Am I a Marshmallow

Here's the deal. L got paid yesterday - rent was due - she didn't pay me. She said she would write me a check but she didn't - I started to suspect that she had no intention of paying me like what happened the last time so I checked with the bank to see if she could cover a check for $284 - Nope. The agreement was that she pays rent or she moves out. Ah Crap - Now What! I took a poll at work and it ranged from Kick Her Out to Not Sure. No one said to keep her and let it slide. My counselor said to kick her out - my Mom said to give her 30 days notice.

When L got home things did not go well - the way she argues is to draw your focus away from the topic and to attack, putting you on the defensive - Yup - I became the Bitch with a stick up my ass again. During the argument she kicked the couch - screamed at the top of her lungs for me to shut up - and she was trying really hard not to do something (she had her arm raised as if to hit me) and if I didn't shut up she wasn't going to be able to. Very scary living with this person. I told her she had 3-days to get the money or move out - she said it was unfair of me to ask for something I knew she couldn't get - don't even try to understand L Logic! She said I wanted her to live on the streets, that I don't care about her, and again I am a bitch. She has nowhere to go - no one to stay with - and on and on and on.

So now I need to come up with a plan. If I decide to give her until Aug 5th - at which time she will owe 2 months rent and 2 months phone - does that make me a marshmallow? If I make her move out right now does that make me an uncaring, unfeeling, bitch? Is there a happy medium here? Is there any way for me to come out of this without feeling like I gave in yet again?

Here is what I'm thinking - Give her a 20 Day Eviction Notice - this gives her until 8/5 which is her next pay day. At that time she needs to pay July and Aug rent and phone. If she doesn't have the money on that day then she will need to move out. During the 3 weeks she also needs to look for another job that will pay her enough that she can live on - and if College (Renton VoTech) is what she wants to do then she needs to have taken the necessary steps to register for classes. Basically - she needs to start making plans for her life.

Part of me thinks I am just giving her 3 weeks more of a free ride and the other part thinks I am giving her a specific deadline with specific items that need to be done - everything is spelled out.

Any suggestions?

De