***** Vol.2 Chap.24 A new home *****
May-Ling and her grandpa finally arrived at the building where he lived for many years. There was a long staircase. They were narrow and steep. She saw that the place was very dirty.
“Keep your hands off the handrails.”
“I am not about to touch it even if you told me to.” She kept her hands to herself. She just concentrated on her steps because the steps were quite steep for her.
They kept climbing the stairs. After what seemed an eternity, they arrived at the 4th floor and her grandpa took a moment to rest.
“May-Ling, see the number here? It says 3 because right now we are on the fourth floor. We lived on the fifth floor. So, we have to keep going. I am just catching my breath here.”
“I see.”
Grandpa Chen continued to the fifth floor, and by then he was wheezing for breath. Of course, to her, that was nothing. The stairs led to a long corridor. It was dark and narrow.
“We keep the lights off to conserve electricity. We must save on everything.”
“I see.”
They walked down the corridor. Towards the end, he stopped and fumbled around for the key. After opening the door, he turned to her and in a reassuring, though sad tone, he said, “Welcome to your new home.”
May-Ling was so filled with gratitude that she could not help but gave her grandpa a big hug.
She felt a little better now that they have finally arrived. Of course, her grandpa was more than relieved that they made it. He took her bundle and helped her get settled at one end of the small suite. Then he asked her to look around while he made noodles for lunch. Yet, she could not sit still. So, she walked over to the kitchen to help him prepare lunch. Together, they had a delicious and hot lunch with noodles.
After lunch, she offered to wash the dishes and urged him to take his usual nap in the afternoon. He thanked her for being so helpful and thoughtful, and told her to explore the apartment after she was done with the dishes. She looked around for a stool to stand up and quickly washed the dishes and set them out to dry.
She looked back at him. He was already sleeping soundly. So, she took the time to look around the apartment. It was a small apartment, but everything was clean and well kept. Though there was not much furniture and things in the apartment. Most of the furniture was old yet functional. The kitchen was on one side of the room, with an adjoining area for eating. Next to the kitchen was the bathroom. It was a small room with a hole in the ground and a simple sink and a single faucet. There was a plastic pan underneath the sink for bathing.
On the other side of the room was a small sitting area with a couch, a coffee table, an oversize chair, and a corner table. All the chairs were made of wicker. They looked comfortable. So, she tried out every chair. They were old and rickety. A few of the wicker threads were broken and were sticking out. She was careful not to scratch herself on those threads.
On top of the corner table was a framed picture. She recognized her parents immediately. They were holding a baby in their arms. She assumed that must be her when she was a baby. She picked up the photo and stared at it for a long time. The more she stared at it, the more she missed her parents that eventually she broke down crying. Not wanting to wake her grandpa up, it took everything inside of her to calm herself down. She sat there staring at the picture for a long time, half sobbing and half depressed. Her eyes were red and bulging. But from deep within, she realized she must learn to take care of herself from now on. She could not rely on others anymore. Though that realization made her feel better, she still felt sad. She set the picture down and looked at her grandpa. He is old and worn out. She should be the one taking care of him and not the other way around.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
After an hour, her grandpa woke up. He asked her to help him move some of the furniture around so that they could make a small space for her near the window next to the veranda. He disappeared to the veranda and rummaged around. After a while, he found a few cardboard boxes. Carefully bursting the seam and smoothing the carton flat, he laid the carton down at the corner and told her that would have to do for her as a bed until they could afford a straw mattress for her.
“I don’t mind. Thank you, Grandpapa.”
“I want you to have your own straw mattress soon.”
“I really don’t mind.” She smiled and gave him a big hug with all her heart.
He visited the veranda again and found a few smaller cardboard boxes while she took her clothes out of the bundle and laid them on her ‘bed.’ With the smaller boxes, he made a make-shift dresser for her clothes. She thanked him and folded up her clothes and put them away neatly. While taking things out of the bundle, again the journal, still wrapped in paper, stood out among her things. She picked it up and caressed it slightly. This book would be her only link, her only memory of her parents from now on. She gently hid it inside the cardboard box underneath her clothes. When everything was done, he motioned to her and asked her to come and sit next to him on the bed.
“May-Ling, this is now your new home.” There is a sadness in his voice.
“Thank you, Grandpapa.”
“This is now your new life. You must forget about what has happened for the past twelve years. It is time for you to look forward. You know I am getting old and advanced in age. There will not be too many more years that I can take care of you. From now on, take care of yourself. As long as I am here, you will always have a place to stay and food to eat. But what you make of your life all depends on you now.”
“I will do my best, Grandpapa.”
“I know you will.” He paused. “No, you have to do more than your best.”
“I promise.”
“Good, I will start dinner.”
She sat down in her corner, quietly contemplating what he had told her. That was certainly a weighty talk, even for a twelve-year-old, but she had always been more mature for her years. She had already come to the resolve that this would be her new life, and had already decided, as the train was pulling away from the station of her village, that this was a new chapter in her life. She knew that all her life she had depended on her parents. Her parents, her home, the clinic, and the village were all she knew for twelve years. But now all that was taken away and gone without warning.
She recalled her father told her to continue his work, and she remembered she promised her father that she would continue his work. To do that, she had to study hard and become a doctor. She wanted to be the best student in school, and to attend the best college, and be accepted at the best medical college. She simply wanted to be the best doctor in the entire country.
At dinnertime, her grandpa prepared the best meal that she could remember. She enjoyed the dinner very much. She could not remember when was the last time that she had such a delicious meal. In fact, she could not even remember when was the last time she had a real and leisure meal with her parents at all. Life at the clinic was always so hectic. Most of the time, her parents just grabbed something to eat from the street vendors as they continued their errands.
She looked at her grandpa. He seemed more relaxed and comforted because they were now back at home. To him, the task was completed. But for her, the work had hardly begun. After dinner, she helped him wash the dishes. He showed her how to put the dishes into the disinfectant box to be disinfected. Then they sat down to relax. He took some pictures out to show her. She loved looking at those pictures. She loved listening to him recount all the stories about her parents. After a while, it was time for bed. He told her she had to get up early the next day to go to school. She went back to her corner and slept soundly that night.