Chapter 2 : Silent departures

 Warning: This chapter contains content that may not be suitable for some readers

Enjoying a peaceful afternoon with tea by her plants as she potted a young azalea tree on the second floor of her cafe, stood Penny shielded her forehead from the sun rays as she gazed outside the window panel.

The warmness of the sun's rays brought peace to her mind and soul. Penny had always yearned for this as her successful business was always her dream and it seemed she finally had successfully achieved it.

The doorbell chimed indicating a customer was coming to collect or buy her potted plants downstairs and it was none other than her favorite regular, Mrs. Poh. Today she came in her mini red one-sleeve dress and was collecting a variety of succulents. 

After a brief conversation with her, Penny counted the money in the cash till. Her heart blossomed with joy at ease as she continued to enjoy the stillness of the afternoon. 

An unexpected doorbell chimed this time. She turned around and saw a black figure standing at the front door from her balcony. She could tell it was a man and her worries rushed over her. Half worrying about her leftover guests at the cafe on the first floor as she braved herself to greet him. 

Before she could walk any closer, a loud bash woke her back into her reality. 

The loud bash continued with screams from a familiar voice. She forced open her eyes to find herself drooling over her books in her room. She had accidentally dose off while studying and her alcoholic father had just returned home, threatening for money again as she blinked her welling tears and suppressed her anger at her life's unfairness.

From young, she had endured nothing children of her age should. She was forced into being an adult. 

Being drunk always, her father had been beating up her mother. Next, he would come for her and the rest was history as she could not remember exactly at which age was her virginity lost or how many abortions she had since her teenage days, or how painful it was each time being raped cause she never truly felt herself exist when all these cruel events happened. 

Sometimes she wished she had died in those abortions or in the process of being raped. However, her tough life was resilient. 

Living a poor life, she had dropped out of school but she knew she had to study. It was with education could she find ways to make more money. It was also her ticket to get away from the wreckage of her broken family. 

She was lucky to have old books handed down by several neighbours to help her take the public exam soon. At twenty-three, she never cared if it took her longer cause all she wanted was to be a high school graduate at least. She was crafty from young that she managed to make a decent living by selling her crafts made from recyclables.

At the age of ten, she had already learned that her mother was too weak to protect herself and even more useless when it came to protecting her. Though her mother did many odd jobs to feed her and try to get her a decent schooling qualification, it was all to no avail, especially with a constant cash-grabbing useless husband whom she refused to divorce or leave. 

That evening after her useless father left them in chaos with her mother's leftover jewellery which she had set aside for dowry, her mother quickly made her swallow a morning-after pill. Though poor, her mother had always ensured she had a handful of supplies which she sourced from illegal suppliers selling at a cheap price. 

"Sleep Pei Li… Everything will be alright. You will be in better hands tomorrow." Her mother whispered in her shaking voice reminding her of her arranged marriage and that it would be the first time she gets to see her future unlucky husband.

As her mother left her to rest after cleaning her up thinking she had fallen asleep, Pei Li quietly made her way to the rooftop of her house. Every time her father took advantage of her, she felt disgusted with herself. She could feel the fuel of hatred for this family grew intensely and she even hated to be alive. Many times she had attempted suicide but strangely, her resilient life continued each time she regained consciousness. 

"Was it you earlier, Penny?" Pei Li asked with her inner voice while gazing into the glittering sky.

"It's only a few more months till the exam. Once, you're done, you will be free." Penny comforted as Pei Li's tears welled thinking of her impending freedom.

"We will be married off tomorrow…" Pei Li told Penny. 

"Rest now. Sleep… I will hold you on guard. Don't worry about that too." Penny coaxed as Pei Li closed her eyes and obediently obliged. 

The next moment she opened her eyes, it was a sharp gaze full of anguish and vengeance as Penny who had lived within Pei Li as her second personality since she was ten, vowed to protect Pei Li at all cause from then on.

Penny was the reason Pei Li could continue to live on with hope.

The reason Pei Li had not experienced the cruel pain and trauma.

The reason Pei Li failed to commit suicide each time. 

Penny was the courage Pei Li begged for at ten years old on that faithful night when it all first began.

Their family was often alienated by their neighbours especially when the old man was around so as to not be involved or harassed by him. However, when he is not around, some kind neighbours would secretly leave leftovers from their home for Pei Li and her mother. 

Despite all that Pei Li had been through, because the trauma was omitted by her, Penny knew Pei Li has not loosen all hope on love or having a family of her own. Though Pei Li knew with her condition, no one would truly ever want her but deep inside her, Pei Li still hoped for a little miracle to happen.

And for Penny, her only fight was the freedom and independence of Pei Li to come soon but she was wondering if it mattered now since the arranged marriage was tomorrow. Penny may have stopped Pei Li's suicides and endured all the trauma and pain that she came to a point where she felt it was better to bring Pei Li to a better place; to leave everything behind once and for all than to let her suffer the uncertainty of a new man whom can never be a good one coming from the choices of the rotten adults.

From afar, a pair of pitying eyes were eyeing her. That night, Wayne Shao, a long-time neighbour who had shot to fame for many years in his singing career returned to his old home for his gift from his family. His family moved to the city after his fame and since then, he had not had a day of peace for himself as all his mind could think was making money for his parents and three older brothers who had been squeezing him tightly. 

He never truly learned the truth of his past as his father owned a successful scrap metal factory but being the youngest of four brothers, he knew he did not stand a chance at all to lead the business. Hence, he sought for his own freedom but little did he expect to still be caught in their business financial crisis. None of the three older brothers could run the business well resulting in their old frail father forcing Wayne to save the business without any benefits.

Instead, he was told of his arranged marriage. No one ever asked if he wanted to marry. No wanted ever asked if he agreed. He did not stand a chance to ask who the bride was. All he knew was it was a gift in exchange for his constant cashflow into their dying business and it was tomorrow in their old hometown. 

As an artist, he knew he met with a dead end. He had poured most of his income into the business and here he was slapped with a "gift" in disguise of death sentence. He decided it was right for him to give the family a gift in return by silently departing for their old hometown.

Unexpectedly, he caught the chance to watch his old neighbour living the same cruel life after a long time. He recalled Pei Li was an intelligent student in school as they were in the same class. He lamented the fact that after so many years of harassment and violence, she was still surviving.

At least there's someone who is still the same… He tried to comfort himself on other's unfortunate events but it only made him feel guiltier.

Her frail body was a pity to watch as she always wore long sleeves to cover herself up. Thinking at how pathetic his situation was, since he decided to end everything the next day he climbed his old house roof and walked over from his side which was connected to other houses, and sat by the side of his house next to hers. 

Penny kept still all the time. She vaguely recalled who it was but seeing he came from the opposite long-abandoned house, she assumed he was one of the four sons. All the years of fighting her own struggles, neither Penny nor Pei Li knew about his fame.

He began to look up to the skies and caught himself staring back at a treasure. In a city with heavy light pollution, it was hard to gaze at a sky full of stars but not at all in the countryside.

"Life seems different for us now but some things never change…" He said after a long while gazing at the stars with her as Penny stared at him meaningfully, fully feeling Pei Li's long-lost feeling stirring up in her.

"Have you been well?" Wayne asked, meeting with her gaze gently while Penny felt touched by his simple question. 

No one had asked such a thing in a long while. If it was Pei Li she would have denied all worries and quickly reassured others she was well but not Penny, who stared with welling tears she struggled to hold back.