Hopes of Paris

Chapter IV: Gifts Of God

Sall's mother, Roselle, was cleaning the kitchen's counters with a yellow sponge. She had a bucket filled with water and soap sitting beneath her. She would dip the sponge every now and then and get some water drops on the floor when she gets her hands out of the bucket. Luckily, she had raised her sleeves up so her shirt was safe from getting wet. A while later she set the sponge aside, dried her hands and arms up and leaned against the nearest available wall. Her back had started hurting and she couldn't go on. Roselle looked to her side to the wall clock, which was above the calendar. It was two in the afternoon and the twenty third of August of the year two thousand and thirteen.

A few moments later, the door was heard being opened. Sall walked inside his home with his bag on his back and a large notebook in hand, followed by Sally. The sister looked extremely enthusiastic as she skipped through the house towards her mother. She held a report of her marks in school, and handed it over afterwards to Roselle. The mother took a look at how she did during the year. Not only she was ranked the first one in her class, but in the entirety of the school as well. Her mother was extremely happy, and she took her into her arms.

"That's my little girl," Roselle smiled as she ruffled her hand a bit through Sally's hair. "Great job."

"Thank you, mama! I just want you to be proud of me," the sister grinned widely, pointing towards Sall. "Brother also scored really well!"

"Really, honey?" Roselle let go of Sally, then turned to face her son.

"Yes, mama! Look!" Sall handed his mom the report paper with both hands, smiling widely. He seemed infinitely happy.

In the beginning, Roselle opened the paper up with a smile. She knew her son made it through the year with a success, and finally is an eighth grader. As she read through the first couple of lines, her smile slowly started fading away into a frown of disbelief. She flipped to the other side only to make a quick inhale of anger. Then, Roselle slammed the paper hard against the counter next to her, crossed her arms and looked down on Sall with that gaze of disappointment.

"You've lost more marks in maths more than you have during the last term." She said impatiently, tapping a feet of hers against the floor.

Sall's smile quickly disappeared off his face as he noticed his mother's reaction. "But mama, I've improved in English!"

"That doesn't matter," Roselle bent her back a bit down and eyed Sall closely in the eyes, pointing a finger at him. "I kept telling you throughout the year that you need to work harder on your maths!"

"I'm... I'm sorry." He flinched at her sudden hand movement and looked down to the floor, and squinted his eyes shut.

"Sorry? Now that it's too late?" Roselle went on her knees and raised her tone at Sall. "I knew you'd underperform! You're wasting time with all those piano lessons and-"

"Stop," Sall interrupted his own mother with a whimper. He was close to crying, and blocked both of his ears with both of his hands while his eyes remained shut. "Please stop... I worked really hard..."

Roselle's eyes widened and she went silent. She noticed how Sall reacted to her yelling. He has never shown this much reaction to her scolding before. In fact, he'd always remain quiet whenever she's talking. She has finally realized how tired her son must have been throughout the exam period and that he exhausted himself. She accepted the outcome of his marks inaudibly, stood up and gazed towards Sally, who walked towards Sall and started patting his back in an attempt to make him feel better. Roselle asked the sister to take her brother to his room because she couldn't handle looking at him now, and so Sally did.

While being escorted to his room, Sall's tears fell and he was sniffling so hard. The little boy's heart was broken. He knew he had done everything he could do to please his parents, but his mother made him feel like it wasn't enough still. He thought his marks were extremely good and was proud of himself, but that feeling disappeared after he saw his mother's reaction. Sally made sure he sat down on his bed before sitting next to him. She wrapped an arm around his shoulder and rubbed the arm closest to her.