Chapter 3 — Twelve Dollars

Four months before the trial, Nolan’s eighth birthday was coming up.

He’d recently become consumed by the night sky after a school field trip to a planetarium, talking endlessly about nebulas, the rings of Saturn, and the unfathomable distances light had to travel just to be seen.

I was flat broke. The Oakridge job was gone, Grant was five months behind on his informal support promises, and the rent was looming.

But a mother’s heart can’t bear the thought of her child waking up on his birthday to nothing but apologies.

One afternoon I walked into Gold & Silver Exchange, a dusty pawn shop downtown.

My palms were slick with sweat as I unclasped the only valuable thing I owned: a delicate antique gold locket that had belonged to my grandmother.