Chapter 1: Four Months in Pieces
“Dập nát đi. Con ranh đó đừng hòng giỏi hơn con trai tao.””
Denise stood beside her son in the garage, wearing a pleasant little smile. Her eyes followed Malik's hand as he reached toward the yellow robot on the workbench.
Nobody heard what she was thinking.
Her lips remained closed. Her expression was almost approving.
Across the garage, seventeen-year-old Zoe Carter was crouched beneath the workbench, collecting loose screws and sorting discarded wires into plastic containers.
She had spent four months building that robot.
Four months of coming home from school, eating whatever was left in the refrigerator, and disappearing into the garage until midnight.
Four months of watching tutorial videos on an old laptop because her stepmother refused to pay for new equipment.
Four months of turning broken motors, salvaged circuit boards, and discarded metal into something she hoped might earn her a scholarship to an engineering program.
The robot was painted bright yellow. It had two sturdy wheels, a small robotic arm, and a homemade sensor system that could identify objects and move them into separate containers.
It wasn't beautiful.
But it worked.
At least, it had worked five minutes earlier.
On the workbench beside it sat Malik's expensive black drone, still resting in its open carrying case. Its glossy body looked untouched, its camera protected by a padded compartment.
Malik was twenty, and he had received the drone as a birthday present from Denise.
Three thousand dollars.
Zoe had asked for a replacement motor worth thirty dollars.
Denise had told her no.
"Mom," Malik said, glancing at the robot.
"This thing is taking up my space.""
Zoe looked up briefly.
"Can you move your drone, then? I just need another hour to finish the wiring.""
Malik laughed.
"You're still working on that junk?""
"It's not junk," Zoe replied quietly.
Denise folded her arms.
"Zoe, don't start. Your brother has equipment worth more than everything on this table.""
Zoe swallowed.
"It's not about how much it costs. It's about what it can do.""
Malik looked at his mother.
Denise gave him the smallest nod.
Then he shoved the robot.
The entire thing happened in one brutal sequence.
His hand struck the side of the yellow machine.
It slid off the workbench.
Zoe sprang up from beneath the table.
"Don't!""
She reached for it, but the robot hit the concrete floor before she could catch it.
"I spent four months on that!""
Malik stepped forward.
And deliberately brought his sneaker down on the robotic arm.
CRACK.
The metal joint snapped.
A small circuit board skidded across the garage floor.
Zoe froze.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then she dropped to her knees.
"No, no, no...""
She picked up the broken arm with both hands. Her fingers tried to fit the pieces together, but the connecting bracket had split in half.
Malik shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Take that thing to your competition," he said with a mocking laugh.
"Maybe they'll give you a scholarship for recycling.""
Denise placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't waste your energy arguing with her," she said.
"Some people just don't understand their limitations.""
Zoe looked up at her.
"You heard him. You watched him do that.""
Denise glanced at the broken machine.
"Then perhaps you shouldn't have left something so fragile where people could bump into it.""
"He didn't bump into it. He pushed it!""
"Enough, Zoe.""
Denise squeezed Malik's shoulder.
"He's the one who deserves investment. He has a future.""
The words landed harder than the broken metal.
Zoe lowered her eyes.
She wanted to tell Denise that the scholarship competition wasn't just some school activity. The winner would receive a full scholarship to a respected engineering program, along with a paid summer internship.
She wanted to explain that she had already qualified for the final selection round.
Instead, she picked up another piece of her robot.
Then the garage door opened.
Isaiah Carter stood in the doorway, still wearing his work jacket. His overnight travel bag hung from one hand.
He had returned from a construction project outside Detroit earlier than expected.
He had heard Denise's last sentence.
He looked at Zoe kneeling on the concrete.
Then at the broken robot.
Then at Malik, who was still smiling.
"Baby?"" Isaiah said.
Zoe turned.
Her eyes immediately filled.
"Dad!""
She held up the broken robotic arm.
"He destroyed it! I told him not to, but he pushed it off the table and stepped on it!""
Isaiah set down his bag.
He didn't shout.
He didn't ask anyone to repeat what had happened.
He simply walked toward the workbench.
Denise straightened.
"Isaiah, you need to understand—"
He reached for Malik's black drone.
"Hey!"" Malik protested.
"That's mine!""
Isaiah removed it from its case and placed it on an empty patch of concrete.
Then he lifted his boot.
CRUNCH.
The drone's protective frame buckled beneath his shoe.
He stepped down again.
One of its arms snapped. The camera housing cracked against the floor.
Malik lunged forward.
"Dad! What the hell are you doing?""
Isaiah stepped away.
Malik stared at the wreckage.
"That's a three-thousand-dollar drone!""
Isaiah looked directly at him.
"Three thousand dollars for you. My daughter gets to build her future out of trash?""
Denise immediately removed her hand from Malik's shoulder.
"Isaiah, you've gone too far!""
"Have I?""
"That drone was expensive!""
"And the robot wasn't?""
"That was just some homemade project!""
Isaiah's jaw tightened.
"Four months of work. That's what it was.""
Denise stepped between him and Malik.
"You're making a scene over nothing.""
Isaiah reached into his jacket and pulled out his phone.
He opened his banking application.
Then he turned the screen toward her.
"Where's the money I sent you for Zoe?""
Denise stopped moving.
Her eyes dropped to the screen.
Isaiah's voice became quieter.
"I sent you money specifically for her competition. Registration, equipment, transportation. Everything she needed.""
Zoe slowly looked up.
"What money?""
Isaiah turned toward his daughter.
"Baby, I sent Denise the money months ago. I told her to make sure you had everything for the competition.""
Zoe's fingers tightened around the broken robotic arm.
"But she told me you didn't want to spend money on my project.""
Isaiah stared at her.
"What?""
"She said you thought engineering was a waste of money. She said I should stop asking you for things because you were already paying for too much.""
The garage went silent.
Denise's face lost its color.
Malik looked from his mother to Isaiah.
For the first time that afternoon, neither of them seemed interested in the broken machines.
Isaiah held the phone out farther.
"Denise.""
She opened her mouth.
But before she could answer, Zoe whispered something that made her father turn completely still.
"Dad... how much did you send?""
May you like
And Isaiah looked at the transaction again.
Because the amount was considerably larger than the thirty dollars Zoe had once begged for.
