A Son’s Demands

Before my son entered university, he gave me a list of necessities he needed for school. Everything from a laptop costing 2,000 dollars to a phone at 1,000 dollars. Even the cost of traveling amounted to almost 10,000 dollars. My head pounded at the staggering figure. My mom had been hospitalized and was in urgent need of money. 10,000 dollars was a huge sum. I asked if I could give him 5,000 dollars first. My son’s face darkened in an instant, and he yelled at me for being stingy. He even wrote a lengthy post scolding his own family on social media. The next day, I read the post while at work. Someone even threatened to kill me. [A parent like you should die!] I read the latest post my son wrote, and my heart grew cold. In that case, there was no need for me to keep the truth a secret. Chapter 1 I didn’t expect that post to go so viral, it came up as one of the top searches in the country. Countless netizens berated me for mistreating my child, saying that I shouldn’t have children if I couldn’t afford it. [You can’t even fulfil your child’s wishes. You’re not fit to be a mother!] [Yeah! My mom was like that too, and she made me the laughing stock of my class. I hate her forever!] Online dissent grew increasingly intense. Someone even found my home address and claimed to punish me for being a nasty mother. I was so frightened when I saw that, especially because the person’s IP address was near where I lived. My husband was the only one at home. I gave him a call right away. The phone rang for a long time. When my husband finally answered the call, he refused to believe what I said. “It’s just something trivial. Have a good talk with our son, and he’ll understand.” My husband thought I was making a mountain out of a molehill. He seldom went online and never saw those posts. I was burning with anxiety inside, at a loss for how to explain how invasive the internet had become these days. Just then, someone rang the doorbell. He claimed to be here to check on the water meter, but the check had already been done last week. Who was this man knocking on our door now? A bad feeling rose up my chest as I thought about the post I saw just now. I hurriedly stopped my husband from opening the door. However, my husband remained doubtful and peeked through the peephole to look outside. “It’s really someone from the property management team. Honey, stop being so paranoid.” My husband comforted me albeit with a tinge of exasperation, clearly thinking that I was being overly anxious. “Don’t open the door!” I yelled irritably. My instincts have always served me well, yet my husband refused to believe me and ignored my cries. He opened the door anyway. Before he could open his mouth to speak, the stranger pulled out a knife and charged toward him. “Ahh!” I heard my husband’s cry over the phone. And then, nothing. “Hubby! Are you alright? Say something!” I was on the verge of tears. I grabbed my purse and rushed out, ignoring the strange looks my colleagues were giving me. I couldn’t care less about what they thought and immediately hailed a taxi to rush home. Throughout the journey, I prayed that my husband would be fine. When I finally made it home, hordes of people were surrounding my house. They told me that my husband was sent to the hospital, and that the culprit had been nabbed. My knees went weak. I almost crumpled to the floor when I heard that my husband was fine. I looked up at my son, who seemed completely unaffected by my husband getting attacked. He looked coldly at me and blamed me for not giving him money. “What can I do with that measly five thousand dollars you gave me? I was utterly embarrassed the past few days because of you!” Chapter 2 He didn’t explain the posts online or even ask about his father’s injury. All he did was blame me for not giving him money. As I looked at the young man before me who felt like a stranger, my heart turned cold. “Do you still have a conscience?” I was furious and lifted a hand to slap him. Yet, my son said with a smirk, “Isn’t this what you two should do as parents? Is that all you’ve got? The fact that so many people support me shows that I’m right.” With that, he turned to leave. I was so overwhelmed with fury I couldn’t speak, and I blacked out. Within a short week, two in my family got hospitalized. Running back and forth between my home and the hospital had drained me of my energy. Even my parents tried comforting me, telling me that my son was just a kid and that there was no need for me to take it too seriously. What’s more, the cyber bullying from the previous incident had stopped as well. I suppressed the anger boiling in me and held my tongue from raking up the past with my son. Instead, I focused on taking care of my husband till he was discharged from the hospital. To my chagrin, we came home from the hospital only to find my house turned upside down. It was as though a burglar had ransacked the house. I was frightened by the scene before me and was about to call