Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 - 2017 | Page 259

But the worst thing she ever did was to let Father use me. Father gambled. And whenever he was low on money,
he would sell my virginity to finance his “winnings”.
If I misbehaved, she would threaten to throw me out. Or to marry me off.
“Just one more time, and you’re out of this house. The end of the road for you.”
“Better than being married.” I mumbled, still dazed from her hard blow. I could feel thin rivulets of blood
trickling down my cheeks and dripping off my chin.
Mother brought her face right up to mine with eyes flashing like lightning.
“I will arrange a marriage for you, seeing as you dread one so much. The further away, the better. You know your
father will always side with me.” She purred.
It was true. Father adored Mother. He only ever showed affection for her.
Cackling, she tossed me the lamp and sauntered away.
Suddenly, I started to see red – everywhere. In a fit of anger and with a show of strength that I never knew I
possessed, I hurled the lamp across the room. I didn’t
even know what – or who I was aiming at. I just kept on throwing things.
A scream woke me from my furious but brief tirade.
I whirled around to see a chaotic scene. The lamp I’d thrown lay shattered on the floor, small pieces of it reflecting
off light. Then I saw Mother, coughing up blood. I gasped at the same time that she did. Her chest heaved once. Then it
was still. But an expanding pool of red still kept on spreading, and translucent bubbles formed on her lips. That was a
dead giveaway. The shards must have punctured her lungs.
The huge front doors shuddered once. Father was here. If there ever was a horrible time for him to arrive home,
now was it. But I couldn’t do anything. I was paralyzed. No no no, not now please! My heart prayed. UH OH!!! My
brain screamed.
The doors opened.
Father entered wearing blood-red robes and a tall black hat covering his bristly hair. They clothes were signs of
his high status in Shanghai. He was the judge in our small town, and he was paid well for it. “Darling?” He called out.
When he saw his “darling” lying on the floor, his eyes bugged out. When they landed on me, his face turned the same
color as his robes.