Chapter 4

The next day was a Sunday, the traditional day of rest. Mike decided to take it easy, despite the excitement he felt welling up from somewhere deep inside of him. For what seemed like forever he had felt like he was trying to pick up the pieces of his life, and then the last piece had fallen. Now he felt like he was building a new life for himself, one that held some glimmer of promise.

Mike woke up early and went out for breakfast. In truth, he really hadn't needed to work since his family had died. All three of them had carried life insurance, and after the costs of the funeral there had been several thousand dollars left over. Mike could never bring himself to spend it, though. A disturbing thought replayed itself in his mind when he though about using the remainder of the money, the thought that he was benefiting from their deaths. Though he knew it was irrational and that his parents, sensible people, would have wanted him to use the money did not matter. He had started an account at a local savings and loan the day after the funeral with the remainder of the life insurance money and at the time he planned to leave the money there forever.

Mike went to the savings and loan after a nice quiet breakfast of sausage and eggs at the diner on the corner of his street. He was experiencing a lightheartedness that he hadn't felt in ages. It felt ok that he should use some of the life insurance money now. 'Hell, ' he thought, 'I don't really have a choice.' His last paycheck from the movie theater had been spent on the gun he bought to kill himself with, and if he was going to uproot himself and move somewhere distant he would need some money to do it with. Not to mention living expenses until then.

He walked into the small lobby of the building. It was empty, so Mike walked up to the head of the line, and smiled at the teller. She was young, and kind of cute.

"Hi. I started an account here last year, and I guess I just need to know the balance." She smiled back at him. Mike glanced at her nametag. It read "Janice".

"Alright, sir. Do you know your account number?" Janice asked. He shook his head in negation.

"Ok. Can I get your name and social security number, then?" He gave her the information, which she typed into her computer terminal. His account came up on her screen. The computer system took six seconds longer than it normally took to access an account. Janice didn't notice. Her eyes widened when she saw the balance, and she looked at the young man in front of her with more interest than before. "Can I see some ID, please?"

"Sure," he replied. Mike pulled out his driver license and placed it on the counter in front of them. The teller picked it up and examined it, matching it to the information on the terminal in front of her.

"Alright sir, here is your balance." She wrote it on a piece of paper and slid it across to him. He looked down at the scrap of paper, and his eyes widened. It read $136,913.26. This was easily three times as much as he thought was in there. He had thought the lawyer had said there was something like forty thousand after the funeral, but he must have misheard. Banks did not make errors this large.

Mike was still a little puzzled. He remembered bringing the check to the savings and loan and starting the account, but little else. He had been in a haze of shock and depression at the time. He had no way to check if there was an error or not. He had fallen out of touch with the lawyer, who had moved his offices to some other city, and he recalled throwing away all the paperwork he had received when he started the account in a fit of self-loathing.

He shrugged it off. If there were a problem the bank would correct it. He reminded himself that banks did not make errors this large, or they would go out of business. Mike thought that he must have misremembered how much money he had deposited. He looked back up at the pretty teller.

"I'd like to withdraw two-thousand dollars, please. And I would like to set up a checking account linked to my savings so that I can use a debit card if that's possible."

"Ok. Let me withdraw your cash, and then we can discuss the checking account."

In under half of an hour his business at the savings and loan was concluded, and Mike left, feeling a bit overwhelmed. He owned over an eighth of a million dollars. If he wanted, he could buy a house, or a new car. Mike usually walked everywhere, or took the bus. He had had a driver license since he was sixteen, but had never had his own vehicle. It didn't make sense to own a car when he was going to school and living on campus, and after that he couldn't afford one. Mike didn't really like the inefficiency of internal combustion engines, either. He smiled. If his research panned out, then maybe he could do something about that.

Mike decided to hold onto his money for now, and see what developed after he called the University on Monday. After all, it wouldn't make sense to buy a car or make any other large purchases until he knew what his plans would be. Having that much money at his disposal made him feel better, though. It was enough money to do almost anything he could imagine.