The next day...
Amy looked at Zac with a silly grin as she watched him eat breakfast.
He'd paid 485 Lunar Pennies in overdue bills for her yesterday!
She didn't like the idea of him going to work at this important time of the school year when he could be preparing to get into a good college. But he wanted to help, and there really wasn't anything she could do to stop him.
She could only accept the situation!
Seeing the positive side of it and being proud of her little brother was what was comforting her. Zac was maturing and becoming more responsible!
'If our parents were here, they'd be happy to see you like this.' She remembered her parents.
Zac didn't remember much about his mother and father because he was very young when they died. But Amy remembered a lot about them.
Her mother was a housewife who was devoted to her family. Her father was a good lawyer with great potential to become someone important in Walney one day. Unfortunately, something got in the way of this family, and they both died mysteriously after a wedding anniversary dinner about 9 years ago.
The family had been doing very well until then, with no debts, a growing income, and a small accumulated fortune.
Amy had fond memories and knew how happy her parents would be today to see Zac becoming more and more of a man.
Zac had no idea what Amy had in mind, but as he finished his eggs and toast, he couldn't help but notice her expression.
"What is it, Amy?" He asked with a smile.
"Nothing, I was just remembering our parents." She put a hand to her eyes and smiled at him.
Zac changed the smile on his face, aware that the loss of their parents had been much worse for her than for them.
Amy was already a teenager back then, while he was still a child. Children get over their losses relatively quickly, and since he had lived most of his life without his parents, he did not remember much about them.
But Amy not only remembered what her life was like before, she had become responsible for her family. She had suffered a lot to get where they were today.
"From now on, I'm going to help you. Don't spend all your money on me, Amy." He said, wiping his lips with a napkin. "You should focus your money on your treatment. It's working, so we should put all our chips on it."
She closed her eyes and smiled at him. "You're right."
But that wasn't what she had planned...
"Anyway, let me pay the household bills from now on. You can take care of the supermarket for now, but I'll look for a job to keep me busy in the evenings. Eventually I'll bring more money into this house." He said as he looked into his sister's eyes.
"Don't try so hard. Your studies are more important."
He made up an excuse to justify this change for the time being. "Don't worry, I'll only do this until my recess is over. Then I'll just work in the afternoons."
His classes would be over soon, and since he always got above-average grades, he would still pass the year with flying colors even if his performance dropped from now on.
Amy thought it would be no problem for him to earn some money over the next few months.
'It will help him to have a monthly income when I'm no longer here.' She thought after he left for school as she felt her eyes fill with tears.
"I'm sorry, Zac, but I still can't tell you the truth." Tears welled in her eyes, and she tried to breathe calmly.
She had suffered too much already. Few things in this world could make her cry. But the thought of leaving her brother still scared her every day.
Unfortunately, it was out of her control, and all she could do was prepare for the worst.
...
Meanwhile, Zac walked quietly, counting the money he had made yesterday.
In addition to the four cell phones he had sold on the day of the attack against Dario, he had managed to make a deal with another bandit the night before and get more.
He had now just over 1,300 Lunar Pennies in his wallet!
He also had a smartphone in his backpack that he wanted to sell, but he wanted to keep it with him until he collected more such devices.
Unfortunately, stolen devices aren't worth much. While a standard new smartphone might cost 600 Lunar Pennies, one of these stolen, used devices could bring in between 100 and 200 Lunar Pennies.
Zac also had to be careful with these sales, as he could easily get into trouble.
To avoid that, he used a goods sales site on the Internet, where he used different accounts and locations to sell these devices as if they were from different people.
He had improved his skills at hacking into electronic devices and could now easily change his network's IP address and disguise his movements.
Anyway, the previous night hadn't been very productive for him. He had met only one bandit and no troublemakers. However, he had other plans for later!
With the smartphones of the three people who tried to rob him and the man who ran away from him before the robbery, Zac discovered some interesting information.
Dario had been in contact with thugs from The Vipers, but Zac didn't want to get involved with that faction just yet. So he concentrated on the discoveries he had made while analyzing the phones of the three he had robbed.
'Later today, I'll go to the Iron Center. If the rumors are true, it will lead me to a clandestine steroid lab!' A smile appeared on his face as he entered the Eastside High School building.
He wouldn't find any unusual situations there today. No one would try to act against him, and the students in the area were already used to Dario's situation.
He wouldn't see Mia or Sean on his way to class since he had a different class than them today.
But he wasn't interested in dealing with Sean or getting closer to Dario. After he had decided which way to go from here, he was much calmer.
Dario would suffer more from him, and Sean's time would come!