The Catch

"Fine, I don't want any grad portraits then!" My baby brother angrily stomped out of my parents' room.

$67.50 for one, just one 8x10 inch photo is ridiculously expensive. Well, that's that, I thought to myself. I didn't look up from my studying next door.

But then I remembered spending $72 on 24 little wallet-sized photos, and look where those are now--forgotten in some shoebox? Sitting in a landfill? Not really in people's wallets, right? In retrospect, I would have rather had something substantial to frame on a wall. Even if it's just a high school photo with a solid-colored backdrop.

I walked over to my brother's room and handed him my debit card. It's been getting a lot--perhaps too much--action this year, with no income other than my already-dried-up freelance work. But if I can spend money on gas, meals, and other things that I'll forget as soon as they're gone, then surely I can be generous with my brother.

His brows are furrowed and I could tell from his face that he's conflicted. He wants it but doesn't want to want it. It's a luxury that seems almost silly. But I clicked "Check out" without wincing when it tacked on an extra $8 for shipping. 

"What's the catch?"

"No catch."

"There's always a catch."

"Think of it as a birthday gift."