At the last parent-teacher-meeting with Mr Lee, he had one piece of advice for Serena: Understand your child. Armed with the knowledge of their strengths and weaknesses, challenges and conflicts, she could better support Alicia for O’Levels.
She took Mr Lee’s advice, or at least tried to, with the daily dinner talks. But Alicia was a stubborn clam that would rather die than show its pearl.
The girl was never this secretive. In primary school, she had to deal with the opposite problem: Alicia wouldn’t shut up. The girl shared every single detail of her day at school without ever losing energy. Foolish Serena back then didn’t know how good she had it.
However, despite the lack of communication, she had one lead to investigate: Vinn. That’s where Alicia got the cigarette. Patient zero. Whilst her hands sorted cans and packets on auto-pilot, she dug deep for any memory of this classmate. All she remembered was the girl’s despise for him, as she rightfully should have for these gangster wannabes. But if that was her impression of him, why would she follow his footsteps?
Cheryl dismissed the girls for lunch, and placed the part-timers in charge. She gave them a warning for sitting down during work hours. Food options in this mall were limited. All the restaurants were too expensive, leaving only the lame canteen. They served laksa, that was just a bowl of spicy water, chicken rice that tasted like cardboard, and wonton noodles that would send Alicia into a hissy fit.
But it didn’t bother her, because she stopped caring about her taste buds a long time ago.
Unlike everyone, she often brought nothing to the table. She had no husband, no eye for food, and no child worth boasting. Sure, she could lie, but that wasn’t the type of person she was.
Rather, she only took from the table; parenting advice from Cheryl, food recommendations from Gen, and second-hand affection from Kelly. Though she was the only one who paid attention to the business ideas.
Her most recent one was about pet-boarding. It integrated naturally into the shop and cost little to implement. Simply re-use the cages once the pet inside was bought. Serena had doubts, considering how poorly the shop took care of its animals.
That didn’t discourage Kelly though, who drifted off into her notebook as she workshopped the idea. She wished Alicia was ambitious like her.
“How long is the detention for?” Cheryl asked, changing the topic. How she commanded the room made Serena wonder: Was she the perfect manager for the job? Or did the job make her the perfect manager?
“Two weeks.” She sighed in defeat.
“That’s quite long.”
“Yeah…” She took a sip of water, “And yesterday, she didn’t do any of her chores! I had to spend all night doing it for her!” She slurped up a long strand of noodle.
“It’s normal for her age. But whether this is just a phase depends on you.”
Cheryl’s words were sharp enough to prick. It took everyone some time to learn that it wasn’t personal.
“I confiscated her phone as punishment.”
Was it firm enough? She studied, no, hunted Cheryl’s body language for approval: a nod, a sigh of relief, a smile, anything…
“Good start.” Cheryl nodded. Thank goodness. “That’s where all the problems start.”
“Yeah, exactly.” She allowed herself to relax.
“How are Alicia’s friends at school? Maybe she’s been mixing with some bad crowds?”
“She got the cigarette from her classmate.”
“Ah!” Cheryl snapped her fingers, “So that’s where it came from.”
“But Alicia dislikes him, though. So why would she join him?”
“Doesn’t matter. Just make sure Alicia stays away from them.”
“Mhm. Mhm.” She took a huge gulp of spicy water.
The flavour sat in an uncanny valley of resembling the taste of something, but being too tasteless to do so successfully. Too much of it at once made her gag.
“Have you already talked to her about this?”
“Yeah. She listened… mostly.”
“Make sure she listens entirely.”
Finishing the last spoon of food, she dabbed her mouth with a tissue and tossed it in the empty bowl.
“How’s her studies? Usually this kind of behaviour will reflect in her grades.”
“The same. Not scoring, not failing.”
“Good, at least it didn’t drop. But you gotta put in more work if you want her to go to medical school.”
“I know.”
