All Chapters of My Parents Have Double Standards: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

9 Chapters

Chapter 1

I didn't push the door open.Still holding the glass of milk, I quietly returned to my attic room.The attic was tiny, stifling in the summer, and drafty in the winter. A single wooden bed took up nearly half the space.Jenny's room was downstairs. It faced the south, where the winter sun streamed in.That was the result of one of our lottery draws.Three years ago, when I had just returned to the Schmidt family, Mom held my hands and said I had suffered a lot with tears in her eyes.Dad stood beside her. Even his usually stern face softened with emotion.Jenny called my name sweetly and eagerly showed me her closet full of new dresses and shelves packed with books.At the time, I thought I was the happiest girl in the world.That very evening, Mom announced the family's new rule."To be fair, and to put Jenny's mind at ease, from now on, every important matter in this family will be decided by drawing lots."She retrieved a wooden tube containing two drawing sticks."The r

Chapter 2

Early the next morning, I was woken up by the crisp ring of a bicycle bell from the alley.I recognized it immediately. It was Jenny's Schwinn bicycle.She had won it in our second drawing.The year before, Dad had been named an outstanding worker, and his workplace had rewarded him with a bicycle purchase voucher.The bicycle was brand new. Its chrome handlebars gleamed, and the bell rang with a bright chime.Dad announced that the bicycle would belong to whichever child drew the red stick.By then, I had already been living in the city for over six months. It took me forty minutes to walk to school one way, and during winter my ears would ache from the cold.I stared at the two sticks. My palms were slick with sweat.Mom handed me the wooden tube. As always, I was told to draw first.After taking a deep breath, I reached inside and pulled out a white stick."Then the red stick belongs to Jenny again."The very next day, Jenny rode the Schwinn bicycle to school.She rang t

Chapter 3

Mom's face instantly drained of color.Dad froze for a split second before quickly putting on a look of surprise."Huh? How could this happen? I distinctly remember putting one red stick and one white stick in there!"I said nothing. I simply watched the two of them put on their performance as if no one else were in the room.A few seconds later, Dad suddenly exclaimed, "Ahh!" He crouched down as if picking something up from the floor."It fell out. That explains it!"When he stood upright again, there was a red stick in his hand.It was the first red stick I had ever seen.It was bright crimson from end to end and as vivid as fresh blood.Jenny's eyes lit up as if she'd discovered something extraordinary. She held the red stick up and waved it in front of me."See, Christina? There is a red stick! Who said there wasn't?"The house fell silent. The only sound was the steady ticking of the old wall clock.I took the red stick from her and examined it in my palm.I then qu

Chapter 4

After saying that, I turned around and walked toward the attic.There was dead silence behind me. Jenny's shrill sobs soon shattered it."Mom! Look at her! She's doing this on purpose! She's trying to drive me away!"I didn't look back.The old wooden stairs creaked beneath my feet.When I pushed open the attic door, nothing had changed. It was the same shabby little room with a wooden bed and an old storage chest. Yellowed newspapers were pasted all over the walls.When I first arrived, all I had was a small bundle. Three years later, I'd only gained a few extra clothes and two books.Everything else belonged to them. I wasn't taking any of it.I found the indigo cloth I'd wrapped my belongings in three years ago, spread it across the floor, and began packing.Jenny was still crying downstairs. She was getting louder and more aggrieved with every sob."Why does she get to treat me like this? I've lived in this family for fifteen years! She's only been here for three! Why?"

Chapter 5

I went straight to City Hall.I filled out the paperwork and signed up to be sent to the countryside. Departure was in three days.The clerk looked at my address, then at my social security card, and couldn't resist asking, "Don't the Schmidt family have an adopted daughter? Why are they sending their biological daughter instead?""She's not in good health," I replied."And you're suppsed to be healthy? You're skinny as a rail and pale from poor nutrition. You don't even look as healthy as the adopted daughter." The woman frowned as she looked me up and down."I'm used to it," I said.She asked no more questions. After stamping the paperwork, she handed me my relocation notice.I left City Hall with the document in my hand and sat on the curb for ten minutes.It was almost summer. The sunlight was blinding.I looked down at my own shadow on the ground. It felt very unfamiliar.It had been three years. I went from the countryside to the city three years ago. In the end, I was

Chapter 6

During my third month in the countryside, the commune held an awards ceremony.Since I worked hard and efficiently, I was awarded a certificate of merit on stage.I rolled up the certificate and tucked it into my bundle beside my copy of How the Steel Was Tempered.During that time, I wrote one letter back to the city.It wasn't to the Schmidt family. I wrote to City Hall. I asked how my place of residence and employment records would be handled.I also asked whether I could change my last name back to Payton.My adoptive parents had been Paytons.Three years ago, I changed my surname to Schmidt after returning to my biological family.Now, I wanted my old surname back.It took two months for the reply to arrive. It was only a single sheet of paper.I unfolded it and saw City Hall's official seal. Changing my surname back would be difficult, but my place of residence had already been registered under the Scarlet Brigade.I no longer had any official ties to the Schmidt famil

Chapter 7

At the beginning of July, the mailman in town brought me a letter.It wasn't from Ocean City. It was from Primo City College.My hands trembled slightly as I opened it.Inside was an admission letter. I'd been accepted through the Proletarian Alliance Institute's recommendation program.I sat on the doorstep while reading the letter over and over.When Jaclyn came back from the fields and saw me sitting there in a daze, she asked, "What's wrong?""Jaclyn, I'm going to college!""Huh?""College! I'm going to college!"Jaclyn stood there in stunned silence for a long moment. She then leaned her hoe against the wall and grinned broadly. "Wonderful! That's simply wonderful! I always knew you wouldn't stay here forever. I knew one day you'd leave!"As she spoke, her eyes gradually welled with tears.I stood up, carefully folded the admission letter, and tucked it into my bundle."Jaclyn, I'm not leaving yet. School doesn't start until fall. I've still got two months.""Two mont

Chapter 8

After that day, Dad never came again, but the letters started arriving once more.I received one every week. Sometimes, it was in Mom's shaky handwriting. Other times, it was from Dad.I opened the first letter.[Christina, your mother was hospitalized. She told me not to tell you.]I opened the second letter.[Your mother has been discharged. She still talks about you every day.]I opened the third letter.[The locust tree in the yard was blown down in a storm. Your mother cried all afternoon. She said it was blooming when you left.]I opened the fourth letter.[Jenny has started seeing someone. His family is well-off. Your mother says you're old enough to find someone too.]I received letter after letter, but I never replied.But I didn't burn them anymore, either.Instead, I tucked them beneath my pillow. Every night when I lay down, I could feel the growing stack beneath my head.Sometimes my roommates saw me looking through them.They'd ask, "Why don't you write back

Chapter 9

Jenny left.After that day, the letters stopped too.The stack of letters beneath my pillow remained untouched. I never read them again, and I never threw them away either.They simply stayed there like a scar.In the spring of my senior year, I was studying in the library when the elderly security guard called me downstairs. He said someone was looking for me.When I stepped outside, I saw Mom.She stood at the foot of the library steps. She had on a faded blue cotton jacket that had been washed so many times its color had nearly faded completely. Half her hair had turned white in the three years since I'd last seen her.She was even thinner than Dad. Her cheekbones stood out sharply, but her eyes lit up the moment she saw me.She didn't come any closer.She simply stood there below the steps and looked up at me."Christina."Her voice sounded rough. It was like sandpaper scraping against wood.I remained where I was on the steps. I didn't walk down."What are you doing h

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