Humans of the Earth - compilation

The man called Dad

Dad was born in the year of the horse, 6 months after his father died on the battlefield. It was Fall. The air already became brisk. The day Dad was born, he did not cry. The old people of the town said his mother probably cried all his tears out. There was none left...for this poor child.

When he turned 2, his mother "took another step", as they said, to marry a man who refused to accept Dad. So, at the age of 2, Dad was turned loose on the street, placed to sleep... inside a woven bamboo basket. He did not cry.

The people in town took his basket to the house of his paternal aunt who was already married...with 3 children, of which the youngest was at Dad's age. So, with them he lived. They gave him a new name, the name he still keeps...to forsake the birth-given one. 

Dad had 2 paternal aunts. The one who welcomed him first was his father's oldest sister. She loved him. Her husband cared for him and trusted him more than his children. He was loved, but always as a nephew-child. He did not get to call anyone father. He did not get to call anyone mother. He was just ...him...existing. 

Dad was sent to school by his loving aunt when he turned 6. He was so bright. He could absorb anything taught. He would write his lesson on the dirt floor with a stick, smeared it all away, and wrote it again. At 11, he received the presidential honor roll, from the country's President, for he was the best in his school. 

When asked why he studied so hard, Dad said it's because he was lonely. So he buried himself in the books, in his imaginary world, to be comforted. But Dad also had another purpose, he wanted to become successful, to repay his aunt's kindness, to avenge his heartless mother. He studied hard and he also labored hard. 

At the time, everyone in the family worked to make ends meet. Dad was not an exception. He would assist his uncle on their cassava fields, tend the water buffalos, hire help from the neighboring town to operate the family's coal factory. He was the money keeper, a trusted accountant. Life was busy. But, at night, after everyone else were soundly sleeping, Dad would be tossing under the blanket, in the flickering oil lamp's light, secretly weeping until he fell asleep. He missed his mom.

In junior high, Dad's second aunt, his father's second oldest sister, came into light. To "be good" to her brother, second aunt insisted on raising Dad...every other year. So, in 7th grade, Dad moved to the beach city, to be with second aunt's family of a husband and 5 kids, 2 older and 1 of his age. Second aunt's family was very well off. Her husband was a high-ranked government official of the time. Their children were sent to the best school, and so was Dad. But, Dad...was their servant ... in every sense of the word.

In the morning, he had to take care of everyone's breakfast. He had to wait for them to finish their meal before he could eat. His meal portion was never counted in the expense. But he was smart, so he made deals with the sellers for an extra loaf of bread or an extra bit of sticky rice. After the rushed few bites, he had to clean up, rode their kids to class on the family's moped, brought the vehicle back, then grabbed his notebook and sprinted on foot ... to the same schoolyard. 

After class, Dad had to do all of the house chores, washing clothes, tending the livestock, cooking the meals, cleaning after people...before he could study. There were nights when his second uncle was lonely, so he commanded Dad to come to the living-room and say the rosary...together. But Dad was already too tired after a long, hard day "at work", so he would doze off periodically. Unfortunately, whenever second uncle noticed, he would make showers of whiplash fall upon Dad, with no mercy. He would subsequently "discipline" Dad's "disrespectfulness" by locking him out of the house for the night, with no tent, no blanket, no windbreaker. So, on those nights, Dad would be lying on the cold cement porch, befriending the moon, the stars, and the ocean breeze...telling them his life story, his lonesomeness, and his longing for a family...till he cried himself to sleep.