Chapter 1: The Day the Numbers Didn't Lie
My name is Kendra, and three hours ago I had a college fund.
I found out it was gone the same way you find out most bad news — by accident.
I was filling out a financial aid form for my second year when the linked account showed a balance of zero.
Not low.
Not reduced.
Zero.
I sat there staring at the screen for about thirty seconds before I called my dad.
He was downstairs.
He came up, glanced at the screen, and went very quiet in the way he does when he's deciding whether to be calm or not.
We went downstairs together.
Felicia was in the kitchen.
My dad asked her, plain and simple, where my college money was.
She didn't flinch.
She said they needed it, and that her son Marcus wanted a nice car to show his friends.
I think I actually laughed.
Not because it was funny.
"You bought him a car with my college money."
"You are not the only child in this family," she said.
"It was a family decision."
My dad's voice dropped in that specific way that means he's done being patient.
"A family decision?
Why didn't we know about it?"
She didn't answer that.
Then I pulled up the account history on my phone.
The car Marcus was driving cost forty thousand dollars.
The account had ninety thousand in it before Felicia touched it.
"Where's the remaining fifty thousand?" my dad asked.
"Dwayne, I can't explain that part right now—"
"You better start now."
That was when Marcus stepped in from the hallway, car keys in hand, looking between all three of us.
"Mom," he said slowly.
"What did you do with the rest?"
Felicia's eyes moved to the window.
For the first time since this started, she had nothing to say.
---
May you like
Where did the other fifty thousand go — and does Marcus already know?
Comment **"TRUTH"** if you want Part 2.
