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Minh broke down in tears.
“I’m sorry, Mom.”
His mother immediately scolded him gently.
“Sorry for what?
You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Between sobs, Minh said,
“I’m already grown up, yet you’re still the one worrying about me.”
His mother smiled through her tears.
“My son, you’ll only understand once you become a parent…
Even when you’re fifty years old, you’ll still be the child your mother wants to protect, even if it’s just a little.”
The call ended.
Minh sat motionless beneath the porch roof.
She simply sat beside him.
Minh opened his hands and stared at the cracked calluses on his palms.
“My mother has had nothing her entire life,” he said, his voice trembling.
“But whatever was best…
she always gave it to my sister and me.
And when she had nothing left to give…
she still insisted she had enough.”
Tears streamed down Hạnh’s face as well.
That night, Minh’s mother called again.
Her voice trembled, but she tried to sound cheerful.
“I’ve got the money now, son.”
Minh froze.
She explained that after hearing about Linh’s situation, a kind-hearted person had given her a large sum of money.
“I brought it home right away.
Tomorrow morning, we’ll take your sister for treatment.”
For the first time in many days, the weight on his chest seemed to lift, even if only a little.
But on her way home, his mother hugged the bag tightly against her chest.
She walked along the familiar dirt road, her thoughts filled only with Linh’s face.
She imagined her daughter recovering, smiling as brightly as she used to.
She even told herself that tomorrow morning she would buy some food for Minh because, from the sound of his voice on the phone, she knew he had grown much thinner.
Suddenly, a shadow rushed out from the darkness.
The bag was violently snatched from her hands.
Minh’s mother fell hard onto the dirt road.
She struggled to hold on, but her frail hands were no match.
The thief disappeared into the night.
She remained sitting there, her knees scraped and bleeding, both hands still clutching the empty space against her chest—as if the money were still there.
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