I pulled out a chair and sat, and smoothed my skirt, and the calm of it seemed to enrage her more than anything I could have said.

“Noreen,” I said.

“Every month I give you fifteen hundred dollars to spend however you like.

You have no grocery bill, no rent, no utilities.

Where does it go in three weeks?

I’m cash-poor this month — I put money into some investments and I can’t pull it back yet.