Ella
This has been the best the day of my life and it was so easy. For the past ten minutes, I have done nothing but stare at the balance in my account. $200,000. How is that even possible?
Just thinking of what that money means to me, my family, our lives, gives me a warm feeling inside. It’s done. It’s over and hopefully now everything will work out. Mom will get the care she deserves and Hannah will have the lifesaving operation she badly needs.
Reaching for the phone, I make the call to give us our lives back and when I press ‘end’ it has taken just ten minutes to set the wheels in motion.
Silence is my only companion as I celebrate something that ends years of pain, worry and fear.
They will be ok.
The tears fall as I breathe out, and it’s as if I’ve held that breath for three years. I feel so much emotion as I picture mom in Sunny Vale, the expensive home where the sick end their days surrounded by comfort and everything they could possibly wish for. I picture Hannah on her way to hospital in an ambulance that will deliver her the lifesaving operation she needs that we never had the resources to fund. They will be ok and all because of one small gold coin.
I must sit for close on two hours while I take it all in. The fact my struggle is over is difficult to comprehend because I never thought I’d reach this point and was fearful of making a different kind of journey where I tended two graves. Now I’ve delayed that a bit and it was worth every second of life I have given my family because just thinking of them leaving me is not worth considering.
The sunshine fades and is replaced by a different kind of light. Neon, fake and slightly ugly. The lights of Vegas. Intoxicating, provocative, deadly.
Many people come here seduced by what it can offer. They are reeled in on a promise that it will change their lives for the better. Gambling, wealth, luxury and sin. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, isn’t that what they say? I hate it. I hate the cracks in the beautiful façade. I hate the greed and the fact that poverty exists under the glare of extreme wealth. One creates the other and rarely the other way around. People flock here with their cash and largely leave empty handed because the money stays and inflates the accounts of those who have it all figured out.
Making sure to check that everything is in order, I grab my purse and make to lock up a business that has provided my own kind of wealth. I bought into the whole Vegas vibe and offer a service that many can’t replicate. Fake, counterfeit, smoke and mirrors. I will copy anything for anybody and charge accordingly. Most of the time it’s documents, paintings, jewelry or personal items. Most things are legit, but it’s the ones that aren’t that make the most money. The under the counter jobs that pay my rent and bring hope for that one job that will change our lives forever. Today is that day because the coin was collected three hours ago and the money now lies in my bank account. Not for long though, because I have made arrangements to set the wheels in motion to make everything good.
Finally, we’re getting somewhere.
Feeling upbeat, I grab my keys and turn off the lights and prepare to head home to pack.
As I hang the sign on the door, I can’t quite believe I have this luxury.
Closed for three weeks
Tomorrow I’m heading home to visit my family. To sit with Hannah while she recovers from the heart operation that will make her life so different. To visit mom in her new home and make sure she’s happy there. Take care of my family because I’m all they’ve got and make sure my money is well spent.
As I turn away from my business, I feel so proud. I have always been good at creating and through school and college was always in demand to copy things for my fellow students. It’s what got me through - paid my way as I earned good money for my troubles. It was inevitable I’d make it my business and three years ago, Copycat opened its doors in a side street in Vegas and I have never looked back. The trouble is, it’s an expensive place to set up, so the money never seemed to pile up fast enough for what I needed. That gold coin changed everything and now I’ve achieved my goal and can afford to take some time to make sure my family reaps the reward of my skill.
Yes, when I return in three weeks’ time, everything will have gone according to plan.