1988, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
THERE was another family fight going on in the Wong residence, the neighbors tittered. Suzie could feel their pitying glances as she opened the iron-gate to let herself in. Her mother was screaming at her father in Chinese.
Soon, shouts escalated into things being thrown, she could hear pots and pans clanging as they bounced off the cement floor. She sighed deeply, her parents fought almost every day now. There was nothing she could do but hide until they were done.
"You're a good for nothing drunk. You can't even feed one family and now you want me to look after your bastard son?" screamed her mother. "If that bitch puts one foot in this house, I'll kill her!"
"Fine, then I won't come home anymore!" her father shouted his reply. "At least she treats me nicely and with respect. She never shouts at me."
"That's because you take my money and give it to her. She doesn't have to slog for a living, barely making ends meet. You have children here to feed, too. I don't see you bring money home to them."
"They are big enough to work for their own living. I don't know why you bother sending those girls to school. They're stupid and useless and will probably get pregnant before they even finish school," her father shouted. "Let them go to work and bring home some money."
Suzie had heard these comments so often that it barely hurt anymore. She knew her father never loved her or her sisters. He never would. They were only girls, his mistress had given him a baby boy last year, that's why he barely came home anymore.
"Then go! And don't come back, I'm not paying for your mistress and her bastard anymore. Let her work!" her mother screamed. And with that, her father stormed out of the house, not even glancing at Suzie, not caring that she had heard those hateful remarks.
"Good riddance," he hissed and left.
Suzie ran to comfort her mother immediately, knowing that the woman was too proud to cry in front of her father and would only break down after he left. "It's okay, mom. He's not coming back anymore," she whispered. "I'll quit school and get a job, then you won't have to work so hard."
"That's not what I want. I wanted you to have a good future, so that you can take care of your sisters. They're going to need you, Suzie," she sobbed.
"But I can help them by getting a job, too. Then they'll have money for school and a career and a bright future," Suzie said in reply. "I don't even like school," she lied, her heart breaking because Suzie actually loved being in school surrounded by people her own age and books and learning new things.
"You're too young. What can you do? How much can you make? You'll only be bullied and taken advantage of⦠No it's safer for you to stay in school," her mother argued.
"I can work with Auntie Molly. You know how she is always saying her club is doing very good business and is always needing more people to work there. I could stay with her in the city and work there," Suzie said.
"When the girls are bigger and already working, I would have enough money to continue my studies," she assured her mother.
Mrs. Wong mulled over that idea, in fact she had forgotten about her elder sister Molly and her offer to put Suzie up in the city. Indeed, it sounded like a perfect plan. "I'll give Molly a call tonight and see what she says. If she can't take you in, then you stay in school β at least until you finish High School, okay," she said finally.
In truth, Suzie was praying that her Aunt wouldn't turn her down, she'd given anything to get away from the screaming matches and constant harping about money or the lack of. She also knew that her father would be back, on the last day of the month, because he needed money from her mother to feed his son.