4
<
He flinched, staring at the tombstone, shaking
his head. “No, no way! You’re lying. Lily can’t
be dead, you’re lying!”
He looked at me, then at my parents, then at
our relatives, pleading for an answer.
No one said a word, just stared at him with a
mixture of emotions.
“No, no, it can’t be,”
Mark squatted down, running his hand over
the tombstone, muttering, “Lily, honey, Daddy
knows you’re just playing. Stop it now. You
don’t have to go to tutoring today, maybe
tomorrow. What do you want to do? Daddy is
free today. I’ll play with you.
く
“It was your birthday the other day, and
Daddy punished you. I’m gonna buy you a
birthday gift. I want you to be the best, honey.
Don’t blame your daddy.”
“Lily, please stop, sweetie, let’s go home.”
Mark fell to his knees, sobbing uncontrollably.
“Come out! Please, come out!”
“Stop it, or Daddy’s gonna be mad!”
He was shaking and gasping for air, grabbing
my pants leg. “Sarah, what happened to Lily?
Why didn’t you tell me? I’m her father! Don’t I
have a right to know?”
“Mark, I tried to tell you. But did you ever
listen?”
く
I stared down at him, making sure he heard
every word.
“Lily had a heart attack in that storage room
where you left her. She called you for help,
crying and begging for you to save her. But
what did you say?”
I watched the color drain from his face,
leaving it ashen.
“You said she was faking it, that she was
lying, that you were too busy to help her.”
“You told her to go die, don’t you
remember?”
His eyes were bloodshot, full of despair and
confusion.
<
“So, Mr. Teacher, she listened to you and
died.”
Mark collapsed, shaking uncontrollably. He
crawled to the tombstone, pressing his face
to it.
“Lily, I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I really didn’t
know.”
“I thought you were just playing around. I was
so angry that day, Lily. I’m so sorry, so sorry.”
His apology was empty and meaningless. I
watched him cry, hitting his head on the
ground again and again.
Finally, my mother couldn’t take it anymore.
She helped him up. “Mark, please, stop.”
As Mark was on the verge of fainting, his
phone started ringing.
It was a unique ringtone, and he stopped.
crying instantly, turning away to answer it.
It was an annoyed female voice on the other
end. “Where the hell are you? Don’t you know
my kid has a fever? How could you leave him
alone at the hospital?”
“Sorry, sorry.”
Mark apologized softly, as if he didn’t want
me to hear. “I’ll be right back.”
He hung up, glancing at me anxiously. “Sarah,
I have some things to take care of. Can you
handle the funeral stuff? I’ll be back ASAP.”
く
I almost laughed. “Mark! What could be so
important that you need to leave in the middle
of your own daughter’s funeral?”
“You’re here. You’re her mother. I’m a
teacher, so you know, I gotta take care of my
kids at school.”
“Are you talking about Beth’s son?”
I grabbed his phone. It showed an open call
with Beth.
LO
