Chapter 5 - The Rest of Sadie’s AccountDiane left the box on the porch.
Callum did not knock.
Inside were Sadie’s spare pajamas.
A stuffed rabbit.
Coloring books.
And eleven index cards.
HOUSE ACCOUNT.
Cereal refill — $0.25.
Leaving bathroom light on — $0.15.
Bandage — $0.20.
Medicine — $0.50.
Washing sheets after accident — $1.00.
Callum stopped reading.
Ivy took the cards from him.
“What accident?”
Callum’s throat tightened.
Sadie had wet the bed once at Diane’s house.
She cried for nearly an hour afterward.
They thought she was embarrassed.
Now they knew why.
Ivy walked into the bedroom.
Sadie was drawing.
She looked up immediately.
“Am I going back to Grandma’s?”
“No.”
“You promise?”
“Yes.”
Sadie studied his face.
“Even if you don't pay?”
Callum sat beside her.
“What did Grandma tell you?”
“She said Daddy was expensive when he was little.”
Callum felt his lungs stop.
“And?”
“She said Grandpa saved you.”
Sadie colored harder.
“So I should help.”
Ivy sat on the other side.
“Help how?”
“Use less.”
Callum could barely speak.
“Less what?”
Sadie shrugged.
“Food.”
Ivy closed her eyes.
“Water.”
Callum looked away.
“Stories.”
That one broke him.
Sadie whispered, “Stories cost time.”
Callum pulled her against him.
“No.”
She stiffened.
Then he felt her small hand touch his cheek.
“Daddy, don't cry. Crying was fifty cents but Grandma said grown-ups get one free.”
Callum made a sound he did not recognize.
That afternoon, he called a child therapist.
Not because Sadie was broken.
Because he and Ivy did not know how to undo a rule that had moved into her head.
That night Callum received his final paycheck from Calder Mechanical.
Walter had terminated him for “insubordination and unauthorized disclosure of confidential company matters.”
Gross wages:
$2,840.
Deposited:
$94.16.
Callum stared.
A new deduction appeared.
FAMILY BALANCE OFFSET — $2,745.84
Ivy whispered, “Can they do that?”
“I don’t know.”
Then Jonah texted.
He’s doing it to us too. Says anyone who refuses the new repayment agreement has no shifts Monday.
A photograph followed.
Fourteen young workers standing outside Calder Mechanical.
Each holding the same blue-paper agreement.
Callum zoomed in.
Fourteen balances.
Then one name stopped him.
MARCUS REED — OUTSTANDING MEDICAL BALANCE: $43,780.
Exactly the amount his parents had told Callum he owed.
The next chapters are on the left side of your screen.
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