Chapter One

Belinda James just left her waitress job and was on her way home. It would take her thirty minutes only because her car broke down two weeks ago and she just doesn’t have the cash to have it fixed just now. She had other pressing matters.

Her son, Tim. He is twelve and a special-ed student. She found out he had ADD (attention deficit disorder) when he was six. That was also when his father, Blake, threw his hands in the air and walked out on them both. Now it was her and Tim against the world.

At twenty-six, Belinda looked closer to thirty-five as the years that went by were taking a toll on her looks and her body. She stopped dating two years ago simply because she felt unattractive and the men she dated only wanted one thing from her and it wasn’t a relationship.

Now, to make matters even worse, her boss, Jacob, told her he had to lay her off as he was going to have to close the restaurant down due to all the fear spreading around because of that virus in China, that, and a few people out in California or Washington have seemed to catch the bug. That news just didn’t set well for her. On the way home, she couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down her face.

Without her job, she would lose her insurance. Lose the insurance and she wouldn’t be able to afford Tim being in a special class. Without a job, she would have no way to pay the rent or even buy groceries.

When she finally got to the apartment where her and Tim lived, she pushed the key in the front lock and said, “Why did all this have to happen now. It’s just not right.”