- 55 minutes ago
The Bill That Broke Us
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Short filmTranscript
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 15 000 i'm cooked
00:21i drove straight to the se customer service center in rosemead and asked them to pull a usage report
00:26the woman behind the counter looked at the printout and shook her head ma'am your bill is system
00:32generated all usage data comes directly from the smart meter assigned to your unit there's no error
00:38to figure out what was going on i unplugged every single appliance in the place everything
00:43disconnected i even started charging my phone at the office in culver city the second month's bill
00:49came in 15 000 i'm a junior product manager at a tech startup barely clearing six figures a year
00:5515 000 a month in electricity is more than most people's mortgage se sent an overdue notice first
01:02then a collections warning then they reported it straight to the credit bureaus my score cratered
01:08overnight 780 down to 520 with a lawsuit breathing down my neck mom and dad borrowed money to bail me
01:16out they went to a small storefront lender on vermont avenue i found out later it was a predatory lender
01:21charging over 400 apr i tried to sell the condo but the electric bill situation had already spread
01:28through the building listed on zillow for two months not a single showing what realtor would touch a unit
01:33with a 15 monthly electric bill and no explanation especially in a market as cold as la's the bills
01:41kept stacking i pulled every breaker in my panel refused to use a single what sat in the dark eating
01:47cold food went downstairs to the 24 hour fitness to shower third month's bill arrived 15 000
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 me
02:20to death i open my eyes i'm standing in the lobby of the condo building sunlight pours through the glass
02:27doors this is moving day after graduating from ucla i spent three months searching zillow studio apartments
02:34at 2200 a month one bedrooms at 2800 buying was out of the question so when mom and dad said
02:41they wanted to
02:41buy me a condo outright i thought it was the only shot i'd ever have at owning a home how
02:46could i
02:46possibly say no and now here i am again dad dangles a set of keys in front of my face
02:51emily what are you
02:52spacing out for don't tell me you're so touched you short-circuited well come on let's go upstairs
02:57your room's all ready for you the memories of my death slam into me all at once
03:11dad jason just got married last month you guys already helped him buy a house in rancho cacahama
03:16and now a condo for me the very next month that's way too much money maybe we should return it
03:24sweetheart you think this is costco you can't return a condo emily whatever your brother gets
03:29you 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
03:47like fresh paint and new furniture mom and dad clearly spend serious money they said if they were going to
03:53do 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
04:24sce'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 own
04:42unit inch by inch every outlet every wire nothing wrong i even pulled every single breaker in my panel
04:48and the smart meter kept spinning but if someone tapped into my electrical system from outside my unit
04:53everything would make perfect sense i get on yelp and find the highest rated licensed electrical
04:58inspection company in all of los angeles mike shows up takes one look at the building and his
05:03expression darkens mrs rivera auditing the electrical system of an entire building is no small job
05:08i'll need access to every single unit which means you need written authorization from the heo board
05:13first and the cost a full building audit runs eight to ten thousand dollars minimum you sure you want
05:19to do this i check my banking app balance 487 dollars and 32 cents i clench my jaw open capital
05:28one
05:29and max out my credit card then i download a firm and finance the rest through buy now pay 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 and 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 panel 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 running a
06:14grow house anything as long as it explains this mrs rivera nobody's stealing your power every unit in this building
06:24is clean
06:25all the usage is coming from your unit i'm sorry i honestly can't explain it
06:32my eyes go wide that's impossible last time i stripped the place bare not a single appliance left
06:38not even a usb charger there was nothing left to draw power this time around i haven't gone that far
06:44but all i've got running is a fridge a washer dryer combo and a few led lights that's 30 to
06:5040 kilowatt
06:50hours a month tops there's no universe where it hits 237 in a single hour ms rivera i've been doing
06:56this for 20 years never seen anything like it i'd recommend you contact se and have them send a field
07:03engineer to check your smart meter he signs the invoice on his ipad and walks out without looking
07:08back i sink to the floor last time i called everyone i could think of se customer service at least
07:1520 calls
07:16the la department of building and safety came out twice when i had nowhere left to turn i called the
07:22state attorney general's consumer complaint hotline every single person told me the same thing we don't
07:27see any irregularity in your account ma'am nothing nobody found anything
07:37jason stands in the hallway the second i open the door his eyes sweep the freshly renovated interior
07:42every detail registers as resentment and rage emily congrats you finally won one i've still got 28
07:49years left on my mortgage four grand a month just in principle and interest but mom and dad they drop
07:55cash on a condo for you no loan no payments just here you go must feel pretty damn good huh
08:00i don't feel
08:01good i feel like crying growing up mom and dad always said we don't play favorites but jason got sylvan
