Photo by Norbert Braun on Unsplash

The numbers never add up no matter how many times I try. How is it I can have a certain amount of money one day but less the next? I’ve been keeping track of my receipts for weeks now and still I come up short. There are only two people who live in this house, my mom and me. I’m beginning to suspect that something is not right. I had $45 in my wallet last night and only $25 this morning.

How would I go about confronting her? What if I’m wrong and accidentally spent it and just don’t remember? Yet that can’t be, because I took a picture of the $45 last night. I have it right here on my phone. So, I will lay a trap. I will set up my camcorder to record all night long. I need to find out what is going on.

That afternoon I set up the camcorder behind my collection of CDs. I have it pointed at my dresser where my wallet sits every night. I’ve added $20 so I’m back to $45.

My mom and I have dinner. She is great at cooking tacos but not so much on everything else. I notice as we’re eating and discussing our day that she seems exhausted. I mention this to her and she says she hasn’t slept well in about six months. “Don’t you think you should go to the doctor and get that checked out?” I inquired.

“I’ve set up appointments, but I’ve missed four in a row because I always end up falling asleep in the car when I’m about to go in,” she said.

“What do you mean?” I inquired.

“I’ve prepared for my appointment, I drive there, but it’s like as soon as I get to the parking lot, I’m so tired I can barely keep my eyes open,” she explains.

I questioned her, “This has happened four times?” At that point, I am beginning to grow concerned.

“Yes, I didn’t want to worry you. I always wake up refreshed, but my appointment was hours ago. So I come home,” she said nonchalantly.

“Make another appointment and I will have you write me a note so I can get out of class. I will drive you, because we need to get this figured out before I head off to college in the fall,” I said.

“Ok, I will make the appointment tomorrow,” she said with a smile.

We finished supper and clean the kitchen. My mom proceeds to kick my ass at Jeopardy as she does every night. I’m amazed at how smart she is. I then work on my homework until it’s my bedtime.

Before I crawl into bed, I turn on the camcorder. I try hard not to fall asleep, and sure enough about one in the morning I hear my door open. In the mirror that is on my wall I can see my mom taking money out of my wallet. At that moment I jump out of bed, flick on the light and yell “What are you doing? Hey, I’m talking to you? Hey mom!”

Yet she does not reply. I even stand in front of her and wave my hands. She isn’t even aware I’m here.

“Mom are you ok? Mom?” She does nothing so I step aside, and she starts to walk out of my bedroom. She is headed for the front door. I notice that she is in pants, a hoodie, and her flip flops. I throw on shorts and my sneakers and I grab my jacket as I step outside.

“Mom where are you going?” Yet nothing, so I follow her. She walks at a slow meandering pace. I’m only a few steps behind her as she goes into the local gas station.

“Right on time Mrs. Banner.” says the clerk.

“Hi,” I say, “What do you mean right on time?”

“You gambling with your mom tonight? That seems to be a first.” said the clerk.

“My mom doesn’t gamble, what are you talking about?” I reply.

“What do you mean your mom doesn’t gamble, she is here every night, and a winner at that,” said the clerk suspiciously.

During this time my mom had sat down at a buffalo slot machine and was feeding money into it.

“My mom comes here every night is that what you’re saying?” I inquired.

“Yes, like clockwork. She never talks to me. She just concentrates very hard on that machine,” he said pointing at the Buffalo machine.

I’m looking around in disbelief. “What the fuck?” slips out quietly.

“She is always very happy and smiles a lot when she cashes out, even a real good tipper once in a while.” The clerk says with a smile.

Just then I hear “Buffalos Buffalos” and the clinking of coins. Both the clerk and I walk over to see that she has hit a jackpot worth $500.

“She must have a spiritual connection with this machine because the station has kept track and she is the only one who wins off this machine.” Says the clerk as he points to my mom. As the payout ticket is printed, she grabs it and walks to the clerk’s counter where she stands patiently.

“Mom, Mom can you hear me?” I scream.

The clerk counts out the money and a great big smile appears on her face. A $20 bill is put into the tip jar.

“Goodnight Mrs. Banner, see you tomorrow.” The clerk says as he waves goodbye.

I look at the clerk and say, “I think she is sleepwalking.”

“You mean sleep winning. Goodnight,” said the clerk as he wiped the counter.

It is only then I realize my mom has already left the gas station and is heading back towards home. I follow behind and as we get to the house she heads to the garage. She unlocks the side door with the key from under the mat. She enters and flips on the light and walks back to our old broken refrigerator that we have been meaning to throw away for a good year and opens it up.

She then pulls out a Rubbermaid storage container, opens it and puts the money inside. She puts the container back and closes the door to the fridge. She then proceeds to open the freezer, grabs a clipboard and writes something. The clipboard goes back into the freezer, and she closes the door. She then starts heading back to the exit. I get around her and go out first. She locks the door and heads towards the house. Once inside she goes to her bedroom where she takes off her flip flops and crawls into bed.

I’m thinking to myself what the hell did I just witness? So, I go back to the fridge in the garage and open it. There must be 50 Rubbermaid containers completely full of money. I can’t believe my eyes. I pull out the clipboard from the freezer, and on the clipboard the paper says Money for Martin’s College. I can see there are dollar amounts in each line. The additional $480 brought the total amount up to $75,821. I let out a gasp. This can’t be real. It was real alright as I spent the next hour counting. It totaled $75,821 exactly.

The next morning as I was preparing for school my mom said, “I will call and set up an appointment today.”

I thought hard and with a smile on my face I said, “You know what mom, why don’t you wait until school is over in a few months? That way I won’t have to miss any days.”

— Nicole Barden 2/1/2021

Originally published in Blue Insights on Medium