That day, Peter, who was in the classroom, suddenly disappeared.
I just found out that Peter stole money from his classmate and got caught until my father rushed in, and kicked me to the trash can next to the classroom. Peter got angry and beat up his classmate. And the teacher called my Dad.
"Are you stupid? You can't even take care of your younger brother!"
"Bitch, I'll kill you today!"
Fists and kicks landed on me, with only the screams of my classmates and the reprimands of the teacher echoing in my mind.
Amazingly, I didn't even feel any pain. Maybe I was used to getting beaten up worse than this in normal times.
The next day, my father took me to school to withdraw.
While my dad was busy with the paperwork, the teacher secretly slipped a hundred dollars into my hand.
She said, "Monica, you have to escape, go far away, and never come back."
I nodded, and then she smiled.
I had been helping my mother with farming at home for two years, and I was almost 18 years old.
Dad said that when my younger brother got into high school, I would have to go out to work and earn money for his tuition.
I nodded blankly.