My lease notice gave us twenty-four days to get out of our rental house.

And the eight thousand four hundred dollars I needed for my lawyer, Marcus Vance, was gone from the credit union.

“Is Grandma going to be at the new house?” Emma asked in a small whisper.

“No, sweetie,” I said.

“Grandma won’t be anywhere near our new house.”

“What about Aunt Vanessa?”

“Nobody’s coming but you and me,” I said.

Emma pulled Barnaby’s left ear closer to her face and watched me fold down another cardboard flap.