Chapter 2

2: 2

The house was full of people.

My mother-in-law had come, and so had her relatives.

Even the relatives on my father's side had shown up.

They all sat on the couch, watching me with complicated looks on their faces.

My husband came over and said in a low voice, "My mom wants to talk to you."

I frowned. "Talk to me about what? And honestly, your mom's coming over and you couldn't even give me a heads-up?"

Nolan sighed.

I turned to my father. "What are you standing there for? We've got a house full of relatives. Go pour some water."

He gave a small grunt and started to reach for the cups, but my mother-in-law pulled him back and made him sit on the couch.

I frowned and said to her, "That stool over there is my dad's seat."

Her expression had already been sour, and hearing that only made her angrier.

"Geraldine," she said, "I always thought you were a sensible girl. But why are you so extreme with your own father?"

"He's your own flesh and blood. I'm not asking you to be some model of devotion, but you can't abuse an old man."

The other relatives all chimed in. "That's right. You really call this helping him recover, keeping him active?"

"Even if it's exercise, that's not how it's done. We've already asked a doctor. This is just plain abuse."

I said quietly, "This is how I lived as a child."

"Washing clothes and mopping floors every day. Dropping food on the floor got me beaten."

"When it happened to me, everyone thought it was normal. When it happens to my father, suddenly it's abuse?"

The relatives on my father's side looked indignant. "Geraldine, watch what you say. Have a conscience."

"We don't know about anything else, but your father is a good man, an honest man. We've all seen it with our own eyes."

"Everyone in the village knows it. Forget hitting anyone, he never even got into an argument with a soul. Everyone knows he was a model husband, a model father."

"When did he ever hit you? Whether he hit you or not, don't you think we relatives and neighbors would know?"

"You're just spouting lies, deliberately abusing an old man."

The other relatives spoke up one after another. "That's right. Even if he smacked you a couple times, cursed at you a bit, is that really worth holding a grudge over?"

"Spare the rod, spoil the child. A young tree that isn't pruned won't grow straight. Who didn't grow up that way?"

My mother-in-law came over and patted my shoulder. "Maybe you've got some knot in your heart. But your father is so pitiful. Doesn't it soften you at all?"

"The neighbors told me there were several times, in pouring rain, they saw your father outside collecting plastic bottles, soaked through."

"When they asked why he was collecting bottles, he said he was cashing them in for money, because eating at your house means he has to pay you rent, care fees, food money."

"And the moment he runs out of money, you throw him out. Isn't that too cruel?"

The moment I heard that, I whipped my head around and pinched my father hard. "That'll teach you to go running your mouth out there. That'll teach you!"

My mother-in-law shouted, furious, "Geraldine!"

The other relatives quickly pulled my father away and shielded him behind them.

She pointed at me, her finger shaking with rage. "Are you even human? Right in front of me, in front of all these relatives, you abuse your own father."

"If you don't change, I'm taking my grandson away. Before he learns your ways and turns into some ungrateful bastard who won't respect his elders."

I turned and looked at my father. "Someone wants to take away your grandson. What do you say to that?"

He bowed to my mother-in-law and said softly, "Ma'am, I know you mean well by me. I'm grateful to you."

"But a child is better off with his own parents. Don't take the boy away."

"And Geraldine hasn't abused me. I do all this work of my own free will."

"I'm just a glutton for hard work. I've labored my whole life, and now that I'm old, sitting idle makes me restless. My whole body feels wrong."