"Philadelphia was nowhere near as prosperous as New York. Besides, we weren't from Philadelphia. Our family farm was way out beyond the suburbs. It took half an hour just to drive to the nearest town, let alone Philadelphia."
Victor shook his head and continued, "Donna's illness cost the family a great deal of money. After Mom and Donna passed away, the funerals cost money too. The farm harvests weren't good, so we couldn't even help pay part of your tuition. You had to take out loans for all of it."
"Besides college expenses, medical school costs a frightening amount. We never knew when you paid off your loans... Did you really pay them off?" Victor asked hesitantly.
Strange froze. Of course he had paid off all his loans. He had made a fortune through the Immortality Factor, and had even bought a nice house and a good car in New York.
"Didn't I tell you?! You could come live in New York! I've said it so many times, but you just wouldn't come!"
"Stephen!" Victor raised his voice. "Even if the family can't give you any more help, we can't keep dragging you down! Eugene and I both think so!"
"The reason he didn't want to come to New York for treatment was because he was afraid people would laugh at his Philadelphia accent. One year when you came home, you said you'd worked very hard to get rid of that accent. You said that if you spoke with it in class, no one would even invite you to parties."
Strange opened his mouth. Thinking back, he did seem to have said something like that, so he hurriedly explained, "No, that's not what I meant... I'm not saying there's anything wrong with a Philadelphia accent, but here in New York,