By Huilan
Zhang and Susan were surprised when they checked the email. For knowing each other well for many years in the family, they both were unable to believe their eyes, but it happened. They both made many phone calls to China, but nobody knew where was Liu. Liu even not sent a word or made a phone call to them after sending the email. Zhang moved out from the rent apartment and went back to home, but the house was empty. Susan visited her parents’ house on every Saturday, but there was always just a parent, her father there, and each week, their conversation was only fighting from each other.
Time flied. Another nice autumn day was coming. Blue sky. Clouds were like horses running on the prairie. Across the road in the orchard, Susan could see a patch of green gardenias on either side of the walk that led up to the back door. Four new automobile tires were still put near the door and it was no strange smell now. Behind the orchard was the green grass field. The orchard had many fruit trees in it: apple trees, peach trees, pear trees, apricot trees, and plum trees. Somewhere across the field Susan could hear the sound of shouting from an old man. Then she was surprised to see a yellow moth with dark specks like ink dots on its wings, just like the one she saw last year, flying about the trees and down into her parents’ house; she still watched it until she could not see it anymore. Susan was standing under the apple trees and thinking that everything was same as the last autumn except her Mom was not here. Now Susan hoped her Mom was here and she wanted tell her that she would be married with that black man, Jefferson, next month. Susan wanted the support from Liu, which was always the strongest support of her life.
“You are here to miss you Mom or that black man?” her father appeared suddenly.
“Both, but not you!” Susan answered.
“I know. I don’t expect any thing from you.”
“I think you expect too many from me and it made Mom go away.”
“That’s all your fault.”
“I don’t think it’s my fault, and I know it’s just your fault.”
They were fighting each other again in such a nice “last-autumn” like day. They didn’t notice a golden Infiniti passing the house and stopped. A handsome black young man got out of the car and held a beautiful wedding-ring box in his hand. It was Jefferson. He stepped near the door and knocked on it, but nobody answered. Then he turned back and went toward the back yard and heard the quarrel immediately.
“I’ll tell you again. I won’t allow you be married with that black man.”
“And I’ll tell you again, too. It’s none of your business. I’ll do what I told you.”
“You got your Mom away from us and I’ll never forgive you.”
“It’s your entire fault. If you weren’t threaten Mom that you would get divorced with her, she would never leave us.”
“If you didn’t love that black guy, I would not say that.”
“Hear, I want to get married with Jefferson. That’s my own idea, not Mom’s, ok? She’s no fault at all. I really don’t know what’s wrong with you. I can’t imagine what you did to her, and I feel that you just go crazy. You hurt Mom and me.”
“I’m not hurt anybody. As the family head, I must stop the wrong direction of the marriage that your Mom gave to you. Anyway, you should be married with a Chinese, and I’ll say that again: our family never can hold a foreigner. Never!”
“Then we’ll see who wins the last!”
“I hate that guy!”
“But I love him!”
“That black man hurt all of us.”
…
The quarrel was continuing, and Jefferson heard more and more words from Zhang and Susan, and now he knew suddenly that what was the reason Susan had not allowed him to go to see her parents and why Susan’s mother left home. Jefferson was really shocked. He knew that the reason why Susan’s father doesn’t like him, not because he was a black man. The real reason was that he was not a Chinese!
Jefferson put back the box into his jacket package, and then got into his car quietly. He put the key into the ignition switch.
Behind the beautiful golden Infiniti, a few birds were flying about in the sky.
(the end)
No comments:
Post a Comment