Chương 1
""Tasha knew the computer was gone before she crossed the bedroom threshold because the blue glow that usually leaked beneath her desk was missing, and in its place hung three black cables like severed nerves.
She stopped so abruptly that the plastic controller case tucked under her arm slipped and struck the hardwood floor.
Devon looked up from the gray bed, saw her face, and then looked back at his phone.
For one strange second, Tasha expected him to laugh and point toward the closet, where the tower would be hidden behind winter coats as part of some stupid joke.
Instead, she stepped toward the empty space under the desk and picked up the loose power cable.
Her fingers began to shake.
“Devon,” she said.
He swiped his thumb across his screen.
“Where is my computer?”
The question came out thinner than she intended.
Devon shifted against the pillows, one ankle resting over the other, as if she had interrupted him during something important.
“I pawned it.”
Tasha stared at him.
He finally lowered the phone.
“I needed the money.”
She heard a lawn mower somewhere beyond the sunlit window, steady and ordinary, and the sound made the room feel unreal.
“You did what?”
“I said I pawned it.”
“No.”
“Tasha.”
“No, you didn’t.”
Devon’s mouth tightened with impatience.
She crossed the room, yanked open the closet, and pushed aside a stack of shoe boxes.
Nothing.
She dropped to one knee and looked under the desk even though a full-size gaming tower could not possibly have disappeared beneath it.
Her headset was there.
Her old keyboard was there.
The braided HDMI cable she had ordered after the cheap one failed was there.
The computer was not.
She stood slowly.
“That PC cost me two thousand dollars.”
Devon rubbed his thumb along the edge of his phone.
“Okay.”
“I worked two years for it.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t know.”
“I literally watched you save for it.”
“You watched me work.”
“Tasha, calm down.”
The phrase hit harder than if he had shouted.
She felt heat flood her face.
Her vision blurred, and she hated that tears had arrived before anger could protect her from them.
She lifted the loose cable in her fist.
“I worked every Saturday at that grocery store while you slept until noon.”
“That was your choice.”
“I missed Kayla’s birthday trip because I needed another three hundred dollars.”
Devon gave a small shrug.
“You still got the computer.”
“Not anymore.”
He exhaled and sat up, annoyance replacing whatever embarrassment he might have felt.
“It’s not gone forever.”
Tasha’s breath caught.
“You said you pawned it.”
“Exactly.”
“So where is the ticket?”
Devon looked at her.
That pause changed the temperature in the room.
Tasha lowered the cable.
“Where is the pawn ticket?”
“I have it.”
“Show me.”
He picked up his phone again.
“Tasha, I’m not doing this.”
She walked to the bed and held out her hand.
“Show me.”
“You’re acting crazy.”
“You stole my computer.”
“We live in the same house.”
“That does not make my things yours.”
“You’re being dramatic.”
She laughed once, but no humor came with it.
The sound frightened even her.
Devon glanced toward the open doorway, checking whether anyone had heard.
Their parents were supposed to be downstairs sorting groceries after a warehouse-store run, and for the first time he looked less relaxed.
Tasha saw it.
Her stomach tightened.
“How much did you get?”
He didn’t answer.
“How much?”
“Enough.”
“For what?”
Devon’s eyes shifted back to his phone.
Tasha stepped closer.
“For what, Devon?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“You took a computer I bought with my own money, and you’re telling me it doesn’t matter?”
“I’m going to get it back.”
“When?”
“Soon.”
“When is soon?”
He stood now, more because he disliked looking up at her than because he intended to leave.
They were almost the same height, but Devon had always carried himself as if being eleven months older gave him permanent seniority.
“Next week.”
“With what money?”
His jaw flexed.
Tasha looked at the concert wristband lying half-hidden beneath a folded hoodie near the edge of the bed.
Bright silver letters caught the daylight.
She knew the logo immediately.
Everyone at school knew it because the tour had sold out in minutes.
Her eyes moved from the wristband to Devon.
“No.”
He followed her gaze.
“Tasha.”
“You sold my computer for concert tickets?”
“It wasn’t just tickets.”
Her mouth fell open.
Devon snatched the wristband and shoved it into his pocket.
“That’s not what happened.”
“What else was it?”
He said nothing.
Tasha’s tears spilled now, hot and humiliating.
She wiped one cheek with the heel of her hand.
“You sold my dream for concert tickets?”
Devon gave a short, disbelieving laugh.
“Your dream?”
“Yes.”
“It’s a computer.”
“It’s not just a computer.”
“That’s exactly the kind of thing you say when you want everything to sound bigger than it is.”
Tasha gripped the cable harder.
She had spent months teaching herself editing software on that machine.
She had entered two student animation contests.
She had started building a portfolio for colleges she had not told anyone she was scared to apply to.
The tower under her desk had been the first expensive thing in her life that belonged entirely to her because she had earned every dollar of it.
Devon knew all of that.
He had complained about the fans running at night while she rendered projects.
He had asked her to design a logo for his basketball group chat.
He had borrowed the monitor twice.
He knew.
“Why?” she asked.
The anger in her voice faded, leaving something quieter.
That seemed to bother him more.
Devon looked away.
“I told you.”
“No, you told me you needed money.”
“I did.”
“For tickets?”
“And other stuff.”
“What other stuff?”
He rubbed a palm over his short curls.
“Why do you care?”
“Because it was mine.”
“We’re family.”
May you like
Tasha stared at him.
Devon spread his hands as though the obviousness of his position should end the argument.
