In the small town of Reeds about two hours away to the nearest city, lives a family of six. The house they live in was run down and in need of repairs. A broken window can be seen from the street as well as a wooden plank that covers it. In the front yard, the dried yellow grass looked like it can ignite into flames at any minute while there were several bushes that needs to be trimmed, despite all that, there were no sign of trash or unwanted junk lying around the property like the other houses around it.
This shabby neighborhood is just one of the many that can be seen in this small college town of Reeds. The main staple of income comes from the agriculture that the local farmers’ operates, small business owners, and the steady influx of college students that attends Reeds State University. There is a small strip mall that has the major department stores and fast food restaurants that caters to the local population. Other than that and a few entertainment spots and parks, the town of Reeds has nothing else to offer.
The Cha family that lives on Jackson Street is pretty well known to keep to themselves. In the ten years that the family had moved in, every so often, neighbors can hear loud arguments and fragile things breaking. Many times, they can see and hear the children cry out in distress. Many neighbors suspect that the family has some domestic violence going on, but the children were always tight lipped and never shown anything indicating abuse.
The children, by the neighbors’ standards, were hardworking, quiet, well behaved, and overly polite. They can be seen doing chores around the house, especially the oldest daughter, Shilan.
Panting, Shilan rushed out to the backyard with a basket in her hands as she thought of her family. Her mother, Ceila, has a very temperamental personality. She also has a mild case of OCD which makes her fly off into a wild tangent, when she sees something not to her liking, causing most of her anger to be directed at Shilan. She is harsh and impatient, making her four children very wary of her to the point that they are frighten of her; and also ashamed of her when they’re in front of close relatives and strangers. Ceila is a woman who is proud of her pretty looks and has a superiority complex. She takes pride of how young she looks even after having four adolescent children. She can often be heard bragging to many of her friends and relatives how she can still attract the opposite sex who are younger than her. This is also one of the many threats that she often torments her husband, Cha Neng with when they argue.
Cha Neng is a man of few words. Many people who don’t know him well thinks he is a fair, patient, and loving family man. They could not be more wrong. Ever since Shilan can remember, her father had been addicted to opium and gambling. He could never keep a job for more than a few weeks because of his laziness and addictions. His lack of employment is often one of the many reasons why Ceila consistently mocks him to being half of a man for letting his family fall into poverty; and reducing her to the humiliation of receiving public assistance from the government. Cha Neng’s state of mind often correlates to his substance abuse. If there isn’t any money for his gambling and opium, he indiscriminately abused his wife and daughter. Though more so, on Shilan than his wife in fear that Ceila will divorce him.
Despite his addictions, Cha Neng is a very overbearing and patriarchal person. He is a narrow minded traditional man who believes that reputation is everything. He favors his three sons over his only daughter, Shilan, who is the oldest. He had never laid a hand on his sons because he believes that they will be able to bring fortune and high reputation to his name. Cha Neng’s mode of discipline is through his motto of “Do what I tell you to do, and not do what I do”. He believes that this will deter his sons from going onto the wrong path in life and it justifies his addictions to gambling and opium under the ruse of ‘he’s too far gone in waste that he can’t be helped anymore so learn from this’.
To him, a daughter is not worthy of his time and love because eventually when she marries, all her successes and efforts will fall to her husband’s family.
Thus, Shilan grew up in a very sexist family. Her younger brothers are indifferent to her plight because they were raised that women are beneath them. Her father could care less about her as long as he can fulfill his addictions. Her mother uses her like a servant and abuses her to relieve her stress. It is no wonder that Shilan grew up to be timid and unassertive. Throughout her seventeen years of life, Shilan couldn’t remember a time when she felt warmth and familial love. There wasn’t anyone whom she can confide in and she was so very afraid of being kicked out of the only home she knows of.
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Not only was she abused at home, she had also became a target for bullies in school because of how poor her family was. It can be seen with the hand me down clothes that she wears, the lack of participation in fieldtrips that requires money, and her ‘free’ lunches. The bullying never went beyond mental abuse but it was enough to isolate her from the rest of the student body. Therefore, with no friends to trust and familial support, Shilan grew distant from people and aloof. So without anyone to rely on, Shilan turned to books to escape from her harsh reality. But with so many responsibilities in the home, her retreats to the fantasy worlds were limited to when she had time in her busy schedule.
Now at this moment, Shilan is frantically taking down the laundry that was hanging outside. The clothes that she had hand washed were one of the many chores that she had to finish before her mother comes home from work. She didn’t want to think of her punishment if it wasn’t done. Shilan knows that as long as the chores are done and dinner prepared, her family will not bother her unless they decide to vent their stress on her, leaving her some time to finish her school work and read her favorite books.
Yet, today is a little more different than usual, Shilan is excited. It is rare to see the corner of her lips slightly curving up. The reason for this is that she found a part-time job at the bookstore earlier today. She was walking home from school when she saw the help wanted sign on the window and decided to apply. To her surprise, she was hired by the owner right there and then. Shilan was mainly hired to work the weekends and a couple of hours during the weekdays. In her seventeen years of life, she felt a tingeing bit of happiness from this accomplishment. To her, this is a small step of independence which gave her a small boost to her self-confidence and value. She can’t wait to tell her mother about her employment because this will mean she can stay away from home for a period of time as long as it is work related. She can only use school work to escape to the library every so often before drawing suspicion. So this miracle of a job is the precious respite that she can have to relieve her cumulative stresses.
Shilan sigh as she think of the chores that she had to consolidate. With her working part-time, her chores will double on certain days. The one that takes the longest is the laundry. Since, Ceila is the only one working; their budget is always in the red due to Cha Neng’s habits, so they could not afford a run to the laundromat each week. Thus, washing clothes fell onto Shilan. She secretly dreamed of the day when she can actually use a washing machine. So if she set aside a little bit of money, she can finally go to a laundromat! It could be considered as a life goal of hers to get a washing machine so that she can lighten her chores. It can also not be exaggerated that she hated washing clothes by hand. There were many times she cried because of them. She also had many nightmares involving mountains of clothes that fell on top her, suffocating her to death. ‘Yes, washing clothes is the bane of her life’ thought Shilan.
That night, before she went to bed exhausted, she silently tiptoed to the living room where Ceila is watching one of her Korean dramas. Ceila was lounging on the sofa when Shilan entered the room.
“Mom” whispered Shilan tentatively.
Ceila narrowed her eyes at Shilan before answering, “What?”
Shilan’s body trembled as she tried to gather up her courage to inform her mother that she had found a job. She manages to stutter, “Umm…un…uh…I found a job at Weshire Book…store…to…to…day…I…I… start work this week…weekend.”
Hearing this, Ceila picks up the TV remote control and pause the drama. “So, how many hours a week are we talking about?”
“Twen…twenty-two to twenty-four hours a week, mainly during the weekends” answers Shilan as she wringed her hands to together in anticipation.
“How much is the pay?”
“It’s nine dollars an hour.”
After thinking a bit, Ceila decisively said, “Leave the bathroom cleaning, dishes, and taking out the trash to your brothers. You make sure to mark your schedule on the calendar. The food and the phone bill is now your responsibility. For each paycheck set aside thirty dollars in the gas jar.”
“Yes” reply Shilan as she turns to go to her room. Her heart a tiny bit lighter and her eyes a little shinier slowly went to bed. She could care less about her earnings because now she can stay out a little while longer, breathe a little bit easier, and out of the way of her abusive parents. As an afterthought, Shilan mused before her eyes closes, ‘mother seemed to have been in a good mood today.’