From The Day I Was Born, My Whole Family Exploited Me

My sister-in-law had her second baby, but I was the one who ended up with postpartum depression.

The moment she finished her month of confinement, the whole family took my scholarship money and drove off to the coast, leaving me with the newborn who was barely a month old.

Megan Cole had a flicker of worry and asked once whether I could really manage him. My mother answered for me before I could open my mouth.

"Relax! Dottie can absolutely handle it! She's looked after her little brother and her niece since she was small. She's got plenty of experience."

Right. Because I was the second child, the least-favored one in this house.

I'd finally gotten Kevin Mann and Lily raised, and now there was a newborn nephew to raise too, and every single one of them thought it was simply my job.

I'd argued about it. I'd fought about it. They didn't care in the slightest.

Not until Grandpa Mann called, and I couldn't hold it in anymore and broke down crying.

"Isn't Dottie going on the road trip with the rest of you? Every year I see her raising her brother, raising her niece, and now she has to raise her nephew too?"

My mother laughed, not caring at all how I felt.

"Who else would do it? She's the only one in this house with nothing to do. Let her build up some experience now. Once she graduates and gets married, she'll know how to raise her own kids."

Hearing that...

I knew it was time for me to go.

...

I couldn't hold back. I hid in my room and cried until I was empty.

My little nephew was already screaming with hunger, and the whole family was busy mapping out the road trip. Not one of them went to him.

It was as if, from this moment on, the baby was my responsibility.

My mother finally couldn't stand the crying. She didn't even knock, just barged in and jabbed a finger at my head, cursing at me.

"Are you deaf? Got feathers stuffed in your ears? Can't you hear your nephew crying?"

My brother came running in behind her, brows knit, glaring at me with pure disgust.

"Dorothy Mann, this is out of line. How can you be this lazy? Can't you see we're all busy? Go check on your nephew!"

Neither of them noticed my tears, or how red my eyes were. Only Kevin came in and saw.

"Ha, Dottie's crying, Dottie's crying!"

He clapped his hands, delighted, and what came out of his mouth wasn't comfort but something that cut deeper.

"I hate my sister most of all. It's great that she's crying. I love watching her cry."

My mother let out a cold snort.

My brother followed with a contemptuous clicking of his tongue, as though I'd committed some terrible crime, and they all started needling me with their snide remarks.

"Life's too comfortable for you, is it? Crying over nothing? What bad luck you bring. What's with the miserable face, like some jinx?"

"Have you been chatting with some sketchy man online? Got your heart broken by a con artist?"

"Tsk, tsk, what a useless daughter to raise. I always said I never wanted a girl. Too much trouble."

"Just don't go getting knocked up before marriage. That'd be a disgrace to die over. Soon as she graduates, we'll send her off to some matchmaking dates and marry her off."

...

They discussed me without mercy, as if I were an object they could buy and sell at will.

The baby was crying harder now, tearing his little lungs out, and my brother gave me a light kick, already out of patience.

"What are you standing around for? Go make his bottle, change his diaper, and wash his bottom with warm water while you're at it."

Looking at the wailing baby, I couldn't say what I felt. There was only one word filling my head: leave.

I soothed the baby the way I always did, then pulled up my job placement application and changed my choice from the company near home to the farthest, most remote firm on the list.

That region was so far out, with a harsh climate and rough conditions, that almost no one chose it.

Barely an hour after I made the change, I got a reply from that company, and my graduation file would be transferred along with me.

"Hello, Dorothy. Thank you for choosing our company. Within the next three business days, we will send your offer letter by email. Please report to the company within fifteen days of receiving it."

Hello!

I answered them silently in my heart, already looking forward to the days ahead more than I could say.

At six in the evening, the whole family had their bags packed and two cars ready to go.

I stood beside them with my baby nephew in my arms, seeing them off, and watched my brother strut around wearing my new sneakers, my baseball cap, and my whole tracksuit.

Those were the birthday gifts everyone had given me that year. I'd never used a single one.

Not because I was too precious about them. They just weren't meant for me at all.

The sneakers my mom gave me were in a very masculine color, and the size was Kevin's, not mine.

The baseball cap was Kevin's favorite player. Paul said it was autographed, that he'd gone to a lot of trouble to track it down just for me.

And the tracksuit was from Megan. The color, the size, the print, every bit of it was something Kevin liked.

They all quietly ignored what I actually felt, took whatever they wanted, and still made a show of wishing me a happy birthday.

"Dottie! Happy birthday! Every one of us went out and bought you a gift."

