“I . . . I thought it would be victimless, Jess. When I was there helping Pops move out, I heard some guy talking about how he was going to be out of town and . . . I needed some extra cash. And I must have gotten the apartment number wrong or something . . . I didn’t think it was going to be that big of a deal. I didn’t want to hurt the guy.”

“So, you just broke into his house at night, wanted to steal a couple thousand dollars of his equipment, no big deal. And now this perfectly wonderful person can’t sleep at night because someone came into his home and put a gun in his face and you just get to sit there like a total asshole and tell me you thought it was going to be victimless?”

“I didn’t mean to hurt anyone! You know I’d never hurt anyone in reality. The gun wasn’t even loaded.”

“Jack, you’re such an asshole. Pops’s insurance relies on your job. You shouldn’t be doing anything but waking up in the morning, going to work, coming home, and going to bed. That’s it. But you chose to take the opportunity to try and rob one of his tenants? Which, if you’d gotten caught, could have not only gotten you thrown in jail, but could have lost you your job and my job, and potentially gotten me and Pops tied up as your accomplices? How dumb can you be?”

“We’re not exactly rolling in money, Jess. I—don’t say anything. I know it was stupid. I know it was stupid. I don’t even know what I was thinking.” He drops his head into his hands and tears at his hair. “I didn’t know you were going to fall in love with the guy!”

“Does that even matter, Jack? Does it even matter who loves him? He’s a person. Who didn’t deserve that shit. You used to be decent. When did that change?”

He’s white as a sheet right now and I know exactly why. I’ve never spoken to him like this before. I’ve always been his loyal little sister, on his side when he got into scuffles around the neighborhood, helping him move when he got into it with his landlord, leaving a couple hundred bucks around his house so he’d be able to make rent, making him dinner even when he treats me like shit. But right now I’m dragging him by the ear to the principal’s office. Poor guy probably has whiplash.

“Nothing’s changed, Jess. I’m still me. I just made a mistake.” He sees my face and winces. “A really bad mistake.”

“And now I’m paying the price. And if you get found out, so does Pops. I hope you’re happy now that you’ve made my life so much worse than it had to be.”