Money Over Love

Tati’s point of view

 

My grandmother was dying. My family was in the hospital at her last minute of livng. She quickly said her last words, “I left the million dollars in”, and the last breath left her body.

 

After my grandmother’s dead my life became weird. It was every man or woman for him or herself. My father wouldn’t talk to anyone. My mother often glanced around the room suspiciously. I was in my grandmother’s room all day, everyday. My little brother stayed outside digging holes with Shadow, our dog. No one did or was in charge of anything anymore. It’s like all the love we had for each other disappeared. Just a vast emptiness, but one thing was clear, we all wanted that money, although no one discussed it since my grandmother’s death.

 

I walked into the kitchen where I found my mother. She had long black hair and a troubled expression. “Do you think grandma was just kidding about that money?” I asked. She took awhile before answering.

 

“What do you mean, Tati?” my mother asked sharply, although it was clear on what I meant.

 

“Never mind,” I sighed. I walked back into my grandmother’s room. I scrimmaged through the very last place that I haven’t yet checked, her underclothes drawer. My hand reached the bottom of the drawer and pulled out a piece of paper. I read it silently to myself. “love is more importAnt than monKey, oops I mean moNey. Be at peace my child.” I put the note back and sighed.

 

 

 

Marianne’s point of view

 

I was sitting at the kitchen table staring out the window thinking. Thinking of where the money could be. My daughter’s voice interrupted my thoughts. “Do you think grandma was just kidding about that money?” I heard. I tried ignoring her, but her brown eyes drilled into me. “What do you mean?” I asked quickly and quite rudely but she left me to myself.

 

I walked into my room and grabbed the note that I discovered the day after my mother-in-law’s death. “love is more importAnt than monKey, oops I mean moNey. Be at peace my child.” As I reread this, I thought about how the family’s love died when she died.

 

 

 

George’s point of view

 

After my mother’s death I shut myself off from the rest of the family. I haven’t uttered a word since that tragic day, although I still have to go to work and continue to support my family. A man shouldn’t live through sorrow. I can still never forget the note that I found under my wife’s pillow. It read “love is more importAnt than monKey, oops I mean moNey. Be at peace my child.” I sure wish I had that money she left us, wherever it is. If there is a million dollars somewhere, she didn’t leave it in her will for anyone.

 

 

 

Ricky’s point of view

 

I just kept on digging, sure that I would find something. I’m 11, the youngest in my family, and they often think I can’t do anything. I just want to prove them wrong by finding this money. I also want my life back, the way it was before my grandma died. Now it’s like the rest of my family forgot how to love. I erased these thoughts from my mind and looked at Shadow. There was something hanging from her mouth. A piece of paper. I snatched it from her mouth and read it, although a bit was torn.

 

“ove is ore importAnt than monKey, oops I mean moNey. Be at peace my child.”  I noticed something strange about the letters. Some was capitalized where capitalization wasn’t needed. I scanned the sheet and looked at the capitalized letters. “AKNB.” Immediately I knew where the money was. In her bank account. ‘How did she even get a million dollars,’ I wondered. I thought about how I could get the money without letting any of my family know. Yet. I dashed through the back door, to the kitchen phone and dialed my friend’s number. At the corner of my eye, I saw my mother looking my way, suspiciously. “Calling a friend,” I said, and it was partially true. I was actually calling a friend’s parents.

(unfinished)