My Cousin Borrowed a Lawsuit

"Maybe she didn't know either—"

"For three months?" I cut in. "The laptop got that slow, and she never noticed? She was editing videos and gaming on it."

Mom went quiet for a second, then her face hardened.

"So you're really gonna ruin your relationship with her over this little bit of money?"

I looked at her, at the disappointment written all over her face, and something cold settled in my chest.

"Mom, it's four thousand dollars. Since when is that 'little money'?"

"You make almost three grand a month, right? Is four thousand really worth tearing the family apart over?" She crossed her arms. "Vivian just started working. She barely makes two grand a month. Making her pay that much would crush her."

I suddenly couldn't breathe right. "Mom, that laptop cost sixty-eight hundred dollars. I'm paying it off in monthly installments. I still owe five-sixty-five every month. The thing isn't even paid off yet, and it's already wrecked. Why shouldn't she pay for it?"

Mom let out a long sigh, her voice softening. "I know this is hard for you. But Vivian's your cousin. I'm worried you'll destroy the relationship. Your aunt spoils her enough already. If you keep pushing this, how are our families supposed to get along afterward? What are people gonna say about you?"

I stared at her. "What are they gonna say?"

"They'll say you're immature. That you're fighting family over money."

"She trashed my property first," I said slowly. "If I let this slide, what's next? My camera? My car? Borrowing money and pretending to forget about it?"

"You really are impossible sometimes!"

"That's enough." I headed for my room. "Stay out of it."

***

The next day at two, Starbucks.

My mom insisted on coming. Said she was "afraid you two would start fighting."

Vivian showed up thirty minutes late.

And she didn't come alone.

Her mom, Aunt Melissa, came with her.

The second Vivian looked at me, I saw zero guilt. Just annoyance and attitude.

Aunt Melissa frowned like I was the one being ridiculous.

Vivian dropped into her seat first. "Lindsay, did you drag me out here to interrogate me?"

"I just want to clear this up."

"What's there to clear up? I already told you, I didn't replace anything!"

"Then how'd every part inside the laptop get swapped?"

Her expression hardened. "What are you trying to say? That I did it on purpose? Like I have nothing better to do?"

"Then explain how this happened."

"How would I know?" Her voice shot up. "I used it normally. It crashed once, so I took it to some repair place downstairs to reinstall the system. That's it."

"Which shop? What was it called?"

"I told you, I don't remember. Just some little repair place. Who memorizes that stuff?"

I slid the inspection report across the table.

Vivian glanced at it but didn't touch it. "I'm not reading that. I wouldn't understand it anyway."

"It's from the authorized service center, stamped and everything. The motherboard assembly, RAM, and SSD were all swapped with cheap used parts."

"You really believe that repair shop crap?" she said with a sneer. "They're obviously trying to scam you."

"This is an authorized service center. Not some random repair place."

"Whatever." She crossed her arms. "You already decided I'm guilty, so why even ask me anything?"

Aunt Melissa finally jumped in. "Lindsay, Vivian would never do that. She's just a girl. What does she know about laptop hardware? It was probably the repair shop messing with it."

"She picked the repair shop. She says she doesn't remember the name. The laptop stayed with her for three months, and it came back gutted. Why shouldn't she be responsible?"

"Responsible for what?" Vivian snapped. "Do you have proof? Did you actually see me swap the parts?"

"The proof is that it was perfectly fine when I lent it to you. It was wrecked when you gave it back. The timeline's obvious."

"Obvious my ass!" She shot to her feet. "I'm telling you right now, I'm not paying a single cent. If you want to sue me, then do it. Let's see what a court can even do to me."