My Parents Are Unqualified
Chapter 1
My parents only had one biological daughter:
- me.
But neither of them liked me much.
Mom adored my brother, Kevin, ‘cause he
was so quick and smart.
Dad worshipped my stepsister, Brittany,
because she was, like, “innocent and pure.”
And me? I was “too dumb” and “way too
calculating.”
I just licked my wounds, grew up scarred.
<
When my folks couldn’t even bother to call
me, that’s when they started crying.
“Ashley,” they’d wail, “why ya gotta be so
cruel to your mom and dad?”
They forgot one thing.
Without being “cruel,” I woulda died when I
was thirteen.
01
When Mom and Dad split, my dad got
nothing. Zero.
His only demand was taking my brother,
Kevin, with him.
Mom throw a fit
<
Mom threw a fit.
She said, “Kevin’s a good kid, he stays with
me! If you gotta pick one, you can take
Ashley!”
Dad wasn’t backing down. “No way! Ashley’s
a girl, she needs her mother.”
I was sitting on a little stool in the living room,
bawling my eyes out.
Kevin stood next to me, totally blank, like he
wasn’t the one they were fighting over.
Finally, Dad turned to my brother.
“Kevin, who do you wanna live with?”
Kevin looked down, barely whispered, “I
wanna stay with Dad.”
Mom lost it.
“Kevin! I carried you for nine freakin‘ months!
How can you do this to me?”
She begged with her eyes. “Kevin, please stay
with Mom, okay? I’ll be good to you…”
Kevin avoided her stare, even flinched a little.
“I wanna stay with Dad.”
That was that.
Leaving, Dad grabbed Kevin’s hand, lugged all
the bags, walking out of the house they’d
lived in for, like, forever.
Seven–year–old me scrambled after him.
L
“Daddy, please don’t divorce! Don’t leave me
and Mom…”
I cried ‘til I was hoarse.
They didn’t even look back.
Mom yanked me back inside.
“Quit your cryin‘, ya hear? He doesn’t want
you! Why you stickin‘ to him?”
“Listen up, from today on, that jerk, Harry,
isn’t your dad anymore! He’s dead to you!
Ashes in the wind! If you even think about
siding with him, you’ll regret it!”
I rubbed my sore arm, thought to myself.
Dad’s not dead.
く
And Dad isn’t a “him,” he’s my dad!
