Fox Business Network anchor Melissa Francis, known for her role as Cassandra Cooper Ingalls on "Little House on the Prairie," writes about how her success was fueled by pressure from her mother in her new book. Here’s an excerpt.
Introduction
She pulled to the side of the road and told me to get out. “Find your own way home. And another place to live while you’re at it.”
With a deep breath, I pushed the release button on my seatbelt and slowly tumbled out. This had been coming for years. I almost welcomed it. I was relieved that it had finally happened, and I wouldn’t have to wonder when anymore. I’d watched my mom throw my older sister out of the car countless times. Tiffany would walk sadly, pathetically, along the sidewalk until my mom finally circled the car around and picked her up, waiting longer and driving farther each time, to intensify the humiliation.
Now it was my turn. I was eight years old.
I watched the car disappear into the distance and then around the corner. I had mouthed off. Even as I did it, I knew I was baiting the shark.
The moment the brown station wagon was out of sight, I ran up onto the golf course that bordered the suburban street and lay down behind a bush. This was my turf, where my sister and I had stolen golf balls in play and then hidden while their owners searched furiously for them. The same spot where we’d sold watered-down, bitter lemonade to initially charmed, then disappointed players. I knew every blade of grass.
Mom took her time, but, eventually, she circled back looking for me. No, I was not slowly walking along the sidewalk, sulking the way Tiffany did.
My face slowly flushed as I saw Mom drive by a second time, looking increasingly frantic. She circled the block a third time as I lay there, paralyzed. I wanted to run out from my hiding place, but I knew she would be so furious, there would be no happy ending. What did I want? An apology from her for throwing me out of the car? Maybe just an end to the domination. It didn’t matter. I was hiding in the grass of the Porter Ranch Golf Course, and I couldn’t picture how the deadlock would end.