I Cut Ties With a Broken Home

At ten years old, my parents divorce, each remarry, and abandon me to be raised by Grandma. When we see each other again, it's the summer after the College Entrance Exam. Mom and Dad both walk into the restaurant to book private dining rooms, and it just so happens to be my turn to seat the guests. Mom links arms with her stepdaughter, Alesha Callen, and smiles proudly as she instructs, "My daughter scored a 625 in the College Entrance Exam. We'll take your biggest room." Dad, holding his son Robby's hand, claims the room right next door. "It's my son's seventh birthday. We'll need a large room, too." They lock eyes for a brief moment before quickly looking away. Mom chuckles. "Throwing such a big birthday party for someone so young? You certainly spoil him." "Your daughter's the impressive one," Dad replies politely. "She's got a bright future ahead of her." And yet, neither of them recognizes me—their biological daughter and Jethroville's top scorer in this year's College Entrance Exam. I wipe the grease from my hands and carefully note down their requests. Mom orders a table full of seafood, saying that it's Alesha's favorite. Dad hands over a birthday cake he baked himself, instructing me to place it in the fridge. Just before they walk off, Mom asks offhandedly, "What about the other one? I haven't heard anything from her at all. Did she fail the exam?" Dad blinks. "I have no idea. She hasn't contacted me." I don't bother looking up. I just continue replying to a message from the real estate agent. Once I sell the old apartment Grandma left me, I'll finally be able to go somewhere far, far away with absolutely nothing holding me back. Chapter 1 At 6:00 pm, the restaurant manager came into the kitchen looking for me, saying there was an issue with the decorations in one of the private dining rooms and that the guests were demanding that the person responsible apologize. I took off my dishwashing gloves and apron, then scrubbed at the grease splattered across the front of my shirt. But instead of it coming off, it only smeared further. Pressing my lips together, I followed the manager to the private room Mom had booked. Through the closed door, I could hear her comforting my stepsister, Alesha Callen. "Don't be upset, Ali. The staff here are useless. They can't even blow up a balloon properly. Didn't you want the newest releases from that big tech brand? As soon as we're done here, we'll buy them. Laptop, phone, tablet—we'll get the highest specs for all of them." I lowered my eyes to my faded canvas sneakers, bleached white from too many washes. My living expenses for the next month were still an issue, and if I lost this part-time job, I'd be stuck eating plain bread for another month. Pushing the door open, I lowered my head and said apologetically, "I'm very sorry. This was my oversight." "Oh, spare me!" Alesha pouted. "The balloon arch was supposed to look perfect, but the ones at the very top are deflated. It looks terrible, and the pictures I took all turned out awful!" Mom immediately soothed her. "Alright, we'll have them redo it. We'll get them to replace all of them." I climbed the ladder, stretching my arm to take down the deflated balloons. A middle-aged lady sitting next to Mom took the opportunity to lecture her own child. "See that? You need to be more like Alesha. If your grades aren't good enough, you'll end up working for other people in the future, just like this waitress. And that's all you'll ever amount to." Mom proudly wrapped an arm around Alesha. "My Ali is both smart and obedient. She even outdid herself on the College Entrance Exam, scoring over ten points higher than on her mock exams." Pretending not to hear any of it, I forced all the turbulent emotions in my chest into a single breath and blew it into the balloon. I couldn't even remember the last time Mom had complimented me. As far as I could remember, she and Dad had always been fighting—slamming doors and flinging dishes. Whenever she got angry, she'd take it out on me. She'd call me an eyesore, a jinx, and a burden. When I got into one of the state's top high schools based on my good grades, I secretly used Grandma's phone to text her. She replied, "I'm living a very happy life right now. Please don't contact me again." I wanted to tell her that my grades were far better than Alesha's. I wanted to tell her that I was very obedient, too, and that I wouldn't cause her any trouble. I wanted to tell her that I didn't want to interrupt her new life. I just… missed her. But she didn't know any of that. Or maybe, she simply didn't want to. After much effort, I finally finished replacing the balloons. Just as I stepped out of the private room, a guest from the neighboring room called out to me. "Hey, you over there. Come help cut the cake and serve it." Walking inside, I saw Dad holding his young son, Robby, while someone took pictures. When he noticed I'd accidentally stepped into the frame, he frowned. "Don't you have any awareness? Are all the servers in this restaurant as clueless as you?" I quickly