Heaven's Sister

After a few instances of my friends catching me taking her to school, the kids in my class immediately spread this shocking news: "T has a boyfriend, guys, T has a boyfriend, and her boyfriend is as ugly as a lemur." One guy even swore he saw us hugging, which was a blatant and disgusting lie. I couldn't explain myself. I screamed like crazy, saying she was my "cousin," and warned anyone to be careful or face consequences. The gossip stopped, but the girls looked at me with disdain, laughing hysterically and covering their mouths with their hands. It was an awful injustice. I'm handsome, the son of a doctor, and yet I was dating someone who was perceived as unlucky and ugly. It was frustrating.The next day, I decided not to tolerate it anymore and let her walk alone. She didn't say anything, just lowered her head and walked away whenever she saw me approaching in my car. But as I walked, I remembered the times when she was sick and bedridden, silently apologizing to her for not being able to do her chores like washing clothes or cooking for her. I realized how sorry I was for my past behavior. I turned the car around anyway...From a distance, I saw her walking slowly. She looked as small as a piece of candy, with a huge backpack on her back. Well, maybe not exactly like candy. If you looked closely, she resembled a baby turtle, both literally and figuratively. I told her to get in the car, and she silently obliged without saying a word. It was like she was a replica of her mother, never opposing or asking for anything. Both mother and child were like the women at the old Pa Tra governor's house...To avoid drawing attention from the students in my class, I took a shortcut. The road was winding and devoid of houses. I drove her through cashew gardens, orange gardens, and sugar cane fields. There were times when I excitedly stopped the car and climbed in to steal guavas for her to eat, while she watched from outside with a pale face. We went through everything together, even the times when I angrily left her in the middle of the road to make her walk and be late for a test. Even on days when my tire went flat or the car broke down, I took her along, and she walked behind me, huffing and pushing me...Nowadays, when I have the chance to return to my hometown, I often bring my old bicycle along that road to revisit the memories. Sometimes I'm startled and blurt out something, but no one answers. I turn around and look behind me, only to realize that I no longer see my skinny sister tightly holding onto the seat of the car, her face filled with confusion instead of a question. Suddenly, I lose the strength to continue, so I stop the car... tears streaming down my face...In those days, we often played with pictures of Goku and Hero Herman. In my class, I organized picture-playing parties almost every day before class. I was terrible at the game and often lost everything. Whatever money my father gave me for buying books, pens, and ink, I spent it on pictures and gave them all away to my friends. That day, I felt bitter because my friend challenged me and I ran out of money. I didn't know what to do. My father was away and hadn't returned yet, so I couldn't lie and ask for money. I took a risk... I rummaged through her backpack and stole money because I knew her mother used to give her money to buy random things for girls. My plan was to sell the pictures and get the money, then cleverly put it back as if nothing had happened. Little did I know... I lost everything...Throughout the day, I kept watching her, afraid that she would tell her mother or my father. If they found out, they would ask questions, and I would stumble over my words. It would be humiliating, worse than death, when they discovered that I hadn't bought books. But strangely enough, she didn't say anything. I'm sure she knew because I saw her packing her books for school and taking out some money. But regardless, I breathed a sigh of relief, as if I had narrowly escaped a disaster...

Only later did I realize one thing: she was the only girl in school who wore a conical hat. Before, I thought it was normal because I saw aunts, uncles, and women I knew wearing them. But when I heard the girls in my class whispering, "T's girlfriend still wears a conical hat to school. It's true that girls from the countryside are different," I felt guilty. It seemed so rural, so out of fashion...When I arrived home, I took her aside and asked, "Child, why do you wear a conical hat to school? This isn't your hometown. Aren't you ashamed?" She mumbled, "I saved up money tobuy a flower hat, but I lost it." I stood there, frozen, and immediately understood. Every time her mother gave her money to buy gifts, pens, and books, she always saved it. Her notebooks were filled with scribbles in the margins, and she sketched on the desks to avoid wasting paper. Meanwhile, I snatched blank paper from folders to make paper planes. Her school clothes were "inherited" from a cousin, and she borrowed textbooks. Many of her books were torn to shreds... She saved every penny, and in the end, it was stolen by someone like me, a complete jerk...I invited her into the car, and we both sat there in silence for a while. For the first time, I realized that she was just a girl, and she felt embarrassed when her friends laughed at her. She also liked hair bows and flower hats like everyone else. Another wave of terrible regret washed over me, and that heavy feeling stayed with me for the next few days...