My cousin, Jeffrey Coleman, whom I haven't gotten in touch with for years, suddenly shows up on my doorstep.

"Chris, if I remember correctly, you have a Toyota Crown parked in your garage, right? Lend it to me as my wedding car, alright?

"We're cousins, so I'll pay you 500 dollars. Aren't I generous?"

The Toyota Crown Jeffrey has mentioned is an original model from the 90s. It's still coated in the same paint it was produced in. My grandpa has left it to me.

Over the years, I've already sunk in more than 100 thousand dollars just to renew every part. And now, Jeffrey thinks he gets to drive the car after paying me 500 measly dollars?

I turn him down tactfully.

"The car's far too old, Jeffrey. I'm worried that it might break down halfway to the wedding venue and cause a delay on your big day."

Unexpectedly, the moment Jeffrey gets home, he's quick to issue everyone in the family group chat e-invitations.

"I've already booked the wedding car! It's a Toyota Crown that's produced in the 90s, and it's still in its original glory! This car is definitely better than Porsche and Mercedes!

"On the big day, this car will be in charge of picking up the bride and groom twice! Of course, the newlyweds get to ride this car. If there are any other relatives who want to share the ride, leave a message here!"

Everyone is quick to praise Jeffrey for his quick wits. To think that he's capable of borrowing something vintage from the older generation!

On Jeffrey's wedding day, he shows up outside my garage with a dozen or so people.

"Open up, Chris! Where's the car key? We're in a hurry, you know!"

Soon, the garage door is opened from the inside.

The Toyota Crown isn't there. Instead, a police cruiser is parked in its place. A traffic officer can be seen crouching on the ground while taking photos for evidence.

"You guys plan on driving the Toyota Crown? Someone has reported this car for not meeting the qualifications, and that it's suspected to be used in an illegal business. I'm going to need all of you to make a trip to the police station with me."

Jeffrey panics immediately. "We didn't even get to drive it yet! How is this illegal?"

The traffic officer glances up at him. "The report has included tens of hundreds of conversation screenshots. You've publicly posted the routes and even invited people to ride with you in the group chat.

"Please explain to me what your actions mean, if not advertising your ride to get more customers."

Staring at the screenful of replies flooding the family group chat, along with all the relatives gushing with praise, I made no reply to any of the messages.

The group kept buzzing with messages until the early hours of the morning.

It wasn't until noon the next day that my cousin, Jeffrey Coleman, finally called. His tone was light and breezy, as if everything was already set in stone.

"Hey Chrissy, you saw the invitation, didn't you? I've already mapped out the route. We'll head out from your place at 7:00 am. The first run will be to pick up the bride, then we'll make a second trip for the relatives.

"Let's set it at two runs for now, and we can add more if needed. Make sure you wash the car and fill up the gas the night before."

The coffee in the mug I was holding had already gone cold.

"Jeff, I told you last time. I'm not lending you the car."

Jeffrey went silent on the other end of the line for a couple of seconds.

"Christine Schmidt, this is all because of the money, isn't it?" he asked.

Then, lowering his voice, he said, "If 500 dollars isn't enough, then I'll add another 300. That'll make it a total of 800 dollars. How about that?"

"It's not about the money."

"Well, then what is it about?" Jeffrey challenged, letting out a cold laugh as he did so.

"You're treating that beat-up old car like it's a family heirloom! How much did the refurbishment even cost?

"I'll have you know, I've already put down the deposit at the restaurant, the invitations have been sent out, and the bride's family has already been informed. And now you're saying no? Have you got any idea how embarrassed I'll be?"

"That's not my problem," I responded flatly. "Did I not tell you that I wouldn't be lending you the car when you came to my house yesterday?"

The sound of teeth grinding came from the other end, and his voice dropped even lower. "Fine, Chris. You want to do things the hard way, huh? Well, don't you dare think for a second you have any say in this.

"Just you wait, Chris. Just you wait."

He hung up, then immediately transferred me 500 dollars with the remark "car fee".

In less than ten minutes, the family group chat started blowing up.

Jeffrey singled me out and tagged me in the group chat.

