Thicker Than Water Read Online Free PDF

think he might be abusing his prescription.”
    â€œYour brother is fine. He is taking medication, prescribed by a DOCTOR, for his knee. We can’t afford surgery right now, Cecelia. This is the best I can do.”
    So, no, I didn’t think it would matter if I tried talking to Dad again. Denial isn’t a river, it’s a refuge. It’s where you go for answers when the truth is a) too upsetting, b) too far-fetched, or c) too ugly.
    I pulled up my half-complete application and watched the flashing cursor. The blinking black line was distracting, like a neon sign. This is pointless , it flashed. Scholarships aren’t awarded to charity cases.
    We all make choices. The college fund my parents started when I was little went into Cy’s soccer training and equipment. They thought he would’ve gone pro by now. Things didn’t quite go as planned. Mom’s dead and buried, and Cyrus—well, he’s on his way there, too, I guess.
    When I turned fifteen, I was old enough to get a part-time job—old enough to start saving for the future. But Dad convinced me that I should load up on academics, take more AP classes instead.
    â€œColleges look at transcripts first and foremost,” he reasoned. “Not work experience flipping pizzas.”
    But that was before the farm, before every cent he had went into tillers and irrigation and Leafgro. A few days ago, I’d heard him say something to Jane about foreclosure. As much as I resented the farm, it was the last bit of stability we had left.Losing it would mean admitting how lost we really were.
    I clicked until I reached the Edenton scholarship application checklist. I scanned the page. High School Transcripts—in the mail. Activities and Awards List—saved and printed. Essay—making progress. SAT scores—hopefully on their way. I sat for the test later than I wanted to; it took a while to scrape together the enrollment fee.
    I scrolled back my application essay and reread my words. All my application topics had similar vague topics that had deceptively simple answers. Case in point—“Describe one life event that has shaped you as a person.”
    It was hard enough to narrow it down to one.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Cecelia Price
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Application #: 21184
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Topic Choice:
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Describe one life event that has shaped you as a person.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  I was barely a teenager when we found out my mom was sick. At first, it was hard to see it. She didn’t stop working or cooking dinner. It wasn’t until the prescription bottles started lining the kitchen window that it was really in our faces.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Those bottles were impossible to ignore. In the morning, they were like a sunny panel of stained glass—the full ones let through a smattering of goldsunlight, while the almost-empty ones allowed a wash of color to bathe the counters and sink. At night, I’d scrub the soapy dishes and pretend they were candles, a line of tea lights that caught the reflection of the setting sun or the ceiling lamp. It was easier to see them as glass or fire. It was too hard to call them what they were—vessels filled with something my mother needed, something her body found necessary to keep her alive.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  When you’re little, you learn that medicines are a good thing, they make you healthy. If you have an ear infection, you swallow gooey pink liquid that’s kept in the fridge. If you spike a fever, a dropper of grape syrup bathes your mouth in something sweeter than candy.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  The first thing I learned from my mother’s cancer was that medicine