8
322words
I looked destitute.
Mom and Rachel had just fought.Seeing me,their“jinx,”neither of them offered me a warm welcome.
I played up the act,setting the pastries on the table,pinching my thigh to cry.“Mom,Rachel,you’re my only family I have.Only you can save me!”
“Remember that loan I took?They said I had a year,but now they’re demanding repayment right away!”
“I’ve got nothing.I eat once a day,but I still can’t scrape together $10,000…”
Rachel rolled her eyes.“That’s your problem,not mine.I didn’t take the loan,so don’t come crying to me!”
“Sarah,a college-educated girl who can’t make $10,000?What’s the difference between you and a loser?”
Her face was grotesque—pregnancy weight,spicy food,and inflammation had left it red,swollen,and pockmarked with oozing sores,like a scarlet toad.
Maybe those home remedies she'd been using were toxic. She looked unhealthy, waddling around awkwardly, probably due to hemorrhoids.
Eating spicy food every meal only made it worse.
She stomped back to her room.
Mom,hearing I wanted money,grabbed the pastries,shoving me toward the door.“You’re our curse!Borrowing money?I raised you for nothing.Get out!”
I clung to the couch,demanding cash,mimicking her past tantrums,wailing that life wasn’t worth living.
After a while,Mom’s phone rang.
Her face paled.“You’re scamming me!My son wouldn’t do that!”
“Hello?Son,is that really you?”
“Oh,God,how could this happen?”
“Don’t panic,I’m coming!”
Mom grabbed her wallet and rushed out.
While she got money,I knocked on Rachel’s door.
Just as Mom came back, Rachel emerged from her room and spotted the wallet. “You’re so good to your daughter,huh?Actually paying her debts?”
Mom couldn’t admit it was for Steven.She mumbled,pulling me along.
Rachel screamed,“You old witch,take that money out,and don’t you dare come back!”
Knowing Mom was up to scheming,I swiped her phone while she waited for the elevator,muted it,and opened our family chat group.
I held the voice record button,slipping the phone into my pocket.
