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411words
"I'm starving.Got any food?"
"What do you want?I'll get it."She hesitated,looking at him."Son,did the hospital ask us to take away your sister's body?"
He didn't look up."What?I forgot."
She snatched his phone."Stop playing!Did you tell them we don’t want her body?"
He frowned."She's dead—what's a body good for?Let the hospital deal with it."
"But if we don't bury her,she'll be a restless spirit!"Mom's face showed fear.
"So what?Claire couldn't touch us alive—what can she do after dead?"
Mom was stunned."But she's your sister.She gave you a kidney..."
He snapped,"She owed me that!You said it—she's why I'm sick!"
"It's all her fault—she made you like this,"Mom trembled,unwilling to admit her own role.
James grabbed his phone,seeing he had lost a game,he complained."Over this nonsense,you had me drop a rank in the game.What a waste."
So I’m even less important than a game.
When I was wronged and begged for justice,you didn't even look at me.
At eight,you broke someone's oxygen mask.
They nearly died.
Caught red-handed,you said,"Claire did it."
Even with clear footage,you claimed,"Claire made me do it."
Their family didn't buy it,but Mom and Dad believed you,telling them to arrest me,no interference.
I knelt on the ground,pleading,banging my head,begging you to tell the truth.
You just hid in Mom's arms,refusing to look up.
I fainted from blood loss,and they dropped it.
Mom was washing her cup in the bathroom."I got your sister a grave.Visit sometime—ask her to bless your health."
He scoffed."Bless me?I'd be lucky if she doesn't haunt me."
Her hand slipped,shattering a glass.
"Don't talk like that.She loved you—she won't blame you."
He lost another game and smashed his phone."When's Sarah coming back?It's just a diner—give it to her.It'll be mine eventually."
Because of Sarah,James snapped at Mom constantly.
His condition worsened,landing him back in the hospital.
"She can’t get a divorce in court!I won't accept it!"
A lawyer had delivered the divorce ruling,and James,enraged,hit the man's head hard to bleeding.
Mom,heartbroken,said,"Son,forget that woman.I'll find you a better wife."
James exploded,pointing at her."It's your fault not giving her the diner!Now what?Take your precious diner with you and die!"
Mom,stunned,said,"I did it for you."
He kicked the bedframe."For me?Knowing I'd be sick,you still gave birth to me.That's ‘for me’?This broken body,the pain every night—that's for me?"
He laughed bitterly."We're both your kids—why was Claire fine?I hated her.I framed her every chance I got.Even dead,I didn't want anyone to bury her."
