Chapter 11
+ 5 Points
Chapter 11
Dad picked up the insulated lunchbox and hurled it at the little punk, chasing after him.
When he came back, breathless, he pointed at
my brother and scolded,
“I swear, you’re getting more out of line every day. If you were half as sensible as your sister, I’d be grateful.”
My soul stood by my brother’s bed, looking at
Dad with some confusion.
They say I’m sensible, yet they chose to leave. me behind.
Grown–ups are so strange.
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“If I were as sensible as her, you would’ve thrown me away too,” my brother retorted coldly.
Mom paused, glancing nervously at Dad.
She pretended to smack my brother.
“We’ve put all our effort into raising you, and this is how you turn out?”
My brother shot Mom a fierce glare. “Stop trying to manipulate me. You didn’t raise her, and she still doesn’t want anything to do with you. Maybe you should look at yourselves for once.”
Then he indifferently picked at his nails, saying arrogantly, “Send me three grand more, or I’ll run away like she did.”
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I found it a bit funny–laughing at my own sadness and at my brother’s naivety.
Dad pointed a finger at him. “You!”
Then, clutching his chest, he slid down against the door frame, scaring Mom into calling a
doctor in tears.
Though Dad didn’t end up in the ER, he was severely shaken.
With no one to confide in, Mom took out her phone and dialed my number.
She called three times but couldn’t get through.
Staring at the disconnected screen, tears of anger filled her eyes.
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“Ungrateful kid, so heartless!
“If you die, don’t expect me to care!”
Even though they couldn’t reach me, they never considered that something might have happened to me.
Blame, and nothing but blame.
They decided that instead of letting my brother run wild in the city, they’d take him back to the countryside to unwind, and, incidentally, see
- me.
Incidentally see me…
I felt a mix of fear and anticipation.
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What will they feel when they see my body?
Fear? Guilt? Revulsion?
They wandered through the toy section of the mall but couldn’t find what they wanted.
I was curious about what they were looking for.
Mom hounded a sales associate, gesturing
incessantly.
“We want that robot, the rechargeable one, with the moving eyes and the one that can flip.”
Turns out it was the robot I always wanted.
The toy I longed for as a child, only now do they
remember.
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The clerk rummaged in the back and finally found a leftover, which they gleefully purchased.
“Stella will surely be happy to see this. We’ll talk things through then.”
Dad feigned arrogance. “Do I, as her father, need to bow down to her? If she wants it, fine. If not,
whatever.”
I hope he maintains that pride when he sees my body.
