Todos os capítulos de THE WRONG DAUGHTER WENT HOME : Capítulo 1 - Capítulo 5

The slap came before I could flinch.A moment earlier, I had been standing in the middle of the living room, answering my father's question about why I'd gone into his study the previous evening. I had only returned his reading glasses. I was halfway through saying so when my mother's palm connected with my cheek and my head snapped sideways.For a few seconds I couldn't speak. I stood there holding my face, staring at the woman who had given birth to me."Mum...""Don't you dare call me that!" she screamed. "How could you do this to your own sister?""Do what?"She laughed, short and bitter, as if the question were an insult. "Ah-ah. She is still asking."Behind her, Vanessa sat on the sofa with a tissue pressed to her face, shoulders shaking. She didn't look at me.My father stood by the television, arms folded. His face was so cold I barely recognised it."The money is missing," he said."What money, Dad?""The money in my study. Your sister's school fees and travel expenses."My s

I did not sleep. I lay on top of the guesthouse blanket with my shoes on, in case I had to run, and listened to the fan click all night. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw my father’s face in the living room, saying, "I believe the evidence."At six, the sky outside went grey. At seven, I washed my face in a sink that sputtered brown for a few seconds before it ran clear. At eight, I checked my banking app, though I already knew what it would say.It was still there: the transfer from my father’s account, timestamped 9:14 p.m. the previous evening. I stared at that time. At 9:14, I was peeling plantain in the kitchen, and Vanessa was on the lsofa, laughing at something on her phone.My phone was in my hand when I thought about it. Whoever sent that money did it while I was in the house. But how, when I hadn’t touched my phone for twenty minutes?I didn’t have an answer. I took my bag, paid for the room, and walked to King Street.The café was a narrow place squeezed between a pharmacy

Natalie met me outside the bank at noon.I had called her from Grace’s borrowed phone because mine felt dangerous. I told her only that something terrible had happened and I needed her to come with me. This time she didn’t say her aunt was visiting.She was waiting at the gate in her work uniform, hugging her handbag. When she saw me, she covered her mouth.“Amelia, you look like you’ve been dragged behind a bus.”“Thank you,” I said, and almost laughed. It was the first time I’d felt anything like humour in a day.“Why didn’t you just come to me last night?”“Your aunt—”“My aunt left at six.” She said it softly and looked away. “I only said that because I got confused. Vanessa called me an hour before you did.”I went still, then asked, “Vanessa called you?”“She said you were having some breakdown and might show up asking for money. She asked me to let her know if you did.” Natalie wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have listened. I didn’t know it was this bad.”I wanted to be