from my mom in

the surgery. The doctor sa

t, Mom. Don

e. It was the money. The insurance deductible was five thousand dollars. I' d put that exact am

king app on my phon

unt was low, which was

ed "Dad's Health" was empty.

days ago. $5,000 moved to checking, then an immediate Zelle paymen

lling through Instagram, a half-smile on her face. Our dau

ren

t look u

e five thousa

inally looked at me, her face a mask

' s surgery. It' s gon

nocent to annoyed. "Oh, that. It wasn' t for your dad'

one of his genius ideas that

said, her voice rising. "He' s leasing a car. A Dodge

, who was twenty-eight and live

of what?

nding up. "He' s trying to build something! You have a good job

gave Kevin for his crypto scam last year. The big deal is the four grand for his drop-shipping website that never sold a single t-shirt. The big deal is the

imbed steel in the dead of winter and baked on rooftops i

r in an app, a resource to

, her eyes welling up with tears.

t our daughter who was now watching us with wide, scared eyes. "This is my f

don' t un

y. This was the last time,