I quickly texted back:
[Aren’t you supposed to be preparing for the SAT? What happiness and future are you chasing right now?]
Caleb responded almost immediately:
[College isn’t the only path. Plenty of college grads can’t even find jobs and end up washing dishes or working at fast food joints. Why bother? Income doesn’t necessarily correlate with education level. Look at Steve Jobs and Bill Gates–both college dropouts!]
[Besides, even if I fail, it’s no big deal. I’ve still got you, right? I’ll have my car and house and be successful that way. Sis, please keep this a secret. Don’t tell Mom I’m skipping the test.]
Reading his messages, I had to laugh at his audacity. He really never stopped planning to leech off me!
So I timed it perfectly, returning home on the day of the exam.
As soon as I arrived, I asked my mother, “Is Caleb back yet?”
“Are you stupid or something?” Darlene looked disgusted. “My son is taking his exam right now. He’s been staying at a hotel with his classmates these past few days to focus on studying. My boy works so hard–he’s definitely getting
into a top university!”
As always, she beamed with pride at the mention of Caleb.
I deliberately hesitated: “Mom, something seems off about Caleb. He sent me this weird message the other day. The more I think about it, the stranger it feels, so I took time off to rush back.”
While speaking, I pulled up our conversation to show her.
At first, she looked irritated, but after reading the messages, her face drained of color.
Without hesitation, she rushed out, and searched everywhere near home and school with me.
Finally, when we passed a movie theater, she spotted Caleb from a distance, holding an ice cream cone and walking hand–in–hand with his boyfriend.
They were laughing and sharing the ice cream, taking turns with sweet, loving bites.
Watching this, I instinctively checked my mother’s expression–dark and ominous, like a brewing storm.
Before I could say anything, she charged forward like a madwoman, grabbing the boy and punching, scratching, and screaming:
“You shameless little slut! How dare you seduce my son! I’ll kill you! I’ll KILL you!”
Years of her husband’s indifference, his cheating, and even his humiliating death had pushed Darlene to the edge. Seeing her precious son–her last remaining hope–in love with a man meant the dream of watching him marry and have children was shattered.
She shrieked hysterically, raking bloody scratches across the boy’s face and yanking out clumps of his hair. Blood streamed down his cheeks as she seemed determined to destroy this “home–wrecker” even if it meant her own
destruction.
Seeing his boyfriend so brutally attacked, Caleb intervened, trying to pull his mother’s clawing hands away.
But the more he defended his boyfriend, the more Darlene unraveled.
In the struggle, Caleb shoved her hard and delivered a cruel ultimatum:
“Mom, I love him. That’s just a fact whether you like it or not. If you can’t accept it, I’ll just have to pretend I’m an
orphan!”
His harsh words made me gasp. I never imagined he could be so brutal–even the gathering onlookers were shocked.
I looked over at Darlene, who, unsurprisingly, was livid. She collapsed to the ground, clutching her chest and gasping for air as her face turned a sickly bluish–white.
But Caleb was too busy tending to his boyfriend’s wounds to notice.
I pulled out my phone and tried to call an ambulance. But oops! My “shaky” hands wouldn’t cooperate–I couldn’t even unlock my phone. I kept glancing between my mother and my phone until I saw her eyes close as she lost consciousness. Only then did I grab Caleb and rush her to the hospital.
But it was too late. Darlene died of a heart attack.
After her funeral, I slapped Caleb hard across the face.
“I told you I would support you whether you loved a boy or a girl.”
“But you shouldn’t have thrown away your future, and you definitely shouldn’t have pushed Mom to her death. From now on, I don’t have a brother. If you want to be an orphan, go ahead–chase your love story!”
With those final words, I left the place I’d called home for eighteen years.
Fortunately, Caleb and I never had any real sibling bond, and he didn’t care about me anyway.
So he had no idea where I’d changed my college application to.
He would never find me again.
