“My mother was pregnant with her seventh child… and when I refused to continue raising her children, she called the police to have me arrested as if I were a criminal.”

Before I could move away, she wrapped me in a tight embrace that had no love in it, only the cold scent of control and unwashed laundry. “Sweetheart, look at the terrible scare you gave us while your siblings were crying for you at home,” she sobbed loudly.

She claimed she had almost fainted from the shock in her delicate condition, and I felt a wave of disgust at her calculated performance. “Mom, please just let me go,” I said quietly, but she only squeezed my arms tighter as a silent threat.

My aunt Helena stepped forward and told her to stop touching me in such a forceful and manipulative way. My mother let go and snarled at her sister, telling her to stay out of a private family matter involving her minor daughter.

“I am not a piece of furniture that you can just drag back to your house whenever you need a servant,” I said with a strength that surprised everyone. My mother looked at me as if I had slapped her across the face and asked what I had just said to her.