When My Parents Charged Me by the Minute for Their Love I Left Chapter 03

When My Parents Charged Me by the Minute for Their Love I Left Chapter 03

By the time I reached school, my right cheek was still burning.

I handed the application form to my college counsellor.

Ms Anderson had just picked up the school’s official stamp when voices rose in the corridor outside.

“We’ve come to see our own daughter. Since when do we need an appointment?”

My hand froze around the pen.

Ms Anderson stepped out. A few seconds later, she returned with Mom, Dad, and Ashley behind her.

She hesitated. “Madison, these two are…?”

Dad’s expression darkened at once.

“I’m her father.”

Several teachers in the office looked up.

The counsellor who had overseen my university planning for three years didn’t even recognise my parents.

Dad dropped a stack of documents heavily onto the desk.

“She paid someone to pose as her guardian at parent-teacher conferences, and now she’s applying for a scholarship behind her parents’ backs. This is the outstanding student you’re planning to nominate?”

A crowd quickly gathered in the corridor.

“No wonder she’s always so cold. Her parents look perfectly normal.”

I lowered my head.

The corner of the application had been pressed flat overnight, but the crease left by someone’s shoe was still clearly visible.

Mom’s eyes were red.

“We’re not trying to stop her from going to university. But she won’t even speak to her parents now. How are we supposed to let a minor move two thousand kilometres away on her own?”

I looked up.

“I’m going.”

Dad pulled out the final page of the application.

“This scholarship requires a legal guardian’s approval. Until she turns eighteen, we’re not signing it.”

My throat tightened.

The second hand on the wall clock kept moving.

I suddenly asked, “The time you’re spending here today won’t count against my three-hour monthly limit, will it?”

The office fell silent.

Mom’s expression changed.

“At a time like this, you’re still counting the minutes?”

I ran my tongue over my dry lips.

“I’m just afraid we’ll go over.”

Her chest rose and fell a few times. Then she reached into her handbag and pulled out an old canvas bag.

The moment I saw the brown leather case sticking out of the top, my palms went cold.

“Why do you have Grandma’s cassette recorder?”

I held out my hand.

“Give it back.”

Grandma had never learnt to use a smartphone, and she wasn’t used to sending voice messages. After I moved into the school dormitory, she started leaving messages for me on an old cassette recorder.

“Sweetheart, don’t kick the covers off at night. And even if an exam goes badly, remember to eat.”

The last cassette was the one she had recorded before she went into hospital.

I had never been able to bring myself to listen all the way to the end.

Mom tightened her grip on the canvas bag.

“Withdraw the application and come home with us. Then I’ll give it back.”

My breathing quickened.

“Give it to me.”

She didn’t move.

I lunged for the bag.

Dad reached out to block me.

“Your grandmother loved you. She wouldn’t want to see you fighting us like this.”

“I’m not doing this out of spite!”

I grabbed the canvas bag and pulled it towards me.

“Give it back!”

The fabric ripped with a harsh tearing sound.

Mom stumbled, and her face changed.

“Fine. Take it!”

The cassette recorder hit the floor with a heavy thud.

The casing cracked open, and the batteries rolled beneath the desk. The cassette sprang out, brown tape spilling across the floor until someone’s shoe came down on it.

“Don’t step on it!”

I dropped to my knees so hard that my vision flashed white.

All I could think about was easing the tape out from under the shoe, little by little.

My hands were shaking badly. The thin tape dug into the webbing between my fingers, but I didn’t dare pull any harder.

“Grandma…”

I pushed the batteries back into place and pressed play.

Nothing happened.

“Please… just play…”

Ms Anderson caught my hand.

“Don’t press it again. You’ll only damage it more.”

Only then did I realise I was still breathing in short, frantic bursts.

Tears fell one by one onto the cracked casing.

“Ms Anderson, where can I get it repaired?”

The owner of the first repair shop shook his head.

“This model’s too old. You can’t get the parts anymore.”

The second shop told me the tape head had been knocked out of alignment and the cassette itself was damaged.

I held the recorder against me through a forty-minute bus ride. Every time the bus braked, I immediately wrapped both hands around it to protect it.

The last repair shop was about to close when I rushed inside.

“Sir, please. Could you have a look at this?”

The grey-haired owner glanced at the recorder.

“Does it mean a lot to you?”

I swallowed several times before I could answer.

“It has the last recording of my grandmother’s voice.”

More than ten minutes later, static finally crackled from the machine.

I shot to my feet and knocked the chair over with my knee.

Then a faint voice came through the noise.

“Sweetheart…”

My lips began to tremble.

Before I could respond, the voice cut off.

The owner immediately pressed stop.

“We can’t play any more. The tape’s about to snap.”

My outstretched hand froze in mid-air.

At that exact moment, my phone vibrated.

Ms Anderson had sent me two messages.

[Your legal guardians have formally objected. The school has temporarily suspended your scholarship nomination.]

[This must be resolved by five tomorrow afternoon, or the place will be offered to the next student.]

I slowly crouched down and buried my face in my knees.

I bit hard into my sleeve, but a small sob still escaped.

Grandma had only managed to call me sweetheart once.

And I had only one day left before my last chance to leave disappeared too.