Leon sat at his cheap table in the dining room sorting
through the daily mail. “Molly…Is the coffee on yet? I’ve got to get going. My
shift starts early today.” Leon slit open the envelope he had been saving till
last. He had never gotten a certified letter from United Mine Workers Credit
Union in the past. Whatever it was, and Leon firmly believed that new things
were seldom good, he didn’t want it.
“Leon, do I ever send you out of the house without your
coffee? Leon, did you hear me? Leon!” She walked into the room from the kitchenette.
“Here you go.” He kept his head buried in the letter. “Leon, what’s wrong?”
“This can’t be right Molly. The bank sent us this letter
about our checking account. There’s been a mistake.” Beads of sweat appeared on
his head, and he dabbed them away with his already damp handkerchief.
“Oh my. Did we go over again? I thought we had enough in there
for the mortgage. How bad is it Leon? Are we going to be alright?” She came around the table and put the cup and
saucer of coffee on the table. The two dishes clattered against each other
until she let go. She always shook when her stress was bad. The docs said the
shaking was a side effect of her treatment.
Leon snaked a hand around his wife’s waist. “Come here you
sassy girl.” Molly pulled away. “You tell me what’s going on this instant!”
“Molly…We’re rich.” The words barely made it out of his
mouth. “The mistake is in our favor. Some bank in the UK called HSBC Holdings
deposited all of their assets into our account. Can you believe it? It says
here that it comes to over 3 billion dollars.”
“But it’s not our money is it? They’ll want it back I expect”
Molly tucked her hands under her chin when she was trying to think things
through quickly.
Leon glanced at her and then back to the letter. “You’re
right, but since they are in the UK and we’re in the US. They can’t take it
back right away. Something about customs and international laws regarding ‘hostile
money transfers of amounts over 50 million dollars.’ Our bank says, we have
about 48 hours to spend as much as we can before what’s left goes back to
wherever it came from.”
“Oh Leon. It’s a miracle! Do you think we should ring the
paper? They might want to do a piece on this. I wonder if it would be on the
front page. What are we going to do first?”
Leon stood up slowly. He turned slowly looking at the wood
paneled walls of the cramped room where he had eaten breakfast every day for 15
years. His wife’s porcelain dolls lined the shelves. He saved a little money
out of each check so that he could buy her a new one each Christmas. Ugly
things, but they made his wife’s face light up with joy. The look on her face
when she unwrapped new one was precious to him. She’d spend weeks dotting on it
making sure it was in just the right place.
The smile on his face faded “I’ll tell you what we are going
to do. You’re going to pour my coffee to go, and I’m going to get to work. I’m
late. Pray they don’t dock me the hour. We need the money.”
“You’re crazy! You don’t have to go to work anymore. We need
to go out! The Buick is on its last leg, and we need to order heating oil. What
about Jenny’s tuition? We need to buy you a new...” *SLAP* Leon stared at his hand, and the tears welling
up in his wife’s eyes.
“I’m so sorry Molly. I’ve never. …. Can’t you see….” He thrust his arms through
his West Virginia Miners jacket. “Listen
to me. This is no miracle, it’s a goddamn curse and we aren’t telling a soul. We
aren’t going to spend a penny, and in 48 hours we are going to pretend that
this never happened. I should burn this letter. NOW GET MY COFFEE.”
Molly stood dazed as he flew around the house getting the
last of his things for work. She didn’t seem to notice when he snatched the thermos
of coffee from her. As he opened the
back door to leave, something clicked. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his
check “Be safe in the mines today. I love you.” She whispered.
“I’m sorry.” He said and left.
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