"These things weren't cheap, so if you decide you don't like them, or they don't fit, you can just pass them on to your brother later. Don't let them go to waste."

They watched me with those fake smiles, all of them waiting for me to say, "Then I'll give them to Kevin!"

And then they'd praise me for being so mature, so good about looking after my brother.

But I didn't say a word. I refused to give them the satisfaction, and I hid all of it away instead.

My mom sulked about it for a long time over that. She didn't say my name for a whole month, and rolled her eyes every time she saw me.

Now all of it was on Kevin's body, and he was thrilled, over the moon, throwing dance moves to mock me.

"Sis, you had this stuff shut up in a cabinet and never touched it, so I figured I'd break it in for you!"

Paul jumped in to smooth it over, afraid I'd make a scene, and cut in front of my words fast.

"Since when is your sister that petty? So he's using it, what's the big deal? A few cheap things, that's all."

My mom chimed in too, papering over it, saying it was fine, then pressed a hundred dollars into my hand and told me to take good care of my nephew at home.

"Here. A hundred dollars, your living money. Spend it carefully."

Megan was listening beside her and couldn't help adding a complaint.

"A hundred dollars? We'll be gone almost two weeks. That's not even enough for her to order a little takeout, is it?"

"It's plenty!"

My mom didn't care in the slightest. She took my scholarship money and tucked it into her bag, answering in an offhand tone.

"She's home looking after your nephew, she doesn't have to go out and spend anything, and there's food and drink in the house. A hundred dollars isn't enough?"

Megan pressed her lips together and said nothing. She stayed with the baby a little longer, then walked out the door with them, smiling.

Bang

The door slammed shut, heavy, like a stone gate that would never open again, sealing them off from me for good.

From the moment they made the plan to the moment they left, not one of them had asked whether I wanted to go, and not one of them thought of me as part of the family.

I just stood upstairs at the floor-to-ceiling window and watched them.

Watched my mom greet the neighbors so gracefully, telling them the whole family was going on a road trip, positively glowing about it.

The neighbors all told her she was born lucky, young and pretty and so easygoing and outgoing, not like the other grandmothers at all.

My dad didn't say anything the whole time. He just sat in the car smoking, and glanced up at the window, like he was looking at me.

The next second, my phone rang.

It was a message from him.

"Aren't you coming, Dottie?"

I thought my dad actually cared. Then his next text came through and killed the small softness rising in me.

"If you're not coming, walk the dog more while we're gone. It's been cooped up too long, and I'm worried it'll get depressed and miserable."

Ha.

I laughed at it inside, cold, and let go of even the little I'd expected from them.

They worried about a dog getting depressed and unhappy from being shut in too long, and not one of them had ever worried about how I felt.

As if I ranked lower than the dog.

I sat there watching my little nephew until the sky went dark, and by eight that night he was bawling from hunger again.

I swallowed the collapse rising in me over and over, held myself back from doing anything I'd regret, wiped my eyes, and picked him up.

Fed and settled, he still took me half an hour of soothing before he finally fell asleep.

My phone buzzed more than once while I did it, picture after picture popping up.

They'd found pretty scenery on the road and posted a whole stream of photos in the big family group chat, plus gifts and food they'd bought at the rest stops.

Lily Abbott had bought two huge plush dolls, the same kind of character I loved, and she was so happy she snapped a few shots and tagged me in the group.

"Auntie, you like these dolls too, right? Want me to grab one for you as a present?"

Lily was the sweet one, the only person in the family who thought of me at all. I was just about to say no thanks when my mom fired off three messages underneath, turning it down for me.

"How old is your aunt now? What would she do with a doll? Stop wasting money!"

"Besides, Dorothy didn't say she wanted anything. None of you buy her a thing, or you'll get something she doesn't like and won't be able to return."

"Everyone see my message? Reply if you got it. Don't buy Dorothy anything!"

A few "got its" came back a moment later, and I quietly deleted every word I'd already typed out.

Two hours after that, they reached the coastal city and had checked into the hotel in groups.

My brother and Megan had their couple's getaway; my parents took Kevin and Lily, and the whole crowd sat down to a big seafood feast.

Kevin was fascinated by all the seafood and snapped several photos to show me, casually quizzing me on whether I'd ever seen any of it.

"Dottie, you country bumpkin, have you ever seen little crabs like these? And these little sea snails. So pretty."

I didn't reply, and they didn't care. It was like I was a bottomless hole they could dump anything into whenever they felt like it.

