


“Good morning, beautiful girl!”
Violet Carvey heard her mom’s chirpy voice as soon as she entered the kitchen.
Her mom, Barbara, was standing over the cramped kitchen counter in their small apartment, fixing a nice tuna sandwich and putting it inside a brown bag.
“Good morning, mom. What are you doing?” Violet replied.
“I’m packing you lunch for school.”
“Mom, I’m not in school anymore. I’ve graduated last month.”
“Oh,” Barbara stopped whatever she was doing immediately. She didn’t remember that her beautiful daughter was already 18 and a high school graduate.
“It’s fine, I’ll take it anyway,” Violet said sweetly. She felt bad about it and grabbed the brown paper bag, stuffing it inside her backpack. “Thanks, mom.”
“You’re welcome,” Barbara smiled. “By the way, what is Dylan doing in the house? Shouldn’t he be in New York right now?”
“Mom, Dylan’s dropped out from college.” Violet explained patiently.
“He did?” Barbara gasped in shock like this was the first time she heard it. “Why?“
Violet let out a sigh. This was not the first time she had to explain to her mom about the things going on around the house.
Ever since Barbara got diagnosed with Alzheimer’s last year, her memory and health had been deteriorating.
Barbara stopped working entirely and Violet’s older brother, Dylan, even dropped out of college and moved back home so he could help them out.
“No reason, he just doesn't think school’s for him,” Violet lied. She knew her mom would feel bad if she told her the real reason.
The Carvey family had been struggling financially for the past several years, especially since Violet’s father died. Life hadn’t always been this difficult for them, especially when Violet was young.
She was actually born into a middle-upper class family.
James Carvey was a successful businessman in a small town in New Jersey.
Violet and Dylan enjoyed a wonderful lifestyle growing up, but everything changed when Violet was thirteen years old.
Her father wanted to expand his business, and he made a bad business deal with some powerful people in Italy.
These people ended up bankrupting her father’s business. It got so bad that her father had to borrow money from so many people just so the family could stay afloat.
In the end, Violet’s father had to sell their three-story home, all their cars and assets, and they moved into a small rental apartment in Newark.
It didn’t help that James fell ill and he couldn’t work to support his family.
Barbara had to step up and work at the factories.
And finally, James Carvey couldn’t take it anymore.
One day, he said he was going to the store, but he ended up crashing the car down the cliff on the highway.
He died leaving his family with a mountain of debt and some insurance money.
As soon as Violet turned fourteen, she started working at ice cream stores or coffee shops to help out the family.
Dylan, who was two years older, started working at a local bar owned by their father’s old friend, The Union.
Once Dylan turned 18, he got a scholarship to study at Fordham.
Barbara was so happy for him and he promised that he’d get a good education so their family could go back to the way it was.
Unfortunately, only two years later, Barbara’s health began to decline with Alzheimer's.