The Trap of Maternal Fairness

Ever since my brother was born, Mom always bragged about how she treated us both equally.

If she bought a toy at the mall, we each got one, and they were the exact same model.

If she spent last night helping him with a puzzle, she'd spend tonight sitting by my side while I did my homework. She never wanted to seem like she was playing favorites.

She even made me wait a year to start school so my brother and I could be in the same grade. She said it was so she could pick us both up at the same time, so no one had to wait for the other to go home.

Everyone praised her for being so fair and devoted. They all envied me for having such a thoughtful, unbiased mother.

That was until the SAT scores came out, and I ranked as the top student in the state.

On the day I was supposed to submit my college applications, she forced me to delete my Ivy League choice. She demanded I change it to the same bottom-tier community college my low-scoring brother was attending.

She said siblings needed to stick together to look after one another. She called that fairness.

But this was the future I had fought with my life to secure.

In that moment, I finally realized that her so-called fairness was nothing but a trap. She was sacrificing my dreams and my future just to cater to my brother and maintain her own reputation.

My hand trembled as I gripped the mouse. I spoke with a chilling calmness. "I'm not changing it."

I also knew I was never coming back to this house.

The air in the room turned ice-cold.

Mom sat on the edge of my bed, holding a glass of warm water.

She looked just like she had for the last eighteen yearsDgentle, dignified, and composed.

She was the picture of a perfect mother while she methodically tore my life to shreds.

But this was the first time in my life I had ever told her no.

The smile on her face froze instantly.

"Say that again," she whispered.

"I said, I'm not changing my application," my voice was steadier than I expected. "I'm going to the University of Northchester. I won't change it."

She slowly set the glass down. The sound of the glass hitting the nightstand sent a shiver down my spine.

"Nia," she started.

She almost never called me by my name.

To the relatives and the neighbors, I was just "Liam's sister." No one ever bothered to remember that I was my own person.

"I'm not forcing you, honey. I'm just being reasonable," she said, her voice dripping with fake honey. "If you and your brother are at the same school, you can look after each other. It's better for both of you."

"I'm just trying to be fair. I don't want to favor one over the other."

Fairness. That damn word again.

For years, I let her brainwash me with that logic. I let her guilt-trip me into compromising over and over again.

But not this time.

"Mom," I said, turning to face her. "I have the highest score in the state. If I go to a top university, I can get a high-paying job and take care of you and Dad later. Why won't you let me go?"

"I know you're smart," she nodded, her expression becoming dead serious. "But a sister's job is to take care of her brother."

"Besides, you were born a year earlier. You got a whole year of our exclusive love before he arrived. You owe him for that. You have to pay him back."

"Otherwise, it wouldn't be fair to Liam."

"Just do this one favor for me, okay?"

She reached out to grab my hand. Her palm was warm, but my heart felt like it was encased in lead.

I jerked my hand away. "Mom, I've listened to you for eighteen years. This time, I'm making my own choice. No one is stopping me."

The next second, a stinging slap landed across my face.

Tears immediately began to stream down my mother's face.

"I've raised you all these years for nothing," she sobbed. "You won't even listen to me now. It's my fault. I failed as a mother."

She cried with such raw emotion that you'd think she was the victim. Meanwhile, my brother, Liam, was happily recording the whole thing on his phone.

"You actually made Mom cry? I'm sending this to the family group chat right now. Uncle Silas is going to beat your ass!"

The mention of Uncle Silas made my entire body go numb with terror.

He had been my nightmare since I was a child.

He was a violent drunk. Before I even turned eighteen, he had tried to pin me down on a bed while he was wasted at our house.

I fought back and bit him, and he nearly beat me to death for it.

My parents had just watched from the sidelines. They said the same thing back thenDthat it was their fault for not raising me to be more obedient.

Seeing my terrified expression, Mom stopped sobbing.

"Your uncle and your father you can explain yourself to them. I can't protect you anymore. I won't force you."

With that, she stood up and walked out.

I was left sitting in front of the computer, shaking uncontrollably.

That evening, Dad came home.

When he pushed open my door, he was clutching a bottle of bourbon.

"I heard you're refusing to change your college choice?" his voice was thick and raspy.

He didn't drink often, but when he did, he usually ended up smashing half the furniture in the house.

An instinctive fear clawed at my chest.

"Dad, I have the top score in the city" I whispered.

