Chapter 4

"Oh, come on. Jail, schmail. Just be careful and don't get caught by the university. It's not that big a deal!"

Before I could say another word, Uncle Max hung up. The dial tone buzzed in my ear. I let the phone drop and set my jaw. If they wanted to spit in my face after I tried to be civil, then I had no reason to hold back.

Mom came up behind me and patted my back. "Mason, your uncle's not wrong, you know. Just be careful about it. Your cousin worked hard to get into college. We're all family. If we can help, we should. Someday they'll return the favor."

Return the favor? Right. The only favor they had ever returned was shoving me off a building.

Yet I knew that no matter what I said, Mom would tell me to grit my teeth and bear it. She always had.

I said nothing. I just stared at her, my face full of disappointment, and slammed the door on my way out.

When I got back to the apartment, Jared was waiting for me, just as I had expected. His expression was dark with fury.

"So that's what you're up to! Stealing my dad's money is one thing, but now, you're trying to kick me out? Do you have any conscience at all? I'm warning you. If you keep trying to get rid of me, I'll make sure everyone you know turns their back on your family.

"You know what happens if my dad makes a few calls back home, right? Your family's problems will be a whole lot bigger than this."

Uncle Max knew plenty of thugs in their hometown, and he had been riding their coattails for years.

I clenched my teeth so hard that they ached. My parents lived in the city, but no one could predict what those people might do.

That was the real reason Mom always caved. Whenever Uncle Max so much as hinted at rallying the hometown crowd, the threat spoke for itself.

When I did not respond, Jared took my silence as surrender and broke into a smug grin. "Nothing to say now, huh? Oh, and that thesis? The university's already on my case about it. Get it done. If I miss next month's deadline, it's gonna be a real problem for me."

He turned around and went right back to his game.

I stood there, jaw tight.

…

In the days that followed, I quietly sat with a notebook and put together the thesis materials, squeezing in time between sessions to see Chloe.

When Jared saw me working on it, he assumed I had fallen in line for good and could not resist rubbing it in. "See? Being obedient's a good look on you. If you'd just behaved from the start, we wouldn't have had all this drama."

With the thesis seemingly taken care of, Jared threw himself even harder into partying. He went out drinking every night and barely came home at all.

Then one day, he asked how much was left. I told him just the formatting.

"Cool. I've gotta turn it in the day after tomorrow, so pull an all-nighter tonight and wrap it up. Once it's done, I'll have my dad put in a good word for your family back home."

He strolled out the door to go drinking, and I knew my window had arrived.

That night, I hired a moving crew at no small expense. Within two hours, every last thing in the apartment was gone.

I called the landlord to let him know I had moved out. I did not even ask for the deposit back.

By the time Jared stumbled home the next morning, still reeking of last night's drinks, the place was stripped bare.

"Hey, Mason. That kid who says he's your cousin won't leave the apartment."

When the landlord called me, I could already picture the look on Jared's face. "That guy's been harassing me for days. That's why I moved. He's out of his mind. Put him on the phone. I'll talk to him myself."

A second later, Jared's screaming flooded through the speaker. "Where the hell are you? You know my thesis is due! You think you can just disappear on me?"

I held the phone away from my ear and waited for him to run out of steam. Then, at my own pace, I finally said, "Can't graduate? Aw, that's a real shame."

Then I called out the landlord's name, loud enough for Jared to hear, and told him everything left in the apartment was free to toss. The landlord said he understood and would have the place cleared out, then hung up.

He was a local man. Getting rid of one punk who refused to leave was hardly a challenge.