Chapter 1
For my sister’s birthday, she wanted a porcelain doll. My father said, “Go on, slap your sister and I’ll buy it for you.”
And so, I got a hard slap across the face.
When I was seventeen, my father sent my sister to study abroad but refused to pay for my college. I begged him for days. He threw fifty dollars at me.
“I don’t owe you a damn thing, Allera.”
When I was twenty-seven, my sister returned from overseas. When she set her sights on my husband, my father only sneered at me.
“If you can’t keep a man, that’s your own failure.”
Yes, they all preferred my sister Rosalie, the one with the fancy degree and the sweet-talking tongue.
Even my own son.
On his fifth birthday, my son Leo wanted to go to the amusement park, but not with me. He said I was too bossy. My husband David laughed and told him, “Go give Mommy a slap. If she gets mad, she won’t go. Then we can go with Auntie Rosalie.”
And my son really did walk over and slap me.
The sound was sharp and loud.
I stood there, stunned, until Leo’s little voice piped up again.
“Daddy, is she mad now? Can I go to the amusement park with Auntie Rosalie?”