Chapter 3

By the time I chased after her, Mom, Dad, and my brother were all in the living room.

Millicent hid behind Dad and held up the watch. "Dad, Patricia stole the watch you bought for her."

Before Dad could say a word, Mom spoke. "Patricia, what is wrong with you? That watch was bought for you in the first place. If you wanted it, all you had to do was say so. Did you really have to steal it?"

Eugene stood with his arms crossed, looking at me with contempt.

"No wonder people say kids raised in poor homes have no manners."

Anger was already spreading across Dad's face. "A minute ago I was actually feeling bad, wondering if we'd teased you too hard. Turns out you'd already worked out your little scheme."

"You heard I wouldn't buy you one, so you decided to steal it. Is that it?"

"I didn't. I bought it myself."

Millicent's voice shot up again.

"You still dare to lie? Dad said none of us are allowed to take a part-time job until we graduate from college."

"So where would you get the money?"

The confession I'd wanted to make was choked right back down by that one line.

She was right. Dad had said no part-time jobs. We were students, and a student's job was to study.

But I wanted a hearing aid so badly. I didn't want to keep being misunderstood just because I couldn't hear.

Mom and Dad were afraid of gossip, so I told them I'd wear it in secret. They still said no.

And now, how could I ever admit that I'd signed up for a clinical trial just to buy that hearing aid?

But faced with my family's accusations, I had no way out. All I could do was tell the truth.

"Mom, Dad, I signed up for a clinical trial. They paid me a deposit, and I used it to buy the watch."

But when Mom heard my explanation, she got even angrier than Dad.

"You lie with no shame at all now, don't you? A clinical trial? You can even make that up?"

"If you're really that sick of living, then get out. Out of my sight, out of my mind."

Mom was shaking with rage, and when she pointed her finger at me, her eyes were full of disappointment.

"I might as well have never had a daughter like you. When people said you had no manners, I still blamed myself for not raising you right."

"But now you lie and you steal. How am I supposed to raise a girl like you?"

"Millie doesn't carry our blood, but we raised her too, and she never picked up a single one of your bad habits. How is that?"

"It seems the old environment really does shape a person. So you turning out this way isn't a fault in how we raised you."

At that, Mom pulled Millicent into her arms, relieved. "Thank God our Millie never had to live in that house."

The tears I'd fought so hard to hold back finally broke loose, and Mom's words kept echoing in my head: sick of living, then get out.

I wiped my eyes, turned in silence, and walked back to my room, where I picked up the few clothes I'd already packed and got ready to leave.

When I reached the living room, they were all on the couch watching TV.

I wanted to say goodbye, but I felt ridiculous even thinking it, so I just left quietly.

Eugene watched my back and shouted with a sneer, "Mom, Dad, Patricia's trying to run away from home."

Dad let out a cold snort. "Leave her be. Her wings have hardened, I see. Nineteen years old and still thinking she can threaten her parents by running away."

Millicent raised her voice. "Eugene, how many days do you bet before she's back?"

Eugene answered, pitching his voice up on purpose too. "Three days. Three at most. Three is being generous. Someone who's useless at everything, where's she going to go?"

Mom laughed. "You two, stop stirring the pot. Hurry up and tell all our mutual friends not to lend her any money. Let's see how many days she lasts."