the police when a neighbor stopped me. “Why are you calling the police? Your son was the one behind this. He said he needed to sell things at the flea market for money. Don’t you know about it?” My neighbor looked at me in surprise. He had long heard about my situation at home and looked uncertain whether to pity me or not. When I heard that my son was the one who did this, I couldn’t help but curse him in my heart. He was mad! He didn’t even bother visiting his father who was hospitalized for so many days. To make things worse, he was now trying to sell our belongings. I felt faint with anger. Rummaging through the mess in the house, I realized that all of my jewelry and even my camera were gone. Anxiety set deeper and deeper in my heart when I realized that the memento my grandmother left me before she died, a pearl necklace, was gone too. I searched the entire house but couldn’t find it anywhere. I immediately grabbed my bag and ran to the flea market near my house. “Shawn Lane!” I yelled in a fit of rage. My son jumped up in fright when he heard my voice, but rolled his eyes at the next moment. He appeared to still be mad at me. That fool! I saw him handing my pearl necklace to a woman in front of him as he accepted 500 dollars from her. “Stop! Give it back to me!” I rushed forward and snatched my necklace back. The lady jumped back in fright, but shoved me right after recovering from her initial shock. “Are you crazy? I bought this with my own money!” My son turned to look away, looking guilty. The lady refused to back down. She could clearly tell the value of the necklace and that getting it at 500 dollars was a huge steal. She would never let such a good deal go just like this. “What’s yours is mine! So what if I sell it?” My son started yelling back at me, insisting on selling the necklace. The lady sensed that something was wrong and called her husband over. The man aggressively snatched the necklace from me, scolding me for being dishonest and refusing to let me take the necklace back since it was already sold to his wife. My son stood idly and watched. He had no intention of stepping in to help me. I refused to let go of the necklace and ended up getting dragged a few feet away by the man. Everyone around me could hear my cries, to which my son turned a blind eye. Eventually, I had no choice but to let go and watch them take my necklace away. I looked at the scratches on my elbows and knees, and felt a heartache from deep within. Chapter 3 “Mom, why did you have to stop me? Didn’t you tell me to find a way to earn my own keep?” My son looked at me, confused. He then proudly waved the wad of cash he earned today. “I sold the camera for 200 dollars and the old laptop for over 300 dollars. There were a few other items I sold, too. I earned a total of nearly 2,000 dollars.” He pulled out his sales records, but I was fuming. Not only were the items he sold very expensive, but they also held precious photos of our family. I couldn’t believe he sold them at such a low price! “Mrs. Lane, what a good son you have! He’s so generous!” Someone walked past Shawn’s stall and showed off the camera he bought from Shawn. There were even some intimate photos and videos of me and my husband in the camera. I felt utterly embarrassed as they laughed and teased me, but my son looked completely unperturbed. He even joined in. “Since you dared to capture it on film, why can’t we watch it? Why didn’t you find it embarrassing when you filmed it?” he said with a smirk. I could no longer hold my anger back. I lurched toward him and slapped him hard on his cheek. “Get out! You’re no longer my son! Don’t even think about taking a cent from me!” He looked at me, stunned and in disbelief that I had actually laid a finger on him. I immediately bought him a bus ticket to Seaville, leaving him with no choice but to find a job and earn money. I even blocked his account on various socials. “Shawn Lane! From this moment on, you’re no longer my son! Find a way to earn your own keep!” I shut my eyes tight. I didn’t know which hurt more, the physical or emotional pain I was feeling. In a fit of spite, my son refused to come home from that day on. In the past, I would certainly have been the first to succumb and find him to call him back home. I would claim to teach and discipline him patiently, but end up giving up money again. This time, however, I no longer wanted to condone his actions. I changed the password to the lock of our door so he wouldn’t be able to let himself into the house. My husband found out about what happened at the flea market, but still thought that I was being too cruel. “He’s just a child!” He didn’t understand why I was being so heartless and thought I shouldn’t have made such a big fuss over a pearl necklace. “My grandmother left that for me! Me, heartless? That good son of yours almost caused your death. Isn’t that even more heartless of him? What’s more, are you two even related by blood?” I was so mad, I couldn’t hold my tongue. If