Chapter 4

"Ha! Dorothy was never allergic to anything. I made that up. There's no point stuffing a girl full of food. Better to save it for her brothers."

"I lied and told her she'd break out in a rash, so she'd eat less and never get greedy for it later. And she actually listened, kept it up for years, never even touched an egg!"

"I nearly cracked up so many times. I told her she couldn't even stand the smell of it, told her to stay in her room out of the way, so the rest of us could eat in peace."

My mother finished the three sentences like a champion, doubled over laughing in the kitchen.

She thought her little scheme had worked perfectly, that she'd run me in circles, and it made her feel clever and in charge.

Later I said at the dinner table that I wasn't allergic anymore, and not one person in the family answered me. All the seafood, the milk, the eggs, still came with no portion for me.

That was when I understood that when my mother lied to me, she was at least giving me a way to save face, and if I refused to take it, next time I wouldn't even get the chance to be lied to.

That memory sat wet inside me for a long time. I still haven't shaken it. I nearly drowned in it.

If my little nephew hadn't whimpered and tugged me back to the present, I wouldn't have noticed my own tears dripping onto his face.

I kept the baby three more days.

Three days later, my acceptance letter from the company came through, telling me I only had to report for work within fifteen days.

For those three days, they were all having a wonderful time. Not one phone call to me. Even Megan never once asked whether the baby was settling in.

They'd split into two groups for their trip, one for the kids' fun, one for the couple's romance, and posted every photo in the big family group chat.

At eight that night, Megan suddenly tagged me in the group and sent, out of nowhere, some strange man's contact, telling me to add him right away.

I ignored it, so she started a group call and forced me to pick up.

"Hey, Dottie! Hurry up and add this man. I've already checked him out for you. He's just divorced, no kids, comes from a good family, and he's from the same city as us. He's looking for a wife now."

I stayed silent, and heard my mother jump in with her interrogation.

"Who is he? How much is he worth? First marriage or not doesn't matter, as long as there are no kids. What does he look like? Perfect timing, Dorothy just graduated, she can get married now, she's educated."

What a bitter thing to say.

Back then I was the one who insisted on going to college. I knelt and begged my mother to pay tuition that one time, and after I enrolled I worked my way through it myself.

I clawed my way to that degree, and now she comes out with "she graduated, she can get married now, she's educated"?

But it was what Megan said next that I truly couldn't stomach.

"This man came up and hit on me. Wanted my number, said I'm very pretty! I saw he drives a nice car, so I told him I'd introduce him to Dottie, and he was happy about it. Said if he likes what he sees, he'll come to the house with a marriage offer."

Megan went on and on, then tagged me one more time to drive it home.

"Dottie, while you're young you've still got an edge, so don't you dare pass this up! If it works out between you two, I'll get a matchmaker's fee out of it!"

I hung up on them with one tap and left that fake family group chat for good.

Then I took the hundred dollars my mother had given me and hired a cab that same night to drop the baby off at Megan's parents' place.

Next I went to the bank to apply for a student loan and a startup loan, then came home and packed up what little I owned.

The next day, I took my ID and residency papers to the county office to file my job placement paperwork, and I got a flight booked for three days out without a hitch.

Getting all of it done took just three days.

At last I was free.

Three days later, I was at the airport right on time.

Just as I was about to power off my phone, my father sent a string of furious messages cursing at me.

"Dorothy, where the hell did you go? The neighbors say our dog's gone mad with hunger, barking its head off, and someone called the cops over the noise!"

"We saw you on the home camera, wheeling a suitcase out the door and dropping the keys on the ground. Where the hell did you go?!"

I gave a small laugh.

Power off. Toss the SIM card. Take off.