I get halfway down the page when my finger stops on a transaction I don’t recognize. Twelve hundred dollars was paid to EASYMONEYCORP.
I sit back and stare at the numbers on the bank statement. Easy Money Corp? That payday loan place that’s always advertising on the radio? Why the hell is Mom paying them so much money?
I go back to the bills and flip through each one, not seeing anything from this shady payday loan place. Then I remember when I was little and how Mom would hide her favorite candy from me so I’d stop eating it all in one sitting. Would Mom hide something from me now?
I shove the chair over to the fridge, where I stand on it to look into the shoebox that’s been up there forever, collecting dust. There’s no candy in it anymore, but there is paperwork. Lots of it.
Half an hour later, my heart is pounding and I’m freaking out. My mom took a payday loan last year around Christmas time. It must have been what she used to buy my new cell phone even though I’d told her we didn’t need to waste money on things like that. The interest they charge on this loan is impossible and Mom’s monthly payments keep going up and up each month, especially since she took out a few more loans after the first one.
Now my mom owes $23,557 and the monthly payment is $1206. They call it the minimum payment and there’s a line on the bill encouraging you to pay more. Each month $800 is added on in interest. It makes me want to throw up. This should be illegal. They’re taking advantage of my poor mom who only wanted a little extra cash to get us by. This is ruining us. No wonder she kept it a secret.
I shove everything back in place, grab the monthly budget I’d made and go back to my room where I call Jonah.
“Hello?” he says all groggily.
“Did I wake you up?” I look at my watch—it’s after midnight. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. What’s up?”
I tell him about all of the debt my mom has secretly acquired and how it’s with a shady company. Even with the extra money we’ve earned last weekend, it won’t be enough. That barely covers a payment and the high interest will just keep the debt at the same amount. I hope Jonah has a plan. Some fancy mathematical way to make this easier to pay off.
He tells me we’re screwed. That payday loans are sharks and they bankrupt people more often than they help them. He says there’s no way out of this loan without a lump sum payment of the full amount.
We can do what we can for the store, but we’ll never get twenty thousand dollars.
***
All I want to do is skip class on Monday, but I force myself to go. Mom seemed okay, more like her usual self this morning. At least she was going to the store and not choosing to close for the day so she can stay in bed. I wanted to tell her about the loan and how I knew about it, but I don’t want to upset her. I want to fix this. If only that debt was paid off, then we could keep the store.
Jonah meets me in the hallway on the way to lunch, his hand slipping into mine as if it were created specifically for that purpose. “How you holding up?” he asks.
I lean against his arm while we walk. “I don’t know. I wish Mom would have told me about this.”
“Parents don’t want their kids to worry.”
“Yeah, well now I’m worrying.”
Jonah tugs my hand in the opposite direction of the cafeteria. I let him guide me back the way we came, walking against the flow of traffic, until we get to the alcove underneath the stairs.
He glances around suspiciously, and when the last student has left this hallway, he pulls me inside.
“Jonah,” I say playfully as I press his back to the wall and lean against him. “You’re a world class student. Sneaking around at school doesn’t sound like you at all.”
“I know,” he says, sliding his hands in my back pockets. There’s a hint of mischief in his eyes as we kiss. “We can’t stay here long, I just had to get a kiss and tell you how crazy I am about you.”
“Let’s get to it then,” I say. I reach up and cup his face in my hands. Then I lean on my toes and let my body fall against his chest, my lips crashing into his. We kiss just enough to enjoy it but not enough to get too turned on. We’re at school, after all.
“Now I believe you had something to tell me,” I say with a coy grin.
“I am crazy about you,” he says, holding me tightly.
“The feeling is mutual,” I say, leaning against his chest. “Thanks for cheering me up.”
“That’s what boyfriends do.”
I look up at him. “Are you saying you’re my boyfriend?”
He gazes into my eyes. “Do you want me to be?”
