by T. M. Meek
The Andrews’ home seemed to run with smooth consistency as Alex was gently woken by Meredith at 6 a.m. sharp.
“Psst…Alex,” Meredith whispered in a singsong voice. “Good morning, my cute niece.”
Alex rolled over and mumbled, “Good morning.” Alex was still waking up so the best she could do was a half-smile to let Meredith know she was glad to be woken by her.
“Breakfast will be ready in about half an hour. It’s 6:00 am now so that means breakfast should be ready at 6:30am. You think you can make it to the table on time? Or do you need some help?”
“I’ll be alright. I can make it.”
“We try to have breakfast ready and eaten so Samuel can be out the door shortly after seven. We need to leave close to 7:30am – if not a little earlier – to be on time to meet your dad at eight at your school. Okay?”
“Okay,” Alex yawned as she began to sit up in bed.
Meredith smiled, “Okay. See you in a few minutes.” She then gently closed Alex’s door.
Breakfast had the same theme as dinner: healthy. Meredith had on the table some grapefruit halves, high fiber whole wheat English muffins and poached eggs. No super sugary juice drinks could be found anywhere. Meredith and Samuel drank decaffeinated coffee with lowfat milk and some natural sweetener. Alex had the option to either drink plain, unsweetened soy milk, lowfat or regular whole milk or filtered water. Although she liked all of the options, she decided to drink the cold water that was filtered in a pitcher from the fridge.
They all arrived at the breakfast table around the same time and everyone was clean and wearing the proper clothes they intended to wear for the day. Together they ate at the breakfast table after first offering up a grateful prayer as a blessing on the food. After breakfast was done, Samuel cleared and rinsed his dishes and brushed his teeth. Just before he left for work, Samuel invited everyone to gather for a family prayer so that they could thank the Lord for another day of opportunity and to ask for blessings to help them to have the safety and protection and other blessings of success they would all need throughout the day. He then kissed Meredith goodbye for the day and gave Alex a gentle hug being careful not to hurt her shoulder. He was out the door and on his way to work by 7:15 a.m..
Alex helped Meredith clean up the kitchen and then the two went to their own separate bathrooms to brush their teeth. They were then out the door by 7:30 a.m. to be on time to meet Alex’s dad at her school. On the way, Meredith asked if Alex already knew everything she would want to pack and bring back to her new home with Meredith and Samuel, but Alex's thoughts were elsewhere.
“I’m sorry that Twinkles and Bubbles can’t live with us. That was your dad’s decision and I want to respect that,” Meredith said sensing why Alex might be so quiet. Meredith was hoping Alex would realize Meredith wasn’t the bad guy on such a sensitive decision. But Alex didn’t want to talk about that. Everything was just too painful at the moment. She had overheard Meredith’s conversation earlier that morning as she spoke with Francis over the phone about Alex’s pets.
Meredith and Samuel were happy to let her pets live with them and remain with Alex. But Dex wanted Twinkles and Bubbles since Alex was leaving. So ironically, her recent birthday present of her favorite pets would be given to her archenemy of an older brother. Alex couldn’t believe her father and brother could be so cruel. But then again, she shouldn’t have been surprised.
At least she received a text from Glade. He would be living with Uncle Lee. But Alex didn’t want to talk about that either.
Meredith was at a loss for words as she could see Alex’s pain surfacing as she fought back tears. Alex decided to change the subject so she chose a subject less emotional for herself.
“I thought you and Uncle Samuel lived in that other house, remember? The big one, with five bedrooms and all those bathrooms? You even had a movie theatre room. Remember? Why don't you live there anymore?" Alex wondered as she tried not to sound too sad.
"I remember," Meredith replied. "But do you remember that was also the home your Uncle Samuel spent all of that time renovating? Remember how he worked so long and hard to fix it up?"
Alex wasn't sure she remembered the part where he had renovated it. Meredith continued. "We never planned on living there long-term. We just lived in it long enough to enjoy it after it was all fixed up and then we sold it and moved into the home we're in now." Alex looked confused.
"Why would you work on a house, a house that's a lot bigger and nicer than what you have now, and then sell it to live some place that's not as nice? You and Uncle Samuel owned that bigger house, right?" Alex frankly asked. She was feeling grumpy now over the loss of her beloved pets.
"Yes, we owned it. But Uncle Samuel bought it so we could make some money on it by fixing it up and selling it before we started having children. Fixing that home up was a really big project and it wouldn't have been very safe to do all of that work and have little children living there with us at the same time. At one point, we slept on the floor just because we didn't have room for furniture yet. But that was only after we made sure the home could be locked up securely enough to keep out others who might want to vandalize it since they may have thought it was empty and unoccupied."
"So how did you make money on it?" Alex wondered.
