Born a Crime

but at the time I knew nothing
about music, which was odd for
someone running a music-pirating
business. The only music I knew,
still, was Christian music from
church, the only music allowed in
my mother’s house. The CD writer
Andrew gave me was a 1x CD writer,
which meant it copied at the speed
it played. Every day I’d leave school,
go to my room, and sit for five to six
hours, copying CDs. I had my own
surround-sound system built with
old car speakers I’d salvaged from
the junkers Abel kept in the yard,
and I strung them up around the
room. Even though I had to sit