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After inheriting a sizable amount of money from the death of my father, I decided to do something adventurous and treat three of my besties to a seven-day paid trip to Jamaica. I informed my girls that their only expenses would be food, drinks and ground transportation to move about the country.
It was an offer they could not refuse.
However, one of my friends, Denise, had a history of being fiscally irresponsible. This was the same woman who sent me a $20 CashApp request with zero explanation, at an odd hour of the day, with no follow-up call or text. To head things off at the pass, I had a private conversation with Denise to reiterate the importance of her being prepared for this trip — one for which she had three months to prepare. I was aware her mother has been a huge source for her financially, so I’d hoped she’d turn to her for some financial support. I was already covering the major expenses.
Upon arrival at the airport in Jamaica, we hailed a taxi to our hotel and decided it would be easiest for one person to pay the driver and for the other three parties to reimburse the one who paid. We all agreed on this method while on the island, but when it came time to pay up, Denise was having trouble with her account and debit card to withdraw funds. I would cover her quickly to keep the good vibes flowing and thought nothing of it.
This should have been a glaring sign of things to come.
By day we shopped, rented private cabanas by the pool and enjoyed tourist activities. By night, we partied hard paying for VIP to get into clubs with bottle service and more. As we went into day three of the vacation, it became painfully obvious that Denise’s trip was being funded by the rest of us and mostly by me.
We were splitting things three ways instead of four, and my friend’s meager excuses were beginning to wear out on my other two friends who were all but ready to fight.
Oddly enough, my crew and I noticed that when we shopped or did things that benefited Denise personally, she was miraculously able to come up with the money, but when it was time to split costs, we were only hearing excuses. It was one thing after another. She claimed her card was blocked because she didn’t put a travel alert on it. Another excuse was that she couldn’t log into her account. Then the money she transferred from her savings was somehow still on “its way.”
After yet another argument after dinner, Denise left the hotel room for one hour to make a supposed call to her bank to “figure things out.”
So, I did a thing. While Denise was out, I went in her purse and found a bank account receipt from an ATM. It spelled things out very clearly; her account was in the negative. Why didn’t she say anything or ask for help? But the idea of having to continue to cover her portion for the remainder of our four days was something I could not do.
In the heat of the moment, I picked up the phone and called Denise’s mother. I told her she needed to send money for her daughter to head back home. To my shock, her mother claimed to have already provided Denise with money.
Denise walked back into the room while I was talking to her mom and denied spending the money her mother had given on frivolous expenditures. I hung up the phone, and a heated argument ensued between all four of us. Instead of apologizing for not informing us beforehand that she needed help, she was more focused on my supposed betrayal for calling her mother.
What was I supposed to do?
The three of us put our collective foot down and informed Denise that she would have to hang back when it came time to go out the last few nights or she’d have to go home. She claimed she felt like she was being treated like a child. Our friendship has been on thin ice ever since, and I’m in no hurry to fix it.
I’m sure I’m the villain in Denise’s story, but I really did try to communicate openly from the beginning to avoid pitfalls wherever possible. Am I wrong for reaching out to her mother and exposing her?
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NOTE: This story has been edited for clarity and grammar.