08:07learning center i taught myself at the public library the college fund only had his name on it
08:13even the laundromat succession plan was quietly decided at the dinner table all his me i walked
08:19into the financial aid office alone to figure out my student loans the one time they actually give me
08:24something better than my brother and it turns out to be this jason kicks the door from the outside
08:31curses his way down the hall i stare at my phone the numbers on the sc app are still climbing
08:36fast
08:37anger injustice hurt confusion every emotion hits at once i dig through the coat closet by the door
08:46and pull out the sledgehammer i borrowed on moving day
08:51i swing like i've lost my mind the quartz countertop the hardwood floor the ikea packs wardrobe the casper
08:58mattress and its frame mike says it's my power fine i'll smash everything to pieces i'll find
09:04whatever's pulling electricity if it kills me shrapnel bites into my skin sharp searing pain i don't feel
09:11it i just keep swinging when there's nothing left to break i pull out my phone with trembling hands
09:17the sc app reads 2500 kilowatt hours how is this possible everything reduced to rubble but the number
09:26keeps climbing i refuse to accept this i post an emergency ad on craigslist 500 cash for someone
09:33to tear out the walls two hours later three-day laborers show up two mexican guys and a young
09:38guatemalan picked up straight from the home depot parking lot they brought their own tools nothing
09:44left in the apartment electricity still surging maybe the answer is inside the walls they work the entire
09:50day kitchen bedroom bathroom every partition wall demolished the unit is gutted nothing remains but
09:58bare wooden stud frames and four load-bearing walls shredded drywall hangs in strips i stand in the
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
10:27nothing left in here how the hell is it still pulling juice the guatemalan kid crosses himself
10:32barely above a whisper maybe this place is cursed he doesn't finish the sentence the other two are
10:41already packing up their tools no invoice they don't even collect the full five hundred dollars
10:45all three file out single file the last one through the door makes the sign of the cross on the
10:50door
10:50frame i stare at the hollow shell of the condo bare studs dangling wires debris everywhere nothing but
10:56despair i grew up in america i studied engineering at ucla i have never believed in the supernatural but
11:02right now i can't think of another explanation what am i supposed to do am i going to drown in
11:08six
11:08figures of dead all over again the ring doorbell this time it's mom and dad they're standing at
11:14the door holding two whole foods bags all smiles inside my favorite avocados and a box of portos guava
11:22cheese pastries emily it's been crazy at the shop a new employee ruined a customer's armani suit in the
11:27wash cost us two grand we just now got a chance to come see you so how's the new place
11:33feeling
11:33settled in they peer past me into the unit the smiles freeze on their faces dad pushes through
11:38the door he takes in the rubble the exposed stud frames and goes rigid we paid for turn kick how
11:45did
11:46it end up like this it looks worse than a fixer-upper i pull out my phone open the sc
11:50app and hand it to
11:51them the color drains from both their faces that goddamn realer i knew we shouldn't have trusted him
11:58emily don't worry dad's gonna handle this i'll report him to the bbb myself mom doesn't say a
12:05word she quietly pulls a roll of bounty and some hefty trash bags out of the grocery bag kneels down
12:10and starts picking up debris watching her small frame bent over that wreckage i can't hold it
12:15together anymore last time i dragged them down with me pushed them straight into the arms of a
12:20predatory lender to cover my debts i will not let that happen again i pick through the bedroom rubble
12:28until i find a pen and a blank sheet of printer paper i start writing my last will and testament
12:33if i can't figure out the cause the condo goes to the la county public administrator after i die
12:38donated to habitat for humanity that way no matter how high the bills climb none of it touches mom and
12:44dad i'm halfway through when something catches my eye under the remains of the desk a length of romex
12:49wire yellow sheathing 12 gauge this wire has no business being here the condo circuits all run
12:55from the breaker panel through the ceiling and down into the walls there is no legitimate wiring path
12:59under a desk my heart slams against my ribs could this be it the source of everything no matter how
13:05hard i tug i can't reach the end emily what are you doing i spin around her eyes are locked
13:09on the
13:10yellow wire in my hand that warm whole foods bag carrying mother expression is gone replaced by
13:15something cold something i've never seen on her face before a 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 try to circle around her back toward the wire
13:39she's faster she plants herself between me and the rubble both hands clamping around my wrists like
13:44a pair of vice grips her strength is terrifying way more than a woman her size should have the look
13:49on her face the way she's blocking me the panic inside me swells why does she keep stopping me from
13:54checking that wire what is she hiding the memories of my death crash through me again concrete floor
14:00blood in my mouth the wet crack of bone under someone's heel something in me snaps i wrench free of
14:05her grip grab the yellow romex wire and yank with everything i have the next second my pupils shrink
14:11to pinpoints the wire doesn't connect to any appliance at the end of it dangles a small string
14:18of fairy lights and behind the fairy lights a tiny tiffany blue box the letter e i check the wire
14:23check
14:24the area around the desk check everything again twice three times nothing
