Chapter 4

I cried. I cried for a long, long time.

But deep into that same night, something became clear to me.

Something that could finally set me free.

So starting the next day, I became normal again, at least in Mom's eyes.

I did everything she asked of me without complaint, and I stopped fighting back.

A week later, she brought me home.

The first thing waiting for me was a mountain of dirty dishes.

"Go wash these. Nobody's helped me out these past few days. I'm exhausted."

I didn't say anything. I just walked over and got to work.

Next came a basket of laundry.

Some of it couldn't go in the machine and had to be scrubbed by hand.

I scrubbed away at the basin over and over. Partway through, my sister pushed the door open and dropped off two more pieces. She said like she cared, "Ronald, you're finally back."

The smile on her lips was completely genuine.

But it had nothing to do with me. It was because there was finally someone around to do her laundry again.

"A stubborn brat like him just needs to be broken in. See? He's so much better behaved now."

Mom's voice rang out, smug, as she left the room.

She didn't even lower her voice when she saw me standing right there.

I stayed silent, meek as a lamb.

But Mom never had any intention of letting me go back to school.

She wanted to teach me a lesson I'd never forget.

Three days before my finals, a friend snuck me my admission ticket.

I hid it at the very bottom of my backpack.

That night, while we watched TV, Mom's gaze landed on my face, sharp and searching.

"Everyone else is getting ready for the finals. You really don't feel jealous?"

I said I did.

She smiled, satisfied, and slid right into mocking me.

"Jealous or not, you'll just have to live with it. You brought this on yourself."

I said nothing else.

On the morning of the exam, I kept my eyes on the clock. The second they left for work, I called a cab and headed straight for the test site.

I'd already moved my things to a motel nearby.

By the end of the first day of testing, I had fifty missed calls from my parents.

"Where did you go? Did you sit for your finals?"

"When are you ever going to learn to listen?"

"Didn't I tell you, you're in no state to take this exam? Get back here right now, or I'll come drag you back myself!"

I didn't reply.

Instead, I spent every spare second studying for the next day's subjects.

But the next morning, the moment I reached the test site, my parents spotted me.

Their eyes lit up, and they came charging at me like starving wolves closing in on prey.

But I was still one step faster.

Mom looked ready to explode, glaring daggers at me.

"Ronald, you just wait!"

My heart hammered in my chest. I didn't look back. I spun around and ran straight into the test site.

It was the one place that could actually change my life.

Three subjects in a row, and I did well on every single one.

By the afternoon, I let myself believe fate might actually be on my side.

But in the end, they caught me anyway.

Dad clamped a hand over my mouth and twisted my arm hard, dragging me toward the exit.

Mom held herself back from hitting me, but her face was pure fury.

"When are you ever going to stop giving me headaches?"

The other parents by the entrance watched us, hesitating over whether to step in.

I sank my teeth into Dad's hand. The moment his grip loosened, I screamed at the top of my lungs.

"Let me take the exam, Dad! I don't want to work some factory job. Mom, I'll make money and take care of you both someday, I swear. Please, just let me take the exam."

In an instant, most of the parents nearby closed in around us.

Their faces mixed anger with disbelief.

"He's just a kid. What is wrong with you two?"

"The finals are important. Whatever this is about, can't it wait until after he's done?"

"Let go of him right now, or I'm calling the police!"

Mom's face flushed and paled by turns.

"Don't listen to a word this brat says. He's not right in the head."

But nobody believed her.

One of the parents shot back, disgusted, "Sounds to me like you're the one who's not right in the head. What kind of mother stops her own son from taking his finals?"

Dad flinched back under the crowd's glares and let go of my arm without meaning to.

"Run!" Someone in the crowd, some woman I couldn't even place, shouted it out.

I spun and sprinted back into the test site.

All my parents could do was watch my back grow smaller and smaller.

For the rest of the exam, a day and a half more, they didn't dare corner me again.

The moment the exam ended, my parents showed up outside my motel with Preston and Carol in tow, rope clutched in their hands.

"What room is my son Ronald Callinan staying in?"

Dad planted himself at the front desk, radiating menace.

This time, they'd fully made up their minds. They were going to tie me up and drag me home for good.

The exam was over now, and there was nobody left to protect me.

They were feeling smug, certain they'd thought of everything.

But the next second, whatever the front desk clerk told them drained the color from their faces and froze them where they stood.