Chương 12
Tasha opened her cloud drive and waited.
The loading wheel spun.
Her heart began beating faster.
Folders appeared.
School.
Work.
Applications.
Animations.
She tapped the animation folder.
Three projects loaded.
The fourth did not.
She refreshed.
Nothing.
“No.”
Renee came closer.
“What?”
“My final project is not here.”
“The one for the scholarship?”
Tasha nodded.
Her mouth went dry.
James looked over.
“When is it due?”
“Monday.”
Today was Saturday.
He stared at her.
“Can you redo it?”
Tasha almost snapped at him.
Then she saw he was actually asking.
“No.”
“How much is missing?”
“About six weeks.”
Renee covered her mouth.
Devon whispered, “I didn’t know.”
Tasha turned toward him.
“Stop saying that.”
“I mean it.”
“That is not helping.”
“I know.”
“Then stop.”
He nodded.
Tasha searched the cloud folder again.
Maybe she had uploaded a copy under another name.
Maybe the software had automatically synced something.
Maybe the external backup drive was still in the desk drawer.
She dropped to her knees and yanked the bottom drawer open.
Pens.
Receipts.
A packet of screen-cleaning wipes.
A USB hub.
No drive.
She pulled everything out.
“Where is it?”
Devon’s face changed.
Tasha froze.
“No.”
“I thought it was part of the computer stuff.”
“You took my backup drive?”
“I didn’t know what it was.”
“Where is it?”
“In the box.”
“What box?”
“The headset box.”
Her hands went cold.
“You gave Malik my backup drive?”
“I thought it was an adapter.”
Tasha stood so fast the chair rolled backward.
“You thought it was an adapter.”
“I didn’t know.”
“You did not know anything.”
“Tasha.”
“You did not know what the computer was worth.”
“I knew.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“I did.”
“You didn’t know where it was going.”
He lowered his eyes.
“You didn’t know who Malik really was.”
“I know.”
“You didn’t know what was on the drive.”
“I know.”
“You didn’t know the tickets were real.”
“I know.”
“You didn’t know if the account could get me in trouble.”
“Tasha.”
“You just kept not knowing and kept doing things anyway.”
Devon stood.
“What do you want from me?”
“I want my work back.”
“I can’t give you that.”
“I know.”
She hated herself for how cruelly she said it.
Devon flinched.
Renee stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Tasha grabbed her phone and walked into the hallway.
James followed.
“Tasha.”
She kept walking.
He caught up near the stairs.
“Hey.”
“What?”
“Do not go anywhere.”
“I am going to the kitchen.”
“Okay.”
She descended without waiting.
The groceries were still spread across the counters.
Milk sweated beside a bag of onions.
A carton of eggs sat near the sink.
Tasha opened the refrigerator and began putting things away because she could not think of anything else to do.
James joined her.
He took the milk.
She took it from him.
“I can do it.”
“I know.”
“Then let me.”
He stepped back.
She put away cheese, yogurt, lettuce, juice.
Her hands moved automatically.
James leaned against the counter.
After a while he said, “I should have noticed.”
Tasha closed the refrigerator.
“What?”
“Devon.”
She looked at him.
James stared at the grocery receipt in his hands.
“The money.”
“The lying.”
“The way he was acting.”
“You did notice.”
“Not enough.”
“That is not how noticing works.”
He looked at her.
“You sound like your mother.”
“I’ll try to recover.”
That earned a tired laugh.
Tasha opened another bag.
Frozen chicken.
Waffles.
A box of ice cream sandwiches already beginning to soften.
She put them away.
James stayed where he was.
“Are you mad at me?”
The question surprised her.
“For what?”
“I don’t know.”
“That is Devon’s line.”
“Fair.”
She closed the freezer.
“I’m mad at everybody.”
“Also fair.”
“You included.”
“I figured.”
“You are acting like this is a project.”
His eyebrows drew together.
“What?”
“Serial number, receipts, police, insurance, passwords.”
“We have to do those things.”
“I know.”
“But?”
Tasha looked at him.
“I don’t need you to fix everything.”
His face changed.
The sentence had landed harder than she expected.
She continued before she lost courage.
“I need you to be mad that it happened.”
“I am.”
“You keep making lists.”
James looked down at the receipt.
“I make lists when I’m mad.”
“I know.”
He folded it again.
Then stopped.
Slowly, he flattened it against the counter.
“I am furious.”
Tasha looked away.
“He took from you.”
James’s voice stayed quiet.
“He took from your mother.”
“He lied to my face.”
Tasha swallowed.
“And I still don’t want his life ruined.”
James nodded.
“That part makes me angrier.”
“Why?”
“Because it would be easier if I could just be done with him for today.”
Tasha looked at him.
He rubbed both hands over his face.
“He is my son.”
His voice cracked slightly on the last word.
“I want to shake him.”
He stared at the counter.
“I also want to make sure he eats dinner.”
Tasha felt tears rise again and hated them.
James looked at her.
“That is the part nobody tells you about family.”
“What?”
“You can be furious enough to throw somebody out and still wonder if they remembered a jacket.”
Tasha wiped her cheek.
“You should put that on a mug.”
“Too many words.”
She laughed despite herself.
James reached toward her, then stopped.
Tasha stepped into him before she had time to decide whether she wanted to.
He wrapped both arms around her.
For several seconds she let herself be seventeen.
Not a victim.
Not an owner proving ownership.
Not a sister deciding consequences.
Just a girl whose father smelled faintly like laundry detergent and the mint gum he always chewed in the car.
Then his phone rang.
Neither of them moved at first.
It rang again.
James released her and checked the screen.
Officer Morales stood in the dining room at the same moment, phone pressed to her ear.
Her eyes met James’s.
She ended the call.
“We found the storage facility.”
May you like
Tasha straightened.
“Is the unit still there?”
