He and Bean
By
: Joyce Wee Shu Xian
It was very early and the
cock crows got a rise in that morning. I was standing in front of my bed, covered
tightly by a colorful quilts which mended by grandma, Popo. Suddenly, I got a
big, warm hug from my back and it almost made me felt dizzy hanging in the air.
It was him, beloved grandpa or for a more dearly call, Ah Gong. Ah Gong’s
daughter in law, Aunty Mandy was urging us to have our breakfast before begin
the chores, mend the ship and the fish nets. Aunt Mandy served the coffee after
finished all the preparation for my three cousins to school. Ah Gong came near
to me and said ‘Good girl, I’ll take you to the river later’, I doubt if Aunt
Mandy hear anything because she just replied the situation with a bright smile.
Ah Gong put me in front of the
tricycle. As Popo’s shout starting to be heard, ‘Take care of your fish net!’,
Ah Gong started to pedal the tricycle and leave the big, old house. That day
was a windy day and the sun shone brightly. Ah Gong stopped by the river, gave
me a stick of vanilla ice cream and a little bear, I named it Bean. ‘Ah Gong,
why do you named me Joyce?’, he kept murmuring, I wondered. He began with a
soft deep sigh, ‘It is because you bring me happiness, joy. You are my joy’.
Just a short answer, just sat together, just looked at the flowing river but it
was memorable. Great memory is not about the thing we do, but it is with who, we
create the memory.
It was almost dawn. A loud
fighting sound was heard when Aunt Mandy son’s, Kol, was snatching Bean from
me. I started to cry and Ah Gong rushed in. Ah Gong asked Kol to return Bean to
me but he refused. Ah Gong began to get angry and Kol got a scold. Aunt Mandy
then comforted her son. That night, Aunt Mandy was staring at Mama and me. She
complained about Ah Gong’s over protective act and partiality love towards me
rather than her son. But no one dare to speak much.
The other day, I amazed
with the skills of Ah Gong and Uncle Sam mending the fish nets. I saw Mama from
far, went from town for the groceries. Yesterday midnight, I heard Mama planned
to shop for family as we stayed at the home for almost 2 months without doing
any work. That day, even it was a rainy day, Ah Gong planned to take me to the
nearby coffee shop but without Kol. I brought along Bean and Ah Gong showed me
a secret behind the bear, a button and I pressed it. It was a melody from
Yiruma, Kiss the rain. It was a bit funny because whenever Ah Gong took me for
a day trip, the day must turn to a snowy rain day. ‘Maybe one day, you do not
need my courage anymore but remember, I always need yours’, he said.
That night, Ah Gong and
Uncle Sam need to go to the sea for a heavy catch. Ah Gong’s warm, huge palms
held mine and asked me to wait for him. But in the next morning, the
surrounding atmosphere was weird and uneasy. Aunt Mandy seemed to avoid any
further conversation with Mama. She even did not answer Mama’s questions at all
and began to put Mama in awkward situation. I saw Mama dropping her tears when
she was eating the meal cooked by Aunt Mandy. She felt that, she was not
welcomed anymore in that house. That afternoon, Mama decided to move to a
rented house and I wondered why.
I knew it was very hard for
Mama because she needed to be my mom and dad at the same time and she worked
very hard to earn for daily expenses. She tried to find extra part time jobs
when sending me to the kindergarten. Ah Gong returned from the sea after a few
days and I guessed he would be searching for me. ‘Knock, knock’, I opened the
door and it was Ah Gong! I hugged him with the great effort ever. He had a long
conversation with Mama and I saw he kept giving Mama some money. Since we moved
to this rented house, Ah Gong came and visited us often.
Like usual, after breakfast,
Ah Gong brought me to the riverside and that day, he brought along a kite. I
was sitting alone while Ah Gong went to the nearby stall to buy some snacks.
Suddenly, Kol came from nowhere and snatched away my kite. We fought for a
while, it broke. I was extremely angry, I pushed Kol to the ground. Ah Gong
arrived just in time and he blamed Kol for breaking the kite. Ah Gong didn’t
scold me for pushing Kol. From far, Aunty Mandy saw all the incidents.
That night, I felt uneasy.
I asked Mama to visit Ah Gong at the big, old house but she refused. I felt
anxious and I held Bean tightly until I fell asleep. It was about 4a.m in the
morning. Uncle Sam came and Mama woke me up with a pair of teary eyes by saying
that, something had happened to Ah Gong. When we reached the old house, Ah Gong
was not there to hug me anymore. I held his hand but I felt that my hands were
warmer. I held his hand but he didn’t respond and gripped me tightly as usual. I
could not see his bright smile and suddenly I missed his hand combing my hair.
Ah Gong was surrounded by everyone and they were sobbing.
The other morning, we were
prepared to wear black clothes and went up the hill. They carried a coffin and
all of us had to put a flower in front of it. I wondered where was Ah Gong
because I missed him as I didn’t saw him since yesterday 4a.m morning still, I
didn’t dare to ask much. When we were having lunch, Mama said Ah Gong would not
come to our house anymore. Mama said with the husky and unclear voice that Ah
Gong had gone to a peaceful place and would watch me to grow up healthily. I
felt sad because Ah Gong didn’t tell me anything, just left me without a
farewell kiss.
I kept Bean as my precious
treasure ever. I kept all the memories with Ah Gong as my greatest motion to
overcome any obstacles. As I growing up, I begin
to realize that he had gone to the place named heaven. Rainy days often
reminded me of him, his smile, his care and his warm grip; Kiss the rain’s
melody rewind the memorable time with him. For that time I knew, we cannot have
a person to stay with us forever but, we can keep the memories that we spent
with them, forever.
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