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Chapter 4
Chapter 4
1 Iwasn’t surprised: at all when he didn’t
reply.
I was not deliberately starving myself–after all, stomachaches were
down half a
no joke.
bowl of pasta, skimmed the oil off the soup, and took a few sips.
I forced
I wasn’t feeling well
and
had no appetite at all–cating too fast would just make me nauseous.
food
So even a small bowl of
After
finishing the meal, I slowly gathered up the empty takeout containers and threw them away.
took me forever to finish, my eyes constantly darting my phone scree
ceu.
The nurse came in to administer my IV drip and I sternly advised, “Limit your phone Use
and get
more rest
Still
no reply from Elbert.
I forced a smile and nodded, placing my phone on the nightstand.
scold me
Ever
since my parents
died, my
phone
had pretty much only one purpose–to talk to Elbert.
All those
old relatives and
friends had slowly drifted away, leaving just the LWO of us.
But now,
even that bond was fading.
The
girl in
the
She
sick, but me? Dying.
Nay
down to sleep, but sleep wouldn’t come.
next bed grumbled, “Hey, I’m on my phone too. How come the nurse didn’t
didn’t know–she was just
Memories kept flooding back–all those moments from the past.
The
good and the bad.
The happy and
the
unhappy,
Until they all culminated in that one moment–Elbert’s slap across
my face.
Honestly, I suddenly asked Elbert to make me
some soup wasn’t because I wanted it.
The
truth was,
I’d always hated soup–even as a
kid, I couldn’t stand it.
E
www
ཀཱ ཉྙོ
were always busy with work.
Back
when our
ur parents were still alive, Elbert was so good to me–he was the most doting big
When I was little, my parents
brother I could ask
for.
They
were often overseas for months at a time.
Elbert and I missed them so much that we’d
beg to go abroad too.
Our parents
had no choice but to send their assistant to pick
us up.
But
as a kid, I was
s terrified of heights.” The first time I got on
a plane, I was so scared I thought
I’d
die.
The
second time, only Elbert was taken abroad.
He
left in the afternoon, but by
the
next
morning, he
was already back on
the
earliest flight.
I was sitting in my bedroom
crying when he suddenly burst in, his suitcase stuffed full of things.
2
y
Tears
streaked my face as I looked at him in confusion.
He
grinned and said, “I could hear you crying all
the way
from overseas!”
The night before, Mom had made some bring back for me.
cakes–he
tried one, thought
it was
delicious, and packed the whole bowl,
lid
and all,
into his suitcase to
Dad took him to a night market abroad,
and
he bought a huge pile of plush toys,
snacks,
and little
toys–all for me.
When he got Dad.
1/2
back, he dumped
everything
into my
arms and, trying to sound all grown–up, comforted me, “There, there.
These are from Mom and
Chapter 4
They
miss
you so much
and even
had
me
bring
food back
for
you.”
Не was lying
through his teeth.
It was summer,
scorching hot outside.
The cakes
shad
already gone bad–our parents would
never be that careless.
I took a bite
of the sour cake and burst into loud sobs.
Back then, was five, and Elbert was twelve.
Afraid of getting
scolded when the nanny came in, we panicked and
stuffed the
spoiled cake under the bed.
“I want Mom’s cooking,” I told Elbert.
So whenever the nanny wasn’t
around, he would sneak into the kitchen and
secretly teach himself how to cook.
Before long, he became a really
good cook.
I’d been a picky
eater since childhood, especially disliking soup.
Elbert would mimic Our teacher and coax me, “Have more soup and don’t be sister.”
His squp
picky
if you
want to grow
- up.
was surprisingly delicious, and sometimes I’d even willingly finish a small bowl.
15
Otherwise, you’ll always be
47
the little
After he came
of age, he
got his driver’s license.
One night when I missed see them.
Our
parents, he pulled me
up and
drove for
over ten
hours- -over 600
miles–just
to
take me
to that coastal city so I
could
2/2
