Chương 3
“That is his full name.”
“What school?”
“Ours.”
Tasha shook her head.
“No, he transferred.”
Devon looked at her.
“What?”
“He transferred in March.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he was in Ms. Hanley’s media class for like three weeks.”
Devon frowned as if that information offended him personally.
“He told me he still went there.”
“He doesn’t.”
James held Devon’s phone out.
“Unlock the messages.”
“It is unlocked.”
“Show me everything.”
Devon got to his feet.
“Dad, come on.”
“Everything.”
“There’s personal stuff in there.”
James’s mouth tightened.
“You lost privacy when you used somebody else’s property to make yourself money.”
Renee looked at him.
“James.”
He exhaled through his nose.
“Fine.”
He handed the phone back to Devon.
“You open the thread and show me the messages with Malik.”
Devon hesitated.
Then he did.
Tasha watched his thumb move too fast.
“Stop scrolling,” she said.
“I’m trying to find it.”
“You passed his name.”
Devon froze.
James saw it too.
“Go back.”
Devon scrolled upward.
There was a thread labeled M.
Not Malik.
Just M.
Tasha moved closer before Devon could angle the screen away.
The most recent visible message had been sent at 8:14 that morning.
You got my money.
Below it was a reply from Devon.
Tonight.
Then nothing.
James held out his hand again.
This time Devon surrendered the phone immediately.
James scrolled upward slowly.
Tasha watched his face change in small increments.
Confusion first.
Then anger.
Then something heavier.
“What money?” he asked.
Devon’s shoulders stiffened.
“It’s not what you think.”
“That sentence usually means it is exactly what I think.”
Renee came closer.
James turned the phone so she could see.
There were messages about amounts.
Two hundred.
Four hundred.
Six fifty.
Then eight hundred.
Tasha swallowed.
“This was before my computer.”
Devon said nothing.
James looked at him.
“How much do you owe this boy?”
“I don’t owe him.”
“Then why is he asking you for money?”
“It’s complicated.”
“It is becoming less complicated by the second.”
Renee sat on the edge of the desk chair.
Her face had gone pale.
“Devon.”
He looked at her.
She spoke more quietly than James.
“Did you borrow money from him?”
Devon shook his head.
“Not exactly.”
“Did he give you money?”
“Yeah.”
“For what?”
Devon looked toward the window.
James stepped into his line of sight.
“For what?”
“It was supposed to be an investment.”
Tasha almost laughed again, but this time the word frightened her.
“What investment?”
Devon’s jaw clenched.
“Sneakers.”
James stared at him.
Devon rushed on.
“Limited releases.”
“No,” James said.
“I could buy pairs through a guy Malik knew and resell them.”
“No.”
“I did it twice.”
James pointed at the phone.
“You did not make money twice.”
“I did at first.”
“How much?”
“Like four hundred.”
“And then?”
Devon looked away.
Tasha saw it before he said anything.
The shame.
The anger at being ashamed.
The stubbornness that had kept him digging.
“The third order fell through.”
James’s voice went flat.
“How much?”
“Six hundred.”
Renee pressed her lips together.
“And Malik covered you?”
Devon nodded.
Tasha leaned against the desk.
Her knees felt weak.
“So you stole my computer because your sneaker scam failed.”
“It wasn’t a scam.”
“You lost six hundred dollars.”
“I was fixing it.”
“With my computer.”
“I was gonna buy it back.”
“With what?”
Devon turned on her.
“I don’t know, Tasha.”
The sudden volume made Renee flinch.
Devon immediately lowered his voice.
“I don’t know.”
That was the first honest thing he had said.
Tasha hated how much worse it made everything feel.
James looked at the messages again.
“Why does Malik say eight hundred?”
Devon didn’t answer.
James scrolled.
“Six became eight.”
He looked at his son.
“What happened?”
Devon licked his lips.
“There was a fee.”
“A fee.”
“He said because I was late.”
James gave a single nod.
Not agreement.
Calculation.
“And you believed him.”
Devon looked offended.
“I didn’t have a choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did.”
“You don’t get it.”
James’s head lifted.
“Then explain it.”
Devon opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
He sat back down.
His phone was still in James’s hand, and without it he looked younger.
Tasha noticed the frayed cuff of his dark pants and remembered their mother asking him last week if he needed new ones.
He had said no.
At the time, she had thought he was trying to act independent.
Now she wondered how long he had been hiding money problems from all of them.
Renee folded her hands in her lap.
“Did Malik threaten you?”
Devon’s eyes flicked toward her.
That was enough.
James moved closer.
“What did he say?”
“Nothing.”
“Devon.”
“He didn’t threaten me.”
“Did somebody else?”
“No.”
Tasha watched him pick at a loose thread on the bedspread.
“Did he come here?”
Devon looked at her.
“No.”
“Did he know where we live?”
Devon didn’t answer.
James went still.
Renee stood up.
“Does he know where we live?”
“He picked me up once.”
“When?” James asked.
“Last month.”
“From this house?”
“From the corner.”
“That is this house, Devon.”
“I didn’t tell him the number.”
“He has eyes.”
James rubbed one hand over the back of his neck.
He turned toward the hallway.
For a moment Tasha thought he was leaving.
Instead, he closed the bedroom door.
The click sounded worse than a slam.
“Nobody contacts Malik right now.”
Devon stood.
“He has my computer.”
James looked at Tasha.
“We don’t know that.”
“Yes, we do.”
“No, we know Devon gave it to him.”
“That means he has it.”
“It means he had it.”
The correction landed painfully.
Tasha looked at the empty desk.
Her monitor sat there useless, reflecting the four of them in the dark screen.
She saw herself in the middle of the reflection, shoulders hunched, one hand wrapped around the other wrist.
“What do we do?” she asked.
May you like
James did not answer immediately.
That scared her more than anything.
