I didn't go to college because Dr. Wang and Ms. Alexian didn't mention any plan for their retirement. Since the medical doctor and the high school teacher were the only positions requiring a college degree in Visione, the town people felt safe enough not to push the young smart candidates to squeeze their brain in somewhere out of the Valley polluted by what they called the Hippies. They would suddenly lower their volume and say, “Look what they did to Marian!”.
On the other hand this kind of words or “Marian was ever such a lovely girl...” often followed after the passing by of Katerina and her mom, Marian Blendy. Katerina had been always held firmly in hand by Ms. Blendy, but after Katerina's 8th grade Ms. Blendy was so weak that she couldn't go anywhere without Katerina's help. I had never seen Katerina's father, and Katerina told me that she had adopted her mom's family name, not her father's, and she knew nothing about her dad.
Katerina wasn't born in Visione, according to my mom. Neither the small size of Visione Valley nor the long history of being neighbors can force the town people to keep no secret to each other. It's the culture presented as the bonds of big family, which might be derived from the legacy of both the Italian and the Chinese early immigrants, making the town people automatically updated their own news and what they had heard to each other. The transmitting efficiency is quite amazing when I really think of it. I remembered that I felt momentarily confused when the neighbor of my mom's second cousin once removed, the first time visitor, felt sorry for me on the 2nd day of Katerina's left. This kind of the tight cultural bond didn't seem to connect to the Blendys though, or the Blendys had cut all the connections out. Ms. Blendy was cruelly strict to Katerina, and to anyone who attempted to be nice to her. Sometimes I could hear Ms. Blendy yelled to who had tried to be friendly by sharing a cake and some daily gossips:
“Leave us alone! How can you be so SELFISH? Don't you have your own space to stay?”
In Visione, no matter how nice a person could be, “selfish” was still a too heavy accusation even worse than “Liar”!
I might be the only exception who could approach Katerina, after I had seen Ms. Blendy's first smile to me. I was only 8, when my bicycle still attached two sub-wheels at the tail. That afternoon I just finished my self-training of downgrade sliding on the Upper Eyeline, I saw Ms. Blendy and Katerina taking a rest on the road side.
“Good Afternoon, Ms. Blendy.” The discipline I 'd been taught to respect the elders had defeated my fear of the unfriendly stare. Katerina was only a 6 year old girl with one hand in her mom's, seeking for shelter behind Ms. Blendy while revealing half of her face watching me.
“Leave, Kid! Don't make me start.” Ms. Blendy was pale with a voice sounds like exhausted.
“Ms. Blendy, you really have to go to see Dr. Wang. After he gives you a shot, then you can have a candy bar, and then your Hippies will be gone.” I tried to explain to Ms. Blendy as my mom had done to me.
“What Hippies?” Ms. Blendy asked.
“My mom said, you met the Hippies when you were not in Visione, and you became sick after then.”
“Oh, that Hippies.” It's that moment I saw Ms. Blendy's smile.
“What's your name, kid?”
“My name is Marco Hsu, I am 8 years old, I want to be an interpreter in the future.” I answered.
“Marco the interpreter, why don't you show little Katerina around with your pretty bike when I can rest a little more?”
“Yes, Ms. Blendy. Good afternoon, Katerina, my name is Marco Hsu, I am 8 years old, I want to be an interpreter in the future.”
沒有留言:
張貼留言