Carla's Vacation

Abstract

Carla is at a crossroads. She's in dire financial straits and seriously considering leaving her husband of 20 years. A group of her friends has invited her to vacation with them at the annual revival of a megachurch south of where she lives, and Carla desperately wants to go with them to have a chance to think and pray, but she needs at least $400 for the trip, and her options are once again asking for a loan from one of the families she cleans for (which she's embarrassed to do) or getting a loan from a payday lender. Wondering what she might do to make more money and reduce her expenses, Carla begins talking to the people in her life about creating a budget. Excerpt UVA-F-1920 Rev. Feb. 10, 2020 Carla's Vacation Introduction Carla couldn't believe she was back here again. As she pulled her old Chevy into the parking lot of the strip mall not far from her family's apartment, she grew even more apprehensive than she had been the last time. Once she parked, she stared up at the sign reading Cash Now at Clark's Loan & Jewelry and a part of her wanted to turn around and head home. But Carla didn't know where else to go. She had exhausted every lead imaginable for the cash she needed, and she had convinced herself that the vacation she had planned with her friends was too important to miss. After all, she rationalized, it wasn't as though she was heading to the Caribbean to soak up the sun on the beach—though she often dreamed of escaping to a tropical paradise. She was going to the annual revival at Olive Branch Baptist, a megachurch in Charlotte, North Carolina, about a four-hour drive south from her Virginia hometown. She knew she needed this vacation as much as anything else in her life. She was at a crossroads and wanted to put her faith first as she contemplated ending her 20-year marriage. Her girlfriends had convinced her that Brother Joshua's four-day revival would be far more powerful for her in person than it could ever be on TV or the $ 25 DVD they could bring home for her. Just the thought of a long weekend away from Lester's incessant berating made her feel as calm as the ocean waters she dreamed about. The loan would be worth it—as would selling her grandmother's antique gold earrings, she thought, turning off the car and the gospel music that piped loudly through her car stereo. . . .