Suddenly, all those strange columns of numbers made sense.
Every figure corresponded to money Mom had given Melissa.
I sat on the edge of the bed and started matching the dates.
“Stop,” Melissa said.
I kept going.
One transfer happened around the time her second child was born.
Another appeared shortly before her husband opened his second clinic.
I remembered that year.
Melissa had spent months talking about how stressful the expansion was.
Mom, meanwhile, had decided her twelve-year-old car could somehow last “a few more years.”
Another payment came during the year Mom canceled a vacation with friends because she said traveling was too expensive.
I looked at her.
“Mom, how much money did you give Melissa?”
She hesitated.
“I’d have to calculate it.”
“I won’t.”
I opened the calculator on my phone.
Melissa stepped toward me.
“Amanda, don’t.”
That only made me more determined.
I added every amount.
Then checked the total.
Twice.
Three times.
Finally, I looked up.
“One hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars.”
