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dollars?” the woman asked.
    â€œYes, ma’am, I can.” Celeste took both cans to the coin machine. Most banks required customers to roll their coins. Celeste was excited that she got to operate the coin machine.
    She returned three minutes later with a receipt and cash. “Thirty-four dollars and seventeen cents,” Celeste said to the woman.
    The elderly woman looked at Celeste. “You stole my money.”
    Celeste was sure she hadn’t heard the woman correctly. “Excuse me?”
    â€œThere was at least one hundred dollars in pennies in those coffee cans. You bring me thirty-four dollars like I wouldn’t know you stole my money.”
    The bank teller working next to Celeste heard the woman’s complaint and called for their supervisor to come to the teller’s station.
    â€œMiss, I don’t need to steal your money,” Celeste said. “Those were pennies in those cans, not quarters.”
    The woman raised her voice. “I know what was in the cans. I had a hundred dollars’ worth of pennies. Give me my money!”
    Linda Marshall, Celeste’s supervisor, appeared at her side. “Is there a problem, Celeste?”
    The old woman spoke. “Yes, there is a problem. She stole my money. I came in here with two coffee cans full of pennies and she brought me thirty-four dollars and some change.” The woman threw the money Celeste had given her on the counter.
    Celeste was hot. That was the third time the woman accused her of stealing her money. “Look, old lady, I didn’t—”
    â€œCeleste, take a break,” Linda interrupted.
    Celeste looked at her boss. “But, Linda, I didn’t steal her money.”
    Linda smiled at Celeste. “Take a break.”
    Without another word Celeste scolded the old woman with her eyes and walked away. She went into the break room, made herself a cup of tea, and lay on a lounge chair. The old woman had Celeste so wound up, she had to count from one to ten to calm herself.
    She dismissed all thoughts of what had just happened and thought about her situation with Anthony. She could only hope that her intimate time with him over the weekend was beneficial to her womb but deep down inside Celeste knew it wouldn’t be. She had been lying to her husband for so long that Celeste wondered how much longer she could get away with making Anthony believe they were really working on conceiving before he found out the truth.
    The door to the break room opened and Linda entered. “You can go back to your station now, Celeste. The crisis is over.”
    â€œOh, really? Did you give that woman more money?”
    Linda chuckled. “Heck no. That old broad has pulled that stunt before. I think you were on vacation when she tried it last year. She came into the bank with two coffee cans filled with pennies. The teller gave her twenty bucks and a receipt. The old woman acted a fool claiming she had been cheated.”
    Celeste couldn’t believe it. “Are you serious, Linda? What happened?”
    â€œAfter she was shown the surveillance tape of the teller putting the pennies in the coin machine and the machine displaying in big, bold red letters that the total came to twenty dollars, she took her money and left.”
    Celeste shook her head from side to side. “That’s a doggone shame, Linda. But you know what, I bet that old woman was just trying to make ends meet. It’s hard out here. I blame the economy.”
    Linda shrugged her shoulders. “Celeste, the economy may be bad but that doesn’t give that old woman or anyone else an excuse to try to scam a bank.”
    Celeste agreed. “That’s true.”
    Linda left Celeste alone in the break room. Celeste leaned her head back and closed her eyes. Suddenly Ginger’s face appeared in her mind. Celeste immediately jumped up and walked to the employee’s closet to retrieve her cellular phone from her purse. She