Read Online If You Only Knew by M. William Phelps - Free Book Online Page A

clothes.
    It certainly seemed Billie Jean was celebrating Don’s death and couldn’t wait until he was out of the picture. Yet, when one took a close look at the credit card statement Billie Jean and Don shared over the past year, what emerged was a woman who liked to spend her husband’s money all along. She had withdrawn thousands upon thousands of dollars in cash advances at two places: the MGM Grand and Motor City casinos in Detroit. Many times, on the same night, she’d withdraw five hundred dollars, which came with a $30.99 transaction fee, or one thousand dollars, which came with a $51.99 transaction fee. In many instances throughout the year leading up to Don’s death, the transaction fees alone every month added up to thousands of dollars. Reading the statements, studying the times and dates, you could almost see her walking up to the window for the cash advance, telling herself, This is it ... last time tonight —only to be back at the window an hour or two later after blowing through the five hundred or one thousand dollars. Don had a twelve-thousand-dollar limit on the shared card, and it was a good thing. Because as the year 2000 came, and Billie Jean continued to gamble, she’d hit that limit or close to it every month. It’s clear that she hardly ever won any money. She was constantly withdrawing.
    Don had taken lots of pride in his net worth. As a businessman, he had worked his ass off all his life to build it up, bolstering it with investments, until it grew into an amount he could retire comfortably with. Now his money was fading away at what seemed to be an uncontrollable pace. With no one there to monitor it or pester her about it, Billie could not get a handle on her spending in those days after Don’s death.
    While walking the lot, looking to buy Billie Jean’s Caddy, Vonlee had spotted a Buick Riviera she liked. As they drove back to the dealer to pick up the Caddy, Billie Jean said, “You want me to buy you that car, Vonlee?”
    Vonlee was a mess. She’d been back to drinking heavily and taking pills; she wanted to forget about what had happened to Don. In her mind, she kept going back to that night they returned to the house: What actually happened? What could I have done?
    â€œCome on,” Billie Jean added, “let me buy you that car. It’ll make you feel better.”
    â€œI don’t think anything is going to make me feel better,” Vonlee said.
    Billie Jean pulled into the dealer parking lot.
    â€œI’m telling you, Von, just let me buy you a car—it will make you feel better. Pick out whatever you want.”
    Vonlee thought about it. “Okay,” she said.
    The Riviera Vonlee had eyed days before was still in the lot. The salesman asked Vonlee if she was still interested. He’d noticed Vonlee looking at the vehicle.
    â€œWe are,” Vonlee said. After all, she did not have any money.
    It was a used vehicle. When Billie Jean was finished inside the finance office, she walked out to where Vonlee and the salesman stood talking.
    â€œShe wants it,” Billie Jean said.
    When they returned to the lot to pick up the Riviera, Vonlee had a check for $19,834.90. The salesman looked at it. Billie Jean’s name was on the check.
    â€œYou okay with this?” he asked, just to make sure. She was standing next to Vonlee.
    â€œOf course,” she answered. To Vonlee: “Now you forget about everything, you hear me? Just forget it happened. Pretend it never happened, Von.”
    The salesman stood and watched as Billie Jean drove away in her new Cadillac, with Vonlee following right behind in her used white Riviera.

CHAPTER 13
    WHEN BILLIE JEAN WENT to Scott, her future son-in-law, for the money to buy the new cars, he explained as her financial advisor that she might want to wait. Maybe think about it some more. She was grieving. People did strange things in order to deal with the death of a loved one.