Hi, I'm Leslie and this is my story. But before I continue, please like and subscribe. When I was a kid, my parents always fought a lot.
Mom got so fed up that she yanked me out of bed one night and snuck me out the door. "Mom, I'm sleepy. I wanna go to bed.
" "Shh, quiet. " The next thing you know, we'd moved to a tiny apartment in a strange town and I hated it. I screamed and cried for mom to take us back home.
"Take me back, this is whack! " I tried reaching out to my dad, but he was always too busy. That made me sad, but mom found ways to cheer me up.
Eventually, I got used to our new place and hanging out with mom was pretty cool. After a while, mom met someone new. Soon, they were married and we moved into a new house.
My stepdad was nice, but his daughter was a witch. "Hey Dana, welcome your new mom and stepsister. " "Welcome them, ew, dad.
They're poor. Why are we keeping them here and feeding them? They're disgusting and gross.
" "She's just kidding. She's a little shy. She's a sweetheart once you get to know her.
" Dana was the worst. She threw ketchup in my face, turned the lights off when I was reading, tossed my clothes out the window, and stole all my toys. I tried to tell my mom what was going on.
"Hey babe, we're guests here. Dana is a bit spoiled, but we have to learn to accept her. " Thank God Dana and I didn't go to the same school.
Dana went to an expensive school for brats, and I begged my mom and stepdad to let me stay at my old school. But a few years later, things took a turn. My stepdad's company lost a ton of money and he couldn't keep up with the bills.
"Girls, money is tight, so we'll have to enroll both of you in public school. " Public school. Dana threw the biggest tantrum and refused to eat for a week, though I caught her sneaking cookies from the kitchen at night.
On the first day of school, Dana acted like a total spoiled brat. "Hey everyone, you might see this girl talking to me, but that doesn't mean we're related. She's just her maid.
" "Uh, no, she's our maid. " "No, she's our mate. " "No, she is our maid.
" Dana and I fought all the time. We shouted at each other in the hallway, had a food fight in the cafeteria, and one time during science class, we started shoving each other and accidentally hurt the teacher who was trying to separate us. She ended up with a broken nose.
The kids thought we were insane. Neither of us had any friends. I mean, I couldn't blame them.
Dana was a crazy witch, and I, well, I'm cool but shy and weird and insecure and invisible. So, yeah. After weeks of being outcasts, we grew a bit closer.
Just a bit, 'cause we were lonely and we only had each other. Then one day in first grade, our parents sat us down to give us some news. "We're gonna have a baby.
" "Oh, really? That's cool. A baby?
Why would you go and do a stupid thing like that? " The baby came and my parents were so happy. "A beautiful little boy.
Isn't he precious? Let's call him Sam. " I fell in love with Sam immediately.
Even though he was annoying, he cried a lot and puked and peed all over the place. Dana avoided Sam like the plague. She'd lock herself in her room and only came out to eat.
"Look at his stupid dirty face. OMG, why is he throwing food everywhere? " I played with Sam every day.
"You're so good with him, honey. Could you watch Sam while Dad and I run some errands? Sure, no problem.
" As time went on, Mom and Dad started leaving him with me all the time. Eventually, I was Sam's permanent babysitter. When Sam turned two, he turned into a maniac.
He drew on the walls with crayons, smashed an expensive vase, and poured milk in my dad's office drawer. And they blamed me every time. "That vase cost a fortune!
I'm taking it out of your allowance. " "But it's not my fault. " "I told you so.
" "Told me what? " "That the brat was a bad idea. It's only gonna get worse.
" And Dana was right. One day, I had a huge chemistry test and told my parents way in advance that I needed to study. But they still shoved Sam in my face and just left.
I had had enough. I dropped Sam off in Dana's room and headed out the door. "Where do you think you're going?
" "I'm done with this family. I'm out of here. " "You can't just leave me with this thing.
" "Watch me. " "Look, Sammy, she has cookies. " Sam grabbed Dana and I walked out the door.
I hopped on the bus and went straight to my dad's. He was out of town when I got there, so his maid let me in. For the first time in a long time, I had peace and quiet.
My mom and stepdad freaked out when they found out I'd left. But I refused to come back. In school the next day, Dana ran up to me looking crazy.
"I can't take it. Please come back home. " "I thought you hated me.
" "I do, but Sam's a demon. He tore up all my clothes and flushed my makeup down the toilet. " "Sounds like you're getting a taste of your own medicine.
" I turned to walk away, but then Dana started bawling like a big baby. "Please, I'll do anything. Just come back home.
" "Okay, maybe I'll come back, but on one condition. You have to do. .
. " What I say when I ask, "No way, I'm not your maid. " You won't be my maid, you'll be my assistant.
That's even worse. Take it or leave it. " Dana reluctantly agreed, but even if she hadn't, I'd have moved back anyway because I missed my little Sam.
The thought of him being ignored by my shallow parents and selfish Dana made me sick to my stomach. I moved back in, and whenever our parents left us with Sam, I set up a schedule so Dana and I shared the responsibilities. Things were great for a while, but they took a turn when Sam turned 10.
He stole my mom's diamond ring and gave it to his classmate to impress her. "A pretty ring for a pretty girl, are you crazy? I can't take this.
" Sam got so mad he punched the girl in the face, then he sold Mom's ring to his friend. "I'll give it to you for fifty dollars. " "Forty.
