Part 1Left Dangling: How Our Parents Abandoned Us

When my parents fought, they left my brother and me sitting outside on the air conditioning unit. We were several stories high, and our love-crazed mom wouldn’t let us inside, hoping Dad would feel remorse. But Dad didn’t feel anything—he just found her annoying, slammed the door, and left. The wind was bitterly cold, and I hugged my thinly dressed brother close, crying and pleading for Mom to let us back inside. But she was only focused on her own anger, pointing at us and saying, “If it weren’t for you two dead weights, I would’ve divorced him a long time ago! Shut your mouths! If you cry again, I swear you’ll never come back inside!”

The wind dried my tears, and I silently promised never to forgive them. Later, Dad was drunk and got in an accident, hitting Mom with his car. They both ended up paralyzed. The insurance payout was in the hundreds of thousands, but I decided not to save them.

Content

My parents were fighting again; the sounds of things crashing around filled the house. Anything they could throw, they did. My mom yanked my brother and me out of bed and shoved us toward the window. We were dressed only in thin long-sleeves and sat barefoot, curled up on the air conditioning unit outside. Mom stood at the window, pointing at us and yelling, “Rick Grant! If you ever go after that tramp again, I’ll take the kids and we’ll all jump!”

Reeking of alcohol, Dad snapped back, “Then jump, Clara! You’re always threatening to jump—go ahead and do it! You jump, and I’ll marry Lacey tomorrow!”

Mom’s hair was wild, and she was shaking with rage as she threw a glass of water at him, screaming that he was no man. Dad didn’t hold back either, slapping her hard as soon as the glass hit him.

“Stop making a scene and divorce me already. I’ve been done with you for a long time, you crazy witch!” He slammed the door as he left, hard enough to make the whole building shake.

Mom sank to her knees at the window, covering her face and asking me in a daze, “Sunny, did you hear what he said? He doesn’t want us anymore.”

I couldn’t care less about their fight. We were on the 18th floor, and the wind was strong enough to blow my brother and me off at any moment. I shivered uncontrollably. “Mom, my brother and I want you. Please, let us back in—it’s so cold out here.”