Chapter 4I Stole a Bone to Survive and Built My Own Empir

My mother, Brenda, set down her suitcase and looked me over.

“I can’t believe how tall you’ve gotten,” she said flatly.

No matter how high I had built the walls around my heart, hearing that one familiar sentence caused them to crumble.

Tears poured down my cheeks.

I rushed over and wrapped my arms around her waist, trying to expel two years of loneliness and hurt in one massive sob.

“Mom, I missed you so much.”

Her body went rigid. She neither pushed me away nor hugged me back.

When I finished crying, I wiped my eyes.

My hand trembled as I pulled the warm, folded acceptance letter from my jacket pocket.

“Mom, I got into the best high school.”

“Could you… lend me the tuition? I promise, I’ll pay you back double when I start working.”

She took the letter, glanced at it, and her face tightened.

“What’s a girl need books for? Girls who read too much get ideas, and what good is an idea when you’re just going to settle down and raise a family?”

A wave of cold dread washed over me. I stared at her, disbelieving.

She lit a cigarette, taking a long drag.

“I’m here to sell your grandmother’s shack. Your brother needs a down-payment for a starter home in a good school district.”

“Money’s tight, June. You’re grown up now. It’s time to help out.”

“Pack your things. My boss at the textile mill needs hands. I told him about you, and he agreed to hold a spot.”

She hadn't come back to help me read.

She had come back to sell my inheritance to finance my brother’s education and then sell me into construction site labor.

I screamed, the sound tearing from my throat.

“I won’t go! I’m going to school!”

My mother’s brow furrowed into a tight knot. She slapped her hand on the table.

“You won’t go to the construction site? What, are you going to be a princess? Where do you think I’ll get the cash to indulge you?”

I froze, completely helpless.

The yard gate suddenly flew open.

Marge Dawson strode in and immediately pointed a finger at my mother.

“Brenda, have you no shame?”

“This child grew up here like a stray dog, and you didn’t check on her once. Now you think she can earn a wage, you remember you have a daughter?”

My mother scoffed, flicking her cigarette ash.

“All the girls around here end up in the construction site. It’s the way of things.”

Marge gave a nasty laugh.

“But the other girls weren’t eating my pot roast!”

“Other workers send money home. You disappear the moment your own mother dies. You just waited for this child to grow big enough to become your cash cow, didn't you?”

Marge planted herself in front of me, like an angry old hen protecting her chick.

“You want to take her? Fine. Pay me back two years of food and support. I won’t charge interest. Just two thousand dollars.”

My mother angrily stubbed out the cigarette, her face pinched.

“I don’t have that kind of money right now.”

Marge pointed to the door.

“Then get out!”

Neighbors, drawn by the yelling, started to gather, whispering and pointing fingers.

My mother's face turned the color of beet-red.

She shot me a look of pure hatred, grabbed her suitcase, and scurried away.

Watching her retreating back, I burst into tears again.

Marge knelt down, patting my back.

“June, don’t blame me for running off your mother.”

I shook my head, wiping my face.

“I don’t blame you, Ma’am. She was the one who abandoned me first.”

In that moment, I finally accepted the cold, hard fact: I was an unwanted child.

Marge sighed, looking at the acceptance letter in my hand, her face full of worry.

“But June, I can’t help you with the tuition either.”

“This village relies on what the land gives us. We only bring in about six thousand a year. Your uncle, the mayor, gives most of that to the families who need it more.”

I stopped crying, my mind a terrifying blank.

The tuition. Two thousand dollars. It was enough to crush an adult, and it was certainly enough to crush a thirteen-year-old girl.

Just then, Bella came out of her house. She leaned against the doorframe and said in a low voice:

“I have a way. It just depends on whether you’re willing to go through with it.”