" "Deal. " One day, Sam's teacher called my parents in for a meeting. Of course, they were too busy to go and sent me and Dana instead.
We came because our parents have leukemia. "Oh my God, no, no. She means anemia.
" "No, no. I think I meant amnesia. They're getting old and crazy.
" "They're, they're just sick. " And we came instead of them. "Can you tell us what the problem is?
" Sam gave one of his classmates a black eye, he broke a window, and he's been terrorizing the other students. When we got home, I went straight to Sam's room. "We need to talk about what's going on with you in school.
" "I'm busy. " "If you keep this up, you might get expelled. " "Get out.
" Sam slammed the door in my face. He was very stubborn, but I wanted to help him. When my mom and stepdad came back that night, Dana and I told them everything.
"It's those mean kids. They hate me, and they're always making fun of me because I don't have nice things. " "Oh, darling, we're so sorry.
We'll buy you new clothes. " Then Mom took Sam on a shopping spree. I couldn't believe they fell for his act.
Later that night, my parents went out of town for a business dinner, and Dana and I were watching MSA videos in my room when Sam appeared out of nowhere. "Hey, stupid witches. You're gonna pay for telling on me.
" "Get out of the way, psycho. We're trying to watch TV. " Sam pulled out a huge jar of crickets from behind his back and smashed it onto the floor.
The crickets landed in our hair and all over our clothes. "Get them, my pretties. " A couple of months later, Mom and stepdad called us into the living room to tell us we were moving into a brand new fancy house.
"So wait, we're rich again? " "Yes, we have twice as much money as we had before. " "Thank God, I hated being poor.
Now I can go to fancy college, only the best for my daughter. " A month later, Dana left for college in another city. I could have gone away too, but I was too worried about Sam.
So I got enrolled in a college close to home. But soon after, my stepdad enrolled Sam in an expensive private school, and he started hanging out with these spoiled rich kids. I had to make sure that he didn't get into some big trouble.
In my sophomore year, I was reading in the park one day when suddenly I spotted a big dog running at crazy speed with a guy my age trying to grab his leash. His name was Alex, and he was a senior in my university. I gave him my hoodie, and we ended up talking for a while.
I hadn't even realized two hours had gone by. "Oh shoot, I gotta go. I gotta check in on my little brother.
" "So how do I get your hoodie back to you? " "Maybe I could take you out for dinner tomorrow. " "Oh, I'm sorry, but with the university and some things at home, I really don't have time to date.
" "Gotcha. Well, here's my number. Just let me know where I can drop it.
" Then he started walking away, and so did I. But a part of me felt like I was doing the wrong thing. "Hey, wait.
How about a coffee tomorrow? " "Sounds like a good place to start. " Alex and I started dating, and being with him just made me happy.
For the first time, it felt like someone was noticing what I needed and taking care of me. But things at home with Sam just kept getting worse. He was skipping classes and getting detention all the time.
And then some creepy guys started coming around the house looking for Sam when my parents weren't home. When I asked him who they were, he just told me to mind my business. Then one night, Sam came home with a bruised face.
"Are you okay? What's going on? " "I'm fine, sis.
I can take care of myself. " "Sam, I can't be your babysitter forever. I have a life of my own, and one day I'll just leave.
" "Then leave. My life, my choices. You can't change someone who doesn't want to change.
" Then he hugged me and cried. The next morning, I tried to talk to him, but he was already gone. "I'm worried about Sam.
I think something's going on with him. " "You worry too much, honey. Sam's fine.
Have you seen his face? He said he got hurt during football practice. " Soon after I graduated, Alex proposed, and I was over the moon.
I'd have to move out, but I would only be 10 minutes away from Sam. Not that he seemed to care much either way. And on my wedding day, Sam was nowhere to be found.
I kept calling him, but. . .
I couldn't get through, and we couldn't postpone the ceremony any longer. I felt so upset that he had missed this, but two hours later, I finally got a panicked call from Sam asking me to pick him up from some bad neighborhood. "You're not a baby anymore, you just ruined one of the most important days of my life.
I've always been there for you and you couldn't even be there for me, even today. " I started to give up hope of fixing him. I was fighting a battle alone, a battle that wasn't mine, and my parents just made things worse.
Sam failed high school, but my stepdad paid the school board to give him passing grades. It made me so mad, but I had no say in the matter. Then one day, the company I worked for gave me an amazing job promotion.
If I moved to California, it was a great opportunity, but I felt unsure. Alex supported me either way, but I tossed and turned all night thinking about what to do. I finally called Dana.
"You've got one life, Les. You can either live it for Sam or live it for yourself. " Sam had started interning at his dad's firm, but I observed him for some weeks and saw that he still had the same kind of friends and was still blowing money and partying the same way.
And I finally made my decision. "What? You're going to California?
That's across the country. " "I need you here, Les. " "No, not really.
You only need me around to clean up your messes, but I'm done doing that, Sam. You were right, you can't change someone who doesn't want to change. " "Leslie, please.
You're all I have. You've got Mom and Dad, and they'll take care of you in their own way. You're their kid.
I just can't be your parent anymore. " "But you're my big sister, and I'll always be there for you as that. So when you decide to fix your ways, come and see me, okay?
I love you, Sam, but I'm leaving. It's time.
