Chapter 10 - Eighteen Thousand Dollars
Renee insisted they meet David Rosen in person.
Because Amara was still seventeen, David would not disclose confidential records without proper authorization, but he could explain general procedures and contact the financial institution regarding concerns.
Renee sat beside Amara in the small conference room.
David looked at the withdrawal receipt.
His expression tightened.
“Do you recognize the signature?”
Amara did.
Vanessa Lewis.
“Is this enough?”
“Enough for questions.”
“Not answers?”
“Not yet.”
He explained that custodial funds could legitimately be spent for Amara’s benefit.
A laptop used for school might qualify.
Certain educational programs might qualify.
Medical expenses could be more complicated if they were obligations Vanessa was otherwise responsible for.
A business launch for Vanessa would not qualify.
“What if she says the business benefited me because it paid household expenses?”
“That is not automatically sufficient.”
Renee asked, “What should Amara do?”
“Document. Avoid unauthorized account access. Request an accounting through appropriate channels.”
“Can Vanessa refuse?”
“She can make it difficult.”
Amara thought of the shredder.
“She will.”
David nodded.
“Then difficulty becomes information.”
On the drive home, Renee was quiet.
“You’re thinking something,” Amara said.
“I am.”
“What?”
“Your grandmother didn’t trust Vanessa with money.”
Amara turned.
“What?”
“She loved her. But she didn’t trust her financially.”
“Then why make her custodian?”
“Because you were fourteen and she was your mother.”
Renee tightened her grip on the steering wheel.
“Evelyn believed Vanessa had changed.”
“From what?”
Renee sighed.
“Your mother had debt before.”
“How much?”
“Enough that Grandma paid some of it.”
“When?”
“Twice.”
Amara stared ahead.
“Why did nobody tell me?”
“Because you were a kid.”
“I’m always a kid whenever somebody needs a reason not to tell me something.”
Renee flinched.
“That’s fair.”
At home, Vanessa was waiting.
She had somehow learned about the meeting.
Perhaps from David’s office after he contacted her.
She stood in the living room holding the withdrawal receipt.
Amara stopped.
“How did you get that?”
Vanessa laughed.
“You left a photograph of it on your desk.”
Amara remembered taking one.
Careless.
Vanessa held the paper between two fingers.
“You went to a financial adviser?”
“Yes.”
“You involved Renee?”
“Yes.”
“You are trying to humiliate me.”
“This isn’t about humiliation.”
“That’s exactly what this is about.”
Vanessa tore the receipt once.
Amara stared.
Then twice.
Then four times.
“You can tear paper,” Amara said. “It doesn’t erase the transaction.”
Vanessa’s hand stopped.
Something passed through her face.
Fear again.
“Where did the money go?”
Vanessa dropped the pieces.
“On you.”
“All eighteen thousand?”
“Not all at once.”
“Show me.”
“I do not owe a seventeen-year-old an audit.”
“The law might disagree.”
The words came out before Amara considered them.
Vanessa went pale.
“You threatened me.”
“I asked for records.”
“You threatened your own mother with the law.”
“No. Grandma’s account has rules. I didn’t make them.”
Vanessa’s breathing changed.
Then she said something Amara would remember for years.
“Your grandmother had no right to put money between us.”
Amara stared.
“What does that mean?”
Vanessa looked toward Evelyn’s framed photograph on the mantel.
“She always thought money could protect people.”
“Protect me from what?”
Vanessa’s eyes returned to her daughter.
For once, she seemed to have no prepared answer.
Then her phone rang.
She looked at the screen.
VGlow Media’s bank.
Vanessa declined the call.
It rang again immediately.
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And Amara realized the missing money might not simply be sitting inside her mother’s business.
It might already be gone.
