“So tell your parents the truth, but that you’re gonna make up the money by giving them back the rest of your savings to make up for what you lost on your grandmother’s.”
“Damn, that’s going to set us back a year in getting a place. At least. Maybe more.”
“Yeah, I know.” The seriousness in his eyes held me. “But honestly? You deserve it for using her money like that. I know you meant well, but you shouldn’t have.”
I hung my head. “I know. Everyone warned me. I thought I was being so smart.”
“Youare.” Aaron pulled me into his arms. “Really, really smart, but you got caught up in the thought of making easy money. It don’t make you a bad person, ’cause you did it for a good reason. And now you know for the next time.”
If there was one. I saw now how easily people could get sucked into it. James was right. Playing the stock market was no different than gambling on horses. I recalled my Uncle Vito years ago, watching the races every day on television, yelling at his horse,“Run faster, you broken-down nag.”It never occurred to me that he might’ve had a gambling problem.
“I guess there’s no putting off the inevitable, huh? Lemme call them and tell them we’re coming over.” I picked up my phone and hit the buttons.
“Hi, Ma.”
“Frankie? What’s wrong?”
“Are you and Dad home? Can me ’n Aaron come over?”
“Yeah.” Her voice sounded guarded. “Mind if you tell me what’s goin’ on first?”
“Uh, I’d rather tell you in person. See you in a few.”
I hung up before she had a chance to respond. “Okay. Lemme pee and get a drink of water, and then we’ll go.”
Aaron sat up, uncertainty creasing his face. “Um, you don’t gotta tell them it was my idea. To give back the money, I mean. They’ll like it better if it comes from you.”
“Why?”
Aaron shrugged, picking at the hole in the knee of his jeans. “I don’t want them thinking I’m influencing you about your money. Or theirs.”
“Okay. I get your point.” I kissed his cheek. “They’ll come around eventually.”
“Maybe.”
Within ten minutes, we were walking up the front steps to my parents’ house. My mother already had the door open before I reached the top step and was talking.
“You know you can’t hang up on me without tellin’ me what’s goin’ on.”
“I said I wanted to talk in person.”
We gathered in the living room, and I could see my father at the espresso machine. I waited until he made the coffee and handed it around before speaking. My mouth dried, and I swear it was the most nerve-wracking thing I’d had to do since coming out to them.
“Um, so you know I had this money I’d been saving for an apartment. About a month ago, I invested in a drug company that was gonna come out with this new cancer drug. I did my research, and it all looked great.”
Both my parents sat gazing at me with expectation in their eyes. I could see they thought I came to tell them we’d struck it rich.
“So I took half of my savings and”—I swallowed—“half of Nana Josephina’s money and invested it.”
“You took half of my mother’s money without telling me? I know it was in a joint account, but why would you do that?”
“I had to act quick—before it went up.” The words sounded so lame spoken out loud. “I wanted to surprise you, so I’d be able to come back to you and say, ‘Look. Look at all the money I made us.’”
“And? Is that why you’re here? You’re gonna tell us we’re rich now?”
“N-no. I…I lost it. It went up really high, and I thought—”
“You thought you’d be greedy and it would keep goin’ up. I can’t believe after all I went through with Uncle Vito, I’m here again, lecturing you. I thought you had more brains, more sense than this. It’s gambling, Frankie. The stock market is nothing more than men in fancy suits gambling with your money. They’ll say anything to get you. You might as well’ve flushed my mother’s money down the toilet.” She threw her hands up in disgust.
