My Mom, the Real Bloodsucker
"You're nothing but a parasite that fed off this family and then turned around and poisoned it!"
The guests, who had been simmering with outrage moments earlier, began to waver and murmur among themselves once more.
Dad raised a hand and signaled for the guards to let Mom go. "Faked? Then what about this?"
The screen lit up again. This time it was Mom, sitting in a home office, patiently coaching a much younger version of me on how to lie over the phone and how to squeeze out tears on command so Dad would send money.
In the video, my small hands fumbled with the phone while I looked up at her, confused and scared.