- 8.
I spent the whole summer at Ms. Jenkins‘
house.
She was so good to me. She cooked all kinds
of amazing food. All I had to do was study.
She helped me find a couple tutoring jobs,
<
and I saved a bunch of money.
I put it all in my bank account. I was going to
send it to Dad and my brother before I left.
Dad and my brother called me a lot. They
even made a little group chat with just me
and them. They sent me tons of money.
I didn’t open any of them. I knew they were
just trying to make themselves feel better.
Dad saw that I wasn’t taking the money, so
he put $50,000 in my bank account. He
wrote:
“To my dear daughter.”
く
I didn’t touch it. I was going to give it back,
along with my own savings.
A week before I left, the school told me to get
my paperwork signed by my parents. I
decided to go home.
Dad was excited when he heard I was
coming.
“Great! My baby girl is finally coming home!
Tell me what you want to eat, and I’ll make
it!”
I had to laugh. He’d never asked me what I
wanted to eat. He always made what Ashley
liked, and I just ate what Ashley didn’t want.
<
Now he was trying to be nice. But I didn’t
need it.
I sounded cold.
“It’s okay. I just need you to sign some papers. I won’t be staying long.”
I hung up before he could say anything.
I didn’t even want to talk to him.
It was dark when I got to the house. Dad and
my brother were sitting at the table, looking
at me like they were waiting for me.
They rushed over to greet me. Ashley glared
く
at me.
“Sarah, are you hungry? Look what we made
for you. It’s all your favorite stuff!”
I looked at the table. It was covered with all
the food I used to love.
I wanted to laugh. They knew what I liked.
They just couldn’t be bothered to make it for
- me.
I stepped back, avoiding their hands, and
gave them a weak smile.
“I already ate. You can give it to Ashley.”
く
I pulled out the papers and put them on the
table. I crossed my arms and waited for them
to sign.
Dad’s hands were shaking. He looked at me
like he was begging.
“Sarah, we can’t let you go alone. Can’t you
tell the school you changed your mind?”
My brother was panicking.
“Sarah, don’t go! It’s too far away! We’re
worried about you!”
They grabbed my hands, like they could hold
me there.
く
I yanked my hands away.
“What’s the big deal? I’m just going to
school. How could things be any worse than
they are here?”
“You said everything in this house belongs to
Ashley. I don’t want to stay here and take
something that isn’t mine. What’s wrong with
that?”
I thought I saw tears in their eyes.
Dad grabbed a bank card from the cabinet
and shoved it into my hand.
“Sarah, you’re my daughter. I didn’t mean
く
what I said. This card has all of my and your
brother’s savings. Spend it however you want,
okay?”
My brother ran to his room and brought back
the deed to the house. He put it in front of
- me.