"We bought it at a low price because it was an older home in poor condition. So after we were done fixing it up, the house was worth much more than what we bought it for. So when we sold it we made a nice profit. We then put those profits into savings since we didn't need that money for the home we live in now. The condo we live in now cost us a lot less money to buy than the bigger house we bought to fix up," Meredith replied casually.
Alex thought deeply for several moments.
"Do you know what profits are?" Meredith asked her just in case she didn't understand the idea behind the real estate investment opportunity she just tried to explain to Alex. But Alex rolled her eyes. Of course she knew what profits were.
"Oh yeah. It's the surplus of the sales price over whatever the item's original cost was––usually the cost to produce it. So if I buy something, like a used book at a garage sale, and if I buy it for five dollars and then sell it to someone else who is willing to pay fifteen dollars for the book I bought for five dollars, then I'll make a profit of ten dollars," Alex responded matter-of-factly. She tried not to be too sarcastic about it.
"That's right," Meredith said impressed.
"But chances are pretty slim that anyone is going to make money off of a used book that way unless it's either an extremely rare collector’s book that's in good condition, or a really new and popular bestseller that's in good condition. But since both of those scenarios are hard to find where someone would sell it to you for cheap, it doesn't happen very often," Alex added. Meredith nodded in agreement and Alex continued.
“But please don’t tell me you got a mortgage on the bigger home just to fix it up. Because in my opinion, if you didn’t make at least a twenty percent return on your money, I’d say such an effort was hardly worth it,” she added smugly.
Meredith was in shock but tried not to fire back in her response. “Yes, we got a mortgage, but we made a large down payment on it––sixty percent down, as a matter of fact––and the payments were easier for us to handle than had we put less money down. And even if we hadn’t made at least a twenty percent rate of return, the experience we gained was extremely valuable,” Meredith replied trying not to show any embarrassment that her thirteen-year-old niece might actually recognize if Meredith and Samuel made a mistake or two in their investing experience. “I can’t believe we’re even having this conversation,” she added in disbelief.
"Okay. I think I get the part where you fixed it up without any of your own children around yet. Was that so they wouldn't be running somewhere in the house and trip on tools like a large hammer and box of nails that could be on the floor?" Alex asked.
Meredith snickered and said, "Yes. We
didn't want any of our children running around and possibly hurting themselves as we fixed up the house."
"I still don't get the other part," Alex said thoughtfully.
"What other part?"
"Making money before having children. I thought you guys already had lots of money," she replied innocently.
Astounded, Meredith gasped and asked, "Where did you get that idea?"
Alex looked perplexed and said, "You and Uncle Samuel lived in a house over three times the size of the one you now live in––the huge house you just told me you put down sixty percent on and then sold for a profit––and now you're asking where I got the idea that you two have lots of money? Please. I may only be thirteen years old, but I'm pretty sure I can tell when someone at least at one time looked like they had lots of money."
Meredith was momentarily at a loss for words over Alex's quick wit but then she suddenly bounced back to not only answer Alex's question, but to teach her a lesson in manners.
"Well, first of all, having children is a very expensive choice to make financially and your Uncle Samuel and I knew we needed to have as much savings as possible before we began having children since we definitely want children. We didn't feel we needed to have millions and millions saved up but we did feel like we should at least have one year’s worth of children's expenses saved up first. We figured that would be about twenty thousand dollars or so that we should have saved and ready when our first baby arrived. And second of all, just because someone once looked like they had a lot of money but now look like they may have less, whether or not someone had a lot of money to begin with is frankly none of your business," she replied in a simple, no nonsense manner.
Alex mumbled to herself as she looked down at her shoes. "That's what my dad always says."
"What does your dad always say?" Meredith asked.
" 'Someone else’s money is none of your business.' That's what he says."
Meredith softened up a little. "Alex, you hear that from adults because the subject of money is a subject adults usually deal with––not children––and it's considered a private matter by most because it can also be a sensitive matter to a lot of people. Adults don't want to be taken advantage of or to be seen as unintelligent so they keep their money matters private with most people unless they hire someone to give them professional financial advice."
Alex remained silent for a minute in quiet frustration. She then sighed and said, "I just think people are less likely to make certain mistakes in life if they first know just how much things cost in life. Just like you said. It's expensive to have children. It's exactly because you know how much it all costs first, that you know better how to have kids at the right time and in the best way––a way that you and Uncle Samuel can really handle financially and in other ways. If no one ever let's me know how much things really cost now, then how can I make the best decisions now that will also have some of the biggest effects on my future?"
They both rode along in silence for several moments until Meredith said humbly, "That's a very good question, Alex. A very good question." Meredith was in awe over the simplicity in Alex's logic. She continued driving as she quietly wondered how a thirteen-year-old could think in such a mature fashion.