“I don’t even know if he’ll call, but meeting him made me feel hopeful—I can’t really describe it.”
“He was good company,” my grandmother said.
Was it that simple? And if it was, why did it feel so rare? From outside, I heard the approach of my mother’s car.
“Don’t breathe a word about Lars Enderstraisse.” My grandmother pinched her thumb and forefinger together and ran them across her mouth. “Zip your lip.”
THAT NIGHT, MY
grandmother had gone upstairs by eight
P.M.
, and my mother and I sat in front of
though neither of us was really watching: She was needlepointing an eyeglasses case, and I was flipping through my grandmother’s latest issue of
During a commercial break, I turned to her. “Mom, if you ever want to start dating—”
Before I could go further, she said, “Where on earth did you get that idea?”
“I’m not saying you should or shouldn’t, but if you did—if you feel like you’re ready—no one will disapprove.”
“Alice, think how your father would feel to hear you talk like that.” She set down her needlepoint and walked out of the room, and as I was wondering how deeply I’d offended her, she returned with her left hand clenched in a fist. When she’d sat beside me again, she uncurled her fingers, revealing a gold brooch. “Can you sell this for me?”
It was shaped like a tree branch, the leaves encrusted with tiny diamonds, and one small round garnet—meant to resemble an apple, or perhaps a berry—hung down. I had never seen it before.
“It belonged to my mother, but I don’t have any use for it,” she said.
“It must be nice to have as a keepsake, though.” My mother seemed to have so few tangible ties to her family that it was hard to understand why she’d get rid of one. She passed me the brooch, and I touched the garnet with my fingertip; it was cool and smooth. “You could wear it to church on Christmas,” I said, and without warning, my mother burst into tears. “Mom, what’s wrong?” I set my hand on her back. I had not seen my mother cry since shortly after my father’s death.
“I’ve made such a mess of things,” she said.
“What are you talking about?”
“I had a misapprehension from the beginning. But you want to give a young person the benefit of the doubt, and I thought it could be an opportunity to create a nest egg not just for Granny and me but for you, too, because you work so hard at the school. And he said the annual returns get up to three hundred percent.”
“Who’s he? Start at the beginning.” Although an anxious tingle had risen on my skin, I felt that it was important for one of us to remain calm. “I want to help you, Mom, but I need to understand what’s happened.”
“It’s a fellow about your age. He came by, and he was very nice, very intelligent.”
“So you gave him some money?” I strove to keep emotion from my voice.
“I made a dreadful mistake.” The tears seized her again, and I said, “Mom, it’s okay. We’ll sort it out. I just have to ask, how much did you give him?”
“From your father—from his insurance—” Her voice was shaky.
The tingling had turned into goose bumps covering my entire body. “Money from Dad’s life insurance policy?” I asked, and she nodded. “Did you give him all of it?”
“Oh, honey, I wouldn’t do that.”
“Then how much?” It was astonishing to me that I sounded as neutral as I did.
“Originally, he asked for ten thousand dollars, but I told him I wouldn’t recruit other investors. I said, ‘I don’t know about finances, and I won’t pretend I do.’ He said if I made a double investment, he’d make an exception for me, because most people have to recruit.”
“So you gave him twice as much money?”
Tears pooled again in her eyes, and she said, “Alice, I’m so ashamed. I don’t know what on earth I was thinking—I just—”
“Mom, please don’t get upset. I’m wondering, was there anything you were buying? Was it stock, or real estate, or some kind of product?”
“It was an investment fund.”
“I can’t help thinking,” I said slowly, “could it have been a pyramid scheme?”
“Oh, certainly not.” For the first time in several minutes, my mother’s tone was firm. “No, no. It was an investment fund, and the money would come back when new members joined.”
“So maybe it still
make money—”