retreated into a corner. Dad picked up a birthday crown shaped like an action figure from the side. "Look, Robby, it's your favorite action figure. Daddy had it made especially for you. Do you like it?" The little boy ran around the room with the transforming action figure, shouting about how he was going to beat up all the monsters. Dad laughed as he chased after him, one hand shielding him from bumping into the table corners while the other gently wiped the sweat from his forehead with a tissue. The tender, attentive expression stunned me. For a second, I wondered if I'd mistaken him for someone else. When I was five years old, Dad had forgotten that I was allergic to mangoes. I accidentally ate some and ended up hospitalized for a week. When I was eight years old, he'd carelessly mixed up the date of my parent-teacher conference, and I ended up getting mocked by my classmates for being a fatherless child. A few months ago, Grandma had passed away after a long illness. By the time I came home from boarding school, the funeral was already over. A neighbor told me that Dad couldn't remember which high school I attended, nor did he have my homeroom teacher's number, so he'd "forgotten" to inform me. As it turned out, he wasn't forgetful, nor was he careless. He just hadn't spared even a fraction of his fatherly love for me. I turned around and gently closed the door to that lively room behind me. The moment the door clicked shut, I lifted my head and met a pair of familiar eyes. I froze right where I stood. "What are you doing here?" Chapter 2 I looked at Hubert Ellerbee before my gaze settled on the gift in his hands. He tilted his head slightly, instinctively hiding the box behind his back. Right then, Alesha poked her head out of her private room. "Hubie, you're five minutes late! I'm going to have to punish you!" Hubert stepped forward and handed her the gift. "I got held up on the way. Here, I brought you a gift." Then, he turned slightly toward me, an apologetic look in his eyes. "Kathleen, I'll explain everything to you later." I stood there, motionless. Just an hour earlier, he'd told me he was visiting family friends with his parents, so he wouldn't be able to answer my messages that night. What he hadn't told me was that the "family friend" happened to be my birth mother. And even more than that, I never expected that the childhood friend I'd grown up right with—the boy I'd split a cookie with—would share such an intimate connection with Alesha. The smile on Alesha's lips faded as her gaze shifted to me. "Kathleen? You're Kathleen Holloway?" Before I could answer, she called back over her shoulder, "Mom, guess what? Kathleen snuck in here to see you!" Everyone's eyes shifted toward me. I lightly gripped the hem of my shirt and turned to look at Mom. The smile on her face hadn't receded in time, freezing stiffly at the corners of her mouth. "Oh, it's you," she remarked before clearing her throat awkwardly. "You've gotten so tall I didn't even recognize you." I let go of my shirt. "I didn't sneak in here to see you." She blinked and walked over. "Then why are you here?" "I'm working to earn money for living expenses." Her eyes swept over me from head to toe. "Why are you dressed like that? Are you deliberately trying to humiliate me?" Lowering her voice, she continued, "We're celebrating Alesha's College Entrance Exam scores today. I don't have time to chat with you. You can go find your dad. He's right next door." With that, she knocked on the neighboring private room. "Earl, your daughter's here." "What daughter? I only have a son—" Dad's eyes landed on me. After staring for a few seconds, he opened his mouth and forced out an awkward laugh. "What are you doing here?" He stepped closer to the doorway and lowered his voice. "It's your brother's birthday today. There are a lot of guests here in the room, so this isn't a good time. Whatever it is you need, we can talk tomorrow." He glanced at Mom. "This really isn't a good time. You're her mother. She must be here for you." Mom pursed her lips. "I'm busy too. You're her father. She's your responsibility." A spark of tension flared between the two. "Her last name is Holloway, so she belongs to you Holloways. Why are you trying to push her onto me?" Mom sniped, her voice sharpening. A vein at Dad's temple started to pulse. "I didn't make her all by myself. Why are you dumping her on me?" Once again, I had become the ball they kicked back and forth. It had always been this way since I was a child. They'd argue over who had to cook for me and whose turn it was to pay for my school tuition. Later, when we went to court, the judge had asked which parent I wanted to live with. But Mom rushed to say her salary was too low to support me, while Dad complained that it wasn't practical for a man to raise a daughter by himself. They argued until their faces turned red. It was as if they were trying to get rid of a defective product neither of them wanted. Years had passed, and I was still the same burden they couldn't wait to get rid of. I took a deep breath and cut