She heard them whisper as she walked by. “Did you hear about Addison? I would not know what to do if that had happened to me,” one woman said


“They used all their savings on the new kitchen. I bet they have to sell the house,” another one said


Addison didn’t really care what they thought. It is no the most important thing to her. She never really cared about the money. That wasn’t what she truly wanted in life. All she really cared about was her family. Now that it was just her and her boys, she knew she was going to have to find a way to allow them to keep living the same lifestyle, the on her husband was able to provide.



“What have you got for me Celene?” Addison asked as she walked in the Victorian style house on the bad side of town.


Celene was a middle-aged, middle-class African American woman. She had been a friend of Jonathan, Addison’s brother-in-law.


“Well, it is not what you wanted, but it will have to do,” she said as she handed her a paper sack.


“You didn’t pay me last month,” was the first thing Addison heard as she walked through the front door.


“I know I wrote you a check,” Addison siad while flipping through her check book.


“It bounced,” said Catalina, the family cleaning lady and nanny.


Addison dropped her purse, causing her wallet to empty all over the kitchen floor. Thirty-three, hundred dollar bills fell out. Catalina pretended not to notice. Addison bent over instantly to pick them up. She handed eight of them to Catalina as she stood back up.


Addison’s son Eli bounced quickly down the stairs and said, “You forgot to pay the Verizon bill.”


“I will pay it online right now.” She slid her laptop over to her on the counter. “Why is this not working?”


“Verizon is our internet and cell phone,” Eli remarked


“Her husband always had handled the financial issues. This was all new to her. She started going through the mail. She had to pay the mortgage; $960; Verizon, $345; utilities, $422; and her car lease of $462. All the money she had made all month was spent in a few hours, with only $300 left for groceries.


She stood up to finally head to bed when she saw a piece of paper that had fallen behind the desk. As she pulled it out, she realized it was her husband’s bonus from the account he had gotten right before the accident. It was for the amount of $200,000. She felt like she could throw up. She started to cry. She had killed a man, to provide for her family. She thought money did not matter to her, but she was wrong.