At my tutor's house, she said, "Get one question wrong, and you're staying at my house tonight!"

At my tutor's house, she looked at me

and said, "Get one question wrong and

you're staying at my house tonight." My

eyes widened. I thought she was joking,

but she pulled out a stack of flashcards

and said, "Let's begin." With a grin on

her face. The first question, "Who was

the 23rd president of the United

States?" Brother, I can barely name five

presidents. Abraham Lincoln. Wrong. I'll

give you two more tries. My palms are

sweating. Next. What's the square root

of 1,764? What? I literally have an F in

math. She knows this. I 40. Wrong. It's

42. This felt rigged. Next. How many

bones are in the human ear? I was

completely cooked. What? It has no

bones. She shook her head. No. Then she

put the cards down. One more chance.

Tell me your birth mother's middle name.

My heart stopped. She knew my mom

abandoned me when I was a baby. How

would I know that? That's not fair. She

stared at me, smiling. Looks like you're

staying here tonight. I begged her to

let me leave. Please. I've been here for

hours. Can I just go home? But she

didn't say anything. She just sat there

staring at me like I was some kind of

experiment. I tried to stand up, but she

snapped. Sit down. We're not done. I sat

back down, but something felt off. I

glanced at the front door and noticed it

was locked. When did she lock that? Um,

why is the door locked? She ignored me

and pulled out her phone. I watched her

text someone and then she said, "They're

on their way. He's ready. What? Who's on

their way? Who are you texting?" She

didn't answer. A few minutes later, the

doorbell rang. She got up and opened the

door. And when I saw who it was, my

stomach dropped. It was my stepmom.

Wait, what are you doing here? But she

didn't even look at me. She walked

straight to the tutor and they hugged.

And it wasn't a normal hug. My stepmom

looked at her and said, "Nice work,

babe. Babe, what is going on? Why did

she call you babe?" The tutor turned to

me and smiled. You really don't

recognize me, do you? I had no idea what

she was talking about. Recognize you?

You're my tutor. She laughed. I'm your

mother. My heart stopped. What? No. My

mom left when I was a baby. I don't even

know what she looks like. Well, now you

do. I couldn't breathe. This couldn't be

real. I jumped up and ran for the door,

but my stepmom grabbed me by the arm so

hard I thought it would snap. Let go of

me, but she wouldn't. I tried to scream,

but my voice cracked. "Why are you doing

this? What do you want from me?" My

stepmom leaned in close and whispered,

"Your dad asked the same thing right

before we killed him." I froze. "What?

Your daddy left everything to you in his

will. But if you're gone, it all goes to

her, and she's going to share it with

me." I couldn't believe it. "You're

killing me for money, sweetie? It's a

lot of money, bruh." I completely lost

it. I bit her arm as hard as I could,

and she screamed, letting go just long

enough for me to break free. I sprinted

down the hallway while they chased me.

"Get back here." I ducked into a room

and locked the door. My hands were

shaking so bad I could barely think.

Then I remembered my old phone. I shoved

it in my backpack this morning because

my main phone died. I dug through my bag

and found it. 12% battery. I dialed 911

and whispered, "Please help me. My

stepmom and mom are trying to kill me."

And shoved the phone under the bed. The

door started shaking. Open this door

right now. I looked around and grabbed a

lamp off the desk. The door flew open.

My biom walked in behind her holding a

knife. She glanced at the floor and saw

my phone peeking out. Shh. Her face went

white. He called 911. My biom's eyes

went dark. Then we need to finish this

now. She walked toward me with the knife

raised. I scooted back against the wall,

but there was nowhere to go. Please,

please don't do this. I won't tell

anyone, I swear. But she didn't care.

She grabbed me by the collar and held

the knife to my throat. Then I heard it.

Knock knock knock. Police, open up. My

biom froze. I didn't hesitate. I grabbed

the lamp and swung it straight into her

face. Crash. Glass shattered everywhere.

She screamed and dropped the knife. I

booked it to the front door and my

stepmom grabbed my shirt, but I slipped

out of it. I flung the door open. Two

officers were standing there with their

hands on their guns. Help me. They're

trying to kill me. I pointed behind me.

They killed my dad, too. The officers

rushed in. Within seconds, both of them

were face down on the floor in

handcuffs. As they shoved my stepmom

into the cop car, I said, "Wrong answer,

ho.