“You can call me Dad.”
“Mum, are you taking his side again?” Emily stood facing her mother, lips trembling as tears threatened to spill over.
“Emily, what do you mean ‘again’? And youre wrong about thiscompletely wrong!” snapped Irene, her mother.
“Mum, those were my groceries! We agreed, and Im not a millionaireI cant afford to feed someone else!” Emily fired back, barely holding back her sobs.
“Ungrateful little brat! I raised you, fed you, and now youre begrudging me a bit of cheese and ham?” came the half-slurred shout from the living room, where Neil, her stepfather, sat nursing a drink.
“Exactly! Arent you ashamed?” Irene echoed her husbands words.
Emily covered her face with her hands. There was no stopping the tears now. Lately, her life had turned into a nightmare.
…Emilys father had left when she was barely three. As Irene later explained, she and Williamthat was his namehad never loved each other. A brief fling led to pregnancy, and Williams parents pressured him into marriage. But without love, the marriage crumbled. They lasted two miserable years before he packed his bags and walked out.
Irene threw herself into raising Emily alone. They managed just the two of them until Emily turned twelve. One morning, Irene sat her down for a serious talk.
“Em, youre old enough to understand” Irene began carefully.
“Okay,” Emily replied hesitantly.
“Ive met someone. I love him, and were getting married. Hell be moving in soon. I hope you dont mind.”
Emily didnt exactly rejoice, but she wasnt heartbroken either. Plenty of kids at school had stepdadsit wasnt the end of the world.
But the moment Neil stepped into their flat, Emily disliked him. His looks, his mannerseverything about him rubbed her the wrong way.
“You can call me Dad,” he declared.
Emily nodded silently, but the word “Dad” never left her lips. From day one, Neil made it clear: “I wasnt spoiled as a kid, so I wont spoil you either.” Life under his rule became unbearable.
“Mum, Im going to the library with Hannah, then we might hang out,” Emily said one day.
“Who do you think you are, giving orders? Irene, you let this brat walk all over you!” Neil barked.
“Im not a brat!” Emily shot back while Irene silently washed dishes.
“Watch your mouth! One hour at the library, then straight home. If youre late, youll stand in the corner on dried peas. Learn some respect!” Neil ranted, drunk on his own authority.
“Mum, Im going out!” Emily insisted.
“Sweetheart, listen to your father. Hes the head of this household,” Irene replied meekly.
From then on, Emily lived for Neils business tripsbrief moments of freedom when she could invite friends over and breathe.
…Six long years passed. Emily turned eighteen and got into university, dreaming of freedoma dorm room, finally escaping that toxic flat.
But reality crushed her hopes:
“Dorms are only for out-of-town students. No spaces left,” the administration told her and dozens of others.
“Shouldve gone to a different city,” Emily muttered, trudging home.
By mid-September, she befriended two classmates also desperate to move out. They found a tiny one-bed flat to split three ways.
“Mum, I want to live on my own. Its closer to uni, and”
“Over my dead body! Youll turn that place into a brothel, bringing boys over while your studies go down the drain!” Neil cut in.
“Whats it to you?” Emily snapped.
“Whats it to me? Your tone, young lady! Your stipend wont cover rent! Your mums hours got cut, my wages slashed, and now you want a flat? Dream on! Not a penny from me!”
“Ill earn it myself!” Emily yelled, slamming her bedroom door.
But finding evening work proved impossible, so her dreams of independence faded.
Then one morning, noise from the hallway woke her. A strange bloke stood there, hugged by Neil.
“Emily, meet my son from my first marriageDaniel. Lived with his mum in the countryside, but now hes moving in with us,” Neil announced.
“Where? Weve only got two bedrooms,” Emily said flatly.
“No worries, Ill crash on the kitchen fold-out for now,” Daniel said, smirking.
Horrified, Emily confronted Irene:
“Mum, how are four of us supposed to live here?”
“Well manage. Better a crowded house than an empty heart,” Irene said weakly.
“Are you serious?” Emily whispered.
“Love, we depend on Neils money now. I wont fight him. Daniel stays.”
Now the kitchen was Daniels bedroom. Breakfast was chaos. Emily left hungry, returning to find Neil and Daniel already at the table.
“Oi, sis, come sit with us!” Daniel called one evening.
“Leave me alone!” Emily snapped.
“Respect your elders, brat!” Neil slurred.
“Dad, relax. Emily, come here.” Daniel grabbed her shoulders.
“Get off me, creep!” She wrenched free, fleeing to her room in tears.
That night, she cried herself to sleep. By morning, she had a plan.
“Mum, didnt Dad buy this flat for us?”
“Well, yes” Irene frowned.
“So its partly mine?”
“Legally, its mine, but youre my daughter, so Wait, why?”
“I dont want Neil or his son here. They should leave!”
“Ungrateful wretch! Not another penny from me! Buy your own food!” Neil roared.
Emily started buying her own meals, scraping every pound. Yet Neil and Daniel kept stealing her groceriesespecially the cheese and ham shed just bought.
“Mum, if Im so wrong, pay me back for what they stole, and Ill leave!”
“Pay you? Pack your bags and get out!”
Done with the madness, Emily grabbed her things and left.
She crashed at her mate Sophies rented flat, then switched to part-time studies, found a job, and cut ties with home.
A year later, she spotted Irene leaving a dormitory.
“Mum? What are you doing here?”
“Living here,” Irene said after a pause.
“What? What about the flat?”
“Oh, love After you left, Neil made me sign the flat over to himsaid itd stop you making claims. Then Daniel started bringing girls into your room. One day, I came home to some stranger in my bed.”
“And you just let it happen?”
“What could I do? The flats his now. Im still on the lease, but the deeds done. I begged for this dorm room at work. Wanted to tell you, but Well, here we are.” Irene burst into tears.
“Christ,” Emily sighed.
“Dont hate me, love. I lost us both a home. My punishment, I suppose.”
Emily comforted her briefly before leaving. That evening, she returned to her shared flatsmall, but clean, peaceful, and hers.
She kept in touch with Irene, who talked about divorcing Neil and fighting for half the flat. Emily listened but stayed out of it. Shed had enough.
