《Long Long Time Ago》
Grandmother is going to tell a story, sitting by the small round table, when grandfather are still out, because he doesn’t like to talk about things that were in the past, she said. Those things was so long time ago, you guys don’t know that anymore, if I don’t tell you.
‘I was still a girl when I was married into your grandfather’s house,’grandmother said. That time great grandfather was still alive, and the nasty great grandmother too. Well, great grandfather died really early, while great grandmother lived a vey long life. Grandmother was in great doubt why such a person could deserve such a long time staying on human’s earth. Great grandmother died when my elder sister was ten years old and I wasn’t even born yet.
This is the first time I heard so many awful bad words coming out of my grandmother’s mouth. It is a mixture of awe and frightened and weird and funny. Gandmother showed me what words great-grandmother used to say to her. 'You fucking cunt, why do you marry my son? Is it because his penis is big?’ Or ‘ You son of a bitch, I hate to see your penis-like face.’ Great-grandmother was my grandfather’s mother. When my grandmother married into my grandfather’s house, the first thing great grandmother do was to assigned all the household responsibility to my grandmother. While grandmother worked hard at the rubber tree estate, on the wage receiving day, it was great grandmother who went to receive the money and only give grandmother back 20 ringgit to raise the children, to buy the respectful food for the whole family, in a way, she was telling her to use that little money to do everything. One time when grandmother was pregnant, great-grandmother even wanted to spank her. Every time grandmother was pregnant, great-grandmother would give her sincere wish that every one of her babies would died.
During dinner time great-grandmother would swear at every piece of vegetables on the table. She would say ‘What rubbish did you scumming back here? Are these food eatable?’
It was the genetic issue, because until this generation all the sons and daughters passing down from great grandmother's line was bad, except the line passing down from grandfather. Three of great grandmother’s children died, two in the car accident and one suicide. The suicide one is her daughter, because the daughter can’t stand her cursing anymore. Great-grandmother’s second son would not go to work at all, he would sell his own blood instead so to earn some money, and he died of car crash. Passing down the line, two sons of of great-grandmother's second son become drug addicts, now incapable to take care of the old mother, while becoming the burden of the old mother.They sell all the furnitures in the house to use the money to buy drugs. Their house was empty, they sleep on the floor at night. The government had cut off their light and water, so they would shower in public facilities. My first aunty, which is my father’s sister wanted to help them out, but as a result, the drug addicts sell the gas tank my aunty gave, even the water basin that was screwed on the wall. And as grandmother described, they lived like a dog.
Great grandfather died in the early age of 35, soon after he was dead great grandmother found herself in the arm of another man and wanted the man to have control over her children. That time grandfather was just a twelve-year-old boy, and he hated the “second father” so much.