Chapter 5
I brushed aside some loose paper scraps inside from the bag.
Starving, I grabbed handfuls of food and stuffed them into my mouth.
I hadn’t eaten all day. Even the acidic bile in my stomach had long been vomited up.
Crouched beside the garbage can, I tasted the best food I’d ever had in my life.
I ate until a burp escaped me. My stomach, which had been empty and deflated, finally felt full again.
Feeling content, I sat down on the ground and rubbed my full stomach.
In those deep nights back in the Appalachian Hills, Mom would say that one day she would escape the village, break free from Ray.
She told me she had once belonged to a good family, people who loved her dearly.
Lying beside her, I couldn’t hlp but wonder–when that day came, would I get to go with her?
Would I finally be free of my cruel, terrifying father? Would I get to see that good home, those kind family members?
But now, with my stomach full and my mind clearer, the truth finally hit me.
That home belonged to Mom. Those family members belonged to her.
I had no home. No family who loved me. The past and the present–they were the same.
A pang of sadness hit me. The wind whipped at my eyes, making them sting.
Then suddenly–footsteps behind me. Uncle David came out.
Panicked, I shoved the trash bag back into the bin.
But the grease smeared at the corner of my lips was still there, and grains of rice clung stubbornly to my shirt.
His eyes wer cold as he demanded, “Who said you could eat that?”
I flinched, stammering in defense, “I… I saw it was thrown away. Nobody wanted it anymore.”
Uncle David’s expression darkened.
Having seen Mom’s scarred arms, his hatred for me seemed to have grown even deeper.
His voic was cold as ice. “If no one eats it, it’s better off fed to the dogs than to you!”
He was burning with hatred.
His fist clenched slowly, as though he’d reached a final decision. “Get out.”
“The Millers will not raise you. If it comes to it, I’ll go to prison.”
“But I will never let Laura suffer more by seeing you again.”
But I had nowhere to go.
Back in the village, when Ray got drunk and cursed me as worthless, throwing me out of the house, no other family would take me in,
not even for one night.
And here, in Riverside City, everything was unfamiliar. I had nowhere to go.
Terror swelled in my chest. I couldn’t leave.
A child with no home would have no food, no shelter from the wind and rain, and would die.
Frantically, I thought hard until I remembered the only use I had. “I… I can work!”
Chapter 5
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“I can sweep, do laundry–I can do a lot of chores.”
“As long as I can eat and have a place to sleep, that’s enough.”
Uncle David looked at me coldly. It was clear he wasn’t moved.
I gripped my sleves tight, blurting out, “I… I can eat just White Bread, that’s enough.
“Two pieces a day–no, even one is enough.”
He turned impatiently, ready to walk away.
I hurried after him, trembling, and forcedout the words in a rush. “I… I can even take a beating.”
“You can hit me, curse me–anything.”
That’s what Ray always said. A useless girl like me had only one purpose–to be beaten when he needed to vent.
Mom hated me. Uncle David and Ethan hated me too.
If hitting me gave them relief, then at least I had some use.
Uncle David finally stopped in his tracks.
He turned back. Instinctively, I shrank my neck.
Even though I had said it, I remembered all too vividly the searing pain from just days ago–when Ray had slammed a thick wooden stick across my back.
Fear made me want to recoil. But I forced myself to stay still, waiting for Uncle David’s hand to strike.
Yet the blow never came. After what felt like long time, his cold, detached voice cut through the silence.
“Don’t think you’ll be here for long.”
“As soon as I find a suitable arranement, I’ll send you away.”
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