I sighed. “Okay?”
“And then he passed out.”
Great.
Josh couldn’t find a girl in real life, so he
decided to find one online.
His online girlfriend asked him to play online
games with her, and he stayed up all night
gaming.
<
The girlfriend wanted new online game items,
so he spent all of his money.
When it came time to pay his hospital bill, he
had almost nothing left in his account.
It was too late to call my parents, so I ended
up dipping into my “emergency savings.”
When Josh woke up, the first person he saw
was Ryan.
I was outside the door and had not left yet.
I overheard Ryan spill the tea.
“Your sister paid for your hospital bill.”
“If it wasn’t for her, you would probably be a
goner.”
Josh didn’t say anything.
Then, he messaged me:
“Thank you.”
I think it’s the first time in my whole life that
he has ever thanked me.
Weirder still, after that, Josh started to
change his attitude towards me.
<
- 23.
I turned to Ryan and said, “This is not okay.”
Ryan just smiled. “It’s fine, at least now he is
acting like a brother.”
I frowned. “I think he has amnesia.
A familiar cold voice came from behind us.
“You are the one with amnesia.”
It was Josh, coming back from the restroom. He walked over to us, and then, he said, “I’m
sorry.”
And before I could process it, Josh said, “I’m
actually serious this time.”
“When I woke up, I thought that I was
doomed. That you would definitely snitch on
me to mom and dad. But… you didn’t.”
How was I going to say I hadn’t had time to
snitch on him yet?
But Josh was looking at me with a new
calmness.
Like he had really changed after almost dying
L
I just waved my hand and said, “I’m not as
cruel as you.
Josh looked annoyed.
But, I was so happy that I couldn’t help but
brag about it on the family group chat.
“Aunts, Uncles, I was so awesome, I saved my
brother’s life and paid for the hospital, and I
did it all with my own money.”
“Wow! Look at our Ashley go!”
“Our girl is so good! Someone needs to think
about their parenting, it’s terrible that an 18-
year–old is forced to go out and get a job
because her parents are so bad with money.”
As I was basking in the praise, the door to the
hospital room opened.
It was my mom and dad.
My mom’s eyes fell on Josh, looking so
vulnerable.
Then, she looked straight at me.
“Ashley, did you make your brother have to
<
- 24.
I froze.
And before I could open my mouth,
Josh went in front of me.
“Mom, it wasn’t my sister’s fault. This was
my own doing.”
My mom’s eyes changed.
She stared at me, “You told Josh lies about
me, didn’t you?”
I said nothing.
Josh said, “Mom! I told you it wasn’t her, and
she actually helped me! Why do you have to
be like this?”
At that point, I saw the veins in her eyes.
!
In front of everyone, my mom screamed at
- me.
“You evil witch!”
“What did you do to my son? Why is he
defending you?”
I could only say, are you okay?
<
I know my mom is nuts, but not this nuts.
She grabbed my collar, throwing me on the
ground.
My dad and Ryan were there in the blink of
an eye, stopping her.
“What are you doing, Wang?!”
“She’s your own daughter!”
“She’s not my daughter! She’s an evil witch!
Ever since she was born, you’ve been taking
her side! I have sacrificed everything for this
family and this is how you treat me…”
My mom sat on the floor, crying.
She was about to do her go–to move.
She looked at my dad and screamed, “I want
a divorce! You took her side over me!”
Before, this would have made me panic.
But now, I just thought of her as someone
trying to steal my life.
I scoffed.
I smiled slightly. “I’m staying with Dad.”
<
- 25.
My dad was dead serious about divorcing my
mom.
When she saw the divorce papers, she looked
shocked.
She cried and said, “Are you doing this over
Ashley?”
My dad yelled, “Shut up!”
“For years, I have worked and given you all of my salary. I thought you were a good mom, but I was wrong. You have been stealing from my daughter and lying to me. You have made my daughter cry. And you’ve also convinced yourself that she is an enemy!”
“Wang, you’re the one who has a problem.” “We are divorcing, my daughter is going with
me, and you can keep your little boy!”
The family group chat was on my side. “Ashley is a good kid, I would be so lucky to
have a daughter like her.”
<
“Wang, you’ve messed up big time. How
could you say such horrible things about your
daughter?”
This time, my mom’s crying didn’t work.
Even my aunt told her, “Why are you acting
like a crazy person?”
Finally.
My mom gave up.
She waited for me outside my dorm.
She bought me new clothes, and said she
was going to take me out for food.
“Ashley, are you mad at me?”
I said, “No.”
My mom smiled.
I said, “Because you’re not worthy of being
my mother.”
- 26.
My parents got divorced.
I went with my dad, and Josh stayed with my
L
mom.
I made a new comic, “Me and My Dad.”
It won first place at the New Media
Competition.
The family group chat blew up with praise.
My mom messaged me and asked, “Honey,
why didn’t you put me in the comic?”
I said simply, “Because I have never felt a
mother’s love.”
Josh said that made my mom cry for a week.
On the day of the award ceremony, Ryan,
with a bouquet of flowers, confessed to me.
“I’m your fan.
I was shocked. “So you knew?”
He knew that I was playing the broke girl.
“I always thought that you were as sweet as
your comic.”
And if my mom cared about me, she would
know how much I loved drawing.
My first major successful comic was about a
mouse mom and her kids.
The mom never played favorites. She gave
them all her love.
They all had new shoes when they went to
school.
They all got an equal amount of food.
My point is this:
If even an animal can do this, why can’t
human beings?