Alicia needed full ‘A’s for medical school, but three months in, and she had yet to score one. Only a miracle can save this sinking ship.
“Did her teachers say anything of note?” They watch her every day in class. They’ll be the first to detect any problems. In fact…” Cheryl turned to address the table, “If any of you two have kids, be best friends with their form teacher. They’ll keep you in the loop.”
“I guess I can give Mr Lee a call later. We’re on good terms.”
“Good idea.”
If Cheryl said it was a good idea, it was a good idea. Not even her inner demons could debate against that. She puffed her chest out and sat straighter.
“Hang in there. It’s just a phase. After that, Alicia will grow up and be a lot easier to handle. I’ve been exactly where you’re at with my Zack, but I managed to beat him into shape! Now, he’s such a pleasant boy.”
“Thank you.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Being a mother is already really hard. But you are a single mother. Hats off to you, Serena. Alicia has no clue how lucky she is.”
This brought warmth to her eyes, “Thank you so much.”
Lunch couldn’t have ended at a worse time. Cheryl switched back to Manager-mode and hounded everyone back to work. She fed the hamsters while giving Mr Lee a call.
Mr Lee had detected no problems with Alicia. Her average grades and stellar conduct were consistent, and she was still a pleasant student to teach. At least Alicia wasn’t having recess with him anymore.
Alicia also haven’t been in contact with Vinn. The two avoided each other like the plague.
Another trait of Alicia that remained consistent was her introverted nature. Mr Lee would’ve deemed her alienated if not for her active participation in class, and the few conversations she had with her classmates.
Every teacher of her’s called her that. Introvert.
But were they right? If they weren’t, they’d know. Better yet, Alicia would tell her. The girl’s track record in socialising wasn’t great to begin with. She practically had to give the girl a script to avoid embarassing herself in public: smile, make eye contact, shake hands, and give compliments.
The girl always lacked common sense, or, she suspected, pretended to simply to spite her mother.
Whatever the reason was, it wouldn’t hurt to help Alicia socialise better at school. Counteract Vinn’s bad influence with a healthy friendship. And what better solution than signing the girl up for a new CCA(Co-Curricular Activity)?
Right now, Alicia’s CCA was Science Club, but after that Chemistry Lab incident, it was put on hiatus whilst they renovated said lab.
Serena was over the moon with her ingenious idea. On top of the new CCA, she’d also refresh Alicia on the script whenever she could find the time. She’d have more of it if she worked less, but the numbers told her she couldn’t. Right now, her hours were just enough to pay the bulls.
Maybe she worked too much. But what other choice did she have?
Alicia did not vacuum the floor today. Serena groaned as fatigue jabbed her from all sides.
“My deadline for my FCE coursework is coming, and I don’t have my phone to do it anymore, so I need to write it down on paper, which takes more time—”
She had no time for this.
“Just be a good girl and do it. I’m so tired! Stop taking bad influence from Vinn!”
She collapsed on the couch and placed a pillow over her head.
“I want dinner first. I’m hungry.”
“Alicia! Please! Just—” Oops. She did not mean to raise her voice.
Finally, Alicia left her alone to have some peace of mind. But the migraine didn’t. What was it this time? Exhaustion, dehydration, hunger, menstuation… A better question to ask was, where wasn’t it this time?
She took deep breaths, and closed her eyes. Imagined herself sinking into the cushion, into a dream. She was back home, in the good old days. Ma (Mom) was cooking dinner, with her sister helping her. Her brother was playing poker, or rather his version of it, and Pa (Dad) was reading the newspaper. Biscuit was scratching his face with his back paw.
But where was she?
“I finished folding the clothes. I’m hungry.”
Shut up. Go away. Get lost.
Something shook her arm. The dream ended before it began. The frustration ruined all hopes of sleep returning to her, but she pretended to anyway.
“Please cook dinner now! I am very hungry! Mom!” Alicia tugged her arm harder.
