After Mom and Dad left, I lay in bed, wincing.
Grandma took me to the hospital. They quickly
found that my eardrum had been permanently
damaged from Mom’s slap. The kick from Dad
broke three ribs.
The doctors scheduled surgery. Grandma went
off on everyone in the hospital. She cursed
Henry, and Wendy, and Tiffany.
But even though she was upset, she decided to call Mom about my injuries. Mom was still angry when she picked up. She didn’t even say “hello.” She immediately started complaining. “Mom, what happened now? Can’t you control Sarah? Tiffany was scared, she’s been crying. It’s breaking my heart.”
“Do you even know you broke Sarah’s eardrum?
Henry broke three of her ribs. She needs
surgery. Are you coming back, or what?”
Grandma’s face was dark.
There was a long pause. Then, Mom said, “Tiffany has a fever. She’s been asking to go home. We can’t come back. Sarah will probably be fine. Please look after her.” She hung up before Grandma could even answer.
Grandma was furious. She tried to calm down
to comfort me, saying we didn’t need them.
My heart hurt. It felt like something was slowly
breaking away inside me. The surgery went
well, but Mom and Dad never called.
- 8.
The day I was discharged from the hospital,
Grandma bought me a white dress and red
shoes. She puffed up her chest. “Sarah, we
don’t need to be jealous of others. You can
have nice things too.”
After leaving, she got a little sad. She couldn’t
believe how expensive the shoes were, two
hundred dollars! She said she could have
bought ten pairs of cloth shoes for that.
When I changed into the dress and new shoes, I
started crying.
“You look really beautiful! What’s there to cry
about? Grandma has money! I’ll buy you more!”
she said, circling me with a smile. She loved
<
9:54
those shoes. They were worth it.
63
Life returned to normal, and two years flew by. I
started middle school.
Mom and Dad never came back. They’d
forgotten about me completely.
- 9.
Then, Grandma died unexpectedly. Heart attack. One morning she just didn’t wake up.
At her funeral, I didn’t shed a single tear. Mom called me cold and heartless.
I listened to her, numb. After the funeral, Mom
and Dad had no choice but to take me with
them. Eight years after leaving, I was finally
going back to that house.
I was only there for thirty minutes.
- 10.
9:54
- ))
When I got to their place, they had moved into a bigger house. It was unfamiliar. I was scared, sitting in the living room, timid and quiet. Grandma’s passing was a huge blow to me. It
felt like I had lost my way.
The first time I saw Tiffany again, she started crying, telling me to leave. She said it was her house. Mom couldn’t calm her down. So, she turned to me and said, “Sarah, honey, she’s still young. You need to let her have her way. Tiffany doesn’t like having strangers in her
house. You should stay with your aunt for a
while.”
And that was it. I lived with my aunt until
college and graduation. Mom and Dad barely contacted me. When Mom visited, she always said, “Sarah, you’re so lucky to be with your aunt. You need to be grateful!”
63
9:54
63
In Mom’s eyes, my divorced aunt with her big alimony was living it up. She didn’t have much respect for Mom. As time went on, I longed for a family less and less, until I felt absolutely
nothing.
During college, Mom and Dad visited me once. Dad looked me up and down. “What’s with this rag you’re wearing? Has the family been treating you so badly? What are you doing with your allowance money?”
Mom blushed. “Isn’t your allowance money the
money I send?”
I watched them argue. I didn’t have the energy
to care. As they left, Dad sent me two thousand
dollars. He told me to be careful with it.
I didn’t accept it. The money was returned in 24
hours.
The next day, Mom posted photos of the
<
9:54
63
I was used to being ignored and excluded. That
kind of unequal treatment had been going on since Tiffany was born.
- 11.
Right now, Mom is standing in front of me,
pointing at me. Her eyes are full of hate.
“Sarah, are you a robot? Don’t you care what
your mother thinks?”
“What do you want me to do, Wendy?” I asked,
looking at her with a smile.
“Sarah, how can you talk to your mother like that? Apologize!” Dad yelled.
I saw that little smile on Tiffany’s face, so
scornful.
“Mom, Dad, I didn’t want to say anything. But I
can’t watch Sarah do the wrong thing. After all,
<
“Mom, Dad, I didn’t want to say anything. Butl
can’t watch Sarah do the wrong thing. After all,
we are an important family….” Tiffany looked
worried as she pulled on Dad and Mom’s arms.
Tiffany is always testing the boundaries, trying
to get me in trouble.
The main show is about to start.
My parents were totally hooked on whatever
Tiffany was about to say. They looked at her
with encouraging eyes, motioning her to keep
talking. “Sarah, don’t be mad at me, I’m doing
this for you!”
