Chapter 2
If there was one thing my cousin couldn’t
stand, it was being called cheap.
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She started yelling, pointing at me: “Chloe,
haven’t I been good enough to you?!”
“With your junior college diploma, if it wasn’t
for me taking you in and giving you a job,
you’d still be home doing nothing.
“Besides, look at your skill set, do you really
think you deserve a thirty thousand dollar
salary? You’re going to get scammed, and
you’ll be too naive to notice.”
When she saw I wouldn’t give in, she lowered
her voice to threaten me.
“As family, I’m just saying, don’t sell yourself
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short for the money.
“That woman’s young to have all that money.
It’s probably not legit. Don’t get in over your
head. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
We didn’t end on a good note. She demanded
I get out of her house immediately.
I was more than happy to, and quickly packed
up my things.
Jess’s house was small, two bedrooms and a
living room with a small balcony.
Ever since I arrived, the second bedroom was
turned into a kids‘ room, so I stayed in a
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cramped area Jess had built on the balcony
with cheap materials.
The patio was small and stuffy, filled with a
strong chemical smell.
I lived here for almost six months and, just
like before, got leukemia.
I made $1800 a month, doing everything for
Jess’s family, taking care of the baby,
walking the dog, and cleaning the whole
house.
They said they provided food and a room, but
I was always footing the grocery bill, and they
always had excuses for not paying me back.
bookehalf
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I asked about it twice, and Jess started telling
my parents that I was an ungrateful
freeloader.
Because of the family ties, my parents told
me to just endure it. It was a bad job market,
and I might not find any job at all, let alone
one paying $1800.
So, I suffered in silence, which led to the
cancer diagnosis.
Once I was diagnosed, Jess’s family kicked
me out right away, terrified I would infect
their kid.
My parents came over to ask what happened,
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but no one answered the door.
They knew the walls were made from
materials with high levels of formaldehyde, so
they packed up and left town to go on
vacation, not wanting to get involved.
My parents spent all of their savings trying to
treat me, but it was useless. I ended up dying
in the hospital.
I never want to experience that again: lying in
a hospital bed, watching my life fade away.
