They said if I couldn't pay by the end of the month, they'd chop off one of his fingers each month. Once he was out of fingers, they'd use the other methods they'd mentioned to collect their money.
$700,000—$170,000 in interest per year. It was high but still within legal limits.
No matter where I went to complain, it wouldn't help.
They weren't even worried about me making an issue out of what they were doing to Blake. They already had a fall guy lined up to take the heat if anything happened.
All they wanted was to make one thing clear: I needed to get rid of any thoughts of escaping this and just pay up.
Otherwise, we'd never know peace.
During that time, I took care of Blake during the day and worked at night.
Though his physical injury was healing, his spirits were low. I knew he didn't want to be a burden on me.
One night, I stopped Blake from jumping off a building.
He broke down in tears that night.
With $15,000 in monthly interest, plus daily expenses and costs for his mom and sister, we needed at least $20,000 a month just to get by.
Under those conditions, coming up with $700,000 was next to impossible.
But I'm stubborn by nature.
Once I set my mind on something, I wouldn't give up.
From that day on, I did whatever I could to make money.
Hauling bricks and giving massages.
Being a bridesmaid at weddings and mourning at funerals.
Selling drinks at bars and singing at karaoke houses.
As long as it didn't involve selling my body or breaking the law, I did it.
In my best month, I made $50,000.
Surviving on less than four hours of sleep a night, I lived like this for six years.
Just as I was about to hit that $700,000 mark, my body finally gave out.
I knew I couldn't keep putting it off. That day, I found the jade bracelet my grandmother had left me in my bag.
It was something her grandmother had passed down to her, and it was the only keepsake my grandmother left me.
When that keepsake turned into stacks of cash, I couldn't hold back my tears any longer.
I broke down in tears.
"No, you have to go get the bracelet back right now. I can't let you lose the last piece of your family because of me."
Even though I hadn't brought Blake with me, I couldn't hide it from him.
"I didn't sell it forever; I only pawned it.