All Chapters of Mom Killed Me to Teach My Brother a Lesson: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

9 Chapters

1

"Officer, he's been taking prescription sedatives to sleep lately. Testing for alcohol isn't enough."The state trooper was about to put the breathalyzer away when Mom spoke up. He immediately turned back to Dad.My father, Daniel, whipped around, a vein bulging at his temple. "I've never touched your pills! Emily can't breathe, and you pick now to lie?"Oliver lunged and grabbed Mom's sleeve. "Mom, he passed the alcohol test! Let Dad take her to the hospital first."The trooper motioned for Dad to turn off the engine and step out for further sobriety testing.The moment the door opened, snowy night air rushed into the back seat. I was curled against my seat belt, my mouth hanging open so long that my jaw ached. But every breath brought in only a thin trickle of air, and my chest jerked with each shallow gasp.Oliver was 17 and only had a learner's permit, so he couldn't drive alone. If they kept Dad there, all I could do was wait.I grabbed the seat belt. My fingers slipped twice befo

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Oliver stopped dead. "Mom, Matthew has lived next door to us for seven years. He's not a stranger. He's trying to save Emily!"Mom turned sideways to block the door and pointed at an unrepaired dent in the SUV's right rear panel. "Just because he's our neighbor doesn't mean he's a safe driver. He backed into his garage door just last month. Why would I trust him with my daughter?"Matthew froze for half a second, then threw up both hands. "The driveway was icy that day, and I skidded while backing out. Even the insurance company agreed it was an accident! I haven't had a drop to drink tonight. Check my driving record."The state trooper took his license and quickly ran it through the computer in his cruiser. "His license is valid. There's nothing on his record that would keep him from driving. He can take her to the hospital."But Mom shot back, "Can you guarantee nothing will happen on the way?"The officer handed the license back, his jaw tight. "All I can tell you is that the bigges

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"Oliver, stand up." Mom bent down and tugged at him. "Kneeling on the side of the road over something like this? How are you going to face anyone after this?" When he refused to get up, she settled for brushing the snow from his knees. But I remembered two years earlier, when I'd knelt until my legs went stiff while she wrapped her scarf around Oliver's neck.Dad rushed over and knocked her hand away. "Enough! Emily can barely breathe. What are you trying to prove?"Mom stumbled back half a step. When she caught her balance, her eyes were red. "What am I trying to prove? That every one of you thinks you can ignore everything I say!"Dad froze.She pointed at him. "Last month, I won Agent of the Year, and you promised you'd come to the awards dinner with me. I stood outside that hotel in my gown for 90 minutes while everyone else went in with their spouses. I was the only one left standing there, making excuses for you."Dad said, "The company server crashed without warning that day, an

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The nurse had let Mom in to give my medication history. The moment she reached the bed, she gripped the rail. "Wait. Why are you intubating her?"The doctor didn't stop working. "Her breathing muscles are giving out, and her oxygen level is still dropping. We have to make sure she can breathe first.""Intubation is way too extreme."Mom reached for my mask. A nurse immediately blocked her, while another hit the call button on the wall. Oliver followed them in and grabbed her wrist. "Mom, stop touching her!"Mom yanked free. "I only put a little something to make her throw up and a tiny bit of muscle relaxant powder in her capsules. How could it be this bad?"The doctor looked up. "Which muscle relaxant? What strength? What did you give her to make her vomit? And what's the name of the cold medicine she took this morning?"Mom opened her mouth, but after a long pause, all she said was, "One bottle was white. The other had a blue label, I think.""And the names?"She shook her head.The

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Mom's voice died. No one in the trauma bay was rushing around anymore. The doctor was pulling off his gloves, and the nurses quietly gathered the used equipment. I lay in the middle of the bed, and my chest no longer moved. Two pill bottles slipped from Mom's arms. One rolled to the doctor's feet. The other bounced off the corner of the wall and came to a stop."Emily?" She hurried over. First, she touched my face. Then she held her hand under my nose. After a few seconds, she grabbed my shoulders and shook me twice. "Wake up. I brought the pills back."I didn't respond.The doctor quietly called the time of death. Mom went still and looked up at him. "What does that mean?" No one answered. She looked back at me, and her voice rose. "She was breathing when she came in!"The doctor said, "Her condition was already critical when she arrived. We worked on her the whole time, but we couldn't bring her back.""That can't be right." Mom pointed at the pill bottles on the floor. "The pills ar

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A few days later, I was taken to the funeral home. Mom was already waiting there, holding a pale blue dress.Before last year's winter formal, I'd stood outside the shop window and stared at that dress for a long time. Back then, Mom said it was too expensive and that I'd wear it once, then leave it hanging in the closet forever. Dad secretly bought it for me anyway. Now Mom laid the dress out on the table and worked her way down the back, fastening the buttons one by one. She fastened the first button through the wrong hole, lowered her head, undid it, and started over. The second time, her hands shook so badly that she couldn't work the button through the hole.Oliver had been standing in the doorway, holding my old backpack against his chest. Mom had barely said, "Oliver," when he pulled a stack of papers from the inner compartment. They'd been folded so many times that the paper had grown soft and worn. "Do you remember these?"Mom looked up.They were all the "accountability state

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Mom stared at the divorce papers for a while, then laid a hand over them. "I know I was wrong. We still have Oliver. This family can't fall apart like this."Dad said, "When Emily was alive, did she ever have a place in this family?"The suitcase thudded down the stairs, one step at a time. Oliver appeared, dragging it behind him. "I'm going with Dad."Mom jumped up and grabbed his sleeve. "Oliver, everything I did was for you!"My brother looked down at her hand and slowly pried her fingers loose. "That's exactly why I can't stay."Three days after Dad and Oliver moved out, two investigators asked Mom to return to the sheriff's office. She went in wearing the beige coat she usually wore to meet clients. When she came out, it was draped over her arm, and she never put it on again.No one in the interview room needed to argue with her.The investigator played the first body-camera video. In the footage, the officer was about to finish the roadside check when Mom suddenly added that two

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The video had been recorded at a spring school event. The teacher asked each student what they most wanted to do with their family. Some wanted a trip. Others wanted to go to a concert. One wanted a car.When it was my turn, I stood in front of the camera and thought for a long time. "If I get straight A's again this semester, could Mom have breakfast with just me? Just once?"Someone off camera laughed. "Just breakfast?"I laughed a little too. "No Oliver, and no talking about Oliver. Just me and her."The video ended.Mom sat in front of the laptop, her hand resting beside the mouse.Ms. Harmon didn't close the video right away. Instead, she opened another folder. It held photos from that semester's family events. At the awards ceremony, reading night, and class showcase, I stood at the edge of the frame almost every time.In one photo, everyone else's parents crowded around their kids. I stood in the back row, holding my certificate and looking down as I shoved it into my backpack.

9

When Dad ran into the bathroom, my brother was sitting on the floor. His climbing rope, helmet, and every medal he'd ever won were stuffed into a cardboard box beside him. He clutched his arms so tightly that his nails left red marks on his skin."Dad." Oliver kept his head down. "If I'd been the one who swallowed all those pills, would any of this have happened?"Dad crouched and pried his hands loose. "Emily already suffered more than enough in your place."My brother's shoulders shook.Dad didn't let go of his hands. "From now on, remember her. Not because you deserve to be punished too, but because when you mess up, you have to clean it up yourself."My brother kept his head down and cried for a long time. For months afterward, whenever he saw someone shake a few vitamins into their palm, he immediately looked away.After the court's temporary order ended, Mom waited outside his school. When Oliver spotted her in the distance, he stopped, then turned and walked the other way.Mom h

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