Father and Mother had a big fight when I was seven.
“Xuan, what is the meaning of this?” Father slammed the table, his other hand clutching at a letter with Motherʼs name on it.
Mother bit her lip. “Ye Fang, I already told you I want to care for Avery more—”
“That doesnʼt mean you have to go to this extent, you stupid woman!” Father snapped at her furiously. “I told you over and over that we can always just hire a maid in our home, why canʼt you listen to a word I say?!”
“Ye Fang, do you seriously trust some Filipino to look after Averyʼs every need?” Mother screamed back. “This is also a very difficult choice for me, you know??”
They were throwing curses and accusations at each other for at least half an hour; I could only watch from behind my bedroom door as Father slapped Mother across the cheek.
“Fine, since you think money falls from the sky—” Father jabbed his finger in my direction “—you better make sure your son does well in primary school starting this year, or else I wonʼt listen to another word out of your mouth.”
“What are you saying, Ye Fang?” Mother cried. “Heʼs your son too, canʼt you be more—”
Father grabbed his briefcase and slammed the front door behind him, cutting Mother off mid-sentence; she choked back a sob while picking up the fallen letter from the floor.
I briefly caught a sentence written in bold at the top of the paper.
You are reading story The Hero died, now what? at novel35.com
Letter of Resignation
“What are you standing there for, Avery?” Mother looked at me with a bitter expression on her face. “Donʼt you have homework to do?”
“B-but, Mother, itʼs Saturday—”
“Who taught you that you should leave homework to be done on the day before school starts?” she retorted loudly.
I froze in shock, unable to come up with a reply. That was the first time Mother had raised her voice at me, and I was frantically trying to think of a reason why she would get mad at me.
“Tomorrow, weʼre going to the bookstore to buy assessment books and past year papers that you will do in your free time,” she continued, hardening her gaze. “I donʼt want you to make me lose face in your upcoming tests, understand?!”
Apparently, there are two things that make the world go round: first, money. And secondly,
Grades.