My brother actually laughed at dinner and said, ‘I sold that useless laptop of yours for five hundred bucks. Finally got rid of your junk.’ My cousins cheered him on. Then he added, almost proudly, ‘Already handed it off to the buyer.’ I got up, stepped outside, and called my supervisor. By the time I made the report, the FBI cyber team was already tracking the device…

I.”

That landed. Not enough, but some.

Farther down the hall a neighbor opened a door and took out trash while pretending not to stare.

Mom lowered her voice. “Your father says the sentence could be four or five years.”

“It could.”

She blinked hard. “That’s his children’s whole childhood.”

“And what was my whole adulthood?” I asked. “A warm-up act?”

The casserole continue reading …