoice they don't even collect the full 500 all three file out single file the last
10:48one through the door makes the sign of the cross on the doorframe i stare at the hollow shell of
10:52the
10:52condo bare studs dangling wires debris everywhere nothing but despair i grew up in america i studied
10:59engineering at ucla i have never believed in the supernatural but right now i can't think of
11:04another explanation what am i supposed to do am i going to drown in six figures of dead all over
11:09again
11:10the ring doorbell this time it's mom and dad they're standing at the door holding two whole foods
11:15bags all smiles inside my favorite avocados and a box of porto's guava cheese pastries emily it's been
11:24crazy at the shop a new employee ruined a customer's armani suit in the wash cost us two grand we
11:29just
11:29now got a chance to come see you so how's the new place feeling settled in they peer past me
11:35into the
11:35unit the smiles freeze on their faces dad pushes through the door he takes in the rubble the exposed
11:40stud frames and goes rigid we paid for turn kick how did it end up like this it looks worse
11:47than a
11:48fixer-upper i pull out my phone open the se app and hand it to them the color drains from
11:52both their
11:53faces that goddamn realer i knew we shouldn't have trusted him emily don't worry dad's gonna handle
12:01this i'll report him to the bbb myself mom doesn't say a word she quietly pulls a roll of bounty
12:07and some
12:07hefty trash bags out of the grocery bag kneels down and starts picking up debris watching her small
12:12frame bent over that wreckage i can't hold it together anymore last time i dragged them down
12:18with me pushed them straight into the arms of a predatory lender to cover my debts i will not let
12:23that happen again i pick through the bedroom rubble until i find a pen and a blank sheet of printer
12:30paper
12:30i start writing my last will and testament if i can't figure out the cause the condo goes to the
12:35la
12:36county public administrator after i die donated to habitat for humanity that way no matter how high
12:42the bills climb none of it touches mom and dad i'm halfway through when something catches my eye under
12:47the remains of the desk a length of romex wire yellow sheathing 12 gauge this wire has no business being
12:53here the condo circuits all run from the breaker panel through the ceiling and down into the walls
12:57there is no legitimate wiring path under a desk my heart slams against my ribs could this be it the
13:03source of everything no matter how hard i tug i can't reach the end emily what are you doing
13:08i spin around her eyes are locked on the yellow wire in my hand that warm whole foods bag carrying
13:13mother
13:13expression is gone replaced by something cold something i've never seen on her face before
13:18a knot tightens in my gut a terrible thought
13:23just tidying up the bedroom mom didn't want you doing all the cleanup by yourself
13:33you need rest emily you've been running yourself ratty i tried to circle around her back toward the
13:39wire she's faster she plants herself between me and the rubble both hands clamping around my wrists
13:44like a pair of vice grips her strength is terrifying way more than a woman her size should have the
13:49look
13:49on her face the way she's blocking me the panic inside me swells why does she keep stopping me
13:54from checking that wire what is she hiding the memories of my death crash through me again
13:58concrete floor blood in my mouth the wet crack of bone under someone's heel something in me snaps
14:04i wrench free of her grip grab the yellow romex wire and yank with everything i have the next second
14:10my pupils shrink to pinpoints the wire doesn't connect to any appliance at the end of it dangles a
14:17small string of fairy lights and behind the fairy lights a tiny tiffany blue box the letter e
14:22i check the wire check the area around the desk check everything again twice three times nothing
14:33it's a housewarming gift from me and your dad last time we were at south coast plaza i saw you
14:38standing outside the tiffany window for the longest time so we went back and bought it guilt hits me like
14:41a punch to the sternum i apologize immediately i am sorry mom then i just sit there on the bare
14:46floor
14:46of an empty gutted apartment too exhausted to move the sky outside darkens netflix audio bleeds through
14:53from upstairs bad bunny thumps from the unit next door down by the pool neighbors laugh at a barbecue
14:58bottles clinking someone's speaker playing reggaeton every unit in this building hums with normal life
15:04mine is a black hole that somehow costs fifteen thousand dollars a month to power
15:08why the front door rattles dad's back his eyes are bloodshot that realtor said everything passed
15:16the home inspection during escrowage and it's not his problem anymore when i threatened to sue
15:21he told me to talk to his lawyer i'm sorry emily your dad's useless dad who has never bent his
15:27back
15:27for anyone looks like he wants to fold himself into the floor whatever happened with that realtor
15:32wasn't just words every emotion tears through me at once i can't take it anymore i bolt out the
