New Year's Eve: My Parents' Ultimate Betrayal

On New Year's Eve, right after our compensation money hit the bank, my parents hatched a plan to play broke, just to stop relatives from asking for loans.

As the only "good kid" in the family, I was pushed into it.

When Uncle George came begging for emergency money, Dad smashed our kitchenware. When Aunt Susan cried about tuition, Mom threatened to make me drop out of school and collect cans.

To make their sympathy scam more convincing,

On New Year's Eve, they even hired fake creditors to come to our house, demanding payment and threatening to chop off hands.