03

I don't know how my parents treated me before I was old enough to remember. But by the time my memories start, I already had a little brother, and in every one of those memories, my mother and father had eyes only for him. I was nothing more than an appendage to Cary.

There was never a share for me when new clothes were bought. I was older than Cary, yet I wore his castoffs, so nothing I owned ever fit. Most of it was too small. Not one pair of my shoes fit either. When I outgrew Cary's, I took whatever my cousins had left behind.

Simply put, no money was ever spent on clothes or shoes for me.

Cary and I are two years apart, and we started elementary school together. I only got to go because of him. When I reached school age, my mother wouldn't let me enroll. Watching the other kids my age walk off with their backpacks, I cried and begged her to let me go too.

She threw a big feed basket at me and screamed until her voice cracked, "The day you can carry a full basket of grass on your back, then you can start thinking about school."

She probably said it without meaning anything by it, but I took it to heart. Every day I hauled that basket out to cut grass, and every time I brought back more than the last.

While I cut pig grass, Cary sat in the shade eating crackers and jeered that I was a big idiot. "Darlene, you really are a big idiot. Mom said even if you can carry a whole basket of grass, she still won't let you go to school."

I was stubborn. I kept cutting just as much grass anyway.

My dream of going to school didn't come true until Cary was old enough to start himself.

I was the oldest kid in my class. The condition for my going to school at all was that I look after Cary there. Even so, I treasured the chance.

From the day I started, my grades were always near the top. I did so well that even my parents couldn't stop me from going further.

I drew serious attention from the district, the county, even the city, and in the end I earned a scholarship placement at the vocational trade school in the city, the kind of opportunity that meant a stable, secure job the moment I graduated.

I thought it was the beginning of my escape from the grip of my family.

After I graduated, I went to work at the grain depot. It was a fairly steady job, and having it gave my parents plenty to brag about.

But it was also the beginning of them wringing me dry.

My mother knew I was soft-hearted, obedient since childhood. Once I started working and she learned my payday, she'd show up every payday to take my wages.

Today the house needed fertilizer, tomorrow it was pig feed. Even Cary's living expenses came out of my pocket.

Cary came home before he even finished middle school and lived off everyone, idle day after day, and still envied me for having a good job.

Before long, Cary reached the age to marry. But with the reputation he had across the whole area, no one was willing to give him their daughter.

So my parents fell back on upgrading the hardware. They emptied their savings and built a big five-room brick house.

They took every cent of my wages, calling it my repayment for the kindness of raising me.

Then they went around begging people to find Cary a match, and after countless trials and setbacks they finally found Sylvia McClain.

My parents were afraid a long delay would bring trouble, so they wanted the two married as soon as possible. But Sylvia's family were no fools. They kept stalling the wedding, and my parents pulled out every trick to curry favor with them.

I'd worked for three years, and most of that money had been taken by my mother. This past year I stopped giving them anything, and it left a fire smoldering in their chests.

And that fire had been smoldering all the way to Cary's wedding.

04

The only reason Cary pulled this off was because I worked at the grain depot. A table at the state-run restaurant wasn't easy to book, so he used my name to lock down the banquet and puff himself up.

And on top of that, he wanted me to foot the bill for the whole thing. I doubt this was Cary's idea alone. This was something they'd all cooked up together.

Since starting work, I'd lived in the staff dorm and rarely went home.

Living on my own suited me just fine. Back at the dorm, I washed up and turned in, and whatever was happening over at the restaurant had nothing to do with me anymore.

After I left, they went right on entertaining their guests. When I filed the report, I made a point of telling the officers at the police station to get over there fast, or the people involved might slip away. Better to head out right now.

I was, after all, an official state employee. Using my name to impersonate someone was grounds for real disciplinary action.

Sure enough, the police moved quickly and headed straight for the restaurant.

My parents were basking in the flattery of friends and relatives. Not many families could put a son's wedding banquet inside a state-run restaurant, and Walter's face was glowing with pride.

Sheila was grinning so wide she couldn't close her mouth, and Cary was so full of himself he'd completely forgotten who he was.

The restaurant had actually been worried the banquet money would vanish, but my cousin's husband kept vouching hard for it, so they were only half convinced.

Just as the banquet hit a fresh peak of noise and cheer, two officers from the police station walked into the reception hall.

"Which one of you is Cary Summers?"

The drunken guests caught the wrong smell in the air and cut off their racket. Cary, ringed by his good-for-nothing buddies, was still drinking.

It took everyone a beat before someone pointed at Cary. "That's him."

My parents saw the situation turning bad and moved to stop it, but the officers weren't having any of it.

They walked straight up to Cary, showed their badges first, then announced in a flat official tone, "Cary Summers, you've been reported for using someone else's identity to obtain a large sum of money. You'll need to come with us for questioning."

Of course Cary wasn't going to go along with it. He swayed on his feet. "Who reported me? I'm getting married today. On a day this happy, who'd dare report me?"

My parents' faces went ugly, and so did the faces of the guests at the tables, especially Sylvia's side of the family. Some in the room were there for the show, and some were plainly worried.

My father rushed over to smooth things over, even fishing out cigarettes to curry favor, but the officers didn't bite.

"It was Ms. Darlene Summers who filed the report under her own name. She says he brought her ID here to book this banquet, and she knew nothing about it."

"There are also several employees of this restaurant involved. We'll be taking them in for questioning as well. Please come with us."

The moment my name came up, the whole room boiled over. They probably couldn't fathom how someone as obedient as me could have done such a thing.

When my parents heard it was me who'd reported him, their faces went green with rage. If I'd been standing in front of them, they'd probably have wanted to beat me to death.

My father hurried to explain. "This is all a misunderstanding. Darlene is my daughter, and Cary is her brother. We're all family. There's no impersonation here."

"Without the person's consent, it's impersonation. Please come with us."

The officers weren't buying it and stood firm on taking him in.

It was their son's wedding day. They'd fight to the death before they let anyone haul Cary off.

"Is there really no other way? My son's getting married today. If he's arrested now, where does that leave our faces?"

The officer was still fairly civil, and he laid out the road for them plainly. "The only way is for the person who filed the report to drop it."

My mother heard that and thought it was easy enough. She scrambled to reach me, calling my workplace over and over, but I'd arranged in advance for no one to take her calls.

She fainted right there from the fury. The banquet guests should have cleared out long ago, but not one of them left. They all stayed to watch the show.

By eight that night, just as I was getting ready to sleep, someone started pounding on my dorm door.