| Dream where I’m this man and also not him throwing up a snake out of his mouth People all driving loud cars to the barn at grandparents’ house They made us eat a snake? Or turn into one? Also something with school Not putting the desk back right Jamie F is in my class I’m doing a bad job | |
Too stoned, midnight, check email. Checking account frozen, add it to the Citi cards, Chase cards, Discover card, Care Credit, hospital collections, personal loan, Wells Fargo student loan, Wells Fargo card, Nelnet student loans. Panic calling Nathan, telling him everything, saying “I didn’t even think it was a secret.” He’s kind. Pace around the living room ‘til the sun comes up. The cat watches. | |
Dream where main thing I remember is stuck spear in roof of mouth | |
Checking is in auto charge-off mode after 30 days/by June 4th, charge-off and automatically close. Balance -816.67. | |
Tell T & J about the debt. Promise to pay rent before anything else. They say don’t worry about rent for 3 months, no rent all summer, try to pay it back in 2 years. | |
Statute of limitations defense. Third party debt buyer suit. (They won’t have paperwork.) (If anyone files suit—don’t respond) No garnishing wages. Legal aid can help with that. No assets=judgment proof. | |
Dream where Aunt Julie sees my Gmails and is so mad at me and I am in trouble She cries and is nice to me eventually | |
From Mom: “I’ve been thinking about your finances. If there is any way to avoid filing bankruptcy I think you should. It takes years for that to come off your record. But, so does any bad credit. Hopefully, you will be employed soon.” | |
Drive to Virginia for Nathan’s grandmother’s burial. Nathan sees a fawn playing beyond the cemetery, across a field, near the woods. It’s nice out. The fawn’s mom comes over, tells it to follow her to the woods. They go. The man in the American flag tie films them on his phone. The diner has three types of french fry (curly, waffle, hand cut). | |
| I ask the internet: “how do i find a good bankruptcy lawyer” Reddit user deliriumb32 answered two and a half years ago: “How do you know if you found a “good” attorney? 1. Does the attorney listen carefully to what you say? 2. Do you meet with the ATTORNEY in person (not over the phone, not someone in another state, not a paralegal)? 3. Do you feel comfortable with that attorney? 4. Does the attorney answer your questions thoroughly? 5. Does the attorney’s firm feel well-organized and professional? 6. Are the people in the attorney’s firm friendly and easy to speak to? 7. Does there appear to be a process that is organized and well-designed (or is it haphazard and a bit scattered)?” deliriumb32 asks: “Does the attorney sound confident?” | |
Mom: “Why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Me: “I didn’t want you to talk about me the way you talk about Aunt Julie.” Mom: — | |
List obligations, discharge them. Takes four months or so. –Liquidation: slim debt, list and value property –Income based –Credit, public record 10 yrs –2 yrs pre mortgage –Send documents in email w my name as subject line –Send forms –Guide for what to gather –1500 for lawyer (from Nathan) –25 to open new checking acct –25 counseling –Court fees? Included? –Cash only | |
| Dream where I’m sitting between my grandparents on their bed everyone in pajamas watching TV feeling v safe v important Stand up worried Grandmother has to get up out of bed Am in the bathroom Shit is everywhere All over clothes, all over bathroom can’t hide it How did this happen who can I tell | |
From Mom: “I hate it for you :’(” | |
Dream where at a wedding can’t find my friends Tell a man the groom used to be married to an old friend, by the time I remember they only dated I can’t find him to fix things What if he tells everyone and they make me leave | |
Official Form 106A/B Schedule A/B: Property 12/15 In each category, separately list and describe items. List an asset only once. If an asset fits in more than one category, list the asset in the category where you think it fits best. Be as complete and accurate as possible. If two married people are filing together, both are equally responsible for supplying correct information. If more space is needed, attach a separate sheet to this form. On the top of any additional pages, write your name and case number (if known). Answer every question. Part 1: Describe Each Residence, Building, Land, or Other Real Estate You Own or Have an Interest In | |
I live in an apartment J&T built for me in their basement. | |
Part 2: Describe Your Vehicles | |
K’s living on a boat, and she is letting me borrow her Prius right now. | |
Part 3: Describe Your Personal and Household Items | |
A bed and tables and art my grandpa made, a table my dad refinished, a clay chicken cooker my great-grandpa made, a rug from eBay, clothes from the thrift store, a brown dress with white polka dots my mom cried when she gave me bc she’d never wear it again it looks like the one from where George Costanza is gross to Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, a print of cheetahs hanging out in the jungle that my mom had in her room when she was a teen and when I visited my friend’s house for the first time in Albuquerque she had it on her wall and turns out her mom had the same one. | |
Do you own or have any legal or equitable interest in any of the following items? 13. Non-farm animals Examples: Dogs, cats, birds, horses | |
Yes. | |
Describe….. | |
Cat, but the lawyer says you can’t take her. | |
Current value of the portion you own? | |
The lawyer writes $10.00. | |
Calculate your current monthly income for the year. | |
$666.25 from nannying L. He is T and J’s 18-month-old. I don’t claim this on my taxes. Can someone come after me for that? | |
Do any creditors have nonpriority unsecured claims against you? | |
Yes. | |
Total Nonpriority. Add lines 6f through 6i. | |
$41,803.72. | |
Bankruptcy crimes have serious consequences | |
I file on June 15, the day after my Aunt Julie’s birthday. Julie’s birthday is Flag Day. She always has a strawberry cake on her birthday. I don’t go to her party this year. I don’t remember the last time I did. Julie was the first Gemini I ever knew. She’d say, “Geminis and Scorpios don’t get along.” She’d take me to the 7-11 at midnight for a box of macaroni and cheese and I’d ask “Do stores stay open this late?” We once ate fried chicken on her rich boyfriend’s roof. I’m a Scorpio; I used to be the only Scorpio I knew. I think she must’ve known I’d worry and told me, “We’re special.” | |
Call my grandma, she asks how old Nathan’s grandmother was. She asks about my graduation party. “I wanted to tell you we are so proud of you.” She tells me about my nephew, how he thinks anyone who’s not at home with him is away at school. | |
Dream where I’m at school all I can remember is being in Spanish class and no one is speaking Spanish but me Make a book where the text runs across the bottom of the pagereally prettyall cursive very hard to write bc I keep accidentally switching to English Yellows and pinks and greens | |
A joke about: –How you have to have a lawyer to file bankruptcy, how you have to pay like $400 in court costs, how it’s always so expensive to be broke. –How every time I run into an old professor or mentor and they ask how my summer’s going I say, “Great! I filed bankruptcy!” and they say, “Oh my god! Good for you!” and all my classmates say, “Let me know how it goes, I might ask you for some advice soon.” –How the day I file, my credit score goes up 80 points. | |
Ask for a message in a dream about my grandparents, it happens, three dreams folded into each other. Wake up in the night too scared to open eyes because it’s too early to be awake. Promise I’ll remember. I don’t recall a thing. |
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Brittany Price is a harm reductionist who lives in Durham, North Carolina. She writes in workshops at Night School Bar. Her work is forthcoming in Mayday Magazine.
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image: MM Kaufman
Rejection Letters 