By the time I reached the foot of the apartment building, the sky was just turning gray.
My niece Lavinia Chavez was home. Maybe she could help me figure something out.
But the moment I opened the door, my heart sank.
Lavinia was sitting on the living room couch, my suitcase at her feet, my clothes stuffed inside every which way.
Her face was cold. "Well, Aunt Ina. You're finally back."
I changed out of my shoes and said gently, "Vinnie, why are you up so early? No work today?"
She let out a cold snort. "Work? You think I've got the nerve to show my face at work?"
"You think I don't know what you did on your night shifts?"
"You stole thirty thousand dollars off those people. They called me about it!"
My stomach dropped, and I hurried to say, "Vinnie, it's not like that. The manager framed me. I didn't steal anything."
She sneered. "Why would a perfectly decent manager go out of his way to frame you?"
"Aunt Ina, tell me the truth. Was it because Uncle needed money for his checkup, and you had a moment of weakness?"
"That illness of his is a bottomless pit. It's normal to be desperate for cash. But you can't go doing something like this. Now you've dragged me down with you, made me look like a fool too."
"Aunt Ina, I'm not going to make this hard on you."
"This is my apartment. You move out today. Either go back to the old house in the country, or go stay with your daughter, Priscilla Fox."
I said quickly, "Vinnie, you're throwing me out? It's the crack of dawn. Where am I supposed to go?"
Lavinia's whole face was full of disgust. "Like I care where you go!"
"You just can't stay here anymore. When the police come knocking, I'll be dragged into it too."
"Pack up and go, before I call security."
My heart went cold, and I didn't argue with her anymore.
I took out my phone and called my daughter, Priscilla.
When she picked up, her voice was impatient. "What is it? I'm in a meeting. Whatever it is, make it quick."
My voice shook. "Prissy, something's happened."
"The store says thirty thousand went missing from the register takings. They're saying I stole it, they want me to pay it back, and they've docked two months of my wages."
On the other end, Priscilla shrieked. "What?! Mom, can you please stop giving me headaches?"
"Didn't I tell you back then not to go out and get a job? But no, you wouldn't listen!"
"Well, look now. I'm completely humiliated!"
I rushed to explain. "Prissy, I didn't steal any money. They set me up."
"I've kept my hands clean my whole life. How can even you not believe me?"
"I've got nowhere left to turn. Can you please come with me to the police department, just once, so we can clear this up?"
Priscilla's voice went cold. "I can't afford that kind of embarrassment!"
"Let me tell you, you handle this yourself. If this actually blows up at the police and leaves a record, then as far as I'm concerned, I don't have a mother."
Before I could say anything more, she hung up on me without another word.
I dragged my suitcase out of the building in a daze.
My husband had his checkup next week, and I still had no way to cover the twenty-some thousand dollars.
No job, wages docked, thirty thousand pinned on me for a crime I didn't commit, my daughter ashamed of me, my niece throwing me out the door.
Fifty-six years I'd lived, and it was as if the whole world had thrown me away.
No. I couldn't just let this go.
I hadn't done anything wrong. What gave them the right to push an old woman around?
Then something came back to me, and a small spark of hope flared up.
Two weeks ago, I'd started to feel that something was off.
Around then, every two or three days, Otis would tell me in the morning that the register had come up short the day before, a few dozen dollars, a few hundred, and say I'd miscounted.
But every single time I remembered it clearly. I'd counted the money three times. How could I be wrong?
The amounts were small, though, and I didn't want trouble, so I just made up the difference myself.
Then last week, at three in the morning, I went to the stockroom to haul out rice, and on my way back I ran into Otis's brother-in-law, Rex Perry. He was leaning over the checkout counter, his hand still on the cash drawer.
The moment he saw me come in, he yanked his hand back in a panic, said he was looking for his brother-in-law, and slipped away.
I'd spent more than twenty years as a fresh-produce supervisor at a state food company. I'd overseen loss prevention, caught more than one inside thief, and my gut told me this wasn't right.
As it happened, I had an old phone lying around. The next morning, while no one was there, I quietly set it up on the top shelf of the dry-goods rack across from the counter, hid it behind two bags of premium rice, with the camera aimed right at the register, set to record on a loop.
I'd only meant to catch him in the act, to see what Rex was really up to. I never imagined that old phone would end up being my last hope of clearing my name.
