Page 104 - I Live in the Slums: Stories (The Margellos World Republic of Letters)

back here. How are all of you? Did time heal the wound?” Looking up, she
swept her eyes toward the loft, and a fleeting smile skimmed over her face.
“There’s still something I don’t understand. You were so serious about this
matter. And then you just forgot it all? Do you treat your own issues like this?”
“Of course,” she laughed, “I act just the same. Everything is but an
assumption, and we need to be flexible in dealing with each of our problems.
Your father was a very flexible guy. He was never left with no way out.”
“So you just faked the serious manner to remind me. Is that it?”
“I can’t say I was faking. At the time, what I said was all true. Later, with the
problem on the table, I believed you understood it all, and so I left your home.
What kind of outcome do you want? Nothing can be completed. This is the
conclusion. I remember there was a wooden box, right? Your father loved these
childish games, and he purposely concocted mysteries. In the past, you were

really numb. If I hadn’t reminded you, you wouldn’t have noticed anything,
would you? In fact, there were also some special characteristics to your father’s
methods. A box!” She burst out laughing, and then turned serious again.
“There’s no point in being so earnest about this. Why would it matter if you had
opened it and looked inside? You’re still too stressed out. You aren’t flexible.”
Just as suddenly as she had appeared, my cousin vanished. One night, I
encountered her mother on the street. The old woman was standing alone
looking in all directions. I knew who she was looking for.
“She couldn’t have gone far, Auntie. She told me she’d be around. She’s
probably somewhere nearby.”
“I’ll make her pay for what she’s done.” She squeezed these words out from
between her teeth. In the cold wind, her face was frozen purple.
Before long, my uncle—my cousin’s father—died. She didn’t show up, but I
knew she was still here. She was a ghost, a person like Father. Perhaps someday,
she’ll walk into our house again and announce that she has to investigate another
of my sins.