Devil's Word

Chapter 16: Rome

Emma Hatthaway could not sleep that night, her mind full of images of people in armor riding on mighty horses. Footsteps and horseshoes pounding in my head. Her head felt like it was going to explode.

Emma Hatthaway hadn't slept all night, and in the morning she came out of her new room looking disheveled. Her hair was disheveled, her eyes were dark circles, and she was lifeless.

"Why don't you sleep at night, why is your face so swollen and dark?" When Mrs. Rebecca saw her coming out like that, she couldn't help but frown.

"I couldn't sleep at night."

"Why can't you sleep?"

"I do not know." Emma Hatthaway walked over to the table and poured herself a drink to stay awake. She knew the reason why she couldn't sleep but she didn't want to tell her mother.

"Mommy stewed me a bowl of lotus porridge, lately my skin is so pale." Rebecca went back to the kitchen to continue her work.

"How many days off this time, Emma?" Her father came in from the yard to ask.

Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year. The school allows three days off for Tet. Just not having to go through that part of the road for three days was enough for her to think about reviving this over-stressed soul.

"Three days, Dad."

"There was a bunch of vegetables in front of my house that I planted a few days ago and now have grown weeds. Today, I'll finish pulling it and I'll go back to visit my grandfather in a few days."

"Yes."

Emma Hatthaway's home was not originally from this area. When she was just five years old, the family moved here. Because my parents went to work in New York and couldn't afford to live, they decided to move here to live comfortably. Grandma also moved here with her family. Originally, my parents wanted to buy a piece of land far away next to my grandfather's house. But people did not sell, so they bought a house. Her mother is a person who loves to grow vegetables like her, but her parents work as workers in the district and are always away, so the vegetable clumps have not been weeded for a long time. On the occasion of today's holiday, she should take care of them a little.

Emma Hatthaway styled her hair and ate breakfast. Breakfast is simple, so she eats it very quickly, eats it quickly so that she can go out and pull the weeds quickly so she doesn't die from the sun. The sunshine of the West has already entered the new year but it has not cooled down yet. Only about half an afternoon the sun has burned all the meat and meat, so she has to take advantage when it is cool to go to work.

When she was spitting, she felt someone staring at her, a very uncomfortable feeling. Emma Hatthaway thought it must be a woman with no hair, so she didn't care. But those eyes kept staring at her until she couldn't stand it.

Looking up, Emma Hatthaway saw a sickly teenager with sunken eyes looking at her rather than the eyeless woman she thought. The boy was wearing an old pair of jeans and was barefoot. Emma Hatthaway raised her hand to wave, but the boy remained motionless. Maybe he was too weak to raise his hand to wave back, she thought. The boy was bone-thin and she could count his ribs. She thought for a moment that he was really cocky, she had already greeted him with a friendly nod and he didn't even return a nod.

Standing and watching her work for a few minutes, the boy turned to walk and soon disappeared behind the dense bushes.

"Hey, where are you going?" Emma Hatthaway felt a little strange.

There was not a single reply.

That boy is not from this village, he looks very strange. She knew almost everyone in the village. But she didn't know him, and in her village, there was no family so poor that they let their children become so skinny.

Emma Hatthaway didn't care either, continuing to weed.

That day she did not see the faceless woman appear, nor did she feel too strange because, in recent years, she did not come to visit her every day.

Emma Hatthaway's most gentle day in recent times.

The next day, Emma Hatthaway was sweeping the house, when the skinny boy from yesterday returned with a woman about forty years old, also dressed in rags, with a shriveled face. The woman approached the fence and asked Emma Hatthaway, while the boy followed him with his head bowed:

"You're the one who just bought this land, right?"

"That's right. Do you need any help?" Emma Hatthaway felt a slight pity for the two of them. Looks like they're a mother-daughter pair.

The woman said stiffly:

"I'm here to see if I can help you. This is Rome, my son. He does a great job and is very strong, not as weak as he looks. If your family needs it, he will help you with the garden work as well as let you run errands. Every day, you only ask your family to give you five thousand dong."

"My family doesn't need to hire a gardener. My house is just normal here. If you want, take me to the village chief's house. He probably needs it." Emma Hatthaway was a little surprised. Didn't that woman see her house as a tiny fourth-floor house? How big and beautiful is the house? Why don't you take your children to it?

"I'm afraid people will criticize him. But he's already sixteen years old. He's very healthy, ma'am."

"What is going on?" Mrs. Rebecca heard the noise outside and went out of the house.

"There is this lady who wants to send her son here." Emma Hatthaway saw her mother and stepped aside.

"What does she want?" Mrs. Rebecca stepped forward with the air of a hostess.

"This is my son, Rome. He wants to work for your family. He is very healthy, not what he looks like. My family doesn't have enough money to feed him. I hope you accept it. I just hope you give it to me every month. Five thousand dong."

Mrs. Rebecca looked at their mother and daughter's appearance and felt guilty. She was about to refuse but then thought again. Only five thousand dong can save two lives. What is it worth? Looking at the boy's appearance, he probably didn't eat or drink anything.

"Then let him stay, but every morning he has to wake up at my house and just take care of this little vegetable."

"Good luck then, thank you."

"The boy is too small. I wonder if he wants to do it?"

Rome didn't answer, making Mrs. Hanh wondered if he heard her or not because he still stood still with his head down, never raising his eyes. Her mother motioned for Mrs. Hanh to step away from her, and then she whispered:

"Ma'am, I don't want my child to have to go back and forth because our house is quite far. He can sleep in that little shack over there and please don't bother about feeding him, I'll bring him some food. Food comes to him every day. He has a hard time eating. I know what he wants to eat and will take care of him. Every time I come, please give me five thousand dong."

Rebecca looked at the little shack near the banana bushes that her family called the barn.

"What about Rome's nephew? If he works for me, I have to pay him."

The woman shook her head.

"Ma'am, you don't understand. I need money to feed the children at home. My father, Rome, has passed away and now he is the only one who can work to support his family. He wants to work to help. Help me and you won't regret letting him help. He is diligent, works tirelessly and never complains about anything."

"All right. But I think maybe he shouldn't sleep outside the tent. Let me prepare a room in the house for him. My house is not big but it can be arranged."

"It's okay, ma'am. He doesn't need to sleep in the house. He has a hard time sleeping and I don't want him to bother you. It's best if he sleeps in that cottage."

Then his mother and son, Rome, took each other home.