For an entire decade, my flesh and blood treated my burgeoning digital empire like an embarrassing parlor trick, all while hemorrhaging every spare cent they possessed into the bottomless pit of my older sister’s medical pedigree. It was a masterclass in blind devotion. I am Alysia Thompson, thirty-four years old, and my chronicle begins wrapped in a cocoon of heavy down blankets inside my penthouse apartment in Fort Worth, Texas. I was battling a vicious strain of the flu, the kind that leaves your joints feeling like shattered glass and your skin radiating a dry, miserable heat.
It was day four of my self-imposed quarantine when my phone vibrated against the mahogany nightstand. The screen illuminated the darkened room, flashing a glossy, overly-curated portrait of my mother, Alyssa. I let it trill once, a metallic hum against the wood, before swiping the screen.
“Hello?” I rasped, my throat feeling as though I’d swallowed a handful of crushed gravel.
“Alysia. You sound absolutely dreadful. Are you still lounging around sick?” Her tone was brutally crisp, devoid of any maternal warmth. It sounded more like a project manager checking off a delayed deliverable.
“Yeah, Mom. It’s pretty rough. I’m just trying to sleep it off.”
“Well, I won’t drag this out,” she sighed, a sharp intake of breath that always preceded a demand. “You know your sister Catalina has her final medical school tuition installment due by the end of the month. Your father and I are finding ourselves in a bit of a tight spot. Property taxes in Arlington spiked again, plus we had that unforeseen foundation repair.”
I pushed myself up against the headboard, the room momentarily tilting on its axis. “Tight by how much?”
“Oh, it’s nothing insurmountable,” she trilled lightly, employing that saccharine voice she always used to downplay astronomical requests. “Just the last chunk. Twenty thousand dollars.”
I coughed, a harsh, barking sound that rattled my ribs. “Mom, that’s a massive amount of money. That’s not a ‘tight spot.’ That’s a down payment on a property.”
