barite mine, we were able to continue living in the depot by paying rent
to the mining company, since not a lot of other families were vying for
the place. We now had food in the fridge, at least until it got toward the
end of the month, when we usually ran out of money because neither
Mom nor Dad ever mastered the art of budgeting.
But Mom's salary created a whole new set of problems. While Dad liked
it that Mom was bringing home a paycheck, he saw himself as the head
of the household, and he maintained that the money should be turned
over to him. It was his responsibility, he'd say, to handle the family
finances. And he needed money to fund his gold-leaching research.
"The only research you're doing is on the liver's capacity to absorb
alcohol," Mom said. Still, she found it hard to straight-out defy Dad. For
some reason, she didn't have it in her to say no to him. If she tried, he'd
argue and wheedle and sulk and bully and plain wear her down. So she
resorted to evasive tactics. She'd tell Dad she hadn't cashed her paycheck
yet, or she'd pretend she'd left it at school and hide it until she could
sneak off to the bank. Then she'd pretend she'd lost all the money.
Pretty soon Dad took to showing up at school on payday, waiting outside
in the car, and taking us all straight to Winnemucca, where the bank was
located, so Mom could cash her paycheck immediately. Dad insisted on
escorting Mom into the bank. Mom had us kids come along so she could
try to slip some of the cash to us first. Back in the car, Dad would go
through Mom's purse and take the money out.
On one trip, Mom went into the bank alone because Dad couldn't find a
place to park. When she came out, she was missing a sock. "Jeannette,
I'm going to give you a sock that I want you to put in a safe place," Mom
said once she got in the car. She winked hard at me as she reached inside
her bra and pulled out her other sock, knotted in the middle and bulging
at the toe. "Hide it where no one can get it, because you know how scarce
socks can get in our house."