"I asked if you were changing it or not."

He cut me off. His tone was as flat and deadly as a stagnant pond.

"No."

He slammed the bottle onto the desk. The glass shattered with a deafening "POP."

"Do you have any idea how much your mother has sacrificed for you? Did she ever mistreat you? Everything Liam had, you had too."

"She kept things perfectly fair. Every single friend and relative praises her for how she handled you two."

"And now you think your wings are strong enough to fly away? You're just going to abandon your mother? Abandon your brother?"

"Dad, I'm not abandoning anyone"

"Then change it," he barked, settling the matter. "Change the application right now, while I'm watching!"

I hesitated, refusing to touch the laptop.

In an instant, he picked up a jagged shard of the broken bottle and pressed it against my throat. The sharp edge sliced into my skin.

I froze.

He was breathing heavily, the stench of cheap alcohol making me want to gag.

"Listen, Nia, don't blame me for this. Do you know how much shit I've taken for years just because I had a daughter?"

"When you were born, your grandmother took one look at you and walked out. My whole family looked down on me. They called me a failure for having a 'useless girl' who wouldn't carry on the name."

"Thank God your mother finally pulled through and gave me a son."

At that moment, the question I'd had my entire life was finally answered.

Ever since Liam was born, Mom always preached about being fair and keeping things equal.

When I was little, I believed her blindly.

But the toys she bought were always the trucks and action figures Liam liked. When she gave them to me, I didn't know how to play with them, so they always ended up in his room.

The clothes she bought were always boyish. I spent my childhood being mocked by classmates for looking like a freak.

Even at dinner, she'd give the lean meat to Liam and pile the greasy scraps on my plate. That was her version of "fairness."

I finally understood.

To them, I was someone who shouldn't have existed in the first place.

Mom pushed the door open then, standing beside Dad with teary eyes.

"You know how your father gets when he's been drinking. I can't stop him. Just change the application, honey, or he really might kill you. I can't hold him back!"

Liam leaned against the doorframe, enjoying the show. "Sis, what's the point of a girl going to a fancy college anyway? You're just going to marry into another family. Just change it and save yourself the trouble."

Dad pressed the glass shard harder. I felt a warm trickle of blood sliding down my neck.

A single thought repeated in my mind.

I don't want to die. I have to get out of this hellhole alive.

Finally, I surrendered. I logged in and changed my choice to the same trashy community college Liam was going to.

Only then did Dad let go. He grabbed Mom and Liam and headed to their bedroom.

I slumped into my chair, my strength failing me. Tears wouldn't stop falling.

Just because I was a girl, did I deserve this?

I didn't believe in fate.

And I wasn't going to start now.

The next morning, the front door was nearly kicked off its hinges.

My grandmother, Uncle Silas, and his wifeDa whole swarm of relativesDpoured into the house.

Mom greeted them with her usual grace, acting as if nothing had happened the night before.

Grandmother glared at me, leaning on her cane. "Open that computer. Let us see what school you picked."

I pulled up the application system.

The name of the local community college was right there in the top slot.

I knew they would check. I hadn't touched the computer since I'd changed it under duress.

Grandmother nodded, satisfied. "That's more like it. You're the sister. You go to school with your brother and wash his clothes and his underwear. You can't eat our food for free for eighteen years and not pay it back."

Uncle Silas chuckled, reaching out to pinch my cheek. "You've got a pretty little face. I've got connections at a club in the city. I could get you a job as a hostess. You'd make a lot of money there."

I jerked my head away from his touch.

My aunt slapped me across the face. "You little bitch, you think you're too good for your uncle? With a face like yours, you were born to be touched. Better a family member gets a piece than some stranger."

I turned to look at Mom.

She was standing at the back of the room, pouring tea for my grandmother. She didn't look at me.

Not even once.

A second later, Uncle Silas grabbed my arm and started dragging me toward my bedroom.

I struggled with everything I had, screaming at the top of my lungs.

"Dad! Mom! Help me! Please, help me!"

But no one said a word.

Grandmother just huffed. "If the girl won't listen, she needs to be disciplined."

Mom nodded quickly. "Mother is right."

The lock on my bedroom door clicked shut.

Silas threw me onto the bed, pinning my wrists down and tearing at my clothes.

Just then, the window above us shattered.

Glass rained down, and a large shard caught Silas right in the eye. He screamed, clutching his face and rolling onto the floor.