14:32Emily it's a housewarming gift from me and your dad last time we were at south coast plaza i saw
14:38you standing outside the tiffany window for the longest time so we went back and bought it guilt
14:41hits me like a punch to the sternum i apologize immediately i'm sorry mom then i just sit there
14:46on the bare floor of an empty gutted apartment too exhausted to move the sky outside darkens netflix
14:52audio bleeds through from upstairs bad bunny thumps from the unit next door down by the pool neighbors
14:57laugh at a barbecue bottles clinking someone's speaker playing reggaeton every unit in this
15:02building hums with normal life mine is a black hole that somehow costs fifteen thousand dollars a
15:07month to power why the front door rattles dad's back his eyes are bloodshot that realtor said everything
15:16passed the 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 door
15:37and down the stairs there's one option left one i've been holding back because the risk is insane it
15:44could affect every person in this building that's why i haven't done it but i'm out of choices i stop
15:49in
15:50front of the electrical room on the ground floor a gray metal door a bright yellow sign high voltage
15:54danger high voltage authorized personnel only behind this door is the building's main breaker i refuse
16:00to believe my condo will still draw power with the entire building shut off the sledgehammer punches
16:05through the metal door leaving a gaping hole grab the main breaker handle and throw it down the building
16:11screams every floor goes dark at once open the sc app the blood rushes to my head so fast my
16:17vision
16:17blurs the number is still climbing i stumble into the corridor in disbelief the elevator is dead
16:25emergency lights cast a dim yellow glow first floor residents spill out of their units calling to each
16:31other asking what happened every sign confirms it the building's power is completely cut but my phone
16:37says clear as day my unit is still consuming electricity aggressively how is this possible i grip the
16:44stairwell railing and drag myself upward already planning to go back grab my things and turn
16:48myself into lapd the corridor is too dark i step out on the wrong floor i knock on what i
16:54think is my
16:54door for a solid minute before i realize this is one level below my unit i shake my head start
16:59to climb
17:00the next flight but the beam of my phone's flashlight sweeps across the far end of the hallway i freeze
17:05and then in a single crystalline instant everything makes sense there's no maldito no curse no supernatural
17:11force inside my condo the truth behind the impossible electric bills has been staring at me from an
17:16angle i never once considered from where i'm standing one floor below my own on a level i was never
17:23meant to visit at this hour in this darkness the answer is laughably simple i stand in the pitch black
17:29corridor and laugh the mystery i died trying to solve in my last life it's this simple a door at
17:35the
17:35far end of the hall cracks open emergency light spills around a silhouette mrs patterson hoa president
17:42mid-60s her dyed blonde hair is sleep must she's wearing a bathrobe holding up her iphone as a
17:48flashlight excuse me who's out there she squints at me the whole building just lost power and you're
17:58standing in the hallway laughing go back to your unit i ignore her i keep laughing until my ribs ache
18:05until the tears come then i straighten up wipe my face and look her dead in the eye mrs patterson
18:10it was
18:11me i pulled the main breaker are you out of your mind tampering with electrical infrastructure is a
18:19federal offense everybody come out here i found the one who killed the power
18:26doors fly open up and down the hallway neighbors pour out phone flashlights slashing through the
18:31dark wait is isn't she the one with the insane electric bill the one who made mike go door to
18:36door
18:36she's the one who blacked out the building the corridor this is insane you tank the whole building
18:43over your bill my nest thermostat reset all my schedules are gone i'm calling 9-1-1 and then i'm
18:50calling my lawyer you're getting sued into the ground the lakers guy is actually dialing when the
18:55stairwell door bangs open mom and dad scramble up out of breath and put themselves between me and the
19:00crowd mom keeps repeating the same thing we're so sorry we'll pay for any damages please don't call the
19:07police watching them bend and bow and beg before this would have gutted me shame and heartbreak in equal
19:14measure now all i feel is cold i push them aside mom 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
19:38have no idea mom reaches for my hand her voice drops to a soothing coup emily honey you haven't
19:45slept in days sleep deprivation makes people paranoid
19:51someone already went downstairs to reset the breaker power should be back any minute just say
19:57sorry to the neighbors that's all okay sweetie before i can respond the neighbors jump in a middle-aged
20:03white guy pushes to the front your daughter blacks out the whole building and a sorry is supposed to
20:08cover it my mother is on insulin you know how dangerous it is when the fridge goes down i was
20:14in
20:15the middle of remote work my computer crashed unsaved files gone i'm documenting everything for
20:22the lawsuit mom and dad bend lower jason appears from the stairwell out of nowhere he grabs my shoulder
20:28shoves me backward my spine connects with the exposed stud frame pain wipes out my vision for a second
20:37emily mom and dad drained their life savings to buy you this condom and this is how you repay them
20:4340 plus units in this building damage claims alone could run tens of thousands happy now is this what
20:49you wanted i brace against the wall touch the sore spot on my back and smile this isn't the outcome
20:55i
20:56you wanted but it should be the one you wanted
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