them off. "Neither of you needs to worry about me. I didn't come here looking for either of you in the first place." Chapter 3 The hallway fell into an awkward silence. Suddenly, Alesha started chuckling. "Mom, let her come in and sit. It's just one more chair. Let's not block the hallway and become a laughingstock in front of outsiders." The tension immediately melted from Mom's face. "You've always been very thoughtful, Ali," she said before shooting me a quick glance. "Come in then." One of Mom's friends nudged me back into the private room, and I was steered to a seat in the corner. Alesha's father smiled politely. "Kathleen, is there anything you'd like to eat? We can have the server add a couple more dishes." Without even looking up, Mom answered, "She's not picky. She'll eat whatever. But Alesha's favorite shrimp is almost all gone. Let's order another serving." I gulped down a mouthful of cold water, swallowing the bitterness in my throat. Just then, one of Mom's friends patted me on the shoulder. "Why aren't you greeting your mother?" I instinctively looked at Mom, suddenly finding myself tongue-tied. During the first New Year's Eve after Grandma passed away, I'd hesitated for a long time before calling Mom. When the call went through, I heard the noisy, cheerful sounds of the countdown on TV, accompanied by waves of fireworks exploding outside the window. I took a sharp breath of the cold, lonely air around me and called out with a trembling voice, "Mom…" Alesha's laughter rang out from the other end of the line. "There's no 'Mom' of yours here. Don't randomly go calling people that. Didn't your dad find you a new mom? What? Are you trying to steal mine?" Mom's muffled voice drifted over in the background. "Who's calling so late on New Year's Eve? How annoying." I'd ended the call in utter humiliation. It was then that I realized that the word "Mom" no longer belonged to me. "If she doesn't want to greet me, then so be it," Mom said, her face darkening with displeasure. "She's always been like this—awkward and strange—just like her father. Unlikeable." Alesha affectionately rested her head on Mom's shoulder. "Then I must take after you, Mom. Otherwise, how could I be so pretty?" Mom affectionately tapped the tip of her nose. "Of course. We were always meant to be mother and daughter." The air in the room felt as if it had been entirely sucked out, and I suddenly found it difficult to breathe. Everyone began to raise their glasses in celebration. Mom turned to Hubert with a smile. "Hubie, Ali told me you're both applying to the college here in Jethroville. I'll be counting on you to look after her then." "Don't worry, Mrs. Callen. I'll take good care of Ali," Hubert answered, accepting the request with a smile. I found it all inexplicably ridiculous. Just yesterday, when we were submitting our college applications, Hubert and I had made a promise that we'd both go to a college in Granton—a city in the south—together. It had been barely 24 hours, and that promise no longer counted. My phone buzzed with a text message from Hubert. "My parents made the call about college. They want me to stay in Jethroville since we have family and friends here." "Mrs. Callen is one of my mom's closest friends. I can't just ignore her. You can understand that, right?" I wasn't angry. I just wondered why he couldn't have told me sooner. If I had known, I wouldn't have mistakenly believed that he—the boy I had known for so many years—was the only person who hadn't abandoned me. Another message popped up. "You should change your application, too. Let's stay in Jethroville together. Doesn't that sound good?" No, it didn't. I looked around the room. Mom was studying the menu with Alesha, discussing what else they wanted to order. Alesha loved her food to be on the sweeter side rather than the spicier side, and Mom remembered that very clearly. Hubert had put on disposable gloves, carefully peeling shrimp for Alesha. In all the years I'd known him, I'd never seen him act so attentive. I realized there was no place for me here. No one cared what I wanted to eat, and no one cared whether I stayed or left. I quietly got to my feet and, without alerting anyone, slipped out of the room. When the door closed behind me, their laughter and lively chatter were still going strong. Not a single person paid attention to me. I went back to the kitchen, put my apron and gloves back on, and buried myself in the mountain of grease once again. It wasn't until 9:00 pm that I finally left the restaurant, rubbing my sore shoulders. "Kathleen!" Dad suddenly called out, stopping me in my tracks. "Uh… Your grandma left some things for you. Wait here a minute." Chapter 4 I stood at the side of the road, waiting for Dad to drive over. When the car pulled up, his family of three was already sitting inside. Robby, seemingly exhausted, was slumped over in his car seat. I had just reached for the rear car handle when Dad clicked his tongue. "Forget it. Just catch a cab instead. If you open the door and wake up your brother, he'll throw a tantrum." Before I