Everyone in My Family Remembered What I Did, Except Me Chapter 02

Everyone in My Family Remembered What I Did, Except Me Chapter 02

“When have I ever taken money back from you?”

“You leave us three hundred dollars every time. Look for yourself if you don’t believe me.”

Sylvia pulled out her phone and brought up her bank statements.

Sure enough, the day after every food-money transfer landed, a large amount went right back out.

The recipient was in my name, but I had no memory of that account at all.

“Mom, somebody scammed you.”

“I don’t even remember opening that account.”

I called the bank in a panic, and Sylvia tried frantically to stop me.

“The name on the account is yours. How could there be a mistake?”

I ignored her and stayed on the line.

“Ms. Madeline Shaw, the account ending in 0821 was opened in person by you at a branch two years ago.”

An electronic statement came through right after that.

It showed what happened after each of those deposits landed.

The money was withdrawn in pieces from ATMs in the city where I worked.

Gordon patted my arm like he was trying to comfort me.

“We don’t blame you.”

“But we’re getting older and we have prescriptions to fill. The money really isn’t enough.”

“You know what your brother’s situation is.”

“He already covers everything else we need, and we don’t feel right asking him for more.”

Everything in front of me said I really had failed them.

But it was as if a piece of my memory had been cut out, because I had no recollection of doing any of it.

“Dad, Mom.”

“When we video chatted, you were at nice restaurants.”

“You were waiting in line at those places everybody posts about. Did you both forget that?”

I kept pushing, because I couldn’t let it go.

The look on Sylvia’s face turned very strange.

“Your father and I only buy pasta when it’s marked down near the expiration date.”

“How would we ever eat at a place like that?”

I was about to keep going when somebody knocked on the door.

I got up to answer it, and I found myself face-to-face with my brother, Simon Shaw.

For a second, he looked startled.

Then his eyes filled with disgust, and he walked around me without a word.

“Simon, something strange is going on in this house.”

“I send Mom and Dad money for food every month, but they…”

“You know exactly what you did. Don’t push it any further.”

He cut me off flatly, and it sounded like he was holding a lot of anger down.

Gordon saw where this was going and jumped in to smooth it over.

“All right, honey, cook the meat Simon brought. Let’s eat well tonight.”

At dinner, Gordon kept refilling my plate.

I looked at the glistening piece of fat on my plate and frowned.

“Dad, stop. I don’t have an appetite.”

Sylvia got up right away.

“Then what do you want, Maddie? I’ll go buy it.”

“There’s still fifty-odd dollars left in this month’s food money, so I should be able to…”

“Mom, sit down. You’re not buying anything.”

Simon’s voice came out furious.

“Madeline, eat it or get out.”

“Mom and Dad don’t get enough to eat on a normal day, and you come home once and start turning your nose up?”

I was already at the end of my rope, and getting yelled at set me off.

“Don’t you raise your voice at me.”

“Is it my fault they’re not eating? I don’t know what’s going on here either!”

Simon slammed his fork down, shot to his feet, grabbed my arm, and tried to throw me out.

He knocked the table over on his way, and the dishes went everywhere.

“Get out, you ungrateful little brat. Don’t bother coming back.”

“How am I ungrateful? I send them $5,000 a month. How is that ungrateful?”

“$5,000? You’ve got some nerve saying that out loud.”

When the fight got loud enough, our parents came over to pull us apart.

That only made Simon angrier, and he said they spoiled me rotten.

Gordon pulled him into the bedroom.

Sylvia crouched down and picked the meat up off the floor, and it hurt her to do it.

I looked at the wreckage on the floor and felt myself coming apart.

But ten minutes went by.

Simon came out of that bedroom, and his attitude had turned completely around.

“I was out of line back there.”

His eyes were full of guilt.

“You almost never come home. Let’s go out to eat.”

“My treat.”