"What an awesome cousin I've got! I've really got to thank Chris for this. I can't believe she'd be willing to lend me the Toyota Crown to use as my bridal car!

"We've just talked things through a while ago, and if there aren't enough seats when the time comes, we'll just arrange to make a few extra runs to pick everyone up!"

My Aunt Mindy—Jeffrey's mother, Miranda Coleman—immediately followed up with a long voice message.

"That's my Jeff, always thinking of everyone! I'm telling you, this car is an original import from the '90s. Back then, there couldn't have been more than three of these in the whole city! When the bride's family sees it, they'll have to look at the Coleman family in a whole new light, won't they?"

Another aunt, Deborah Coleman, responded too. "Jeff, leave a seat by the door for your Uncle Tony. You know his legs hurt."

And Jeffrey replied instantly. "No problem! I'll save him the seat right behind the driver. It's the most spacious seat in the car!"

Then Aunt Pam, Pamela Hawthorn, sent a stuttering voice message. "H-hey Jeff, I get motion sickness. Leave me a seat by the window, will you?"

That was then followed by a message from a distant cousin. "Jeff, your Granduncle Dwayne lives in Westbrooke. Could you swing by and pick him up on the way? The old man has trouble getting around."

"No problem! I'll redraw the route. It's just a couple of streets away."

Not one word was directed at me, but I took a screenshot of every single message.

At 8:00 pm, the doorbell rang. Standing at the door was Aunt Mindy, in a navy blue suit, with a box of pastries in her hand.

"Chrissy, how's your mom been lately?"

"She's alright."

"You should go back and visit her more often," Aunt Mindy said, setting the pastry box down on the coffee table and sitting in the center spot on the couch.

Patting the space beside her, she said, "Here, have a seat. I'd like to have a word with you."

But I remained standing. "Aunt Mindy, you're here about Jeff and the car, aren't you?"

Her smile faltered. "You've always been a sharp one ever since you were little.

"Jeff was out of line, and I'm here to apologize on his behalf. He should have asked for your permission before borrowing anything from you. Instead, he just went ahead and sent out the invitations. I gave him an earful about it for half an hour last night.

"But the thing is, the invitations have already gone out, the restaurant has been booked, and all the bride's relatives have been notified. If you say no now, it's not just about embarrassing Jeff. There are the relatives on the bride's side to consider too.

"His mother-in-law, Rosalie Twain, was just talking about that car in the family group chat yesterday."

She pulled out her phone and held it up in front of me. "Have a look at this."

In a group chat named "The Chapmans", a contact that went by the name Rosalie had posted a message.

"I heard from Jeff that the bridal car will be a Toyota Crown, and that it's an original import from the '90s. None of the relatives on our side have ever seen one. We'll have to get a good look at it when the day comes!"

Below it, there was a string of replies from the bride's relatives.

"I've heard about this car for ages! It's way rarer than a Mercedes or BMW!"

"Jeff's really got some pull, being able to borrow a car like this."

"With a bridal car this impressive, the wedding itself is bound to be just as grand!"

Aunt Mindy set her phone down on the coffee table. "See? All the relatives on the bride's side are waiting to have a look at the car! If you say no now, it's not just an embarrassment to Jeff, but more so an embarrassment to Jeff's mother-in-law, Rosalie!

"Do you think you can shoulder the responsibility if the marriage were to fall apart over a car? This has gone way beyond just Jeff now. It's about two families—"

"Aunt Mindy," I said, cutting her off. "Two years ago at Thanksgiving, Jeffrey called me a bastard in the family group chat. He said I wasn't even really a part of the family. Did you see that?"

Aunt Mindy's smile faded a little.

"Well, I saw it," I said. "But you? You didn't say a thing about it. You just sent a bunch of clapping emojis to celebrate Thanksgiving. And today, you come talking to me about being a family? Why didn't you mention anything about being a family when he called me a bastard in the group chat two years ago?"

She didn't respond. Instead, she pushed the box of pastries a little closer toward me.

"Chris, let bygones be bygones. Jeff was young and impulsive back then. A couple of drinks was all it took for him to run his mouth with all kinds of nonsense."

