Mom.”
The worst thing for an actor is when people
know the act is fake.
Mom pointed at me and yelled.
“This evil daughter! She always got away with
everything. She tricked her sister into taking
out a payday loan!”
“She tried to kill her!”
The shouting grew louder.
く
I held up a tape recorder.
Mom was shouting, so she didn’t notice it.
I smiled.
The speaker said, “Bzzzz, bzzzz.”
Then I heard a man’s voice.
Mom’s face was white.
It was Dad.
Dad said, “Jess knows everything, I regret not
strangling her when she was younger!”
Then Mom’s voice came.
L
She said, “It’s too late for that. We raised her,
hoping she would take care of Beth for the
rest of her life.”
“Now she’s gone. How are we gonna pay off
this debt?”
Dad said, “She can’t leave. She’s still our
daughter.”
Dad said, “I bought Jess an insurance policy.”
Mom asked, “Are you crazy? Why did you buy
her insurance?”
“Why are you so scared? It’s an accidental
death insurance policy.”
“She’ll listen to me, so I can plan an accident
for lose !!
<
The recording stopped.
Mom said, “You’re not stupid, so we can get
something for raising her.”
After that, you couldn’t understand what she
said.
I spoke loud and clear.
“Seeing isn’t believing. Sorry you had to see
this farce.”
“Just like you heard, this woman kneeling on
the ground is a devil.”
“What kind of mother would want their
daughter to die?”
The people looked at each other
<
The people looked at each other.
Mom quickly shook her head.
“No, that’s not it. Don’t listen to her!”
I paused.
“The sister she’s talking about faked her
paralysis for sixteen years. I was by her side
for sixteen years!”
“In the end, I was a mule.”
“My value was to do everything they said.
“I decided to leave this family, but they
wouldn’t leave me alone.”
I turned up the volume.
く
“That’s the truth! That’s the facts!”
I was done talking.
The yelling stopped.
Mom fell to the ground.
People pointed their cameras at her.
She covered her face.
“That’s not true! Stop taking pictures!”
A reporter nodded to me.
I smiled.
After today, their family wouldn’t be able to
come back.
r
I bowed to the crowd and turned around.
Evening was coming.
I found my light.
Over the years, our studio grew.
Our products became successful.
Sarah smiled and tapped my glass.
“Luckily, we’re still young.”
I settled down in the city and bought a house
near the studio.
I found a guy who was honest and didn’t have
bad habits.
Three years later, I gave birth to a daughter.
The three of us were happy.
I was thankful that I found my true self.
After I moved to the city, I didn’t think about
that family again.
Everything went away.
The people who had to pay did.
Sarah never remarried, and she traveled the
world.
She would help me take care of the kid
sometimes.
One day, she brought a bag of toys and
asked, “Do you know what happened to that family?”
“What?”
“Your sister went crazy. She says she has a rich sister and boyfriend who will make her
rich.”
“Your brother hasn’t come home in all these
years. Your mom wears a hat every day and
works to take care of her paralyzed husband.”
I laughed.
“They did it to themselves.”
One day after a meeting, I went to pick up my
kid from school.
I walked to the metro.
A man with no arms was begging for money.
I knew that face.
It was my brother.
I put a coin in his bowl.
He thanked me, “Thank you! Have a blessed
day.”
I didn’t feel anything for him.
I looked at my watch.
It was time to pick up my kid.
I went in the light.
