Rebirth on Her Birthday

on her eighteenth birthday. She declared that that place had been her father's and tha

mother ran away, and his father was in jail. He'd outdone them both. He h

to go to school, and even climbed up to the ro

ink you can scare me? You drove my dad to his death, and now you are trying to do the same t

red over and gestured to push me. Then h

police. She told them that I'd fallen by accident. Colby wasn't punished by the law due t

eal with my dead body fro

o rest after dying. When I opened my eyes agai

ed Megan's father, Joshua Bailey

. Joshua put on a pitiful show, sobbing and sniffling as he told me how tragic Megan had been. Her mother died when giving birth to her; her grandfather passe

that he refused to speak to me. I kept bringing Megan to my father's place in the hope that she would soften my father's heart and win his approv

at situation changed six months later when I got pregnant. He started coming home late. If I

a small stall at the local

errible morning sickness. Megan always played games

e, telling me that Joshua had been caught soliciting a prostitute and that

were two rows of people squatting in the l

, with his head buried deep. His

paid a five-thousand-dollar fi

r us. His shop was closed, so our family had no income.

efu

g nearby looked up and ask

at her,

. He solicited a prostitute without paying. He still owes me from last time, and he's got the nerve to come back. Don't you know he is impotent? The worst part is that

man grudgingly squatted back down and stil

nickers a

thought I shouldn't have stood there. I wished I had something in my hands to distract myself. But there was nothi

th but couldn't

s. It seemed that nothing happening a

I opened my eyes again, I was lying i

baby wouldn't have to face a father l

loving family. It would at least have a res

clutched my belly and whispered to myself, "Leave me, baby. I hope you have

tightly. She even wanted to call in

epeated, "My baby is gone. It

ready had some idea of what had happened. She lowered her

knelt outside my parents' place all ni

garette, spat on the ground, and gru

ua was released from

did he think that what he'd don

sly for not paying the fine for him. He questioned m

aid that the detention center was full of all sorts of people, even hepatitis pa

and said that I was useless since

e that I relied on him for eve

ently. I didn't even bother

n he did before marrying him or that most of our e

e on the coffee table. Sign th

and shouted that he would never

eer belly jiggling as he jumped around i

I ever seen in him? Was I attracted b

him to leave because I

k of. Megan stood in the living room, terrified and sobbing. He call

w Megan lying on the fl

t teeth had bee

d him to drive her to the hospital. Joshua just grunted and spat on the floor. "

ars. "She's your daught

me and strode

I aborted because it could cause lasting health problems. I checked Megan over and found nothing

en again by the shril

ll from th

He'd fallen asleep at the wheel, crashed straight into a tanker truck, and his car had flipped and

ood man. In fact, he was downright despicable. I should have

I had seen tenderness and a

is social account, I discovered that he'd been driving dr

would never divorce m

t his words turned out to be

as so

e, I handled his funeral af

own and wailed so hard that her voice cracked. She lacked two front teeth,

ease don't leave me. I'

ussed it with my parents, and we decided to take her home. We'd keep her paperwork se

t, and my mother was s

fifteen years as her step

t me any trouble, always maintained average grades, had a face that blended in wit

s, she seemed invisible as

from his bad influence. She didn't grow up like him. Instead, und

years, I was set up with countless guys

, both materially and emotionally. When she was sick, I took care

iano. She said she liked it, and I bought her a piano w

ther couldn't h

business after Joshua's death. I even became one

When my father suddenly fell ill, my parents decided to move to the countryside. They stopped hoping that I'

ext few decades would pass just as quiet

ght at a place outside the school. The girl she'd attack

irst time I me

ng her head. Her slightly tight school uniform was stained with dirt and grime. Her

I could suddenly see tr

a nearby officer, who caught me in t

nder the lights. His hairline had receded a lot, and he ha

ird eye" drawn on his forehead and

ng them. Its wooden handle and the edges of the fan were stained with blood. The police officers opened the

lammy. I couldn't hear anything anymore. Just a pe

s, someone said, "Once you climb over this

uffered endless hardship and was exhaust

deceived. There was just ano

eerily silent

ree times in my life. The first two were because

. My voice sounded hoarse and rough, like something

. But his bravado lasted only a second before the pol

d plummeted. When the teacher asked to meet her parent, Megan said she was an orphan. Afte

was an orphan, and I was her

after gym class, and under Megan's guidance, the wallet

s whispered, another girl, Belen Chavez, stood up duri

lassroom, wrapped in her school jacket. Megan had sneaked back into the c

sks in the senior class were piled high with books, and Belen could

s and starchy sausages from the food stalls outside the school. At home, she always locked herself in her room and never touched the piano. She

scraping of the desk legs against t

ve had enough of you. You change your shoes so many times a day. Aren't you afraid you'll lose your feet? So are you trying to wear all your shoes be

est in accusing Alaiya apologized to her. The teacher called Me

g. Indeed, she ha

t care. After school, she and her

alled the police before Colby and

that the girl I'd raised could be so bad by nature. I apologized sincerely, admitted I'd failed in my duty to discipline Me

d had me sign the not

th, and I was told to take her h