Perhaps (Book 1) | ✔

ACT II - Scene 4

Gloria's home — the kitchen

Saturday afternoon, I stood in the kitchen preparing the lunch Mom had planned for us. This past week of rehearsals had been incredibly productive! The performance was coming together real nicely, and some time real soon, the costume department was going to have us try on the outfits they had been making for us to make sure they fit. Then, we were going to have pictures taken for program posters and booklets! I was so excited!

As I opened the fridge to retrieve something for the dish I was making, my eyes fell upon the envelope containing my most recent bank statement stuffed in the basket that held my parent's car keys. Why was it still sitting there? Had Mom not called the bank yet? Or had she, and was she just waiting for the transaction to be reversed? Could that be why it was still sitting there?

I pulled out my phone and signed into my bank account. When my eyes landed on the account's total balance, I felt as if a truck had suddenly slammed into me.

It was lower.

More money was missing.

"Mom!" I called out from the kitchen as I opened up the transactions. $500 had been withdrawn yesterday at an ATM in town. "Mom!"
"Gloria! What on earth are you screaming about?!" my mother demanded as she stepped into the kitchen. Dad was right behind her, looking concerned—as if he thought I had burned myself on the stove or something. I looked up from my phone to them, and then held out the device so that they could see the latest deduction from my savings account.

"What is going on?" I asked. Their eyes went down to my phone, and suddenly, neither could look at me anymore. "Who is taking money out of my account? First two $1,000 withdrawals, and now a $500 withdrawal? This is my money for school! Has someone gotten ahold of my bank information? If so, why hasn't the bank stopped the transactions?" They stayed silent, but I watched as they exchanged glances: Mom looked extremely annoyed, and Dad looked uncomfortable. I continued. "Registration is in November, and tuition for next semester will be due by December 1st. I have to have this money to pay for my classes..."

"Gloria," my mother huffed, cutting across me, "you don't need to worry about your account or about paying tuition. Whatever is going on, we will handle it. I will handle it."

"Is that why you have my bank statement laying here?" I pulled it out of the basket and showed it to her. "I saw it sitting on the counter last week. Did you call the bank? Can't they just reverse the charges if they're fraudulent?" She reached out and pulled the statement out of my hands.

"I told you to stop worrying. Just forget about it. And stop snooping through the mail." I bristled.

"'Snooping through the mail'?!" I exclaimed. I felt like I had been slapped. Did she think that I had gone out of my way to find that letter? It had been, very blatantly, laying on the kitchen counter where anyone could have picked it up! "The letter was laying out on the counter when I came home from my date! It's addressed to me, anyways! It's my letter just like this is my account! I have a right to know what's going on with it!"

"We are handling it, Gloria." My mother's voice had a warning tone to it: Do not push me, it said. I glanced over at Dad, who was filling a wine glass with a deep red merlot. He wasn't looking at Mom or me. Why was he so unconcerned about this?!

"Clearly, you aren't!" I couldn't stop myself from shouting at Mom. "Because there was $500 more taken out yesterday! And neither of the $1,000 withdrawals have been reversed! I don't have a job right now, so it's not like I have money coming in to offset the money that's coming out of it! It needs to stop!"