Sabrina was finally settled into that coveted private House Manager’s room.

Across the hall, the empty bed was already made for someone new.

She barely had time to enjoy having her own space before Rae called.

“We have an intake tomorrow.”

Rae told her she would be over at 10:00 a.m. to check the new resident in and get her settled, but Sabrina would need to take her to the grocery store that evening after she got home from work.

Sabrina was one of the only women in the house who had a car besides Mary Kate. But this week, Mary Kate was out of commission. She was spending time with her family for Emily’s services, and that took priority.

“Who is it?” Sabrina asked.

“Courtney,” Rae replied. “She is at Peaceful Waters Treatment.”

Sabrina immediately got a sick feeling in her stomach.

She knew Courtney.

They had used together. They had run together.

And the last time they saw each other, things had ended badly.

Sabrina knew she needed to tell Rae.

“Um… yeah. I know Courtney,” she said. “And, well… we don’t really get along.”

Rae was quiet for a moment.

“I get that,” she finally said. “But you’re going to have to work it out. I already told her we had a bed for her.”

Sabrina hung up the phone and let out a long sigh.

This was going to be interesting.

It was Sunday afternoon, and the house was busy.

Beth’s two youngest children were sitting at the kitchen table eating mac and cheese, with coloring books and crayons scattered everywhere.

Taylor sat coloring with them while cartoons played on the TV in the background.

Several delivery packages were piled in the foyer, and a food delivery driver was ringing the front doorbell.

House meeting was at 4:00, and Rae would be coming over to collect rent and do check-ins.

The rule was that everyone had to be home and present one hour before the meeting, so the house was buzzing with activity.

Just as Beth’s mom arrived to pick up the kids, Rae was pulling into the driveway.

The first thing Rae noticed when she walked through the door was the stack of packages in the foyer.

She glanced at them and continued into the house.

Beth had already cleaned up the kitchen, and Taylor was now stretched out on the couch watching an episode of Crimes of My Ex-Boyfriend—or something like that.

Sabrina was soon by Rae’s side.

“Did everyone send you their schedules for next week?” Rae asked.

Sabrina nodded. “Yes, except for Taylor.”

Taylor overheard the conversation and immediately defended herself.

“I forgot!”

“Send it now,” Rae said. “Ladies, you know your schedules need to be sent every Sunday.”

Taylor rolled her eyes, but she knew her ADHD kept her distracted, and the excuses had pretty much run their course.

“Set a reminder on your phone,” Sabrina told her.

Jordan’s pizza box was sitting on the counter, and they offered what was left to anyone who wanted it.

Ronnie walked in and grabbed a slice.

“Okay, ladies, is everyone here except Mary Kate?” Rae asked. “I’ll do check-ins first, and then we’ll have our group meeting.”

Rae settled in at the dining room table with Sabrina by her side once again.

During check-ins and rent collection, Rae noticed a problem.

Several of the women were short on rent again.

The reasons varied. One had her hours cut at work. Another had fines to pay because she hadn’t completed the chores she knew she was responsible for.

Rae made a mental note.

This needed to be addressed with the group.

Once everyone was gathered in the living room, Rae looked over at Sabrina.

“Is there anything you want to bring up?”

This was Sabrina’s first house meeting as House Manager, and she had come prepared with a few notes.

“Yeah, actually.” Sabrina looked down at her list. “First, dishes are not to be left in the sink. You use it, you wash it, you put it away.”

She moved to the next item.

“No eating in your rooms. And no sleeping on the couch in the TV room.”

Rae chimed in.

“Ladies, you know the rules. They’re in place to keep things from getting messy and chaotic.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Next,” Rae continued, “I want to remind everyone that rent is due and needs to be paid in full every Sunday. If you’re going to be short or there’s an issue, you need to communicate that to me before the house meeting.”

She looked around the room.

“Most of you are working now, and part of becoming independent is learning how to manage your money.”

Beth spoke up.

“My son needed new shoes, and I needed to help out.”

Rae nodded. “I understand that. But there were several packages by the door when I came in, and two of them have your name on them.”

Beth didn’t say anything.

“For some of us, when we get into early recovery, we start filling those old voids with other things,” Rae continued. “Sometimes it’s shopping. Sometimes it’s getting carryout all the time. It can be anything that makes us feel good in the moment. And before we know it, we don’t have enough money left for the things we actually need.”

The room got a little quieter.

Beth crossed her arms.

