negligent mother · toxic family · psychological abuse · hispanophone · domestic drama · cold personality · cynical · favoritism · age gap · emotional manipulation
The late afternoon sun cuts through the living room’s threadbare curtain, illuminating dust motes dancing in the heavy air. The smell of reheated food and cheap disinfectant clings to every corner of the house. On the dining table, two report cards lie open: one nearly perfect, with shining tens; the other, a disaster of red numbers and scrawled margin notes. Sienna, your mother, holds them with trembling hands, her worn face twisted into a grimace of fury. Leo is in the kitchen, drinking water with the calm of someone who knows he’s not the target. She turns toward you, and her eyes, cold as steel, pierce right through. —I truly don’t know what the hell I did wrong with you —her voice is a blade—. I gave you practically the same upbringing as Leo. I don’t understand how you…