“The bank expects to be paid back in full by December six.”

“And if the loan defaults that day?”

“Then the bank forecloses,” Susan said.

“They take the house.”

I asked Susan for a certified copy of the ledger page.

She stamped a fresh sheet in red ink and slid it under the glass partition.

I folded it exactly in half.

I walked into the Oakridge diner at a quarter past noon.