could say anything, he gave me an address, then slammed on the gas pedal and drove off. The exhaust fumes washed over my face, making me cough. After comparing the balance in my wallet with the estimated cost of a cab, I chose to take a bus instead. It took me two transfers and nearly an hour of traveling before I finally arrived at Dad's house. The last time I'd been here was when Grandma had just been diagnosed with cancer. She'd told him that she was too sick to take care of me anymore and hoped he'd let me stay with him. But I hadn't even gotten to see him. I just stood outside the door and listened as he drove Grandma away. "My son's about to start elementary school. How am I supposed to look after her too? She's old enough to go to boarding school. Don't trouble me with her!" he'd argued back then. I rang the doorbell, and Dad opened the door with an impatient scowl. "Took you long enough. You're just as annoying as your mother." He then tossed me a pair of disposable shoe covers. "Put these on." Before I could even step inside, he pulled up a small stool and laid a sheet of paper on top of it. "Sit here and wait. Don't go dirtying my couch." I didn't move. "Just give me Grandma's things, and I'll leave right away." The words had only left my mouth when the door was cracked open a little wider. Robby eyed me curiously. "Don't you have a home, Kathleen? Why are you coming to my house so late at night?" I met his innocent eyes, and it felt like something was lodged in my throat. I couldn't even manage a single syllable. Dad soon came back and shoved two plastic bags into my hands. "Your grandma told me while she was in the hospital that all this junk is for you. Alright, that's it. You can leave now. Your brother needs to go to bed now. Don't make a racket out here." I turned and walked away. It was getting late into the night, and there wasn't a bus in sight. After much deliberation, I still couldn't bring myself to take a cab, so I started walking back on foot. The distance was nearly 16 miles, stretching from the east side of the city all the way to the west. I stopped and started countless times, and the blisters on my feet burst and formed again. It took me more than seven hours in total, and by the time I reached my apartment building, the sun was already up. The woman selling breakfast sandwiches downstairs gasped in shock when she saw me. "What happened to you, Kathleen? You look so pale." I managed a faint smile. "It's nothing. I just had a very long walk." But no matter how long that road had been, it could never be longer than the road ahead of me—one I would have to walk alone. … After about two weeks, I received my paycheck from the part-time job. The real estate agent also called to inform me that the apartment sale had gone through very smoothly. Little by little, I packed up my belongings and shipped them off. The day before I was set to leave the city, both of my parents showed up on my doorstep. For once, they were actually on the same page about something. "Kathleen, I just remembered that you also took the College Entrance Exam this year, so it's about time you leave for college, right?" Dad asked. "What are you planning to do with the apartment?" "If you ask me, you're still young, and it's not a good idea for you to have an apartment in your own name," Mom chimed in. "Scammers could easily take advantage of you. Why don't we sell the place? We can put the money into a fixed-term account for you, and when you get married someday, it can go toward your wedding expenses." I stared at the two of them, choosing not to expose their lie. Just ten minutes earlier, they had been arguing outside my door, and I'd heard every word. Dad insisted the apartment belonged to the Holloway family and so it should go to him. Mom sneered, pointing out that the property had been purchased using savings accumulated during their marriage, so she was entitled to her share. But they had both forgotten that when they'd tossed me to Grandma like unwanted trash, the only thing Grandma had asked for was the property rights to the apartment, which she then put in my name. Calmly, I said, "Sure. Get the agent to drop by. But I'm a little tired today, so let's do it tomorrow." Their faces immediately lit up, and they happily left together. … The next morning, my parents showed up right on time. The moment the door swung open, they eagerly pushed their way inside. But when they got a proper look at what was happening inside, they froze completely in their tracks. Standing inside the living room was a middle-aged couple they had never seen before, measuring the space with a tape measure. "What are you doing? Who are you looking for?" the husband, Marcus Lebow, asked. "We're looking for our daughter—" "What daughter?" Marcus interrupted them impatiently. "We just closed on this apartment yesterday, and we're here today to take measurements for renovations." "We paid extra to snatch up this place since the previous occupant was one of the top scorers in this year's College Entrance Exam. If you have no business here, get out!"