Chapter 2

The next morning, my mother sat herself down inside my salon.

She spread a floor plan across the checkout counter.

"The down payment is six hundred eighty thousand. Transfer the money to me."

"Your in-laws already said the deed goes in their names, both of them, so the young couple won't fight over it later."

I took out my phone and transferred two hundred dollars.

The memo read: Stanley Fox's living expenses for this month.

My mother stared at the amount that landed.

"You left off two zeros."

"No, I didn't."

"And that two hundred is only for one month."

She slapped the counter.

"You promised in front of the whole family last night. And today you go back on it?"

The call from the university's finance office came through.

The clerk confirmed my identity, then explained the refund had been filed.

I switched on the speaker.

"This student is enrolled in a joint-degree international university program. Annual tuition is one hundred twenty-eight thousand dollars."

"The four years of domestic fees are separate, and the later overseas study costs are not included."

My mother grabbed the phone.

"Are you people sure you didn't make a mistake?"

The clerk read the name of the program again.

When Stanley showed up at the salon, I put the payment slip in front of him.

"You said it was twenty-six thousand a year."

He turned his face away.

"An ordinary major has no future."

"Trudy said this program sounds classy, that you walk straight into a big company after graduation."

I pointed at the admissions brochure.

"This is the program you checked off yourself."

"You didn't look at the tuition before you applied?"

Stanley shoved the slip back at me.

"So what if I looked?"

"You've got three salons. A whole year's earnings can't even cover me?"

I posted the payment slip in the family group chat.

The chat went quiet for half a minute.

Aunt Marlene spoke up first.

"It's already paid. Since when do you get a refund on that?"

"Your brother's education is a big deal. You're the older sister. You can't just walk off the job halfway."

Uncle Dwayne followed right after with a voice message.

"One twenty-eight a year is nothing. Quit playing poor."

"What does a woman need all that money for? You think you can carry it into the coffin when you're dead?"

My mother folded up the floor plan.

"That makes the house even more necessary."

"Once the in-laws have the house, they'll be more than willing to help pay Stanley's tuition."

I looked at Trudy.

"How much can your family put in?"

Trudy lowered her head.

"My parents aren't in good health. They can't come up with anything right now."

My mother answered for her.

"You think it's easy raising a daughter?"

"Would it kill you to chip in a little more?"

Ulysses James came to pick me up after work.

My mother stopped him at the door and demanded another thirty thousand on top of the engagement money, right then and there.

"Stanley got into a top university. The Fox family stands higher now."

"If you want to marry his sister, you'd better show some sincerity."

Ulysses smiled and poured her a glass of water.

"We can talk more about the money, ma'am."

Back in the car, he told me not to make a scene.

"Just bear with it a little."

"We're all one family. Falling out with them looks bad for your reputation."

I didn't answer.

The engagement gift money he'd brought was still sitting in the salon.

My mother had pulled eight thousand out of it and transferred it straight to Trudy for a phone.

Trudy smiled at me once the money came through.

"Thank you, Lucy."

I picked up the money box.

"Don't thank me."

"This money, I'll be settling every cent of it."