Read Online Second Time Around by Darrin Lowery - Free Book Online

winners.”
    â€œI see.”
    Figures, she thought.
    â€œYou don’t think we belong here, do you?”
    She spoke as if she had heard this a million times before.
    â€œLet me ask you this, how much money did you win?” Korie decided to be more direct.
    â€œA million dollars, after taxes.”
    â€œAnd how much did you put down on the house?”
    â€œMy husband put down a half-million dollars.”
    Korie thought to herself, a half-million dollars on a house that cost almost three million? This is a setup. This is one of those deals where some finance company probably raped them on the paperwork.
    The taxes alone would have them in bankruptcy court inside of a year. Korie knew they wanted an interior decorator, but they needed a financial advisor. The Underwoods were in over their heads, and had no idea what was in store for them in the immediate future.
    Korie didn’t know a lot about finances, but she did know that there was no way the Underwoods would be able to maintain a mortgage on a three-million-dollar home. She wondered why no one had talked to them before about the mistake they were making. They shouldn’t have even been able to get financing on a home like this.
    Korie remembered something that he used to tell her all the time. A million dollars is not a lot of money. A million dollars is nothing if you don’t make it work for you. That’s what he would say.
    â€œSo, will you help us decorate the house?” Mrs. Underwood asked.
    â€œNo. No, I’ll do something better for you.”
    â€œBut I—”
    â€œTrust me, sister, the last thing you need right now is an interior decorator.”
    Korie wanted to call him. She wanted his advice. Truth be told, she just wanted to hear his voice. This situation would be the perfect excuse to call him. After all, he was the educated one, the one that was financialy savvy.
    It had been years since they last spoke. She still had his number in her phone and wondered if it had changed. She would never call him. She was too proud for that, but wasn’t too proud, however, to make sure that she kept her same number all these years. Korie might have changed cell phone carriers, but she kept her number. She kept her number because deep down inside she longed for him to call.
    Once they said good-bye, he never called her again. He was too proud, too arrogant. To call her would be a sign of weakness. She too was a strong and proud black woman. She didn’t need a man. She never did. She never would. She may not have had a formal education, but she knew the meaning of hard work. She knew what it meant to struggle and what it meant to go hungry, but one thing she didn’t know how to do was give up. She wanted to use this excuse to call him, but instead she called her girlfriend; she called the one person who always had her back.
    Korie called Jayna and asked her to meet her at the home of the Underwood family. In the meanwhile, Korie continued to tour the grand home. An hour later, Jayna was at the Underwood home. She had the same first impression that Korie had. Jayna knew immediately why Korie called her. Minutes after getting there, she was explaining to Mr. and Mrs. Underwood why putting a half-million dollars down on a three-million-dollar home was foolish.
    Jayna explained that one third of lottery winners who had won a significant amount of money went bankrupt within a few years. She also explained that with a three-million-dollar home, the taxes would eat away at them after the first year alone.
    Jayna explained to Shaniqua and her husband, who was hardly listening, that they needed an attorney, a financial consultant, and above all else, they needed to get out of that home as soon as possible, despite having no equity in it. Shaniqua’s husband wasn’t listening to the advice.
    His position was, we asked you here to decorate, not to lecture us.
    He spoke as if his pride was hurt. He spoke as if he