SCRIPTUM | A Short Story Collection

A Thousand Dollars

I guess I kind of wanted to write one of those "messed-up family" stories without the cliche sappy ending where everyone makes amends and the characters' lives become perfect, so this is pretty much what I came up with. It's a big of a mix between "grass is always greener on the other side" and "no one's pure evil or pure good".  I wanted to show that while her parents didn't treat her right, Eloise was also at fault, but at the same time, both Eloise in her parents were trying to do the "right thing". At first, it's easy to think the parents are awful, then in the end, you'd think Eloise is a selfish, spoiled brat.

But how would you feel in their shoes?

"Mom!"

My mother doesn't look up from her laptop as I stride into her study, phone in hand. "Yes?" she asks, only half paying attention.

"The school's holding a mother-daughter event and I need new clothes," I spit out as fast as I can, hoping my increased speed will help my mother register everything. Instead, she just pulls her credit card out of her card stand and passes it to me.

"A thousand dollars max."

I sigh and pluck the card out of my mother's hand, slouching out the door. I know I should be grateful, and don't get me wrong, I really am. I know there are people who consider themselves lucky to get just a bowl of rice, and I know I'm incredibly fortunate to live in a mansion with piles of cash to spare. But if giving all of life's luxuries up meant getting just one moment where my parents actually paid attention to me, I would give everything up in a heartbeat.

My phone buzzes in my hand and I hold it back up to my face to read the new text. It's from my closest friend, Brittany.

Brittany: How'd the talk with your mom go? Are we going shopping?

Not so well. Only got $1000 and no mother-daughter event, I thumb back, knowing Brittany won't call me out for using the words "only" and "$1000" in the same sentence. Her parents are both rather successful surgeons and she knows what it's like to live in a world with hoards of money but no parents around. An instant reply comes from Brittany.

Brittany: Mall in ten?

I respond with a thumbs up emoji, then tuck my phone into the nearest purse and hook the purse over my shoulder on my way to the garage. Greeting our family driver with a smile, I slide into the backseat of our smallest car, a white Mercedes, and direct him to go to the mall. Five minutes later, I'm slipping out the back and running towards Brittany in the mall parking lot.

"I haven't seen you in forever!" I shout, and it's true. Since she goes to school on the other side of town, the last time we saw each other was a week and a half ago.

"Neither have I! I'm so sorry your mom didn't agree," she adds quietly. I cough, feeling the stinging already in my eyes.

"No time to worry about that. Let's go shopping already!" I cheer, changing the topic almost instantly. I love Brittany, but there are some things that even close friends don't talk about. Like how their parents constantly ignore them or bail on them, or like how one family is richer than another. We may be close, but we barely skim the surface with each other. We're the only ones each other has, and too many secrets will collapse our entire friendship.

X X X

"Mom, I'm home!"

No response.

"Dad, I'm home!"