Part 3Ten Crabs, Four Plates: How My Sexist Grandmother Finally Got Evicted

Maybe my family's protectiveness was a bit too obvious, because Grandma never made those kinds of comments to me again.

But her dislike for me was very real.

Walking home from school, I often saw her chatting with the other elderly ladies in the neighborhood. Whenever my name came up, she would complain that my parents spoiled me, saying I was too pampered and didn't know my place, and that I'd suffer terribly when I got married.

I didn't understand why, as a woman herself, she felt the need to project such a malicious future onto me.

But I had promised my parents and Leo that I wouldn't take her words to heart.

So I walked up to her naturally and said, "Grandma, I'm hungry."

She jumped, sending peanut shells flying from her lap as she stood up.

"Oh, Chloe... why... why are you home so early?"

"It's Friday, we get out a period early."

I smiled at her. "Grandma, I'm hungry."

"Listening to you talk, I thought Chloe had turned into a complete delinquent, but she's just the same sweet girl as always!"

Mrs. Henderson, one of the neighbors chatting with her, rolled her eyes at Grandma. "If I hadn't watched this kid grow up, I'd have thought you were talking about someone else's daughter."

"Exactly. If you said that about the Smith kid or the Johnson kid, I'd believe it, but Chloe? Give me a break."

The other ladies chimed in, shutting Grandma down. Her face looked awful. She couldn't take it for more than a minute before making an excuse and hurrying inside.

"Chloe, tell your mom to keep a closer eye on her mother-in-law," Mrs. Henderson called out to me. "We all know your family, we know you're a good kid. But strangers don't! She's out here running her mouth every day, spilling the family's business like a leaky bucket!"

"Okay, I'll tell Mom!"

I said goodbye to the ladies and hurried upstairs. I dropped my backpack and started my homework, planning to tell Mom when she got home later.

Dad also came home early that day. He was carrying a large styrofoam cooler and mysteriously called Leo and me over to look.

"Wow! These crabs are huge!"

Leo picked up two massive Blue crabs, holding one in each hand to play with. "Dad, let's not eat them yet. Let me play with them for a couple of days."

"You little punk, if you play with them for two days they'll be dead and rotting. You can play with them for a bit right now."

"Awesome! Then we can eat rotten crab!"

"You little brat!"

I gently poked a bubbling crab with a chopstick, smiling as I listened to them bicker.

Grandma poked her head out of the kitchen, saw the cooler of crabs, and looked incredibly moved.

"Mark, how did you know I was craving crab lately?"

"Huh? You like crab, Mom?"

Dad scratched his head. "I never heard you mention it. I would have bought more. There's only 10 here."

"That's plenty, plenty!"

Grandma came out and carried the cooler into the kitchen. "That's more than enough!"

Without the crabs to play with, Leo huffed and went back to his room. I didn't have much to say to Grandma, so I went back to mine too.

It wasn't until the rich, savory smell of steamed seafood filled the entire house that we finally came out and sat at the dining table.

"So big!"

Leo drooled looking at the plate. Grandma smiled and served him the two biggest ones.

Then she gave Dad two. But when it came to me, the plate was empty.

"Mom?"

Dad paused with his fork and looked at her. "Where's Chloe's?"

"What's the rush? Don't you see I don't have one either? The rest aren't done steaming yet."

Grandma took a bite of her green bean casserole. "Big crabs take longer to steam. We have to wait for the others, or we'll get food poisoning."

That made sense, so Dad didn't say anything else.

But as we ate, hearing the crack crack of Leo breaking crab shells made me feel a little left out.

"I'll let you have one to satisfy your craving, look at you pouting."

Suddenly, a bright red crab appeared in my bowl. Leo bumped my arm. "But I get to pick your biggest one later!"

"Okay."

I smiled and picked up the crab, but just as I was about to crack the shell, Grandma snatched it away with her tongs.

"Why are you taking his? There's barely enough to go around as it is. What kind of older sister acts like this?"

I was stunned. I watched helplessly as Grandma dropped the crab back into Leo's bowl and pressed it down into his rice.

Instantly, the crab was covered in sticky white rice. My heart gave a sharp twinge, and my eyes welled up.

"What are you doing?! I wanted to give it to her! Mind your own business!"

Leo slammed his fork down and stood up, furious.

"Leo Evans!!!"

Seeing Leo about to start swearing, Dad got angry. "She is your grandmother! Do not speak to her like that!"

"Just because she's old doesn't mean she's great! Why does she get to bully my sister?!"

"...Grandma might not know how to express it, but she doesn't hate your sister. Didn't you notice her bowl is empty too?!"

That argument shut Leo down.

It was true. Grandma hadn't eaten a crab either. Snatching Leo's away didn't necessarily mean she was targeting me.

So I swallowed the lump in my throat, rubbed my eyes, and kept eating my rice.

Leo didn't say a word. He picked up his dropped fork, walked over to Grandma, muttered a stiff "Sorry," then went to the kitchen to grab a clean fork.

Dinner resumed, but the atmosphere was incredibly oppressive.

Dad tried to give me the crab from his bowl, but I refused.

I looked at Grandma and said quietly, "Grandma hasn't had one yet. Give it to her first."

Dad patted my head and praised me for being so mature.

And just like that, the crab went into Grandma's mouth.

Even after dinner ended, the steamer pot in the kitchen was still humming.

I figured saving the remaining four crabs for a late-night snack with Mom wasn't a bad idea, so I didn't bring it up.

But late into the night, after Mom had showered and was sitting on the couch with a face mask watching Netflix, the crabs still hadn't appeared.

I couldn't describe how I felt. My eyes just burned, and I wanted to cry.

"What's wrong, Chloe? Did your brother prank you again?"

Mom waved me over. "Don't cry. As soon as I take this mask off, I'll go beat him up for you."

"Sniff... Mom..."

I buried my face in her shoulder. "Why doesn't Grandma like me?"

"Huh? Her?..."

Mom pulled me onto her lap and stroked my hair. "Because she's brain-damaged. She suffered when she was young, so now she wants to tear up everyone else's umbrella. She's crazy, just ignore her."

"Today she..."

Hugging Mom's arm, I told her exactly what happened. Hearing this, Mom ripped her face mask off and marched me right into the kitchen.

"Crabs, huh? Well, Mom's on her period so I shouldn't eat much seafood anyway. You can eat all four of them, kiddo."

She smiled and opened the fridge. "We won't give any to that little brat. They're all yours."

I smiled through my tears and nodded vigorously.

But we turned the entire kitchen upside down and couldn't find the remaining crabs. Logically, there should have been six left. Yet aside from a lingering seafood smell in the air, there were zero crabs.

Mom took a deep breath, grabbed my hand, and marched to Grandma's bedroom door, knocking loudly.

The heavy, rhythmic pounding reflected exactly how impatient Mom was.

Leo poked his head out of his room, signing to me to ask what was wrong. I shook my head and told him, "The crabs are missing."

"What? You STILL haven't eaten?!"

Leo sprinted out of his room, completely baffled. "It's been like six hours! How have you not eaten yet?"

"..."

I didn't answer. I just hung my head in silence.