Chapter 2

The next morning, someone was knocking on my door at seven.

I saw Jason through the peephole.

Beside him, there was a plastic container filled with dirty dishes.

The pots and pans they had taken last night had all been returned.

I opened the door, but I did not let him in.

Jason yawned.

“It’s good that you’re awake.

“Sawyer said that you have nothing going on today, so you should wash these dishes. Tonight, we’ll go to the rooftop for a barbecue. We’ll still need to use these.”

I glanced at the dirty plates.

“Whoever used these should wash them.”

“Enough.”

Jason sounded impatient.

“Do you know how much time we spent comforting Willa last night? Her eyes were swollen from sobbing. As for you, you were just sleeping comfortably at home.”

“Why did she cry?”

“You frightened her.”

I almost laughed.

They were sitting on my couch and eating my food, yet they wanted to chase me out of my own home.

In the end, Willa was the victim.

Jason pushed the box toward my door.

“Regardless, my job’s done here. I have something else to attend to.”

“What’s that?”

“I need to accompany Willa to buy the barbecue ingredients.”

He made it sound like it was second nature.

“She doesn’t know which are the right cuts to get, and the butcher will empty her pockets in no time.”

I pushed the box back to him.

“That’s good, maybe you can bring these back so she can learn how to wash the plates too.”

Jason had not expected me to reject him. His face immediately fell.

“Dawn, your tantrum doesn’t work around here.

“We’ve known you for over twenty years. Everyone knows what you’re actually like. Even though you say nasty things, you’ll cool down in a couple of days.”

I stared at him.

“Is that why you’ve always felt that it’s fine to treat me this poorly?”

He gaped.

I had already slammed the door shut.

Ten minutes later, Sawyer called me.

“Why do you have to make things worse?

“Jason came all the way to your doorstep so early in the morning, and you didn’t even let him enter your house. You can’t be this unreasonable.”

“He had not come with gifts. He wanted me to provide dishwashing services for all of you.”

Sawyer paused for a while.

“It’s just a few plates and bowls. Would it kill you to wash them?

“Besides, where did you store our grill and picnic mat? Liam will head over to pick them up later.”

I walked into the storeroom.

The entire camping and barbecue set was there.

I was the one who had bought the tent and the barbecue grill. I had even bought a camping chair for every single one of them during sales.

Last month, I had suggested that we go on a camping trip during Independence Day, but the three of them had said that they were busy.

Sawyer said he had to work overtime.

Jason said that he wanted to catch up on sleep during the holiday.

Liam was even more direct. He claimed that it was a waste of money to go camping as there were many mosquitoes out there that would feed on our blood.

It turned out that it was not because they were not free.

When Willa was the one who suggested the camping trip, all of them suddenly had the time to do so.

“No, I’m not lending you these.”

Sawyer acted like he had not heard me clearly.

“What?”

“I’m not lending you my belongings.”

“You’re just letting the items collect dust in the storeroom. Willa wants to watch fireworks. We’re just borrowing them for a night.”

“If she wants to watch the fireworks, you can buy the equipment for her to do so.”

Sawyer completely lost his cool.

“Dawn, enough!

“You only missed one dinner yesterday, and you’re still pissed off about it. It’s as if we’ve murdered you or something.

“Willa’s parents aren’t by her side, so what if we took a little more care of her?”

I had heard similar statements many times.

Willa was afraid of the dark, so Sawyer had to send her home.

Willa had a weak stomach, so Jason took note of all her dietary preferences.

When Willa had a bad day at work, Liam would drive two hours just to accompany her.

However, when I had a high fever, the three of them only gave me a food delivery voucher of a hundred dollars.

They said that I was independent, so I would recover with some medicine.

I had not been born independent.

However, when I needed support, they never prioritized me.

After I hung up the phone, I took photos of the equipment I had in the storeroom and marked them for sale on a website selling second-hand goods.

Within half an hour, the barbecue grill was bought by someone living in the same neighborhood.

The tent, camping lights, and camping chairs were all approached by potential buyers.

When Liam came at noon, my storeroom was almost empty.

He stood at my doorway and stared at me in disbelief.

“You’d rather sell these to strangers than lend them to us?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

I taped the last delivery box.

“Because strangers are willing to pay me.

“You won’t.”

My phone buzzed at the same time.

It was a text message from my landlord.

[Your lease is finishing next month. Are you going to sign for a lease for an additional two years?]

That house was quite close to Sawyer’s office.

While I waited for him to move in, I had to endure a 90-minute public transportation ride every single day for the past three years to get to work.

I typed on my phone.

[No.]