A Mother's Hand

Summary

My mother, Sophie Nash, was also my homeroom teacher, and she loved nothing more than using me to assert her authority.

She was convinced that the worse off I was, the more afraid my classmates would be, and the higher her authority would be.

Once, when I passed an eraser to a classmate during class, she slapped me so hard across the face in front of the whole class that my face swelled up.

Another time, after I secretly ate a crumb of a classmate’s snack during recess, my mom dragged me up to the front of the classroom and pricked my lip with a needle until blood gushed out.