My Sick Stepfather: A Toxic Asset

Summary

The year I turned seven, my father died in a car crash. My mother remarried her first love and I moved in with them.

At our very first dinner as a new family, my stepfather, Richard, announced the new house rules.

“From now on, this family operates on a pay-your-own-way basis.”

I took a piece of the pot roast.

For that one piece of meat, my stepfather demanded three hundred dollars from a seven-year-old.

I looked at my stepsister, Ashley, who was happily devouring her own portion.

“Ashley had pot roast, too. Why don’t you ask her to pay?”