Chapter 2

A loud crack rang out as Mom's slap landed squarely on my cheek.

She trembled with fury, her finger pointed right at my nose as she cursed me out, "You're nothing but an ungrateful bastard. How dare you throw shoes worth 1300 dollars straight in the trash? I'm gonna kill today."

Her hand shot up, ready to land another slap on my face.

"Alright, alright, it's late. Can we not argue right now?" Dad, who'd been glued to his phone on the couch all this time, finally got up.

He frowned, stepped between Mom and me, and turned to look at me. "Selah, you were out of line. You can't throw your brother's shoes out."

He sighed, pulled out a hundred-dollar bill from his wallet, and handed it to me. "It's your eighteenth birthday, after all.

"Take these one hundred dollars, 68 for the registration fee, and the rest, get yourself a cupcake. Come on, apologize to your mom, and let's move on."

I looked at the bill in Dad's hand, and the burning sting on my cheek seemed to fade a little.

At home, Dad was always the one who'd occasionally throw me 0.1 point or hand me a piece of candy, playing the good guy.

My hand shook as I reached for the bill.

"Why are you giving her money?" Before I could touch the bill, Mom snatched it from Dad's hand and threw it onto the floor.

Then she stepped forward and stomped hard on it. "Family rule: if you break something, you pay back every cent. But for now, I'll let you borrow the money.

"Apologize and promise you will never do it again, and then you can take the money for the registration fee. If you can't bring yourself to do it, then tomorrow go work at the electronics factory to earn money and pay off your debt."

The silence in the room was suffocating, like death itself.

Dad looked away, acting like he didn't see a thing.

Mom crushed the money under her foot, giving me that smug, condescending look like she was above it all.

Suddenly, a memory from five years ago flashed through my mind.

Back then, I was starting middle school. It was my first period, and the pain was so bad that I was writhing on the bed, my blood staining the sheets.

At that time, Mom stood by my bed like now, her voice cold as ice. "Buying a pack of tampons costs you 0.2 points. You stained your sheet.

It costs you 1 point. Selah, you already owe me 1.2 points for tonight. You've got yourself so spoiled.

That day, with blood still trickling down, I dragged myself to the sink and used freezing water to scrub the sheets for two hours, until the cramps knocked me out cold.

I always thought that if I worked hard enough and saved up enough points, my parents would finally show me the same love they gave Jason.

I even thought maybe then they'd see me as someone who truly belonged in this family.

But now, I could only find it all laughable.

"Too proud to apologize? If that's the case, forget about the SAT," Mom urged, clearly impatient.

I stayed silent.

I slowly bent down, bowing, then crouched down to grab the corner of the money.

With a sudden, forceful jerk, I snatched the money from under Mom's slipper.

Mom staggered, caught off guard by how hard I pulled.

I clutched the money and slowly got to my feet. "I'm taking this. Think of it as eighteen years' worth of unpaid maid work. From now on, I don't owe any of you a thing."

I turned and went back to the balcony, the one barely big enough for a folding bed.

I just had to get through tonight. Tomorrow morning, after I paid the registration fee at school, I'd go find a job and take care of housing.

But before that, I still needed to get one thing back, my driver's license.

To make sure I never tried to escape, my parents had kept my driver's license locked in their bedroom drawer ever since I started high school.

While heading to the kitchen for some water, I crept barefoot toward my parents' half-open bedroom door, making sure not to make a sound.

I was hoping to steal my driver's license while they slept.