2: 2
2
When I said it, my mother froze.
It took her a long moment before she looked at me coldly and said, "Then go hungry!"
With that, she snatched my rice bowl away and slammed it down hard on the table.
I didn't say anything. I just stood up quietly and walked straight to the couch.
As for this family, I had given up on it completely by now.
But I didn't expect that I'd barely been sitting on the couch for a little while when my cousin announced he'd had enough to eat, said he needed to step out for a bit, turned, and walked out the door.
And my mother turned to glare at me. "Beth, go wash the dishes!"
My eyes went wide, my whole face full of disbelief.
Looking at her, I said quickly, "Mom, I didn't eat a single bite!"
"So what?"
"You didn't eat a bite, so now you're not going to wash the dishes?"
"You're the girl of this house. You won't even do a little housework?"
There was a chill in her voice as she said it.
And in that moment I said straight out, "I never ate, so why should I be the one washing dishes!"
"Either way, I'm not washing them!"
Her eyes went wide. She'd never imagined I would blow up at a time like this, and blow up so completely.
When her order didn't move me, my mother's face turned uglier. She wanted to keep scolding me, but my father stepped in.
He said he'd wash the dishes, and with that he quickly picked up the bowls and chopsticks and went into the kitchen.
In the living room, it was just my mother and me sitting there facing each other. Her face was grim, but she didn't say anything more.
And I only said flatly that I was tired, then lay down and went to sleep.
Somewhere in a half-sleep, my cousin came back. The moment he walked in, he turned the TV on and cranked the volume up loud.
The sound of it woke me.
"Scott, it's late, I need to rest!"
I lifted my head, looked at him, and said it.
The second he heard me, his face changed.
He said flatly, "Beth, I know you don't want me living here in your home!"
"Since you're not happy about it, I'll just go back!"
His voice was loud. Loud enough for both my parents to hear.
My mother threw the bedroom door open and rushed out, her face livid, and looked at me. "So what if your cousin watches a little TV?"
"So he took your room, is that it?"
"You're still nitpicking over a little thing like that, even now!"
"Is there any point to it?"
I lifted my head, looked at her, and said, "I have work in the morning!"
"It's just a summer job. Why so serious about it?"
My mother said coldly, "You barely make anything in a whole month!"
I looked at her and gave a faint smile. "There's nothing I can do about it. After all, when other kids go to school, their parents give them an allowance!"
"And my allowance I can only earn myself, working a summer job!"
Hearing that, my mother's face went livid at once.
She knew I was talking about her.
About how she kept taking money from this house to prop up her own family, to prop up my uncle and my cousin, so this house had long since run out of money.
Before this, she'd even wanted me to drop out and go work.
If I hadn't stood my ground and argued that I'd earn my own tuition by working, I would have been shipped off to a factory long ago.
Seeing me fighting with my mother, my cousin finally got up and went back to the room. I glanced at her livid face and said, "I'm going to rest now!"
