I am trying to understand the amount, I said.

We’re fine, Sarah.

Then what does the five hundred and fifty cover, I asked, and he stood and carried the coupons toward the kitchen and said, your mother knows the household expenses, and when I followed him two steps and asked whether she knew why it was five hundred and fifty, he opened a drawer and said, ask her, and the drawer closed before I could answer.

I left the grocery bag on the counter.