"A single mom sweeps streets to raise her, and this is the thanks she gets?"
"What's the point of good grades? All that education, and she's still a snake."
Someone spoke directly into the camera, voice dripping with contempt: "This is exactly the kind of ingratitude that should be filmed. Let the whole country see what she really is."
Naomi's hand shot up toward my face—
Mom threw herself between us.
Her eyes were red, but she forced a smile. "The exam... it's so much pressure. This is my fault. I bought cheap things. Not good enough. I upset her."
Pat Morgan, a neighbor, shook her head urgently and grabbed Rachel's arm. "Last winter—big snowstorm—she carried her daughter to the hospital on her back. Caught pneumonia herself and didn't say a word." Pat's voice cracked. "Maybe they don't have much. But that woman's love for her girl? That's the real thing."
"Don't say that," Mom said to the camera, dabbing at her tears. "She's grown up now. It's normal that she looks down on these cheap things from her poor mother..."