My Lost and Found Life by Melodie Bowsher

complicated about it. Unfortunately,there’s nothing left in your mother’s checking account, and she doesn’t seem to have a savings account, not even a college fund for you. I have to admit that surprised me. Do you know of any accounts that I don’t know about or some investments perhaps?”
    I shook my head wordlessly.
    “How about a safety-deposit box?”
    “No.”
    “I just don’t understand it.” She shook her head, then began gnawing on her lower lip. “How on earth could she have mismanaged her finances so badly?”
    She paused for a moment, as if waiting for an answer, but I didn’t provide one.
    Gloria let out a long, exasperated sigh. “Well, here’s the bottom line. You need about eight thousand dollars just to catch up on the mortgage payments. Even if you had the eight thousand, you’d still need enough money each month to keep up the mortgage payment plus another five hundred a month in taxes, insurance, and utilities. I just don’t see any way you’re going to be able to come up with that plus your own personal expenses for food, gas, and so forth. And there’s no way that I can pay your mortgage in addition to ours every month.”
    I sagged back into the chair as Gloria kept talking and ruining my life.
    “If I thought you could sell the house and make some money off the deal, I would go ahead and lend you the eight thousand contingent on the sale. But this lien means that you’d probably never see a dime of any sale proceeds. The Simmons Company wants to recover some or all of the missing money,and they’ll fight you for every penny. Who knows how long that will take, even if they lose. Plus, we don’t know where your mother is, and the house is in her name, so how can you sell it? It’s a mess. I think you should move out and take everything you can while you still can.”
    I felt as if someone had just punched me. But her voice droned on.
    “Hopefully, your car is in your name?”
    I didn’t respond, and she repeated impatiently, “The car is in your name, Ashley?”
    I nodded assent.
    “Good. Move out of there as soon as possible, and take everything that isn’t nailed down. Probably they can’t seize anything, but better safe than sorry. It could take years for the dust to settle. They’re obviously very angry and willing to take an outrageous position to punish you and your mother.”
    I just sat there, motionless. My whole body felt numb as her words spilled over me like wet concrete, cementing me to the chair.
    “This is so unfair,” I whimpered.
    “This isn’t about fair, Ashley. Anyway, it could be construed as fair if your mother took that money. That really hasn’t been established yet, not in a court of law. The presumption is that she’s guilty because she’s fled. She’s not around here to argue any differently, and you’re not in a position to do it for her.”
    She began rearranging the papers on the coffee table. “Who knows? Maybe they won’t be that hard-nosed. They may be just trying to frighten you, reasoning that Diane will come back torescue you. What they don’t understand is that you really don’t know where she is, and frightening you isn’t going to help.”
    “How can I leave? Where will I go? What about our furniture?”
    “Can you stay with some friends for a while? How about Nicole?”
    “Cindy would never allow that.”
    “Then you need to start looking for a place to live. Check the newspaper and those apartment rental agencies. Or look on the Internet for someone who needs a roommate. As for the furniture, I talked to Richard, and he’s agreed to store as much as will fit in our garage. But I can’t get it all in, so you’re going to have to select what you want to keep, and get rid of the rest.”
    “How can you do this, Gloria? She’s your best friend, and you’re going to let her house and her daughter go to hell just like that...as if it’s nothing.”
    She shot me a hostile look. “I’m not doing this, dammit. This