Lem and the house on the gravel slope

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"Oh my god! Our family of five is not suffering enough, why did you bring that little girl here?" - my mother's voice woke me up. Dad had just come home from the porch, his pants were low and high, and a big bag was hanging from the cart, I guessed it was a bag of clothes. A little girl about three years old stood next to Dad, her dark eyes looking at Mom fearfully. Dad raised his hand to signal Mom to speak softly, but Mom protested: "The children are so miserable, they are not happy at all, even their school shirts are worn out at the shoulders, I don't even dare to buy new ones, now you're worried about a stranger!" Dad looked at Mom sternly: "Why a stranger? They are related to our family! It's cruel to abandon the little girl at this time." Then Dad came closer to comfort Mom: "Poor girl, her parents just died in an accident, while waiting for her uncle and aunt from far away to come pick her up, we let her stay for a few days." Mom seemed to calm down.

I went out to the porch. The little girl saw me, quickly retreated to her father, tightly clutching the straw bag, inside of which were a few loose toys. I saw a neatly kept princess doll peeking out. "Don't be afraid! Come here to me!" - I coaxed. Seeing the little girl still standing still looking at me, my father bent down and whispered: "Say hello to Ms. Mo!". The little girl obediently folded her arms and greeted me softly. "What's your name?". "Yes, Lem." "Come, follow me to the garden to play!" - I pulled Lem's hand.

Taking Lem to the corner of the garden, I showed her the cricket cave, the quail cave, invited Lem to pick Malabar spinach seeds to make red bean sweet soup, strip coconut leaves to make rings... Lem seemed to be engrossed in the new games in the city that she had never seen before. I sat next to her, forgetting the twilight, until I heard Ly, my younger sister, calling out clearly: "Big sister, mom called to come home for dinner!".

I held Lem's hand and ran home. On the mat spread out on the porch, Mom was quietly serving rice. Dad sat next to Mom, gently picking up food for her. I knew Mom's heart had gradually softened. "What were you doing out there all this time? Why didn't you bring your brother home to eat?" Mom snapped, but I heard her inherent gentleness in that snappy sentence.

Little Lem sat shyly next to me. After just one afternoon of playing together, he was already clinging to me. On the tray were only some fried river prawns and mixed vegetable soup that Mom picked from the garden. Mom shared some prawns with Lem and pushed them towards him, softly saying, "Eat, my child!" Dad stopped while eating, looking lovingly at Mom.

From then on, Lem slept with me, and little Ly slept with his mother. Even though Nhai was naughty, he knew to go to the garden to find some ripe guavas for Lem. Every time Mom came back from the market, she brought gifts for Lem, sometimes a bag of mung bean pudding, sometimes a bag of popcorn.

Lem stayed with my family for about a month.

In the afternoon, when I came home from school, I didn't see Lem waiting for me at the alley like every day. I ran around looking for him but couldn't find him anywhere. Dad came in from the alley, thoughtful: "Lem's uncle and aunt from far away came to pick Lem up. They look very well-off, so she's also benefiting from you!". I was sad, but secretly happy for Lem, from now on she has a full life.

* * *

"Sister, do you know the news?" - Ly rushed in from the door and called out. "What news?" - I was already familiar with Ly's sensational stories. "This afternoon, my class went to visit our sick homeroom teacher. On the way back, we passed by the orphanage. I stopped by to see. Standing by the window, I saw more than ten children gathered there to eat dinner." "And then? What's the matter?" - I was annoyed by Ly's nonsense news. "But..." - Ly lowered her voice: "I looked for a while and saw a child who looked a lot like Lem. I moved aside to take a closer look. It was really Lem." "Am I wrong? Lem went back to her aunt and uncle in the city. Their family is very well off!". "No, that's Lem. How could I be wrong?" - Ly firmly said: "If you don't believe me, go to the orphanage in the Temple neighborhood and see!".

I was stunned. Could it be…

The orphanage was at the end of the road to the Temple Hamlet, next to a canal. In the yard in front of the house, there were two women picking vegetables. I approached to talk, and after listening, one of them looked up at me: "Lem is asleep, but what are you to Lem?". "Lem and I are distant relatives, but how long has Lem been sent here?". "Almost a year." Seeing me sitting and waiting, the other woman said: "It's sunny outside, come inside and sit for some cool air!".

