Killer Concepts

Hongbin Part 2 LIES CAN SHINE

          At the age of 4 Hongbin's father passed away, the victim of a tragic car accident. He had been a popular member of the neighborhood and the funeral was well attended. His mother was beside herself with grief, finding herself suddenly a widow with a young child to raise alone. Her tears flowed unrestrained.

          Beside her, Hongbin sat dry eyed and staring. He showed no grief or sense of loss. His indifference to his father's passing was noticed by many of the mourners. They just chalked it up to his young age. What did a four year old really understand about death?

          His mom knew better. She was well aware of her son's lack of emotion. He never smiled, never showed any signs of affection toward his parents or anyone else. Trying to hug him always ended up with either him fighting to get away or standing limply and enduring. On a playground full of children, he always played alone. The only time he would interacted with them was when someone had a toy or something else he wanted. Then he would just go over and snatch it. His mother would have a fight on her hands making him return it. It happened over and over and no amount of punishment changed this behavior.

          By the time he entered school things only got worse. Not a day went by that he wasn't caught lying to his teachers to get his own way, stealing from the other students. None of his teaches could handle him. His mother was constantly being called away from work to come to school.

          What concerned his teachers most was his totally lack of guilt or remorse. In extreme circumstances they might be able to force him to apologize. Only his apologies were nothing more than mouthed words, rote and insincere.

          The only time he ever appeared even close to normal was when he sang. More than normal. His singing voice was extraordinary. All the emotion he didn't show anywhere else poured out as he mimicked the songs he heard on the radio. But the emotions were only an imitation of what he heard in the songs. Once the music was over, he would return to his usually unfeeling self.

          Hongbin's mom found it harder and harder to cope with her situation. Her husband's death had left them nearly penniless. She couldn't keep a job having to leave without notice to take care of some school matter. Worse of all, It became obvious that her son was incapable of forming any kind of emotional bond with her.

          By the time Hongbin turned seven his mother decided she had had enough. They lived in abject poverty and Hongbin's strange behavior was more than she could handle. All she could think of was getting away, trying to start over. To do that she had to leave her old life behind. All of her old life.

          Packing each of them a few belongings in separate suitcases, she took Hongbin to the bus station. She bought two tickets, each for different destinations in opposite directions. Putting Hongbin on his bus she made all the right noises of a mother sending her son off to visit distant relatives. He knew it was just a show and that he would never see his mother again.

          Oh Well, he thought. Maybe wherever he ended up would be better than here.

          Several hours later, Hongbin got off the bus in some unknown little town. He spent some time wandering around assessing the situation inside the station. Finally, he approached the old woman behind the ticket counter. In his view, her was the person with the most authority. He had become good at scoping out situations he found himself in and using this information to his advantage. He gave her an "abandoned little boy" story and let her momentarily take charge of his fate. By the end of the day Hongbin found himself taken to the Happy Days orphanage.