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Chapter 4

Penulis: Dowe
Mom shoved me through the front door.

I stumbled and almost fell.

Connor was already holding up his phone.

A transfer notification glowed across the screen.

It was six hundred dollars—my tutoring pay.

That money was a month of early mornings, late buses, hoarse explanations, and careful lesson plans. It was the first money that had ever truly been mine, and I'd planned to use it to start a new life.

"Give it back."

My voice came out raw.

Connor ignored me.

He opened a shopping app.

"These shoes are nice. So are these headphones. Oh, and this jacket."

One payment confirmation followed another.

By the time he looked up, he was smiling.

"Six hundred dollars disappears fast. I barely bought anything."

The room swayed around me.

"Give me my money back."

He raised his eyebrows.

"Back?

"For years, your allowance came from the money I saved using coupons. Now that you finally earned something, of course it belongs to me."

Something in me broke. I screamed and lunged for the phone.

Mom shoved me away.

My lower back slammed into the corner of the table. The pain blacked out my vision, and I could barely straighten up.

"Have you lost your mind?

"You're attacking your brother over a few hundred dollars? All you care about is money!"

Connor slipped the phone into his pocket.

Then he took out a single dollar coin.

"Almost forgot."

He smiled.

"I was going to use a few more coupons. Then I remembered you're only getting one dollar next month anyway, so coupons don't matter. Here. Paying you in advance."

He pressed it into my palm.

I caught his wrist and shouted.

"Give me back my money!"

Dad crossed the room and slapped me.

"You're still talking back?

"Think you're all grown up now? Sneaking around earning money behind our backs, breaking the rules? Lying to people about studying abroad?"

He stormed into my room and dragged out the cardboard box where I kept certificates and trophies.

Before I understood what he was doing, he smashed my physics trophy against the floor.

"Pretend? I'll show you pretend!"

He tore through my certificates.

"Buying fakes to fool your own family was bad enough. Now you're fooling strangers too? You've disgraced this whole family!"

Connor nodded from behind him.

"That's what happens when you raise someone who isn't really part of the family.

"Kick him out before he causes real trouble. I want my room back anyway."

Mom looked at me with profound disappointment.

"If you love money this much, then from today everything you use in this house costs ten times more.

"And there's a hundred-dollar entry fee every time you come through the front door. No money, no getting in!"

Connor added quickly, "And none of it can come from my coupon savings. I'm done subsidizing him."

I pressed one hand against my aching back.

Then I said, very calmly, "I won't be coming back."

Dad's face turned purple.

"Good."

He pointed at the door.

"Then get out right now.

"And don't take anything that belongs to this house."

I looked down at myself.

The backpack was one Connor had discarded.

The old phone had belonged to Mom.

Even my shoes and socks had once been Connor's.

The only things that were truly mine were the clothes I had on and my ID.

So I left barefoot.

The door closed behind me.

Through it, I heard Dad call a contractor.

"Come today. Knock down the wall between the two bedrooms. Turn the small one into a walk-in closet."

Connor laughed.

"Finally. I'm actually an only child."

My old phone kept vibrating on the table inside.

Mom reached toward it once.

The battery died before she picked it up.

She left it there and went to help Connor plan his new closet.

Dr. Redmond found me sitting barefoot outside the building with my ID card clenched in one hand.

He didn't ask any questions.

He simply changed our tickets to the earliest flight to Landorll that day.

I stayed silent all the way to the airport.

At passport control, Dr. Redmond had already gone through when he turned and lifted one hand toward me.

I looked back once.

Behind me was Vancouver, the city where I had spent eighteen years trying to earn a place in a home that had no room for me.

Ahead was a future I had never been allowed to imagine freely.

I drew one long breath.

Then I stepped through.

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  • Leaving Their Home for Good   Chapter 9

    Years passed.I completed my undergraduate degree at Imperial and moved straight into a funded graduate program.The university offered me student housing, but I still spent most nights at Dr. Redmond's place.He always joked that he was getting old and the house was too quiet without someone around."At least come home for dinner," he would say.I understood what he was really telling me: I wasn't alone.Every morning, he left a mug of hot tea on the table for me.No matter how late I returned from the lab, a light was left on for me.Money stopped being something I thought about every hour.Scholarships, university funding, and paid research work gave me more than enough to live on.I bought clothes because I liked them.I owned my own computer.Simple things that once felt impossible became ordinary.So this was what a normal life felt like.One afternoon, I came back from the lab to a message from Ms. Lambert, my old senior-year teacher.We still spoke occasionally.