She smacked her head against the cushions a few times, “Just cook instant noodles, it’s very easy.”
“No it is not. And you said instant noodles are unhealthy.”
Moaning like a zombie, she dragged herself up, and trekked to the kitchen’s peak. She cooked Alicia instant noodles, ignored whatever she had to say about the lack of egg or vegetables, and crashed back onto the couch. Unfortunately, she was no longer sleepy, only exhausted. And she had yet to discuss with Alicia about a new CCA.
Eyeing the clock, she guessed it had been five minutes since she finished cooking. Once Alicia finished up and went into her room, there was no hope of getting her out. It was now or never.
Dragging herself back up again, she met Alicia at the dining table. Her hair tickled her face, and blocked her eyesight, but she didn’t care to tidy it up.
“I have something to—” She yawned, “—tell you.”
Alicia did not answer.
“Did you hear me?”
“Yes.”
“Then can you respond?”
With a mouth full of rice, Alicia stomped the floor. Off she goes again, making everyone’s life harder with her supposed lack of common sense. Why can’t she talk while eating? Why can’t she get the point? Why can’t she agree?
“Whatever.” The only option forward was to plough on through. She shared her ingenious idea of a new CCA. It helped her socialise. Being alone wasn’t good.
“I already have a CCA.”
“Science Club is still on hiatus, right? So you don’t have a CCA.”
She went to the school website on her phone and scrolled through the list of CCAs offered.
“I do. I am in the Science Club.”
“Not technically.”
“Yes, technically. Because it is recorded that my CCA is the Science Club. Otherwise, I would be punished for not having a CCA.”
She took a deep breath to recalibrate.
“You don’t spend time in your CCA, right?”
“No.”
“So I think it would be a good idea for you to get a CCA that you do spend time in.”
“Okay.”
Progress at last! Amongst the list, Basketball caught her eye.
“Is there any other CCA you’re interested in joining?”
“No.”
“What about a sports CCA? You need to exercise anyway. So skinny.” She poked Alicia’s chopstick-like arms.
“I don’t like sports.”
“Tsk.” She read the list aloud. “Netball? Volleyball? Basketball? They have a girl’s team, right?”
“No, no, yes, they do, and no.”
Just like that, progress halted. “Then what CCA do you want to join?”
“None. I am not interested in any of them.”
“Then how are you going to join another CCA?”
“Oh, by getting the CCA form from the general office and filling it up.”
It was like a construction site in her head. She pulled up the CCA list from the website and set it on the table.
“Whatever. I have no time to argue with you. Look through the list and find a CCA you want to join. Then tomorrow, go fill up the form and pass it to me to sign. It’s in the General Office.”
“We are not arguing.” Alicia finished her dinner and washed her plate. Serena laid back down and tried to sleep. But then something came to her, something that she needed to say.
“Wait.” She stopped Alicia before the girl closed her door, “Ever since you were born, it’s just been the two of us, right? So, even if you have no friends or whatever… You’ll always have me.” It sounded better in her head.
Alicia nodded, and went to bed.
She, meanwhile, had to wash the kitchen utensils and do a quick sweep of the kitchen floor. Then, she realised, right after she cleaned the pot; she had not eaten dinner yet. Most eateries and delivery services were already closed, which meant…
Opening the cabinets, she realised Alicia had eaten the last packet of instant noodles. She wanted to scream. Without warning, her joints screamed for her. Another jab of fatigue, this time striking a pressure point.
Forget it, she thought, and skipped dinner altogether.
Usually, the joint pain went as fast as it came, but tonight it lingered. One minute, two minutes, five minutes… That was way too long… Swiftly, she set an appointment with her only friend and doctor, Wei Xiang. He did everything she was supposed to: getting into medical school, graduating from medical school, and marrying the love of his life.
After everything, only he stuck by her.
The TV droned on in the background as she slept. She winced every time she tossed or turned, waking up over and over and over again…