“Those packages aren’t all stuff for me. I buy things for my kids, too. And at least I’m spending my own money.”

Taylor looked over at her.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Beth shrugged. “Nothing.”

“No, you said it. What is that supposed to mean?”

Beth hesitated for a second before answering.

“It means I’m not the one borrowing money from everybody in the house.”

Taylor sat up.

“Are you serious right now?”

“I’m just saying. You’ve borrowed money from me, Ronnie, and Jenny.”

“Why are you putting my business out there?”

“You just sat here while Rae called me out about two packages!”

“I didn’t say anything about your packages!”

“You didn’t have to.”

Taylor’s voice got louder.

“And I paid you back!”

“Not all of it.”

“Yes, I did!”

“No, you didn’t.”

“Okay. Enough.” Rae’s voice cut through the room.

Neither of them stopped immediately.

“I’m serious. Enough.”

That did it.

Rae looked at Beth first.

“Beth, Taylor didn’t bring up your packages. I did. Don’t redirect the attention to somebody else because you don’t like what I’m saying to you.”

Beth leaned back and crossed her arms again.

Then Rae turned to Taylor.

“And Taylor, if you’re borrowing money from multiple people in this house, that’s something we need to talk about too.”

Taylor opened her mouth.

“Nope. Don’t defend it. Listen.”

Taylor closed her mouth.

“You’re both doing the same thing right now in different ways. Neither one of you wants to look at your own financial choices, so you’re pointing at the other person.”

The room was silent.

“Beth, helping your children is important. Nobody is telling you it isn’t. But if you’re behind on your own responsibilities while packages are showing up at the house, then we need to look at where your money is going.”

Rae turned back toward Taylor.

“And borrowing from one roommate to pay another expense isn’t managing your money. Especially if you’re borrowing from several people.”

“But—”

Rae held up her hand.

“This isn’t about embarrassing either one of you. It’s about accountability. You can’t become financially stable if you aren’t willing to be honest about what you’re doing with your money.”

She looked around the room.

“And while we’re at it, we’re going to make something else clear. Stop lending each other money.”

A couple of women shifted in their seats.

“If someone doesn’t have money for something they need, come to Sabrina or come to me. We can figure out what resources are available. But we are not going to have people owing each other money all over this house. That’s how resentment starts.”

Ronnie slowly lowered the second slice of pizza she had been eating.

“So… hypothetically, if somebody owes me twenty dollars—”

“Ronnie.”

“What? I’m just trying to understand the policy.”

A few of the women laughed.

Even Beth cracked a smile.

Rae shook her head.

“Starting today, ladies. We’re not running a bank out of Daughter’s House.”

The laughter helped break some of the tension in the room.

“All right,” Rae said. “Before this meeting gets any longer, everybody grab your Recovery Companion.”

A few groans followed.

“Yes, I’m serious.”

The women reached for their Three, Six, Nine, Twelve Recovery Companions.

“Turn to the Financial Wellness section.”

Rae waited while everyone found the page.

“We’re going to start with a budget.”

Taylor looked at Beth.

Beth looked at Taylor.

Neither said anything.

“This isn’t about who makes the most money or who has the least,” Rae continued. “And it’s not about making anyone feel bad about where they are right now. Some of you are starting over with absolutely nothing. Some of you have debt. Some have court costs. Some of you are trying to help your kids. And some of you are finally earning a paycheck again.”

She paused.

“But if you don’t know what’s coming in and what’s going out, you can’t make a plan.”

The women began filling in the spaces.

Income.

Rent.

Transportation.

Food.

Court costs.

Phone.

Savings.

For some, there wasn’t much left after the necessities.

For others, seeing where their money was actually going was a little uncomfortable.

And that was okay.

Early recovery was full of firsts.

The first sober paycheck.

The first bill paid on time.

The first week you didn’t have to borrow money.

The first twenty dollars put into savings.

None of it sounded particularly exciting.

But those small things were part of rebuilding a life.

Rae looked around the room.

“You don’t have to fix everything today. Just be honest about where you are and start from there.”

Sabrina glanced around the living room.

Her first house meeting as House Manager hadn’t exactly gone smoothly.

There had been unpaid rent, dishes, borrowed money, an argument, and more than a few eye rolls.

And tomorrow, Courtney was moving in.

Across the room, Beth was still working on her budget.

Taylor was too.

They weren’t talking to each other.

But at least, for the moment, they had stopped worrying about what the other one was doing.

They were looking at their own pages.

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