After the photos, Kevin sent a few videos, gleeful as he held up a little crab for me to see.

"Dottie, bet you've never seen any of this. Want me to bring a few home for you to play with?"

In the background, my mom cut in.

"Don't bring any back. Your sister's allergic to seafood."

"I'm bringing them for her to play with, not eat."

"She's still allergic!"

The video ended with my mom smacking the little crab out of his hand, and the dead memories started clawing at me again.

I remembered how, when I was little, my mom told me I was allergic to all seafood, milk, and eggs.

Every time the family ate any of it, she'd get so anxious about shielding me, drilling it into me again and again that I couldn't touch it, couldn't even smell it, or it could easily kill me.

I thought she really cared, so every time they ate, I obediently hid in my room.

Until the New Year's Eve the year Megan first married into the family, when they got to talking about the reason for my so-called allergies.

"Ha! Dorothy was never allergic to anything. I made that up. There's no point stuffing a girl full of food. Better to save it for her brothers."

"I lied and told her she'd break out in a rash, so she'd eat less and never get greedy for it later. And she actually listened, kept it up for years, never even touched an egg!"

"I nearly cracked up so many times. I told her she couldn't even stand the smell of it, told her to stay in her room out of the way, so the rest of us could eat in peace."

My mother finished the three sentences like a champion, doubled over laughing in the kitchen.

She thought her little scheme had worked perfectly, that she'd run me in circles, and it made her feel clever and in charge.

Later I said at the dinner table that I wasn't allergic anymore, and not one person in the family answered me. All the seafood, the milk, the eggs, still came with no portion for me.

That was when I understood that when my mother lied to me, she was at least giving me a way to save face, and if I refused to take it, next time I wouldn't even get the chance to be lied to.

That memory sat wet inside me for a long time. I still haven't shaken it. I nearly drowned in it.

If my little nephew hadn't whimpered and tugged me back to the present, I wouldn't have noticed my own tears dripping onto his face.

I kept the baby three more days.

Three days later, my acceptance letter from the company came through, telling me I only had to report for work within fifteen days.

For those three days, they were all having a wonderful time. Not one phone call to me. Even Megan never once asked whether the baby was settling in.

They'd split into two groups for their trip, one for the kids' fun, one for the couple's romance, and posted every photo in the big family group chat.

At eight that night, Megan suddenly tagged me in the group and sent, out of nowhere, some strange man's contact, telling me to add him right away.

I ignored it, so she started a group call and forced me to pick up.

"Hey, Dottie! Hurry up and add this man. I've already checked him out for you. He's just divorced, no kids, comes from a good family, and he's from the same city as us. He's looking for a wife now."

I stayed silent, and heard my mother jump in with her interrogation.

"Who is he? How much is he worth? First marriage or not doesn't matter, as long as there are no kids. What does he look like? Perfect timing, Dorothy just graduated, she can get married now, she's educated."

What a bitter thing to say.

Back then I was the one who insisted on going to college. I knelt and begged my mother to pay tuition that one time, and after I enrolled I worked my way through it myself.

I clawed my way to that degree, and now she comes out with "she graduated, she can get married now, she's educated"?

But it was what Megan said next that I truly couldn't stomach.

"This man came up and hit on me. Wanted my number, said I'm very pretty! I saw he drives a nice car, so I told him I'd introduce him to Dottie, and he was happy about it. Said if he likes what he sees, he'll come to the house with a marriage offer."

Megan went on and on, then tagged me one more time to drive it home.

"Dottie, while you're young you've still got an edge, so don't you dare pass this up! If it works out between you two, I'll get a matchmaker's fee out of it!"

I hung up on them with one tap and left that fake family group chat for good.

Then I took the hundred dollars my mother had given me and hired a cab that same night to drop the baby off at Megan's parents' place.

Next I went to the bank to apply for a student loan and a startup loan, then came home and packed up what little I owned.

The next day, I took my ID and residency papers to the county office to file my job placement paperwork, and I got a flight booked for three days out without a hitch.

Getting all of it done took just three days.

At last I was free.

Three days later, I was at the airport right on time.

Just as I was about to power off my phone, my father sent a string of furious messages cursing at me.

"Dorothy, where the hell did you go? The neighbors say our dog's gone mad with hunger, barking its head off, and someone called the cops over the noise!"

"We saw you on the home camera, wheeling a suitcase out the door and dropping the keys on the ground. Where the hell did you go?!"

I gave a small laugh.

Power off. Toss the SIM card. Take off.