- 10.
My family all sat together, quietly, in silence.
Only Mom was moving around, busy with the
chores. She would clean the floor, wash the
dishes.
Until she dropped a bowl and the loud noise
shook the quiet place.
She stared at her bleeding finger, dazed.
My dad yelled, “Stop standing there, let’s go
and pick up the body.”
“Dad, why are you so angry? Mom didn’t do it
on purpose,” Polly whined, going over to
comfort her mom.
<
“Everything is so sudden, Mom, you must be
scared. Don’t worry, you still have me, your
daughter.”
My mom looked at her. Her little daughter
was flawless, beautiful.
She was nothing like me, with no makeup,
pale and distant.
Her eyes blinked and, for the first time, she
didn’t respond to her precious daughter.
Normally, she would have been overjoyed and
start praising her.
Polly was bitter. She retracted her hand.
The next morning, they all went to the police
station.
<
The police officers were nice and comforting,
before they took them to the morgue.
“The suspect threw the body into the lake. A
local fisherman found it and called the
police.”
They pulled the sheet back. The body was
beyond recognition.
Swollen with water, some of the flesh already
rotting. It was such a horrible sight.
Polly immediately turned away, covering her
mouth, almost throwing up.
My brother and father sucked in a breath,
turned away and didn’t dare to look.
Only Mom was looking, not blinking,
く
The police sighed, and briefly explained the
situation.
“The suspect is called Wang Gang, he has
been arrested. He is a loner, a shut–in with
some mental problems. He has been watching
your daughter for over a month, it was a
planned attack.”
“It seems that the motivation is linked to your
younger daughter.
39
Polly panicked at the name, waving her
hands.
“Officer, this has nothing to do with me. I
broke up with him years ago and we have not
been in contact since.”
“I’m married now, you can check!”
く
The police nodded, but a policewoman took
her to another room to get her statement.
“Where is he? I want to see him.”
After my death, these were the first words my
mom spoke.
Her voice was hoarse:
The police agreed.
The man was sitting in the interrogation
room, his hands tied. He looked disoriented.
He perked up as soon as he saw my mom.
“Auntie, where is Polly? Where is my Polly?”
“I helped her solve her problems, I bet she’s
very happy now.”
r
My mom’s lips were trembling. “Did Polly ask
you to kill her?”
The man shook his head. “Polly is an angel.
She would never do something this horrible.”
“I saw her posting on her online accounti
about her woes. I was just trying to help her.
“Her sister is such a bad person, she was
such a struggle, she tried to call the cops.”
“Haha, I think she was calling you.‘
“Why didn’t you answer?”
“She was sad, she kept crying ‘Mom‘
My mom’s eyes widened, and she stared at
him.
<
The police led him away, trying to stop his
nonsense.
“Mrs. Yang, please accept our
condolences…
My mom turned her head to him, her stare
left the officer stunned.
“Mrs. Yang, what’s wrong?”
She shook her head and said nothing.
But I knew. She was surprised.
Because she had never been called that
before.
She was always, “Polly’s Mom,” or “Jack’s
Mom.”
く
Many people did not even know that my
family had another daughter.
Because all the parents ever talked about was
my brother and Polly.
Mom, do you feel guilty now?