15:37door and down the stairs there's one option left one i've been holding back because the risk is
15:43insane it could affect every person in this building that's why i haven't done it but i'm
15:48out of choices i stop in front of the electrical room on the ground floor a gray metal door a
15:53bright
15:53yellow sign high voltage danger high voltage authorized personnel only behind this door is
15:58the building's main breaker i refuse to believe my condo will still draw power with the entire building
16:03shut off the sledgehammer punches through the metal door leaving a gaping hole i sweep dirty grab the
16:09main breaker handle and throw it down the building screams every floor goes dark at once open the sc
16:14app the blood rushes to my head so fast my vision blurs the number is still climbing
16:21i stumble into the corridor in disbelief the elevator is dead emergency lights cast a dim yellow glow
16:27first floor residents spill out of their units calling to each other asking what happened every
16:33sign confirms it the building's power is completely cut but my phone says clear as day my unit is still
16:39consuming electricity aggressively how is this possible i grip the stairwell railing and drag myself
16:45upward already planning to go back grab my things and turn myself into lapd the corridor is too dark i
16:51step
16:52out on the wrong floor i knock on what i think is my door for a solid minute before i
16:55realize this is one
16:57level below my unit i shake my head start to climb the next flight but the beam of my phone's
17:02flashlight
17:02sweeps across the far end of the hallway i freeze and then in a single crystalline instant everything
17:08makes sense there's no maldito no curse no supernatural force inside my condo the truth behind the impossible
17:14electric bills has been staring at me from an angle i never once considered
17:20from where i'm standing one floor below my own on a level i was never meant to visit at this
17:24hour
17:25in this darkness the answer is laughably simple i stand in the pitch black corridor and laugh
17:30the mystery i died trying to solve in my last life it's this simple a door at the far end
17:35of the hall
17:35cracks open emergency light spills around a silhouette mrs patterson hoa president mid-60s
17:43her dyed blonde hair is sleep must she's wearing a bathrobe holding up her iphone as a flashlight
17:49excuse me who's out there she squints at me the whole building just lost power and you're standing
17:59in the hallway laughing go back to your unit i ignore her i keep laughing until my ribs ache until
18:05the tears
18:05come then i straighten up wipe my face and look her dead in the eye mrs patterson it was me
18:11i pulled the
18:11main breaker are you out of your mind tampering with electrical infrastructure is a federal
18:19offense everybody come out here i found the one who killed the power doors fly open up and down the
18:28hallway neighbors pour out phone flashlights slashing through the dark wait is isn't she the one with the
18:34insane electric bill the one who made mike go door to door she's the one who blacked out the building
18:38the corridor this is insane you tanked the whole building over your bill my nest termist it reset all
18:46my schedules are gone i'm calling 9-1-1 and then i'm calling my lawyer you're getting sued into the
18:52ground the lakers guy is actually dialing when the stairwell door bangs open mom and dad scramble up
18:57out of breath and put themselves between me and the crowd mom keeps repeating the same thing we're so
19:04sorry we'll pay for any damages please don't call the police watching them bend and bow and beg before
19:11this would have gutted me shame and heartbreak in equal measure now all i feel is cold i push them
19:16aside
19:18mom dad stop
19:23yeah i cut the power
19:27but you know exactly why or do i need to spell it out in front of everyone they freeze mid
19:32apology
19:33dad scratches the back of his head bewildered emily what are you talking about we honestly have no
19:38idea mom reaches for my hand her voice drops to a soothing coo emily honey you haven't slept in days
19:46sleep deprivation makes people paranoid
19:51someone already went downstairs to reset the breaker power should be back any minute just say sorry to the
19:57neighbors that's all okay sweetie before i can respond the neighbors jump in a middle-aged white
20:03guy pushes to the front your daughter blacks out the whole building and a sorry is supposed to cover it
20:09my mother is on insulin you know how dangerous it is when the fridge goes down
20:14i was in the middle of remote work my computer crashed unsaved files gone
20:19i'm documenting everything for the lawsuit mom and dad bend lower jason appears from the stairwell out
20:26of nowhere he grabs my shoulder shoves me backward my spine connects with the exposed stud frame
20:32pain wipes out my vision for a second emily mom and dad drain their life savings to buy you this
20:40condom
20:41and this is how you repay them 40 plus units in this building damage claims alone could run tens of
20:47thousands happy now is this what you wanted i brace against the wall touch the sore spot on my back
20:53and smile this isn't the outcome i wanted but it should be the one you wanted
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