  • Leaving Their Home for Good   Chapter 8

    After several months in Landorll, I stopped feeling like every ordinary comfort might be taken away if I used too much of it.My days moved between lecture halls, laboratories, the library, and Dr. Redmond's place.I didn't count every pound before buying lunch.I didn't worry about whether I could afford to eat dinner.Once my mind was free to focus, my grades rose naturally.One evening, after finally solving a physics problem that had bothered me for days, I leaned back and rubbed my neck.That was when I noticed the old Canadian dollar coin on my desk, the one that had come one minute too late.I held it between two fingers.I hadn't thought about home in a long time.I used to believe I'd remember every insult forever.Instead, Landorll kept giving me new things worth holding on to. The old ones didn't matter anymore.I thought life might continue that way indefinitely.Then one afternoon, after class, I turned the corner toward Dr. Redmond's building and saw three fam

  • Leaving Their Home for Good   Chapter 7

    Connor went completely still."Like him?"His eyes reddened."So now you think he's better than me?"He leaves and suddenly you remember everything good about him? Then why did you throw him out?"Mom went pale. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.For years, she had convinced herself that I was taking resources Connor deserved.Connor was the child who needed protection.Connor was the one who should come first.But after all these years of giving him almost everything, he still wasn't satisfied.Dad's expression hardened."Enough. Both of you."But Connor couldn't stop."You promised I could be your only son."You said if I wanted something, I could have it."Now I ask to redo one room and suddenly I'm selfish?"Silence swallowed the house.For the first time, Mom and Dad seemed to understand that nothing would ever be enough for Connor.When I was still around, they could always pin the blame on me.Now I was gone.Then Mom remembered the single cardboard

  • Leaving Their Home for Good   Chapter 6

    Back in Vancouver, Mom began clearing out my room.Only then did she realize how little I owned.Everything that belonged to me fit inside a single cardboard box."Mom, why are you spacing out?"Connor glanced in."Just throw Micah's stuff out. I still need help moving my clothes before the contractors get here."She said nothing and went to help him.When the renovation crew arrived, the small room was already empty.One wall—the one adjoining Connor's bedroom—was covered with physics equations in my handwriting.A contractor stared at it."Your kid must be serious about school."Dad snorted."Serious? He likes pretending. Probably copied all that from somewhere."He pointed at the wall."Tear it down."The first strike of the sledgehammer made Connor grin.Within days, the two rooms became one large bedroom and closet.Connor filled the racks with clothes and shoes.That evening, Mom cooked an enormous dinner. Dad opened a bottle of wine.Then, unexpectedly, Mom sa

  • Leaving Their Home for Good   Chapter 5

    Before we boarded, Dr. Redmond bought me a phone and activated a new number."Your scholarship covers tuition and living expenses," he said. "Stop worrying about money. When we get there, your job is to study."I tried to thank him.He cut me off."Don't thank me. You earned this yourself. You're exceptional."My eyes burned.I cried before I could stop myself.No one had ever praised me like that before.Growing up, praise belonged to Connor.If his grades improved even slightly, Mom and Dad celebrated and bought him whatever he wanted.If he did badly, they comforted him.When I came home first in my class, they barely glanced at the certificate."You've shown off enough. Put it away before your brother sees it and feels bad."I had learned early that applause was for Connor.Now someone was telling me I was exceptional.Dr. Redmond sighed and handed me a tissue.When the plane lifted off, I watched the lights below grow smaller until they blurred together.Images fl

  • Leaving Their Home for Good   Chapter 4

    Mom shoved me through the front door.I stumbled and almost fell.Connor was already holding up his phone.A transfer notification glowed across the screen.It was six hundred dollars—my tutoring pay.That money was a month of early mornings, late buses, hoarse explanations, and careful lesson plans. It was the first money that had ever truly been mine, and I'd planned to use it to start a new life."Give it back."My voice came out raw.Connor ignored me.He opened a shopping app."These shoes are nice. So are these headphones. Oh, and this jacket."One payment confirmation followed another.By the time he looked up, he was smiling."Six hundred dollars disappears fast. I barely bought anything."The room swayed around me."Give me my money back."He raised his eyebrows."Back?"For years, your allowance came from the money I saved using coupons. Now that you finally earned something, of course it belongs to me."Something in me broke. I screamed and lunged for the

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