Chapter 2
At ten o'clock that night, my parents, Alex, and Sophie got home after dinner.
Sophie walked in, holding a takeout box. "Here, I brought you some. This place is crazy expensive. I didn't even want to spend too much and made sure to save a few pieces for you."
I opened the box.
Inside were four shriveled seaweed rolls. The rice around the edges had gone tough.
There was no salmon and no sweet shrimp, but a couple of cucumber sticks and some cheap meat floss. Clearly, these were the scraps nobody else wanted.
"Thanks," Emily said, snapping the lid shut and setting the box aside.
Sophie frowned. "I carried this all the way home for you, and you're making that sour face?"
Mom heard the commotion and walked in. "What's all the noise about now?"
"Mom, I brought her food, and she won't touch it," Sophie whined, clinging to Mom's arm.
Mom gave me an impatient look. "Emily, Sophie went out of her way for you. Don't push your luck."
"Leave it there. I'll warm it up and eat it tomorrow morning," I said, keeping my voice steady.
Mom didn't bother with me anymore and turned to Sophie. "Sophie, remember that skincare set you liked? I'll take you to buy it tomorrow."
"Thanks, Mom," Sophie cheered.
They left, chatting and laughing together.
The door clicked shut, cutting off the warm glow of the living room.
I quietly dumped the sushi box into the trash can beneath my desk.
The next morning, I got ready to head out.
Dad was sitting on the couch, reading the newspaper, not looking up. "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to interview for a server job at Southside House," I said.
"Okay." He turned a page of the newspaper. "And while you're out, go to the dry cleaner and bring back Alex's suit."
"Okay." I slipped on my shoes, opened the door, and walked out.
Instead of heading to the restaurant, I slung my bag over my shoulder and made my way to the neighborhood police station.
Inside my bag were my passport and the household voter roll records I'd snuck out in the middle of the night.
I handed the documents to the clerk at the County Registrar of Voters window. "I'm here to remove my registration from the household voter roll and file for an individual voter record."
The officer glanced at the Northwest Desert Confidential Research Application Form, stamped with the official notation. "Miss, this posting is tough. Are you sure you want to go through with this?"
"I've made up my mind." I met his gaze and nodded.
The officer tapped a few keys on the keyboard, and the printer started humming.
The clerk handed me the new voter registration confirmation papers.
My listing on the old household voter roll bore an official notation marked "Registration Removed from Household".
From that moment on, legally, I was no longer part of that family.
Then I stopped by a print shop, scanned my voter registration cancellation confirmation and background check paperwork, and uploaded them to the project portal.
All the paperwork was finally settled.
On my way back, I stopped by the dry cleaner's and picked up Alex's suit.
When I got home, Mom was coming out of the kitchen with a plate of BBQ pork. "How's the job hunt going?"
I hung the suit on the rack behind the door. "I start work tomorrow. 40 dollars a day."
"That's good," Mom said, setting the plate of BBQ pork down in front of Alex.
Alex grabbed a piece of pork and stuffed it in his mouth. "Oh, Mom, that big loan I'm waiting on is still being processed.
"But I need to take some investors out for dinner and give them gifts tomorrow, and I'm still short tens of thousands of dollars."
Everyone at the table went silent for a moment.
Dad set down his fork. "We don't have much extra cash lying around the house lately, and Sophie will need money for living expenses once school starts."
Alex sighed, poking at his food with his fork. "Maybe I should hit up a loan shark."
Mom's face tightened with worry. "Absolutely not."
She thought for a moment, then suddenly turned to me. "Hey, Emily, when your grandma passed, didn't she leave you a ruby bracelet?"
My hand froze mid-air, fork hovering over my plate.
Grandma knew I was never the favorite in this family, so right before she passed, she secretly slipped me the ruby bracelet she'd worn her whole life.
She left it for me to be part of my wedding gifts.
"That bracelet's worth quite a bit. Selling it, you could get over 15 thousand dollars for it," Mom said, her eyes fixed on me.
"Grandma left that bracelet for me," I said, raising my head.
"Can't you let Alex use it to help him out of this tight spot?" Mom's tone turned sharp.
Dad knocked on the table. "What are you arguing about? We're all family here. No need to split hairs. If you agree to use the bracelet to get through this, raise your hand."
Dad was the first to raise his hand, and Mom followed without a second thought.
Alex avoided eye contact, then went along and raised his hand. "Emily, let me borrow it for now. When the company turns a profit next month, I'll pay you back double."
Sophie, fork still between her teeth, flashed a grin and raised her hand.