I Will Always Remember You - Hmong Sad Love Story

Chapter 10: Dad, Is That You?

3 years later. I am now 21 years old. I'm still in a loving relationship with Crystal. Same loving couple. We would go carry water together and do everything together. One day Crystal tells me that I should go out and have fun which I finally agreed to. As I enter the village, I can feel the people's eyes focusing on me. It's like they don't know me and are probably wondering where I came from. Whatever they think, I just hope they don't recognize me as the orphan kid that everyone knows. It was also the time of Hmong New Year so many people were starting to go out to have fun. After Hmong New Year was over, I came back home with some stuff that I bought at some of the markets. You might be wondering how I got money but you see, Crystal is a nkauj zaj (Dragon Girl) so she gave me some money to use too. My life has gone from orphan to normal life because of Crystal. If it wasn't for her, who knows where I would be by now, maybe not even alive anymore. I missed Crystal very much. After coming back home, I gave her a big hug and kiss. "I missed you so much, Crystal." I say while hugging her. "I've missed you too but my parents needed me and they didn't let me go out anywhere. Sadly, but I am happy to see you again, Cheenou." We sat down and talked for a while before she surprised me and said "Hey Cheenou, would you like to finish what we did after you caught me and pinned me down onto the ground outside in the field that day?" I looked at her confused before understanding what she meant. My eyes widened and my heart started to pound fast not knowing what to say. I felt so nervous and awkward. She moves closer to me putting her arms around my neck looking into my eyes. "Y-you're teasing me, aren't ya." I say back quietly. "Or maybe I want to do something else better." She says smiling at me. I was so shocked that I didn't know what to do, I felt like my whole body had gotten frozen and I couldn't move, all I remember was her face coming closer to mine. The next thing I know, the sun was already coming up and I was still naked. I looked next to me and saw a white snake curling itself in a circle sleeping. I knew that the snake was Crystal, so I picked up the snake and slowly put it down somewhere safer. Just then, I heard a group of men outside the house yelling so I hurried and put some clothes on. "Who the hell is living here?!" One of the men says. "It must be that orphan kid." One of the men says. Oh no, they've found me! I must escape or run away but wait, Crystal was still sleeping in here. I then looked around to find where Crystal was but it was too late, the mens already kicked down the door and knocked down the house. After knocking down the door, I see the three mens staring at me looking into my soul like they're about to eat me alive. "There he is! It's the orphan kid!" One of the men says. "Quick, let's kill him before he can run anywhere else and more cause trouble!" The other one says. "You're not going anywhere, orphan kid! There's three of us here!" I didn't know what to do, I tried to run but they caught up with me, one tried to punch me but I dodged it, the other one tried to grab me but I pushed him off me before they could do anything. I ran into the woods trying to hide but there were more of them. "We got you cornered now, orphan kid." There was nothing I could do. This is where I will die. I came out of my hiding spot. "You killed the old men here and stole his stuff, didn't you? Now we're going to imprison you and sentence you to death." One of the men yelled. "I didn't kill him!" I yelled. "He left me when I was only 18 years old and he was the only person that took care of me. He was the only person who loved me the most when all of you treated me like shit! He taught me things. He took me in as his son and took care of me! All of you are nothing but scumbags that bullies the weaklings!" I yelled at them with all the force I had. It went quiet. The air was filled with empty-ness. "Kill him." One of the men says. One of the men pulls out a rifle aiming at me. I guess this is really it. I'm glad this is it, I'm glad I will now end all this suffering and be with Grandpa Va again. "Grandpa Va, I'm coming, just wait for me." I say to myself while closing my eyes, tears rolling down my eyes. I thought I already died but I heard another man yelling from the distance saying "Don't touch him!" He yelled as he got to us, all the mens turning to look at him. "He's my son!" The man yelled as he got closer to us breathing heavily. All the mens stared at him in shock and so did I.