The Bill That Broke Us - FULL | Reelshort
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00:03mom 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 sc app pinged with a new bill notification the amount due 15 000 i'm cooked
00:22i drove straight to the sc customer service center in rosemead and asked them to pull a usage report
00:27the woman behind the counter looked at the printout and shook her head ma'am your bill is system
00:33generated 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
00:55fifteen thousand dollars a month in electricity is more than most people's mortgage sc sent an
01:01overdue notice first then a collections warning then they reported it straight to the credit bureaus
01:06my 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
01:23i tried to sell the condo but the electric bill situation had already spread through the building
01:29listed on zillow for two months not a single showing what realtor would touch a unit with a 15
01:35monthly electric bill and no explanation especially in a market as cold as la's
01:40the bills kept stacking i pulled every breaker in my panel refused to use a single what sat in the
01:47dark
01:47eating cold food went downstairs to the 24 hour fitness to shower third month's bill arrived
01:53fifteen 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 me
02:21to 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
02:33apartments at 2200 a month one bedrooms at 2800 buying was out of the question so when mom and dad
02:41said
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 the memories of my death slam into me
03:01all 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
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 spend serious money they said if they were going to
03:53do it they do it right turn key move in and enjoy i scan every inch of the unit even
04:00if you added
04:00everything together there's no way it hits fifteen thousand dollars a month i open my phone pull up
04:05the sc 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
04:25sc'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
04:58electrical inspection 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 first
05:13and the cost a full building audit runs eight to ten thousand dollars minimum you sure you want to do
05:19this
05:21i check my banking app balance 487 dollars and 32 cents i clench my jaw open capital one and max
05:30out my
05:30credit card then i download a firm and finance the rest through by now pay later after putting down
05:35the deposit i spend two solid days going door to door knocking explaining pleading practically begging
05:43every neighbor to let mike's team in then i track down the hoa president mrs patterson a woman in her
05:4960s with hair dyed an aggressive blonde and sweet talk her into signing the authorization letter mike's team
05:54begins the full building audit my heart is in my throat unit by unit floor by floor panel by panel
06:02when mike finishes the last unit on the top floor i'm waiting for him in the hallway eyes wide desperate
06:08for an answer any answer a mislaid wire an illegal splice a neighbor secretly running a grow house anything
06:16as long as it explains this mrs rivera nobody's stealing your power every unit in this building
06:24is clean all 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
06:57this for 20 years never seen anything like it i'd recommend you contact se and have them send a
07:03field engineer to check your smart meter he signs the invoice on his ipad and walks out without looking
07:09back i sink to the floor last time i called everyone i could think of
07:13sc customer service at least 20 calls the la department of building and safety came out twice
07:19when i had nowhere left to turn i called the state attorney general's consumer complaint hotline
07:24every single person told me the same thing we don't see any irregularity in your account
07:29ma'am nothing nobody found anything
07:37jason stands in the hallway the second i open the door his eyes sweep the freshly renovated interior
07:43every 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
08:00feel 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 only
08:12had his name on it even the laundromat succession plan was quietly decided at the dinner table
08:17all his me i walked into the financial aid office alone to figure out my student loans the one time
08:23they 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 the numbers
08:35on
08:35the sc app are still climbing fast anger injustice hurt confusion every emotion hits at once i dig through
08:45the coat closet by the door and 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
08:58casper mattress and its frame mike says it's my power fine i'll smash everything to pieces i'll find
09:05whatever'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
09:26number keeps 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 guatemalan
09:39picked up straight 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 kitchen
09:52bedroom bathroom every partition wall demolished the unit is gutted nothing remains but bare wooden
09:59stud frames and four load-bearing walls shredded drywall hangs in strips i stand in the wreckage hands shaking
10:05and open my phone this time it has to stop the sc app number is still climbing ice floods my
10:13veins from
10:13the base of my spine to the top of my skull this time it isn't just me all three day
10:20laborers are
10:20staring at the screen passing my phone between them one of the mexican guys mutters in spanish then
10:25switches to english lady there's literally nothing left in here how the hell is it still pulling
10:30juice the guatemalan kid crosses himself barely above a whisper maybe this place is cursed he doesn't
10:39finish the sentence the other two are already packing up their tools no invoice they don't even
10:44collect the full 500 all three file out single file the last one through the door makes the sign of
10:49the
10:50cross on the door frame i stare at the hollow shell of the condo bare studs dangling wires debris
10:55everywhere nothing but despair i grew up in america i studied engineering at ucla i have never
11:01believed in the supernatural but right now i can't think of another explanation what am i supposed to
11:06do am i going to drown in six figures of dead all over again the ring doorbell this time it's
11:12mom and dad
11:13they're standing at the door holding two whole foods bags all smiles inside my favorite avocados
11:21and a box of porto's guava cheese pastries emily it's been crazy at the shop a new employee ruined
11:26a customer's armani suit in the wash cost us two grand we just now got a chance to come see
11:31you
11:31so how's the new place feeling settled in they peer past me into the unit the smiles freeze on their
11:37faces dad pushes through the door he takes in the rubble the exposed stud frames and goes rigid
11:43we paid for turn kick how did it end up like this it looks worse than a fixer-upper i
11:49pull out my
