The Past (1) Little Lilah

A little girl sat on the floor as she continued to take a handful of her food in one gulp. As she continued to take everything from the three little plates at once she glanced at her mother who was beside arranging some clothes into different sacks.

Despite the horrible feeling in her tummy, she continued eating at the same pace, then suddenly she let out a huge cough. Her hands wavered carelessly for any sign of water as if she couldn't see. Her mother hurriedly dropped the clothes with her and grabbed her some water to drink, when the little girl collected it from her, her mother frowned, "I thought I told you to obey table manners."

The little girl breathed hard and rubbed her tummy, "Yes, mummy but you also told your daughter not to throw away food."

The woman whose attention was now fixed on her daughter smiled a bit, her smile pretending to reach the corners of her eyes. There was a little silence between the both of them as the girl looked at her mother with a satisfied grin as if mocking her mother for being too concerned. The woman cleared her throat and tapped the little girl on her forehead. The girl frowned her face, "Mummy, why did you do that to your daughter?"

"Tsk...Lilah, how many times do I have to tell you not to say the words, 'your daughter?' you don't have to be dramatic."

Delilah looked up at her mother before standing up. She walked to the wash basin to drop the plate she just finished, only to come back with a cheeky smile as she sat beside her mum, "Mummy, do you think I am not good enough to be your daughter?"

"What? Stop saying that, darling."

"Then why do you take offense when I refer to me as your daughter? Am I not?"

The woman rolled off the sweats that were about to drop into her eyes. There were a lot of things she had to deal with and the most important was her troublesome lovely daughter. She was used to her daughter's formal words but sometimes she thought it was getting out of hand.

Roseline wiped the white little slimy substance hanging on her daughter's cheek before she peeked her on her forehead holding firmly at her cheeks, "Next time, do not rush while eating, something bad could have happened to you, darling."

Delilah's eyes all of a sudden began to water, she tried looking away so that she could avoid her mother's face but Roseline was too quick to take her chin in her hand, "Darling, are you okay?"

"You told me to eat quickly so that you wouldn't be late for market and when I ate fast you had to hit me on my forehead instead, now I'm having the most unbearable headache ever. Why do you do this to a daughter of yours, mummy?"

Roseline's hand trembled as she stared at her daughter, "Are ... are you okay? Is the headache that much?"

Delilah bowed her head slightly with a nod. Seeing this, her mother stood up quickly to get her drugs. She drew out some medicine stuffed into the nylon and walked to sit with her.

Seeing this Delilah kept smiling foolishly until her mother sat beside her. "Take this, Lilah. I'm so sorry, okay?"

"Mummy, I was just kidding. How would you expect your daughter to just get hurt by that little tap huh?" She stood up to her knees and mimicked the incident but tapped her mum on her forehead, "does it hurt?"

Hearing this, her mother took her turn to tap her harder on her forehead, "Do you wish me death? What if I had fallen and died?"

"That's impossible!" Delilah's voice came out, unexpectedly shaky, "People don't die like that, mummy. We die when we grow old or when someone stabs or shoots us and then we lose a lot of blood. So you can't just die, mummy."

Her mother shook her head and kissed her on her forehead as if stylishly erasing the tap she had given, "People could die when they fall from a high building, one could hit him or herself on the wall then die, there are so many ways."

Delilah frowned her face, "but mum, I hit myself on the wall and your daughter did not d-"

"What? Lilah? When? Are you alright?"

"I believe strong people do not die easily, so mummy, promise me that you won't die until you grow grey or is it white hairs and shake like a bamboo stick." Delilah held her mother's hand and rose it, then she interlocked her pinky finger with her mother's own.

Roseline squeezed her face, "Lilah, when did you hit your head?"

"It was last year, have you forgotten? You bought me a lot of yummies that very day," she said as she removed her pinky finger from hers and drank the remaining portion of water.

Roseline's breathing pace went back to normal and she stood up to complete her work. When she was done packing, she gave her eight-year-old daughter a small box to carry and she locked the four windows of the two little rooms they were in.

Delilah walked outside waiting for her mother, once she was out they both walked away from the house.

Men and women were selling and buying, some in suits going to work. Delilah saw a few children in uniforms and she called out for her mum, "mummy, see. You said I will start schooling next week, right?"

Roseline smiled, "Yes, darling. I have saved a lot and very soon, you would be in those uniforms too."

Hearing that, Delilah shook her head vigorously, "Mummy no! Their uniform is a mixture of two shades of green, it's not beautiful. I don't mean to wear like their uniforms."

Hearing that, Roseline looked at the children that were passing. Barely looking at them, one could tell that they were poor and they attended poor schools but she did not want that for her daughter. If her daughter attend such schools, it would be hard to catch up. Lilah stopped schooling two years ago because of the abrupt terrible disease she was battling, but now she was fit and she was able to gather some money while she was recovering. "Lilah, you would attend one of those big schools, okay? Bigger than your former school."

"Lies, mummy. No school is bigger than that. Even though there is, you would be unable to afford it. Dad paid instead of you before."

"Shhh...Lilah, keep quiet."

Delilah frowned and then smiled.