Among the children lying around, I easily recognized Lem thanks to her chubby face and pink lips with very clear outlines. Lem was sleeping soundly with her head on a thin pillow, still holding tightly onto the doll that Lem had brought with her when she came home. I sat down next to Lem, feeling my heart ache. After nearly a year of not seeing each other, Lem had grown up a bit but her face was still the same, in her sleep she still looked a bit bewildered and melancholy. Her sleeping posture seemed to curl up as if she was rolling all her sadness into her heart. The unmistakable sleeping posture of an orphan. Unable to hold back, I bent down to hug Lem, tears streaming down my face. Lem woke up with a start, surprised to recognize me, she sat up and rubbed her eyes as if she couldn't believe this dream was real. "Sister... Sister Mo!" - Lem called my name tremblingly. "Yes, it's me!" - I hugged Lem tightly, bursting into tears.

Lem was bewildered, not understanding why I was crying. Her eyes were jet black, her eyelashes fluttering slightly because of the sudden joy. The children in the house also woke up, looking at me half curiously, half questioningly. One boldly approached and touched my bag, another touched the hairpin on my head, the rest laughed happily and then went out to the porch to play. I sat with Lem for most of the afternoon before standing up to leave. Lem reluctantly went to the door and watched my figure until it disappeared.

I returned home, feeling restless. At night, I intended to tell my parents that I had met Lem at the orphanage that afternoon, but seeing my parents absorbed in their work, calculating how to save money to support my siblings and me, I sat silently at my desk. My father was exhausted after returning from the construction site every afternoon, and my mother was calculating and patching up all kinds of expenses, still lacking money. From then on, besides studying, I threw myself into working part-time, doing anything as long as I had money to help my family and take care of Lem.

On the weekend, I visited Lem. In the bag there was a dress for Lem, a bag of popcorn, and some lollipops. Seeing the gifts, Lem's eyes lit up with childish joy. Lem carefully opened the bag of popcorn and shared it with her friends standing around, keeping only a few kernels and a lollipop, carefully hiding it in her pocket. Watching Lem eat each kernel of popcorn as if she was afraid it would run out, I felt my nose sting. Compared to the children of the same age here, Lem appeared more mature, on her immature face there was always a trace of sadness, sometimes I caught a glistening tear in her eyes.

Every Sunday afternoon, I regularly visited Lem. As usual, Lem always stood by the window, holding onto the bars and looking towards the end of the road. When he saw me, Lem's face lit up. Every time I sat and played with Lem until the end of the afternoon. I bought colored paper to teach Lem how to fold cranes, and her tiny hands meticulously created beautiful cranes. There were afternoons when Lem waited for me to come just to babble about all sorts of things in life. The story of someone's stray cat that Tuyen's mother called in to feed, the story of Lem dreaming at night that I took her to the park, the story of the bushes behind the house with a green snake. Lem became more and more attached to me. Perhaps in her young mind, I was the only relative left in the world. Every time she saw me preparing to leave, Lem's eyes filled with tears, Lem followed me to the gate but only as far as that, then turned back. Perhaps Lem had been trained in the rules of the orphanage.

"Cinderella!" I always called her that whenever I visited her. Still with that same lonely and pitiful look, Lem rushed out of the house and into my arms with tears in her eyes.

For over a year, I visited Lem every week, until one day my parents accidentally found out and scolded me for daring to hide such a big thing. My father went to the orphanage to complete the paperwork to take Lem home even though the family's finances were still difficult. My mother received more packaging to paste, my siblings also helped my mother, my father came at night to get a job as a security guard at the factory, that was enough for my family to get by.

The day I came home, Lem started first grade. In a flash, Lem went to college and worked far away, but he still came home every weekend. Ly and Nhai also had stable jobs. I followed my husband to the South to start a career, busy with work and two small children. My parents now have gray hair and their faces are covered with the scars of time.

Sometimes I dream of returning on the steep gravel road, Lem sitting behind swinging on the bike, the bike that accompanied us through a difficult childhood but also full of love like a gentle little rain.

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/lem-va-ngoi-nha-ben-doc-soi-a186517.html