Chapter 3

My mother's voice came, unhurried:

"Alison, you still haven't gotten the money?"

"No, Mom. Download an online banking app right now and—"

Before I could finish, she cut me off.

"Should I just transfer it again? Without the chatbot this time?"

I hadn't expected her to change her tune so suddenly, and I jumped on it:

"Yes, yes, no chatbot. Use online banking, and I'll walk you through it!"

"So the chatbot was right after all!"

On the other end, a cold laugh escaped me.

"What did the chatbot say?"

"It said the more a kid claims they didn't get the money, the more sure it is they got it! And that if she won't let you use the chatbot, she's trying to swindle the family's money straight out!"

The smugness in her voice was impossible to hide.

"Good thing I'm clever, checking with the chatbot to protect myself! Your little tricks might work on other people, but you think you can fool me?"

Every drop of blood in me jammed up in my throat, and I couldn't get out a single word.

A while back my brother wanted a few thousand for a game skin, and told her it was for tutoring. She transferred it without a second thought.

For the SATs I needed fifty-five dollars for a medical check, and she called me a liar who couldn't even bother making up a story.

"The government's going to charge you for the SATs? Who knows what you really want the money for."

Growing up, any time I asked for money,

she'd stop the classmates walking home with me and grill them three or four times, then bike over to school to confirm it with my teachers.

Over time, the other kids started calling me "the liar,"

and teachers sat me down to talk about how hard parents work for their money and how I shouldn't waste it.

I cried and asked her what it would take for her to believe me, and all she gave me was, cold as ice:

"You know better than anyone what you want the money for!"

Of course I knew. I wanted that money to save my daughter's life!

"Mom, if you really transferred it to me, the balance in your account would have gone down!"

"If you don't believe me, go check right now! See how much is left in your account!"

She gave a cold snort, and after half a minute, answered:

"I already checked. The balance is zero!"

"See, I told you the chatbot didn't lie to me. What do you have to say now?"

Panic swam black across my eyes. "How can it be zero? That's impossible. Where did you check?"

"The payment app, obviously!"

"Mom, open the screen that shows your balance, hold down the power button and the volume-up button, take a screenshot, and send me the picture!"

About a minute later, the screenshot from her came through, and the balance on it really was zero?!