Uncle Albert

Removing my sandals outside, I slowly walked inside the room and kneeled beside the mattress Sister Hin was sleeping on to gently hold her hand. It was pale and ashen, without any sense of warmth.

The Mayor had said that she had a 'lacking spirit' and a 'dormant essence'. Until then, I didn't know what he meant, but as I held her hand, I got a pretty clear idea. Actually, it was more of a feeling that I couldn't express in words but in that state, she just seemed… hollow.

A few moments later Uncle Manto and my father returned after respectfully dropping the Mayor off at the gate. Both of them looked as if they wanted to scold and chide me but I must have looked quite heartbroken back then since they swallowed their words before they were allowed to come out.

I stood up after silently apologizing and promising to give my best to save her. After giving her one last look, I turned around to meet the gazes of the two weary men. But before I could even look at them, I heard my father sighing as he said, "You were very reckless, Tiff. It's our fortune that the Mayor was magnanimous today, otherwise, I'm not sure our broken families would've been able to bear the aftermath."

I fiddled with my sleeves and apologized, "...sorry,"

My heart began to pound faster and faster as the realization dawned on me.

What had I just done? Didn't I put both of our broken families at risk with my impulsive and disrespectful behavior? As tears were beginning to form in my eyes, my father said in a weak voice, "Nevermind, don't blame yourself. We should just head home now."

He clearly didn't have the heart to chide me anymore. Shaking his head at me, he made some small talk with Uncle Manto and then took me back home.

My mother and my siblings were waiting for us at the gate anxiously, though all of them had different ways to show off that anxiety.

Mom represented the three of them in asking my father how it went. He narrated the events as they happened while I kept musing over the Mayor's advice and how I would proceed from then on.

The rest of the day passed like that for me. I didn't even eat lunch because I was worried that it would interrupt my thought process. Since my mother had seen me throw it up the last day, she didn't insist and left me alone with my anxious thoughts.

That was perhaps the best day for me after the incident, as I kept thinking of ways to help my best friend instead of mulling over my avoidable mistakes.

The voices didn't appear to threaten me at that time. Nevertheless, I knew that it was soon going to be the same if I just kept thinking and didn't take any action or any step forward.

At the dinner table, I asked my father one critical question I had to know before I could make any further plans,

"Papa, what is the Mayor's name?"

He didn't think much of it and answered, but not without a fair warning first, "Well, it's not as if that's a secret or anything but don't go babbling it off everywhere, especially you, Chloe. It's Robert Sullivan."

Chloe stuck her tongue out when she was mentioned and my father gave her a brief lecture when he saw that. I observed it but my mind was wandering elsewhere.

Just how big of a coincidence would it be if 'Robert' who talked and dressed similarly to 'Albert' was not his biological brother.

With that in mind, my crushed hope was restored, one of the first cycles of it being completed in a single day.

I slept soundly for the first time after two weeks because a huge stress-inducing factor weighing my mind was already off. I still didn't have a clear plan. I was still that weak and helpless little girl that was traumatized by her visit to Crimson Lake, but I had one strength, and that was that I knew how to drive answers out of a rock-like Uncle Albert.

The next day, I woke up in the afternoon, my accumulated stress being released slightly. Washing up and eating lunch unhurriedly, I recalled how we used to trick and pester Uncle Albert.

Usually, it was very easy, but this time, I had a lot depending on how successful I would be in doing that and so I had to prepare, and more than anything else, I had to bring Chloe along, to keep diverting the old man's attention.

Chloe, of course, was happy to accompany me as she hadn't had any fun ever since I had come back. Spiritedly, the two of us sisters started walking towards our destination.

My mother was surprised when she saw me going out, and even taking Chloe along, but she didn't stop me and only reminded me to return home soon.

Uncle Albert's shop was on 33rd Street, which was one of the gloomiest streets in the city. It wasn't because depressed or poor people lived there or anything but because… very few people lived there.

The houses there looked as if they would collapse with a strong gust of wind, some of them even tilted already. Moreover, there wasn't any shop there, other than his pawn shop of course, and it was certainly very odd for the only shop in the street to be a pawn shop instead of a grocery shop or a shop selling utensils or clothes.

Uncle Albert probably didn't care about any of it though. From what I knew of him, all he ever wanted from life was peace and calm, the two things which we never let him enjoy.

I tried not to think of it any further and entered the secluded 33rd Street. It was distinct from the rest of the world, full of potholes and mud, that were covered up with random garbage and dirt that made it look even worse.