4: 4
4
Uncle Walter couldn't help muttering under his breath.
"So rich, huh? Then how come when you were sick, they wouldn't part with a single dollar?"
The truth was, Sabina wasn't my in-laws' biological daughter.
They'd been married for years without a child, and they'd fallen for some folk cure, the kind that said you had to adopt a girl first, as a lucky charm, before you could have one of your own.
So they went to the orphanage and took Sabina in.
Whether the folk cure worked or not, nobody knew, but two years after adopting Sabina, my mother-in-law did get pregnant, and gave birth to their only son.
If they hadn't been afraid of what people would say, the two of them would have sent Sabina straight back to the orphanage.
Later, when Sabina got sick, they simply vanished.
Their money was for their own son. They wouldn't spend a cent of it on Sabina.
And yet, somehow, Sabina couldn't see it, and even took a certain pride in what her adoptive parents did for a living.
"What did you say?"
Sabina hadn't caught what Uncle Walter said.
He was about to say it louder when my father hurried to stop him.
"All right, all right, I'll sign. Dad won't embarrass you!"
And he picked up the pen, his hand trembling, ready to sign that document severing family ties.
My mother pressed a hand over her mouth, her eyes rimmed red.
She had barely any strength left, and could only look at me in despair.
"Son, your father's health is bad. Even if you can't come back to see him, remember to call him now and then."
"Otherwise I won't be able to rest easy when I go…"
My father had worn himself out for me his whole life, and my mother had seen all of it.
She couldn't stop worrying about him, because once she was gone, he'd have no one left.
I was just about to take my mother's hand and tell her not to worry when Sabina immediately objected.
"No!"
"Michael's too soft!"
"If he calls his dad all the time, and his dad starts crying to him about how hard things are, it'll just make things worse between us!"
Then she turned that sharp look on me.
"Michael, don't you dare agree with your mother!"
"Don't forget, when we got married, you said our own little family came first!"
The relatives all looked at me, waiting to see which way I'd go.
My father kept his head down, his hand still shaking over the paper.
My mother held on to her last breath, her eyes fixed on me in worry.
I stood up, snatched the estrangement document out of my father's hand, and tore it to shreds,
then, under everyone's startled eyes, I walked step by step over to Sabina, raised my hand, and slapped her across the face.
"Crack!"
The clean sound of it rang through the whole room.
Sabina clutched her cheek and glared at me with hate.
"Michael, have you lost your mind?"
"You think I won't divorce you?"
I let out a cold laugh. "Divorce, then. Whoever backs out is the coward!"
"You…"
The pride cracked on Sabina's face, and out of nowhere a wave of panic swept over her.
