When I was ten, my father remarried. His new wife soon became pregnant, and before long, a baby boy joined our household. It was as if overnight Id become the unpaid nanny, cook, and cleanerall rolled into one.
My family would just call me, Oi, you. I wore clothes that hadnt fit me properly in years, while my little brother was showered with brand new toys practically every other day. As he got older, I lost the last bit of privacy I had; my bedroom was taken from me and I was shipped off to sleep in the sitting room so he could have his own space.
Ill always be grateful to my dad for one thingat least he put a stop to my stepmothers attempts to punish me physically. But he didnt stop her from humiliating me. Every day Id hear how hideous I wasno one would ever want meand how stupid I was; that Id never get an education and would only ever work as someones housemaid.
My stepmother told me daily that I was only being tolerated in the house until I turned eighteen, and that on my birthday Id be thrown out on the street.
I spent all my school holidays with my grandmother. She saw me as the familys black sheep. She cursed the day her son married my mother and was practically delighted when my mum moved out.
I often wondered why I hadn’t been sent to a childrens home.
Six months before my eighteenth birthday, I overheard my dad and stepmother talking. Suddenly everything made sense. My stepmother said I would never agree to something, and my dad assured her that hed get me to sign the flat over to them, and there was nothing for her to worry about.
Well, she was wrong. She had every reason to be anxious. My brothers teasing and their jibes didnt bother me anymore.
Before, I dreaded turning eighteen, but now I couldnt wait.
At my birthday teamy first proper birthday party with Victoria sponges in nearly eight yearseveryone was there: Dad and my stepmother, my gran, and my stepmothers parents.
After the last slice of cake, they told me to get myself ready to go out. I asked where, and my gran replied:
Youre an adult now. From now on, youre responsible for your own actions. Today, youre going to thank your family for all theyve done for you. Youll go with your father to the solicitor and sign over your mothers flat to him. You inherited it from her, but that was never the plan. She promised to write a will for my son. Now do your duty; get ready.
Their faces were so serious, I nearly laughed out loud.
Yes, Gran. I will thank my family for everything theyve done for me. As my gesture of thanks, I said I wouldnt throw them out today, Id give them a week to pack their things. Their time was up.
Oh, the drama that followed! They scolded me for being ungrateful, my stepmother shouted that shed raised a viper, Dad punched me in the face, and her parents started lecturing that theyd warned her about taking on another womans child. Gran said she was leaving and slammed the door behind her.
They all moved out. Went to live with Gran.
A few days later, Dad came by. He handed me a sheet of paper and said since I didnt sign the flat over, I had to pay what I owed, and left.
I unfolded it to find a list:
Food £3240
Clothes £540
School supplies £140
Toiletries £26.60
Household appliances £46.20
Council housing allowance £648
Total: £4640.80
What happened to parents being required to support their underage children? Apparently, my dad didnt care in the slightest.
So I got myself a job and, for the past six months, Ive handed over a third of my wages to my father every month, paying off this debt.
Itll take me about seven or eight years, but then Ill be completely free.
