Chapter 2

In the middle of the night, I was awakened by Bessie’s cries of pain.

“My stomach hurts so bad! Dad, get me some medicine. I’ve been running to the bathroom all night. I feel like I am going to pass out!”

She pounded frantically on my bedroom door.

Even though the guest room was right next door, there was no response from inside.

Seeing her face pale as paper, I fetched her some antidiarrheal pills.

Half an hour later, I caught myself when I was about to ask if she was hungry. The words reached my lips, but I held them back.

“Where’s the soup you always make? Bring it over already. I’m starving!”

Bessie peered past me, grumbling about how slow I was.

Whenever her stomach acted up in the past, I would prepare a warm bowl of chicken soup and bring it to her bedside. I would then beg her to eat a little so she could sleep better.

This time, however, I brought her nothing. I simply transferred thirty dollars to her.

“If you are hungry, order takeout.”

I turned around and walked away without hesitation.

Behind me, Bessie stared at her phone in disbelief before hurling it onto the floor with a deafening crash.

“Fine! You’re really going through with this, huh? Let’s see how long you can keep up the act!”

The next morning, I went to the hospital.

Thankfully, all my test results came back normal. There was still time to change my fate.

When I opened the front door, a glass vase flew past my ear and shattered against the floor.

Bessie’s face was flushed in rage.

“Why didn’t you wake me up? I had a practice exam today!”

She glared at me.

“You did it on purpose, didn’t you? You thought I’d come crawling and beg you to help me!”

I paused. I had forgotten about her exam.

I glanced at the shards scattered across the floor and scoffed.

“Getting up on time is your responsibility. I told you, I’m not going to tell you what to do anymore.”

She gritted her teeth and balled her hands into fists.

“Fine! You’d better remember what you just said. Let’s see if you can really stay out of my life for good!”

She stormed out of the house.

This time, I did not go after her.

Not long after, Bessie’s school counselor called me.

“Mr. Garcia, Bessie didn’t show up for the practice exam today. The SATs are only three months away. You have to make sure she’s taking this seriously.”

I cut her off before she could continue.

“From now on, please don’t contact me about Bessie again.”

I sent her Meera’s number and blocked the school counselor’s number.

Starting today, I was officially washing my hands of Bessie’s affairs.

Meera called around noon.

“What are you trying to do? You even blocked the school counselor!”

She massaged her temples.

“I have enough on my plate with work every day. There has to be a limit to how far you take this feud with Bessie. Do you have any idea that her mock SATs score dropped by more than a hundred points? Are you really doing your job as her father?”

My voice turned cold.

“She wanted freedom, didn’t she? I’m giving her exactly what she asked for. Besides, haven’t you always said I was too hard on her? This works out perfectly. No more screaming and fighting in this house.”

Meera finally lost her temper.

“You’re really washing your hands of her? Really? Fine! You’d better not regret it later!”

She hung up.