My Mother Said I'm A Liar

“A child’s behavior reflects badly on the parents. Anna made a mistake. She’s taken a lot of money from all of you over the years. I’ll pay it all back.”

Outside, the porch was littered with cigarette stubs and ashes.

We were not a wealthy family. My mother did not work. The mortgage, the car payments, and all the bills fell on my father’s shoulders.

Even though each gift was only five hundred bucks, it had added to a significant amount over the years, especially when many people had contributed to it.

He must have hesitated before making this decision.

The relatives made a show of refusing him at first. “How could we take back the money we gave to a child?”

But in the end, they still accepted it.

“I apologize on Anna’s behalf. I hope this ends here. She’s still young. She can change. I just don’t want her growing up with a reputation that she can’t shake.”

Even as a spirit, my heart ached.

Angry as he was, my father had figured out a solution.

He was trying his best to keep me from becoming a bad kid in everyone’s eyes.

After making the rounds with his drinks, Dad was visibly tipsy. Even so, he gave Mom two thousand dollars.

“From now on, if Anna wants something, just get it for her. Maybe we’ve been too hard on her. That’s why she ended up lying and taking the money.”

Mom’s hand trembled slightly as she took the cash.

Maybe the fear of almost being exposed earlier still lingered in her mind, or maybe she was moved by how my dad bowed and asked for forgiveness.

Perhaps she felt a little guilty toward me.

She walked over to the bedroom door with the money and knocked.

“Anna, what happened today really was on me. After I had you, I quit my job and lost my income. That’s why I was trying so hard to scrape together money to please myself. Let’s just put this behind us and go back to how things were. It’ll be the three of us, like a normal family, okay?”

She kept talking about how she would spend the two thousand dollars just on me.

When I did not respond, she assumed I was sulking.

Her tone began to change.

“Anna, I already said I’m sorry! What else do you want from me? Are you seriously going to ignore me forever? Stop sulking, okay?”

I drifted beside her and said, “Mom.”

She could not hear a thing.

Mom had a prideful temper. She was not going to keep begging.

She walked away and joined a card game.

It was not until midnight, just before the fireworks, that she came to knock on the door again.

There was still no response.

“Are you still sulking? Haven’t you had enough? I just won some money from the game. Here, I’ll give you two hundred. Think of it as a gift. You can spend it however you want. Happy now?”

Just as she finished saying that, Dad walked over.

He leaned in and said quietly in her ear, “Five hours of reflection should be enough. Let her out. Make her something to eat later. She barely ate tonight. She’s probably hungry.”

He paused for a moment.

“As for the lying… I’ll deal with it after the holidays.”

I thought, ‘But Dad, when you see my body, you’ll know I wasn’t lying.’

Fireworks were already going off outside.

On the table sat a box of sparklers Dad had bought just for me.

Mom and Dad glanced at the time and urged me to come out to watch the fireworks.

I hovered nearby. I was frantic.

In the end, they lost their patience and went to get the key.

“Anna, stop sulking already!” Mom said.

“You’re the one in the wrong here. Are you seriously throwing a tantrum?” Dad added.

There was a sharp click, and the door swung open.

At that moment, fireworks burst across the sky outside. The dazzling light washed over their faces.

Looking at my body on the bed, all anger instantly drained from their faces, leaving only shock and disbelief behind.