I scrambled away, climbed onto the windowsill, and jumped from the second story.

A hand caught my arm the moment I hit the ground. "Run!"

We ran until my lungs felt like they were on fire. We didn't stop until we were sure no one was following.

I leaned over, gasping for air, and looked at my savior.

She was about my age, very thin, with a pale face. Her stomach was slightly rounded.

She saw my gaze and gave a bitter smile. "I'm pregnant. Four months. It's your brother Liam's."

Then, she grabbed me and sobbed.

As she cried, she told me a truth that left me paralyzed with shock.

I squeezed her hand tight. "I will get you justice. I promise."

After the girl left, I felt my empty pockets and panicked.

There was only one day left before the college application deadline. Even if I changed it back to Northchester, I couldn't afford a bus ticket to the city, let alone the deposit.

I decided to go to my high school teacher, Mrs. Miller.

After I told her everything, she didn't say a word. She just handed me five thousand dollars in cash.

"Go to Northchester," she said, her eyes fierce. "You have to go."

I took the money with tears in my eyes, feeling a spark of hope.

I spent the night on her couch.

But before dawn, someone started hammering on her door.

Within minutes, Mrs. Miller's windows were smashed to pieces.

It was my parents and the rest of the mob.

Mom screamed at Mrs. Miller. "How dare you teach my daughter to run away from home? What kind of sick person are you?"

Liam was filming again. "This teacher is corrupting my sister! I'm posting this online! I'm going to the school board to get her fired!"

Mrs. Miller tried to protect me at first.

But then her husband came home. He pushed me out the door without hesitation.

"Don't you ever come back here and put my wife in danger!" he spat at me.

In the end, I was tied up and dragged back home like a farm animal.

The moment we walked in, Uncle SilasDwho now had a bandage over his eyeDslapped me hard. "You little whore! You almost blinded me! Your mom and I found a husband for you. He's in the next county over. Since you're so obsessed with going to the city, we're just going to marry you off. We're getting a hundred-thousand-dollar dowry for you."

I fell to my knees, begging my mother. "I don't want to get married! I promise I won't go to Northchester! Please, just let me go!"

She knelt down and tucked a stray hair behind my ear. Her touch was as gentle as it had been when I was a child.

"Nia, I have to be fair. Your brother is going to college to have a future. I can't let you walk away with nothing. I hear the man is thirty-six and lost two wives already. He's got money, though. You'll be taken care of."

I looked at my father for help, but he was already busy discussing with my grandmother how to spend the hundred thousand dollars.

They kept me tied to the bed and starved me for three days.

The house was full of celebration.

People were coming over to congratulate Liam on college and me on my upcoming 'wedding.'

The laughter was constant, but no one cared that I was dying inside.

On the third night, they finally untied me.

Mom put a red dress on me and brushed my hair. "You're getting married tonight. Just be a good girl and listen. I would never hurt you."

Dad and Liam forced me into a car decorated with red ribbons.

After a bumpy ride, we arrived at a restaurant in the next county.

The place was packed with people.

I was shoved onto a small stage. A man with a greasy grin and yellow teeth approached me.

"Hey, wife. You sure are pretty. Let me get a taste."

Just as his face leaned in toward mine, the giant TV in the restaurant flickered to life.

The room went silent instantly.

On the screen, a video began to play. It was a grainy, hidden-camera shot of my mother and Liam in a dark room in a position that was absolutely sickening.

The whole crowd froze in horror.

My father let out a primal roar. He grabbed a beer bottle from a nearby table and smashed it over my mother's head, then swung it at Liam.

"Nia!" my mother screamed, clutching her bleeding head. She looked at me with pure hatred.

"Did you do this?!"

I let a small smile touch my lips and nodded.

"Yeah. It looks like Dad didn't enjoy the show as much as you did."

My mother lunged at me. "You little bitch! I'll kill you!"

But I didn't give her the chance.

In the chaos, I bolted out the door.

A taxi was already idling at the curb. The pregnant girl from before was in the back, waving frantically at me.

I dove into the car, and the engine roared as we sped away.

Half an hour later, we were on a high-speed train to the city.

I took her cold hand in mine.

"We're almost free."

She didn't say anything. She just squeezed my hand so hard it hurt.

As the train pulled away from the station, I watched the town disappear. Two tears rolled down my face.

My future was finally beginning.

And their nightmare had only just started.