My lips pull down into a frown as I slide my bank card and license to her.
“What seems to be the problem?”she intones and clacks away at the keys.
“My account is negative, and I’m worried someone has hacked me.”
Her eyes narrow as her gaze drifts down the screen.“Ma’am, most of this is overdraft fees.Were you aware you were over your amount?”
Air stills in my lungs as I take in her words.“No?I haven’t done much on my account.If it’s overdrawn, it has to be hacked.”
With a heavy sigh, she clicks around some more and reaches down for a handful of paper.“A bank representative will be with you shortly.Have a seat over there.”
Grabbing everything from her, I turn and give the lady behind me a wan smile.Since she didn’t manage to overhear anything, she flashes me a big one back as she bustles up to the counter.As I make my way over to the chairs, I sink down as my legs nearly give out in front of me.
The words blur on the paper as I try to make sense of them.A massive row of red words with a negative sign goes nearly down the first page.Overdraft fee, overdraft fee, overdraft fee.Over and over -$36, -$36, -$36 as far as my eye can drift down.That clench of nausea nearly overwhelms me as I continue to the next page.Hopefully, there I can determine what the thief stole so I can relay it to the person overseeing my case.
Only… every transaction on there, every cent, every dollar is something I’ve personally spent.Insurance.Wasn’t that supposed to come out last paycheck?No.I must have miscounted the days.Same with several other bigger bills that were either supposed to have already come out or weren’t set to hit for another week or so.
Tears gather in my eyes, hot and stingy, as I look at my destruction.With the bigger items coming out, some of the smaller luxuries I gave myself tipped the scale.Not to mention the low-cost, government-provided suppressants that come every fucking month that I somehow forgot about, even though I take those round little bastards daily.
OVERDRAFT FEE – $35.00
S&S SENTHETICS – $25.99
OVERDRAFT FEE – $35.00
INS.HOME AND AUTO – 125.00
OVERDRAFT FEE –$35.00
ITEM RETURNED FEE –$35.00
PAYROLL DEP METROWAVE WIRELESS+$800.00
CONTINUOUS OVERDRAFT FEE –$105.00
DOUG’S DONUTS- $2.89
OVERDRAFT FEE - $36.00
PAYROLL DEP METROWAVE WIRELESS - +$100.00
SAM’S GROCERY- $15.32
OVERDRAFT FEE- $36.00
There, in the middle of all this mess, is the holiday bonus I’d been counting on.Not nearly the three hundred others whispered about.I knew it was foolish to count on something that’s never a guaranteed thing, but then… what else am I supposed to do?
Shaking my head, I continue to study the sheet.On and on it goes until I can’t look at it anymore.How did this happen?I thought everything was planned to the very cent.Anger and fear coalesce into a ball of terror as I clench the papers in my fist.How can they fix this?How can I?
My paycheck also wasn’t quite what I was expecting.Seems as if my sick days didn’t cover everything.Stupid.So freaking stupid.I should have checked.I always check.Why didn’t I this time?
“Miss Hayes?”a deep, masculine voice rings out?
My head shoots up as I watch the banker approach.He at least doesn’t look as bored as the cashier.That has to be good, at any rate.Standing, I shake his hand and walk over to the small cubical to the side.
Tears already burn my eyes as I sit and slide the papers over to him.Can he even fix this?Can anyone?
Leaning back in his chair, he looks the figures over and lets out a low whistle.“Goodness, Miss Hayes.This is quite the situation.Any idea what happened?”
