She stuffed three hundred dollars into the woman's hand and dragged my brother out without looking back.
"Mommy! Mommy, I don't want to go!"
I screamed and cried, but she never turned around.
What Mom didn't know was that the woman she'd hired locked me in a basement the moment she left and forgot I existed.
——
"Mommy!"
I shrank back in terror, but Mom grabbed me and yanked me out anyway.
Her friend Rita Crowe looked me over like I was livestock—hefting my weight, prying my mouth open to check my teeth for flaws.
My brother stood there holding Mom's hand, watching the whole thing with a blank stare.
Rita put on a show of deliberation before speaking:
"Kid's old enough to remember things. Taking her in means I'm risking her never bonding with me."
"But let's be clear—once she's mine, she eats my food, she calls me Mom. No more contact with any of you after this."
That's when it finally hit me.
My mother was giving me away.
I burst into tears.
"Mommy, I don't eat much. Mommy, please don't give me to someone else. I'll be good, I promise!"
I tried to run back to her, but Rita's grip was like iron around my arm.