"He wasn't drunk. He typed every word, and every sentence had perfect punctuation. He even tagged everyone in the group chat. Why shouldn't I hold it against him? Aunt Mindy, if you came today to persuade me to lend the car, you can go back now."

I stood up and said, "I won't be lending the car."

The smile was wiped clean off Aunt Mindy's face. She finally dropped all pretense, and her voice turned cold. "Christine, I'm not here to negotiate with you.

"Your grandfather's car may have gone directly to you, but technically, your mother has a share in it too. And what belongs to your mother belongs to me.

"I've let things slide all this time, but that doesn't mean the car is yours. Jeff will come and pick up the car at 7:00 am tomorrow. Have the keys ready."

She stood up and walked to the door, then turned back. "Chris, your mother isn't in the best of health. Don't make things difficult for her."

Then, the door was shut behind her, the sound of it slamming reverberating through the empty living room.

I sat in silence for a long while before dialing a number. "Hello, is this the Traffic Control Bureau? I want to report a suspected case of illegal commercial transport operation."

I laid out every detail, calm and clear, and even voluntarily submitted the evidence.

"Are these screenshots from the group chat? Are they all from the same group?"

"Yes. It's the Coleman family group. There are 127 of them in the group."

"The remark for this transaction says 'car fee'. Was it Jeffrey Coleman who transferred the money to you?"

"Yes. It was a 500-dollar transaction. My name is Christine Schmidt, and the person I'm reporting is my cousin, Jeffrey Coleman. He publicly organized a wedding convoy, charged fees to solicit passengers, and planned illegal routes for the operation. All the evidence is right there."

"Are you aware... that if this is verified, everyone involved in the operation will have to cooperate with the investigation? Your cousin won't be the only one implicated."

"Yes. I'm aware. In the screenshots of the group chat, I've marked out every person who indicated that they would like a ride."

There was a moment of silence on the other end. "If the situation checks out, the enforcement team will handle it on-site at the time and location you've provided."

After hanging up, I sent a text to the mechanic, Matthew Holt. "Mr. Holt, I need the car towed for maintenance tonight. Keep it parked at your place. I need it out of my garage."

Matthew replied with an OK, then added, "Is something going on?"

"Someone's trying to take the car."

"Say no more. I'm on my way now."

Just then, in the family group chat, Jeffrey posted a photo of flowers and ribbons piled all over the floor.

The caption read, "Decorations are here! We'll deck out the bridal car first thing tomorrow! The Toyota Crown is going to look really sharp after a nice decoration! I'm sure it'll be classier than a Rolls-Royce!"

Aunt Pam responded, "I can't wait! I've even got the caption for my social media post ready! 'A ride in a '90s imported Toyota Crown for a wedding pickup!'"

Uncle Tony sent a reply too. "Jeff, my legs hurt. Save me that seat behind the driver."

Jeffrey replied instantly. "Don't worry! I've got everything sorted out!"

I took a screenshot of the conversation and saved it.

Then I saw the messages from another group chat. It was the "The Chapmans" group that Aunt Mindy had shown me in her screenshot. Somehow, she had added me to the group too.

The latest message was one from Rosalie. "We'll be there right on time at 7:00 am tomorrow! Jeff said the bridal car will come from the downtown area and pass right by Fairway Street. Our relatives here have already agreed to wait on Fairway Street to film it!"

The bride's aunt, Natalie Twain, sent a reply. "I'm bringing my DV camcorder! A vintage bridal car like this needs to be recorded!"

To which Rosalie responded, "Jeff is such a reliable kid. He even managed to borrow an old Toyota Crown! He's bound to go places, that one."

I stared at those words and saved the screenshot into the folder.

…

On the day of the wedding, I was awake by 4:30 am.

At 5:30 am, I sent a message to someone from the Traffic Control Bureau. "They'll be there at 7:00 am. Expect around 15 of them. Also, the bride's relatives are waiting on Fairway Street to shoot videos. They said the bridal car will pass that way."

The reply came instantly. "Got it. We'll deploy road patrols to coordinate with us."

By 6:30 am, it was starting to get lively outside.

Peeking through the gap in the curtains on the second floor, I spotted a minivan and two sedans parked at the entrance of the alley. They were all nicely decorated.