I Couldn’t Afford My Parents ‘Time Chapter 08
Mom opened her mouth to speak, then stopped.
But in the end, she only reached for Melody’s hand.
“Just think about it.”
Dad walked to the door.
Before leaving, he looked back at me.
“We’ll come talk to you tonight.”
But that night, they never came.
Melody stayed at Universal Studios until closing.
She was exhausted and didn’t even want to walk anymore.
Mom only sent me one message.
“Melody fell asleep.”
‘We’ll have dinner with you next time.”
didn’t reply.
This time, I wasn’t even disappointed.
Once school started, I got busy.
Classes.
Lab work.
The library.
And on weekends, I worked as a student assistant on campus.
The first paycheck I received was only $400.
I used half of it to buy a movie ticket.
After the movie ended, I realized something.
A movie didn’t cost $10,000.
And it didn’t require someone who didn’t even want to be there with me.
At first, Mom and Dad kept texting me every single day.
The question Mom asked the most was:
When are you coming home to tutor Melody?”
Dad occasionally asked if I had enough money.
But every time I said I had enough, he would go quiet, like he had nothing else to say.
Melody kept sending me her test scores.
She never once asked how life was going for me at Columbia University.
She only asked:
Hazel, when are you going to explain this problem to me?”
I never replied.
A month later, Mom finally couldn’t hold back and called me.
“How long are you going to keep being so stubborn?”
Melody dropped twenty places on her latest exam ranking.”
“It’s all because you refuse to come home and tutor her anymore.”
was eating when I heard that.
I stopped eating.
“She has tutors.”
Would an outsider really care as much as her own sister?”
A private tutor costs $200 for one lesson.”
I’m sure they’re pretty motivated.”
Mom was speechless for a moment.
Then her voice turned sharp.
Are you still holding a grudge over those time fees?”
We raised you for eighteen years.”
Do you even know how much money we’ve spent on you?”
“If we weren’t trying to teach you independence, do you think
we’d have made those rules?”
It was the first time I heard them actually try to justify those rules.
“Then why didn’t Melody need to learn independence?”
The line went silent.
After a long while, Mom finally said:
She’s younger than you.”
“By one year.”
One year still makes her younger!”
Why do you always have to make such a big deal out of
everything with Melody?”
It was always the same excuse.
Whenever they couldn’t justify their favoritism, they’d pull
the “you’re the older sister” card to shut me up.
But this time, it didn’t work anymore.
Mom, I’m not competing with her.”
‘Your time.”
Your money.”
“Your love.”
“You can give all of it to her.”
Mom’s voice softened slightly.
“Good.”
“I’m glad you finally get it.”
“What I mean is…”
“I don’t want any of it anymore.”
She went silent again.
I hung up.
Then I changed all their numbers to Do Not Disturb.
That winter break, I stayed on campus to work on a project.
I didn’t go home.
On Christmas Day, Dad sent me a photo of the dining table.
There were four sets of plates and silverware laid out.
He wrote:
Mom made all your favorite dishes.”
“The whole family is waiting for you to come home.”