I chased the rats with a broom, but they darted into the walls and rice jar. I couldn’t catch them.
Having not eaten since yesterday morning, I grew dizzy from hunger. I nearly fainted.
Mom only smirked coldly.
“Useless. You might as well starve.”
She always kept her word when it came to tormenting me.
So that night, I went without food.
Counting from yesterday’s breakfast, I had starved for a full day and night—my only taste of food being that half bite of chocolate.
The gnawing hunger drove me to the kitchen early the next morning.
I tried to heat up the bowl of rotten stew.
Just as I lit the stove, Mom stormed in and slapped me hard.
“So young and already greedy for comfort? You even want to eat warm food? Wasting gas!”
“You’re lazy, aren’t you? Eat it cold!”
I was crushed with humiliation, but as a child, I had no power to argue.
Yesterday she had told me to heat it up, but today she forbade it.
If I argued, she’d prick my mouth with a needle, calling me a liar.
With no choice, I curled up in the corner and forced down the icy, rotten stew until my stomach twisted in agony.
Soon I was vomiting and writhing in pain.
Mom kicked me where I lay.
“All this fuss just because you didn’t get chocolate? Pretending to be sick over leftovers—who do you think you’re fooling?”
Sweating and trembling, I begged:
“Mom, I’m not pretending. I really hurt. Please take me to the hospital. I don’t want to die…”
She looked down coldly.
“What do you think you are, some rich princess? Going to the hospital costs money!”
“When we were kids, we never went to the hospital!”
“If you’re really sick, you just tough it out. Kids who survive get stronger and won’t get sick again!”
But I couldn’t tough it out.
My hands and feet shook, my vision darkened.
Instead of helping, she ordered:
“Don’t lie there! Get up and mop the floor!”
“Move your body, get the blood flowing, and you’ll get better faster!”
She yanked my bony arm, dragging me to the bucket.
“Children need to learn hard work from a young age. Today you’ll clean the whole house as your reward!”
“You should be grateful for a lifetime that I’m teaching you these good habits! Everything I do is for your own good.”
She sank back into her self-righteous role of the perfect, caring mother.
I was in such pain that I could barely breathe, my arms and legs weak.
Finally, by accident, I knocked over the bucket of water.
It splashed across the floor.