They Sang for Her and Saved Me Leftovers I Couldn’t Eat Chapter 03
Wallis sat front and center on the sofa, unwrapping her new purchases.
The living room floor was buried under shopping bags of every size: designer clothes, imported cosmetics, the newest wireless headphones.
Cillian knelt beside her sorting everything out, while Dad handed her scissors and packing tape.
Mom chattered beside them. “Don’t be shy about spending money at college. Call me if you need anything, and I’ll send it over.”
I dragged my new suitcase through the front door. Not a single person glanced up.
I stepped over the clutter and headed to my bedroom, when Mom’s voice carried through the doorway.
“We’re eating dinner at the Central Hotel tonight. Grandma’s visiting. Get changed quickly—no dawdling.”
Grandma was the only person in this household who’d ever treated me well. Since I was leaving soon, I needed to properly say goodbye to the person I loved most.
We arrived at the private dining room. Grandma pulled me into a hug the second she saw me, asking warmly how I’d been and urging me to eat plenty.
Mom nodded along, flipping through the menu to place our order. Thirty minutes later, the food arrived—and every dish contained onion.
She’d promised to order my favorite dishes only moments before, yet she’d forgotten entirely.
I swallowed the tight ache in my throat and set down my fork. “I can’t eat onion. You all go ahead.”
Mom paused mid-bite, her expression darkening instantly. “What’s wrong with you now? Yesterday you complained about shellfish allergies, today onions? You loved gumbo not long ago. When did you start being so picky? Who taught you to be so difficult?”
I said quietly, “Gumbo is made with onions, Mom. Cillian’s the one who loves it. I’ve never been able to eat it. Don’t you remember?”
Mom froze. Dad frowned and waved a hand dismissively. “Come on, your mom made a simple mistake. Just pick out the onion pieces. Why ruin everyone’s dinner with your complaints?”
Grandma slammed her palm against the table, her expression sharp. “Sabrina gets sick and throws up every time she eats onion. How can her own parents forget something like that?”
I’d stayed at Grandma’s house once and accidentally eaten onion. I’d vomited violently, and she’d sat beside me rubbing my back the whole time.
After that, onion never appeared on her dinner table.
But back home, I was expected to adapt for Cillian and Wallis, picking out every sliver of onion and forcing the rest down.
Grandma called the server over. “Add an order of chicken noodle soup, light oil and low salt.”
Her warm smile made my eyes burn. There was still someone who truly paid attention to me, who put my needs first.
Meanwhile, Mom beamed with pride as she piled gumbo onto Wallis’s plate. “Wallis’s test scores guarantee her a spot at the Art College in the state capital. Work hard there, and you’ll be a star someday.”
Dad and Cillian echoed her, grinning widely.
Grandma turned to me. “What about you, Sabrina? Did your acceptance letter come through? Where will you attend school?”
I nodded. “UC Berkeley. I have accepted the offer.”
The entire room fell silent. Two seconds later, Cillian let out a snort of laughter.
“Sabrina, did that fever fry your brain? UC Berkeley? One of the top universities in the country? If you got into Berkeley, Wallis could perform at the United Nations.”
Dad’s face turned stormy. “You’re making up stories! Where does this vanity come from? You can’t compete with your sister, so you lie?”
I wasn’t lying. I’d told them the moment results came out. They’d glanced up from Wallis’s community college offer, muttered a hollow “oh,” and went right back to celebrating her.
They’d only muttered a hollow “oh” when I shared my news, acting as if they hadn’t heard, or simply refusing to believe me.
Mom glared at me. “Enough with this embarrassing nonsense. I’ve already made plans for you. There’s still an opening at the Technical Institute in the capital. You’ll enroll in the nursing program.”
“It’s close to Wallis’s school. You can head over on weekends to do her laundry and cook for her—you two can look out for each other.”
I stared at the floor and said nothing.
As dinner drew to a close, Grandma excused herself to the restroom and beckoned me into a quiet corner.
She reached into her handbag and slipped an envelope into my palm, closing my fingers around it. “They don’t believe you, but I do. You’re such a hardworking girl. You deserve to fly away, break free from this cage. Go far away, and don’t ever come back.”
My throat tightened. I gave a firm nod and tucked the envelope safely in my pocket.
When we returned to the dining room to grab our belongings, all hell broke loose.
Wallis dumped every item out of her backpack onto the sofa, tears streaming down her face. “Mom! The three thousand dollars I withdrew for my tuition fees is gone!”
Mom paled. “How could it disappear? Where did you put it?”
“It was in the outer zipper pocket of my bag…”
Wallis lifted her tear-streaked eyes and stared straight at me as I stepped through the doorway.
Cillian stood up at once, stepping directly in front of me. “Sabrina. Everyone stayed seated chatting the whole time. You were the only one who stepped out. Where did you go?”