he were such a saint, he should just give Shawn money from his own pocket instead of blaming me. The look on my husband’s face changed when he heard my last sentence, which effectively silenced him. Shawn was spoiled rotten by my husband and mother-in-law, which made him increasingly unscrupulous and brazen. I thought it was about time for my mother-in-law to know the truth. By the time I decided how I wanted to announce the truth, I suddenly received news about my son, who had vanished for a week. “Hello, are you the family member of Shawn Lane? He met with a car accident…” My mind buzzed when I received the call. I instinctively wanted to go to him. Despite my grief and anger, I couldn’t stop the heartache and anxiety I felt when I heard that something untoward had happened to him. When I heard that his life was hanging by a thread, memories of him when he was young flashed past my mind. Memories of him just learning to call me "Mama," when he first learned to walk, and when he bought me a birthday cake. I could remember each scene so clearly. Tears fell uncontrollably. They wanted me to pay for the cost of surgery, which amounted to ten thousand dollars. My hands trembled as I struggled with the decision. What about my mom? What should I do? Chapter 4 The moment I arrived at Seaville, I received a call from my mom’s nurse. She informed me that my mom’s condition had relapsed and was sent to the emergency room. “Are you coming back? Your mom is in grave condition. I’m not even sure if she can make it past tonight. I’m being honest with you on account of how long we’ve known each other,” the nurse said, sounding worried. I knelt in the middle of the road and broke down in tears. My mind went blank, and it could no longer register what the nurse was saying. When it rains, it pours. “I don’t know… I don’t know! What can I do?” I held the phone in my hands and cried out loud, unable to decide on who to give up on. One was my mom, while the other was my child whom I raised. I had also just given my son 5,000 dollars, which meant I had to go around borrowing money for my mom. I made many calls, praying hard in between each one that my mom would be fine and that I would be able to rush back to see her. When I finally borrowed enough money and was about to call the nurse, she beat me to it and called me first. My heart leapt to my throat. It took me a long time before I finally hit the answer button. “I'm sorry, but your mom just passed away. You probably won’t need the money anymore.” At that moment, I felt as though I was struck by lightning. Tears fell down my cheeks as I sobbed helplessly, my phone still clinging to my ear. Just then, my son appeared with a few friends by his side. They started laughing derisively at me when they saw me in tears. “Shawn, your mom really loves you very much. Look at how much money you have now! My idea worked like a charm, didn’t it?” Their smug laughter made me suddenly realize what was going on. They had been lying to me all along. News about his car accident and lies about his attempts to find work were just ruses to fleece me of my money. Being the fool I am, I believed every word of his and even lost the chance to see my mom for the last time. “Go to hell, you bastard!” I suddenly stood up and throttled him so hard, he couldn’t shake me off. All his friends were frightened by my sudden outburst, but quickly recovered and hurried over to pull me away. However, I had gone berserk. No one was able to stop me. When my in-laws heard about my son getting into an accident, they immediately rushed over from home which was miles away. The first thing they saw was the crazed, murderous look in my eyes as I tried to attack my son. They immediately pulled me away and stood in between me and my son. It was always like this. The moment I tried disciplining my son, they would stop me for fear that I would harm their darling grandson. I scoffed and said coldly, “This grandson of yours is the reason why your son is still in the hospital. He even looted us of all our money and belongings just to complete his graduation project.” Upon hearing that their son was in the hospital, my in-laws could no longer remain calm. They looked at their grandson in their arms, but continued to stop me from scolding him. “That’s our own business. It has nothing to do with you, an outsider!” My father-in-law had always placed much importance on blood ties and rebuked me, his jawline cold and hard. My son started acting aggrieved the moment he saw someone speaking up for him. He buried his face in his grandmother’s embrace, complaining tearfully. They knew how wicked their grandson was, but simply couldn’t bear to say a harsh word to him. My son looked at me with a smirk and said, “Mom, I’m underaged. You should be giving me money! Grandpa and Grandma are both here today, so you have to give me the money I need even if you don’t want to!” I burst out laughing. “I should be giving my biological son the money, if I had any!”