My Future Doesn't Have Room for You novel · Chapter 16 of 24
Chapter 16: The Ledger
Gary was on Esther's porch at seven on Monday morning with a banker's box in his arms.
He had slept in his truck, and he had not shaved.
"I want to put this in front of the lawyer before nine," he said. "Before I lose my nerve."
"You've been losing it for ten years," Esther said. "Come in and eat something first."
He ate two eggs standing up, holding the plate in one hand and the box against his hip with the other.
We drove to Main Street in a line, Esther and me in her car and Gary behind us in the truck.
The lawyer came down the stairs himself to meet us.
Gary set the box on the desk and lifted the lid.
Inside were ten years of bank statements, each month in its own paper clip.
On top lay a spiral notebook with a cracked blue cover.
"I wrote it down," Gary said. "Every month. What came in on the first, and what went out by the fifth. I didn't know what I was going to do with it."
The lawyer opened the notebook and turned a few pages.
His finger went down a column and stopped.
"This is a cashier's check for sixty-two thousand dollars," he said. "The first week of December."
"The cars."
"And this? Twice a year, forty-one hundred dollars."
"Her friend's place in Florida. Flights and the rental." Gary wouldn't look at me. "I paid for the groceries myself. Out of my paycheck. She said the other money wasn't for food."
The lawyer closed the notebook and laid his hand on top of it.
"Mr. Bellinger, you understand that I will use this. It is evidence."
"That's why I brought it."
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