The sinking ship is a metaphor ... get it?

I'm a huge hurt-my-mom-hurt-me type person. That can come as no surprise to any of you. It's a lonely existence though, being that protective, because I always end up saying or doing something that ultimately, I somehow regret (though after a fashion, not so much). And today, I'm saddled with another dilemma. And fuck if it just doesn't make me powerless to do anything. Situations like this are where I wish I had a wicked skill of some kind ... be it an incredibly clever streak of deviousness; knowledge of the law and its intricacies; a cool super power that could make someone do the right thing; or even just have a friend who knows a guy who knows a guy. ... ... Jeez. What can I do? I can write about it ... ooooooooohhhhhhh, scary.
I always thought to myself, "Those people with family members that come after each other with attorneys and stuff ... they've got issues." I certainly never thought that Mom (and I) would be on the receiving end of an attorney's phone calls or letters, at the behest of a family member no less. Brian asked the best question, "What are you? The Rockefellers or Vanderbilts? Are there millions at stake that I know nothing about?" No, we're not (and there aren't), but what we are now, apparently, is the family that doesn't talk amongst ourselves, and now has to refer each other to our attorneys.
What's this about? It's about someone trying to screw Mom out of something that's owed to her. It's about someone who has forgotten that whatever this amount is, it is a fraction of what she should probably get anyway. It's about someone who thinks that the woman who has been there for them all their life is suddenly going to cheat them out of money.
And it's about losing faith in someone who said that all would be fine, and then turned around and sicced the fucking dogs on us. You know, you don't only lose family members via death. I'm finding out today, you also can lose them through betrayal.