W: The Planner, The Chosen by Alexandra Swann, Joyce Swann Page B

I saw your name on the list, and I didn’t want you two to have to stand in line to get into a community center for a presentation that I would be giving anyway, so I thought I would drive out here and just tell you myself and answer any questions you have.”
    “I’ll tell you what. Dad just finished cleaning the grill so that we can fix some steaks. Come in here while I get the salad ready, and then you can tell us all about what you are up to.”
    The house seemed huge to Kris. She had only been in her new accommodations for a couple of weeks, but the house now looked like a palace. Even though she had spent countless hours in this kitchen helping her mother prepare food for holidays and celebrations, she now thought that the kitchen was enormous. The entire kitchen was bisque—all the cabinets, appliances and fixtures were the same glossy creamy shade which just matched the Italian marble floor.  Everything sparkled. Kris thought how easily she had gotten accustomed to having no kitchen and how odd it felt to be in a real kitchen once again.
    Kris chopped vegetables while her mother washed lettuce. “Now that you have your new job are you still going to continue to try to sell the house?” her mother asked her.
    “Actually, the bank made that decision for me. They foreclosed on the house six months ago. I went by there a few weeks ago, and a new family was moving in. I guess they reduced the price enough to get it sold…I didn’t tell you before because I didn’t want to burden you. I know you’ve got problems of your own, and I did not want to weigh you down with mine.”
    “I’m so sorry, Kris.  I wish so much that we could have done something to help you.”
    Kris shook her head.  “No, even if everything had been different, I wouldn’t have let you. After Ben left, I decided that if I couldn’t make the payments on the house, the bank needed to take it, and in the end that’s what happened. The house and the mortgage were my responsibility—and Ben’s—and I wasn’t going to pawn this off on anybody else.” She paused, “The note to the house wasn’t even in my name.  I was just on the deed. And there was no possible way that I could refinance it into my name after my income was gone—I certainly wasn’t going to borrow money to make the payments.  I hated letting the house go—I hated it so much, but after I considered all of my options that was the only one that was realistic.”
    “Where are you living? You know you’re always welcome here; if your dad and I had known we would have taken his truck over to help you move.”
    “Thanks, Mom. I really do appreciate that. I was staying in a motel for a while,” Kris had never told her mother about Nick and was not about to now. “Actually a condition of my new job is that I live in housing that is assigned to me by the federal government.” The look on her mother’s face was surprise mingled with curiosity so Kris explained, “When I was hired, the Director explained that the FMPD is launching pilot housing programs.  In order for us to work as Planners we are required to live in a Smart Community so that we can effectively explain the benefits of the program.”
    “That’s different. But I guess it’s convenient to have your housing furnished. Do you like it?”
    “Actually, I do. I wasn’t sure at first because I had my house for so many years, but it’s really convenient. My apartment is extremely small, but it’s fully furnished and brand new.  It still smelled like paint when I moved in. The rent and the utilities are automatically deducted from my pay so I don’t have to worry about making sure that I have a check over there on time.
    “I don’t have to do anything—which is great. I don’t have to do any yard work because I don’t have a yard. We have a common area and the maintenance workers take care of it. I don’t have to do any maintenance to the apartment—if anything breaks I just call down to the