Small Thing

Everyone including Kayla was present at the dining table, as I walked in slowly all I could hear was the clattering of cutlery on the glass dishes. Of course, they started dinner without me

“Hello” I muttered under my breath waiting for the outlash that was coming

“You are late” Mom snapped as I was about to take my sit making me freeze halfway

“I’m sorry I-”

“That is all you know how to do, you are always fucking sorry” she spat in my face before I could complete my sentence

My blood boiled in anger as I watched Kayla giggle as I was been scolded at

“That’s enough,” Dad said, not raising his head off his plate.

I quietly sat down and dinner just carried on, I couldn’t bring myself to take a bite of the food in front of me. My heart was thumping so loud anxiously waiting to hear the reason I was summoned.

“So,” Dad said dabbing the corner of his mouth, I immediately sat upright as his cold gaze landed on me, my throat immediately drying up as I waited to hear what he had to say

“We invited you to dinner for a reason” he started to say not taking his eyes away from mine for some reason I could sense that whatever he had to say wasn’t anything good

“We have something to tell you,” he said

“Okay,” I said slowly

“Well,” he said clearing his throat like he was finding it difficult to speak

“If you can’t tell her I would,” Mom said making my head whip up to meet hers

What could it be that was too hard to say?

Did they want to strip their surname away from my name? Because that was the only thing I had that was theirs

“We found a suitor for you, you are getting married” Mom spilled

“Surprise,” Kayla said smiling from ear to ear

I could not tell if my ears were deceiving me or if I wasn’t hearing correctly, I looked around with palpable confusion on my face

Suitor? Marriage? What were they talking about

“I-I-I don’t understand” I managed to say

“What is so hard there that you don’t understand” Mom snapped giving me an irritated look

“Mom maybe she needs it to be broken down more,” Kayla said laughing out loudly

“You would be getting married that was why we invited you over,” Dad said

Why would I be getting married?

“I don’t want to get married” I blurted out loudly and it was as if I caught them off guard with my response because they all stared at me like I had said the craziest thing.

“I don't want to get married” I repeated

“You don’t have a choice in this,” Dad said

“I am not doing it! It is my life and I won’t be getting married to a stranger” I didn’t know when I started to raise my voice at them

“Look who has grown wings after everything we have done for you this is how you pay us back?!” Mom shouted in my face

“I have never said no to you guys before even when you told me to drop out of medical school when I was in my last year I did just that. But I would not marry a stranger” I stood my ground using everything in me not to get intimidated

“We took you from the orphanage, catered for your endless needs all your life, and paid for your diseased sister's hospital bill. Now all we ask from you is just this one thing and you can’t even do that?” Mom asked, a thick lump formed in my throat that it was too hard to swallow

“I would make sure I pay back every penny you spent on my sister and me” I muttered under my breath pushing back the tears that were forming in my eyes

When my sister and I were little luck shone on us in the orphanage and we were adopted by my current family when they thought they couldn’t have children of their own, at that time I was two and my sister was four but not long after Mom got pregnant with Kayla and it was too late to go back on the adoption process. My sister was born a special child so she was in and out of the hospital we couldn’t take a step or do anything without being reminded that we would probably be sleeping on the street without them.

They handled my sister's hospital bill which wasn’t an issue to them because money generally wasn’t an issue to them but spending it on us was the problem I guess but I didn’t mind the insults as long as my sister was getting the treatment she needed. All through my high school even when I got into college I made sure I didn’t ask for a dime from them. I worked to pay for my tuition to med school, which most people didn’t understand why I worked so much when I was a Genrey.

When I was in my last year in college the debt was too much for me and I couldn’t pay f*es, I used everything in me to go up to my family to beg them to assist me with the last year's school f*es. Dad specifically told me it was either I choose between my college f*es or my sister's surgery claiming he couldn’t afford both. I made the obvious choice of picking my sister's surgery, that same week that I had to drop out of school Kayla got a luxury sports car for her birthday that cost three times my school f*es and my sister's surgery f*e combined.

“Then pay it back, you could never even in a million years!” Mom laughed

“Don’t be ungrateful” Kayla snorted in my face and I wanted nothing more than to bash the bitch face through the table

“I’m not asking for you to pay back all we did for all I’m asking is do this small thing in return for everything,” Dad said

Small thing? Spending the rest of my life with a stranger was a small thing?