Chapter 4

Mr. Peterson, the neighbor, couldn't bear to watch anymore. He rushed forward and grabbed Mom's arm.

"Eleanor! You're insane! Look at Ashley!"

Mom shook him off, her strength astonishing.

"Get lost! I'm disciplining my child! No one interferes!"

Her eyes were red, her chest heaving violently, her finger trembling as she pointed at me on the floor.

"You don't know, she's the laziest one."

"Only 99%, what good is being first in school? That one point is the key!"

"If she doesn't get that one point back, how will she compete with others? How will she cross the single-plank bridge?"

As she spoke, she pulled out the shredded test paper from her pocket, clumsily taped back together with clear tape.

It was covered in black ash, the tape almost melted.

She crouched down, trying to force the test paper into my charred, purplish-black hand.

"Take it! Get up and redo it for me!"

"I've prepared your mistake notebook; if you don't finish this sheet today, don't even think about dinner!"

My hand was stiff as iron tongs.

My fingers were tightly clenched into a fist, protecting what was inside my backpack.

She couldn't pry my fingers open.

"Let go! Did you hear me? You're defying your mom, huh?"

She pulled hard, her fingernails digging into my burnt flesh.

The surrounding firefighters finally reacted. Two young men rushed forward, trying to pull her away.

"Ma'am, please calm down! The victim needs urgent medical attention!"

"Urgent medical attention my ass!"

Mom turned and spat at them.

"She just wants to be lazy! She just wants to sleep!"

"In this house, as long as she has breath in her body, she has to study!"

"Even if she dies, she has to finish the test first!"

She struggled free from the firefighters' grasp and turned towards the kitchen.

There was still water there.

She filled a basin with cold water and, with a splash, violently threw it onto my face.

"Wake up! Don't you dare act like a corpse in front of me!"

The black ash was washed away by the cold water.

Revealing my pale, bloodless face.

My eyes were tightly closed, my lips purple, lifeless.

Water flowed into my nostrils, down my throat.

Normally, I would have jumped up coughing by now.

But there was no reaction.

Water droplets clung to my eyelashes, like tears that would never fall.

Mom's hand visibly trembled.

She froze for a second, then that neurotic smile reappeared on her face.

"You're a really good actress, Ashley."

"The Oscars owe you a trophy, don't they?"

"Fine, you can tolerate it, huh? Let's see how long you can tolerate it!"

She rushed forward and pinched my philtrum.

Her fingernails dug deep into my flesh, leaving red marks, even breaking the skin.

I remained motionless.

Like a broken rag doll, letting her do whatever she wanted.

The people around started whispering, their eyes filled with fear and disgust.

They looked at Mom not as a strict mother, but as a lunatic.

Mom, however, didn't notice.

She leaned close to my ear, using her usual, most effective killer move, her voice chilling:

"Ashley, if you don't get up now, I'm canceling your tutoring classes tomorrow."

"I'll give that five hundred bucks to a dog before I spend it on you!"

"If you dare make me waste money, I'll die right here in front of you!"

This was her spell that had worked a hundred times before.

As soon as she mentioned dying, no matter how sick I was, I would crawl up and do my homework.

Because I was afraid of her dying.

I was afraid of not having a mom.

But this time, the "if you don't get up, we'll die together" spell failed.

Mom.

Keep the money.

Giving it to a dog is great, a dog will wag its tail at you.

I only made you angry.

In the distance, the wail of an ambulance siren approached, cutting through the neighborhood's silence.

Emergency doctors, carrying their bags, rushed up the stairs, pushing through the onlookers, sweat dripping from their foreheads.

"Make way! Everyone, make way! Where's the victim?"

The doctor's face fell when he saw me on the floor.

He knelt down and reached for my carotid artery.

No pulse.

He took out his stethoscope and placed it on my smoke-covered chest.

The heart beneath it, which once pounded wildly over a single lost point on an exam, which tightened at the sound of Mom's footsteps.

Now, it was finally quiet.

The doctor frowned, pried open my eyelid, and shone a flashlight into it.

Pupils dilated, no light reflex.

The doctor sighed, checked his watch, stood up, and shook his head:

"Pupils dilated, no vital signs, time of death approximately one hour ago."

"Nothing to be done. Notify the funeral home."

This simple sentence, like a clap of thunder, exploded in the narrow hallway.

Everyone fell silent.

Except for Mom.

"Bullshit!"

A sharp roar erupted.

Mom charged like a cannonball, tearing at the doctor's white coat.

"What are you saying! You quack!"

"She's just sleeping! She stayed up late studying last night, she's just tired!"

"She's only seventeen! How can she be dead! If you dare curse my daughter again, I'll tear your mouth apart!"

She frantically clawed at the doctor's face. Two police officers quickly rushed forward and forcibly restrained her.

"Ma'am! Please calm down!"

The police officers pinned her against the blackened wall.

Mom's face pressed against the cold, rough surface, flushed and swollen from struggling.

Her gaze was forced directly onto me, on the floor.

After that basin of water was splashed, my hand had fallen from its curled state.

That hand, aimed right at her face.

My fingertips were melted by the heat, the skin charred and curled, revealing the stark white bone beneath.

That was the hand that held pens.

That was the hand that helped her wash dishes.

That was the hand that countless times tried to hold hers, only to be shaken off because she found it sweaty.

At this moment, she finally saw clearly.

That wasn't sleep.

A living person's hand wouldn't reveal bone.

"Ash… Ashley?"

Her voice suddenly softened, as faint as a mosquito's buzz.