In the July her savings were gone and she took a second loan — four thousand eight hundred dollars, at an interest rate I am not going to type — to cover the first.

And by the end of August 2024, with the fees and the accrued interest across both, she owed fifteen thousand four hundred and twelve dollars.

The car was worth seven thousand five hundred.

Seven thousand five hundred dollars against fifteen thousand four hundred and twelve.

It would not have fixed it.

It would not have come close to fixing it.

It would have cleared the second loan and left her two months ahead on the first and she would have been in exactly the same position by the following February with no car left to take.