Chapter 2The Call From Eighteen Years Ago

There was silence on the other end of the call.

I then heard my young parents' frantic voices.

"Jess, don't cry. Tell me what exactly happened. Did you say you had a younger brother? What vocational school?"

My young dad's voice was filled with fury.

"Your mother and I already agreed we'd only ever have a daughter. We were going to give all our love to you. How did you end up having a younger brother?

"Whoever made you suffer, I swear I'll fight them to the death!"

I stared blankly into space as memories drifted back.

Before I turned three, we were poor, but my parents still showered me with affection.

One winter, I came down with a high fever while heavy snow blocked every road.

Gary wrapped me tightly against him and carried me for miles through the snow to the hospital.

Marielle stayed by my bedside all night while crying anxiously.

She stroked my forehead and whispered that she wished she could be the one who was sick instead.

On my third birthday, Gary spent two weeks' salary on a pink dress for me.

He carried me on his shoulders around the neighborhood and proudly showed me off.

"Jess is the most precious little princess in the whole world."

But that was also the year Marielle accidentally became pregnant.

Our relatives persuaded them to keep the baby.

"Have a son. Then you'll have the perfect family. A daughter will belong to someone else's family one day anyway."

The day Jason was born, I was sent to stay with the neighbors.

When I came home, my room had been turned into a nursery.

My toys had been packed away into cardboard boxes. They were replaced by toy cars and cartoon figures that scattered across the floor.

My pink dress had been cut into pieces by Marielle to use as Jason's diapers.

"Jess, you're the older sister now. You have to give in to your little brother."

That became the sentence Marielle repeated most often.

I vented every grievance I’d buried over the years over the phone.

"During my senior year of high school, I had a high fever while studying in my room.

"Jason said the sound of me turning pages was interrupting his video game. He shoved me and all my books out onto the balcony in 14 degrees Fahrenheit.

"I was freezing and crying as I knocked on the door.

"Not only did you refuse to let me in, but you even scolded me for staying up too late and disturbing his sleep."

I paused. I struggled to even catch my breath.

"The day before the SAT test, Jason cut my student ID into pieces.

"He said if he could only go to vocational school, then why should I get to attend college?

"I kneeled on the floor, trying to piece it all back together. I even begged you to stop him.

"You said that since it was already ruined, I could just take the test next year. You even said he was still young and didn't know any better.

"Yesterday, he stole my antidepressants and flushed every single pill down the toilet.

"I had an episode and couldn't breathe. I lay on the floor begging for help.

"But all of you were outside celebrating his admission to vocational school. You set off fireworks for thirty minutes."

Silence filled the line.

After a long time, my young mom couldn't hold her tears anymore.

"H-How could this happen? How could we turn into people like that?

"How could I ever treat you this way–"

My young dad's voice trembled.

"Jess, I'm sorry. It's all my fault.

"I swear I'll never let your brother be born!

"Your mother and I will find a way to come save you!"

Listening to their desperate promises, I forced out a bitter smile.

"It's useless.

"You can't come here, and I can't go back."

I hung up the phone and slipped it under my pillow.