Chapter 5
Chapter 5
“Nina?” Yvonne called gently, snapping Nina out of her thoughts.
“This afternoon, let’s go to town and get you a couple of outfits to wear for now. We’ll go to the city for nicer ones later, okay?” She glanced at Nina’s worn-out clothes, her voice full of love but also a little cautious.
“There’s no need to spend all that money in the city, Mom,” Nina said seriously, shaking her head. “Wherever you and Dad shop, I’ll shop there too. I’m your daughter. If it’s good enough for you, it’s good enough for me.”
Yvonne almost cried again. She couldn’t imagine how much Nina had been through-and that only made her want to make it up to her even more. But Nina was so thoughtful, it broke her heart.
Just then, Robert came back. When he heard Yvonne wanted to buy clothes for Nina, he immediately lit up and grabbed the
car keys. “Let’s go-right now.”
“Dad, you can’t drive after drinking,” Nina quickly reminded him.
“It’s okay,” Robert said. “Your mom can drive.”
“We used to travel a lot,” Yvonne added with a shy smile. “Your dad would get tired, so I got my license too.”
Nina felt a sting in her chest. Her parents had been through so much for her.
“Oh, Susanna! Oh, don’t you cry for me…” As soon as their van rolled into town, the upbeat music came through loud and clear from a good ten yards away-it was so catchy it made people want to tap their feet.
When Robert drove closer, he saw it was a cellphone store running a promo event.
“Wait a minute-does Nina even have a phone?” he suddenly remembered and turned to Yvonne and Nina. “Why don’t we check out the phones first, then shop for clothes?”
“That’s not necessary, Dad,” Nina said quickly. Decent phones easily cost over a thousand dollars these days, and that was a big expense for Robert and Yvonne.
Plus, to avoid suspicion, Nina had asked Chris to hold onto her old phone for now. She planned to come up with an excuse and get it back in a few days.
“It’s okay, Nina. We’ll stay within our budget,” Yvonne said gently, understanding Nina’s concern. “We’ll just pick something practical, not expensive. Sound good?”
It was her parents’ way of showing love-Nina couldn’t turn them down again. She nodded and decided to just pick something cheap to get by.
“Congratulations! You’re our lucky customer.” As soon as they walked in, the store owner popped a party cannon right at them and beamed.
“You can spin our prize wheel for free-no purchase needed,” he added, “Every spin wins something! First prize is a phone worth 1300 dollars!”
He pointed to a white phone on a spinning display. It didn’t even have a logo. Nina could tell right away it was some no- name brand. Not even worth 300 dollars, let alone 1300.
But Robert looked super excited, like he’d just hit the jackpot. “Give it a try, Nina!”
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Chapter 5
Seeing how happy he was, Nina couldn’t bring herself to say no. She nodded and stepped up to spin. Then she noticed the second prize was listed as 700 dollars-way better than the sketchy phone.
A sly glint flashed in Nina’s eyes. She gave the wheel a quick, strong spin.
“Wow, Nina-look over there!” Yvonne suddenly tapped her shoulder and pointed to another display case. “That phone’s kinda cute, isn’t it? I think it’d be great for a girl.”
Nina looked in the direction her mom was pointing and saw a flashy phone with gold trim. The price tag said 2300 dollars. Even more ridiculous than the first one.
“Mom…” Nina let out a helpless laugh at Yvonne’s taste.
Just then, the store owner sneakily grabbed the spinning wheel and yanked the pointer to first prize. Then he gasped, way too dramatically, “Oh my gosh-you won the phone!”
Nina was stunned.