11:49phone open the se app and hand it to them the color drains from both their faces that goddamn realer
11:57i knew we shouldn't have trusted him emily don't worry dad's gonna handle this i'll report him to
12:03the bbb myself mom doesn't say a word she quietly pulls a roll of bounty and some hefty trash bags
12:08out
12:08of the grocery bag kneels down and starts picking up debris watching her small frame bent over that
12:13wreckage i can't hold it together anymore last time i dragged them down with me pushed them straight
12:19into the arms of a predatory lender to cover my debts i will not let that happen again
12:26i pick through the bedroom rubble until i find a pen and a blank sheet of printer paper
12:30i start writing my last will and testament if i can't figure out the cause the condo goes to the
12:36la county 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
12:53being here the condo circuits all run from the breaker panel through the ceiling and down into the
12:57walls there is no legitimate wiring path under a desk my heart slams against my ribs could this be
13:03it the source of everything no matter how hard i tug i can't reach the end emily what are you
13:07doing
13:08i spin around her eyes are locked on the yellow wire in my hand that warm whole foods bag carrying
13:13mother expression 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
13:24just 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
13:59concrete floor blood in my mouth the wet crack of bone under someone's heel something in me snaps
14:05i 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 small
14:18string 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
14:33melie it's a housewarming gift from me and your dad last time we were at south coast plaza i saw
14:38you
14:38standing outside the tiffany window for the longest time so we went back and bought it guilt hits me like
14:42a punch to the sternum i apologize immediately i'm sorry mom then i just sit there on the bare floor
14:47of 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 why
15:10the front door rattles dad's back his eyes are bloodshot that realtor said everything passed the
15:16home inspection during escrowage and it's not his problem anymore when i threatened to sue he told me
15:21to talk to his lawyer i'm sorry emily your dad's useless dad who has never bent his back for anyone
15:28looks like he wants to fold himself into the floor whatever happened with that realtor wasn't just words
15:33every emotion tears through me at once i can't take it anymore i bolt out the door and down the
15:38stairs there's one option left one i've been holding back because the risk is insane it could
15:44affect every person in this building that's why i haven't done it but i'm out of choices i stop in
15:50front of the electrical room on the ground floor a gray metal door a bright yellow sign high voltage
15:55danger high voltage authorized personnel only behind this door is the building's main breaker i refuse to
16:00believe my condo will still draw power with the entire building shut off the sledgehammer punches
16:05through the metal door leaving a gaping hole i sweep dirty grab the main breaker handle and throw it
16:10down the building screams every floor goes dark at once open the sc app the blood rushes to my head
16:16so fast my vision blurs the number is still climbing i stumble into the corridor in disbelief the elevator is
16:25dead emergency lights cast a dim yellow glow first floor residents spill out of their units calling to
16:31each other 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
16:44the stairwell railing and drag myself upward already planning to go back grab my things and turn myself into
16:49lapd the corridor is too dark i step out on the wrong floor i knock on what i think is
16:54my door for
16:55a solid minute before i realize this is one level below my unit i shake my head start to climb
17:00the
17:00next flight but the beam of my phone's flashlight sweeps across the far end of the hallway i freeze and
17:05then in a single crystalline instant everything makes sense there's no maldito no curse no supernatural
17:12force inside my condo the truth behind the impossible electric bills has been staring at me from an angle
17:17i never once considered from where i'm standing one floor below my own on a level i was never meant
17:24to visit at this hour in this darkness the answer is laughably simple i stand in the pitch black corridor
17:29and laugh the mystery i died trying to solve in my last life it's this simple a door at the
17:35far end of
17:35the hall cracks 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
17:50excuse 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 come then i straighten up wipe my face and look her dead in the eye mrs patterson it
18:11was me
18:11i 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
18:27doors fly open up and down the hallway neighbors pour out foam flashlights slashing through the dark
18:32wait is isn't she the one with the insane electric bill the one who made mike go door to door
18:37she's the
18:37one who blacked out the building the corridor this is insane you tank the whole building over your bill
18:44my nest thermostat reset all my schedules are gone i'm calling 9-1-1 and then i'm calling my lawyer
18:51you're getting sued into the ground the lakers guy is actually dialing when the stairwell door bangs open
18:56mom and dad scramble up out of breath and put themselves between me and the crowd mom keeps repeating
19:02the same thing we're so sorry we'll pay for any damages please don't call the police watching them
19:09bend and bow and beg before this would have gutted me shame and heartbreak in equal measure now all i
19:15feel is cold i push them aside mom dad stop yeah 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
19:32-apology
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 coo 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
19:56just say sorry to the neighbors that's all okay sweetie before i can respond the neighbors
20:02jump in a middle-aged white guy pushes to the front your daughter blacks out the whole building
20:07and a sorry is supposed to cover it my mother is on insulin you know how dangerous it is when
20:12the
20:12fridge goes down i was in the middle of remote work my computer crashed unsaved files gone i'm
20:20documenting everything for the lawsuit mom and dad bend lower jason appears from the stairwell out of
20:27nowhere he grabs my shoulder shoves me backward my spine connects with the exposed stud frame pain
20:33wipes out my vision for a second emily mom and dad drain their life savings to buy you this condom
20:41and this is how you repay them 40 plus units in this building damage claims alone could run tens
20:47of thousands happy now is this what you wanted i brace against the wall touch the sore spot on my
20:53back and smile this isn't the outcome i wanted but it should be the one you wanted
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