Chapter 1
My Mom Told Me to Leave… Then My Little Sister Asked Who Would Buy the Food 😳💔
I walked into our apartment after an eight-hour closing shift carrying three bags of groceries and dinner for everyone.
My mom, Denise, barely looked up from the kitchen table.
Curtis, my twenty-four-year-old brother, was stretched across the couch playing video games.
“Internet's back on,” I said. “I paid the bill this morning.”
Curtis grinned. “About time.”
I stopped walking.
“Excuse me?”
Mom sighed. “Malik, don't start tonight.”
I stared at Curtis while he kept clicking his controller.
For months, I had been paying for groceries, internet, my little sister Nia's school supplies, and whatever Mom couldn't cover.
Curtis hadn't worked since spring.
Yet somehow I was always the problem.
I put the food on the counter and said, “Maybe Curtis can pay the internet next month.”
He laughed.
Mom's face hardened.
“You live here too, Malik.”
“I know. That's why I'm paying half the bills.”
She shook her head. “Half? You act like you're doing us some huge favor when you're living here free.”
I actually thought I had heard her wrong.
“Free?”
Curtis smirked from the couch.
I pointed toward the groceries. “Who bought that?”
Nobody answered.
“Who paid the electric bill last month?”
Mom stood up. “Watch your tone.”
“And who gave you money when Nia needed new shoes?”
Curtis finally looked over.
“Man, stop keeping score.”
Something inside me snapped.
“Easy for you to say when your score is zero.”
Curtis jumped to his feet, but Mom stepped between us.
Then she looked straight at me and said, “If living here is so terrible, leave.”
The room went silent.
“Go prove you can make it on your own,” she added. “Maybe then you'll appreciate this family.”
She thought I would apologize.
Instead, I reached into my work bag.
I pulled out the contract I had signed three days earlier and placed it on the table.
Mom's expression changed when she read the first line.
Paid electrical apprenticeship.
Chicago.
Housing included.
“I leave tomorrow morning,” I said.
Curtis's controller slowly lowered.
May you like
Then nine-year-old Nia walked out of her bedroom, looked at the grocery bags, and asked the question that made my mother's face turn pale.
“Mom… who's gonna buy our food when Malik leaves?”
