Too Many Responsibilities

by Victoria
(New York, USA)

I help out in my parents restaurant. They abused me and said I was useless, ugly, and nasty. They kept saying that all I did when I came home from school was go on my electronic device and not help them. They made me do many of the chores in the restaurant that was really for adults, not a 12-year-old. If I did something wrong, they hit me and verbally abused me. They also said that I slouch and was ugly and that I have bad hygiene when I don't. They didn't let me go on class field trips and social events because I needed to help them at the restaurant. They didn't even let me go to my friends' birthday parties. My parents also made me buy almost all of my own clothes. If I cried, they told me to leave the table. If I complained, they told me to never come back ever again and forced me to apologize. If guests or friends or customers were present, they acted all friendly. They made me make up lies about why I could not attend the birthday parties, social events and field trips. My mom also told me that useless people like me should just go die.

Once, I went out with friends and needed 10 dollars to pay for food. When they gave me the cash, my parents just acted all friendly cause my friends were there. When I returned, they demanded ten dollars back and almost hit me when I couldn't return the money because my wallet was not with me. They tried to make me learn new responsibilities so they could do less jobs. When I refused, they threatened to take away my 20 dollars a month salary.