Loveless, Lifeless, Dearest Prologue: Dàizi Tāng and Chāshāo Fàn

A Chapter by C

Beep beep beep. Morning, the one thing that I never like. As I turned my head to where the loud beeping was coming from, 7:30am, my eyes widened and I jumped out of my bed, skidded across the floor and ran to the bathroom that was in front of my little brother’s room. Before entering the bathroom, I turned to face the door of my little brother’s room and knocked on it loudly. “WAKE UP, SAMMY!!” I shouted. As the door swung open, I saw the face of my little brother that looked like he was going to murder me any minute now.

“Would you shut up, you monkey lady?” he asked, annoyed.

“Be glad that I decided to even wake you up, you ungrateful brat.” I muttered, deciding not to argue anymore.

“What did you say?!” yelled my little brother. Rolling my eyes, I ignored him. “It’s Saturday, stupid!” said Sammy as he went back into his room and slammed the door behind him, leaving me standing in front of the bathroom, alone, like an idiot. I went back into my room quietly and went back to sleep and didn’t wake up until 10:00am.

“Hahaha, why don’t you ever learn? Isn’t this the hundredth time that you did this? Haha.” said my best friend as she was laughing hysterically through the phone. I knew that I shouldn’t have told her. “I don’t understand why you always argue, every Saturday morning about the same thing, with Sammy. Haha.” she continued.

“Who’s that on the phone? Is it Grace?” asked my mom as she paced back and forth, trying to gather her work that was scattered everywhere.

“Yeah, why?” I asked.

“Ask her if she would like to come over for dinner tonight, I’m making dàizi tāng and chāshāo fàn.” said my mom as she fixed her hair for the last time.

“My mom asked if you would like to come over for dinner tonight. We’re having dàizi tāng and chāshāo fàn.” I said.

“Sure! I love Chinese food!” said Grace cheerfully.

“Alright, see you later then.” I said.

“Bye~” Grace said as I hung up.

“Celia! Do you know where my phone is?” yelled my mom in a hurry. As I put my phone down and got up from the couch that I was sitting on, I grabbed the phone that was sitting on the countertop and walk over to the door where my mom was putting on her shoes. After she was done, she grabbed her phone from me and stuffed it into her bag. She then placed her hands on my cheeks and leaned in to give me a kiss on the forehead. As she pulled back, she left behind a sweet scent of the perfume that she always wore. “You’re a lifesaver.” she said as she smiled warmly. “Take good care of your brother and watch over the house.” she continued.

“Kay~” I said as I watched her hurry over to her car and drive away.

It was already late at night, and Grace was already here. “Hey, when is she coming home? I’m starving here!” Sammy whined.

“Would you shut up for a minute?” I replied. It was strange and I was starting to worry if something might have happened to her.

“Did she get into an accident or something?” asked Grace.

“I don’t know, I’ll try to call her.” I said.

“The number you are-"

“Why isn’t she picking up?” I muttered to myself.

“Did something happen-” Sammy began to say as he was interrupted when the house phone rang.

“Hello?...” I began.

“Hello, I am Dr. Shane from X Hospital, may I know who I am speaking to?” asked the man with a husky voice.

“Uhh.. My name is Celia Lee…” I said hesitating.

“Celia Lee, 15 years old, born on September 2nd, 1999, daughter of Rosella Lee, correct?” asked the man.

“Yes.” I replied.

“Is there another adult with you currently?” He asked.

“No.” I said.

“Has anybody else called and told you about Rosella’s or your mom’s condition?” asked the man. Why is he asking so many questions?

“No?” I replied hesitating again.

“Okay, if you are not alone, please go to a separate room, I’m afraid I have some bad news to tell you.” he said. Bad news? What did he mean by that? As my heart started to beat louder, wondering what sort of bad news he would tell me, I did what I was told and went to my room. Grace and Sammy tried to follow, but I waved my hand giving them a signal telling them not to follow me. I shut the door behind me and asked him to continue. “I am sorry to inform you that Rosella Lee has died this evening at 9:00pm due to a car accident.” said the man. What? What is this man saying? My mom has- “Would you like to-” the man began.

“I’m sorry, may I call you back later?” I asked.

“...Sure, you can call us anytime at (xxx)-xxx-xxxx.” said the man before hanging up.

After he hung up, my room was filled with silence. What did he just tell me? My mom, she’s… dead? I stood there for a good five minutes trying to figure out what I was just told before I heard a knock on my door.

“Celia, what’s going on?” Grace asked. As I opened my door and saw Sammy, tears began to run down my face. “What’s wrong?! Why are you crying?!” Grace asked. I couldn’t speak. All I did was drop down on my knees to match Sammy’s height and hugged him.

“EWW!! What are you doing?! Why are you hugging me?!” yelled Sammy.

“JUST SHUT UP!” I yelled. Both Grace and Sammy didn’t say anything afterwards.

Sammy and I stayed over at Grace’s house when I finally explained what happened to her parents when they came to pick her up. Grace tried to comfort me, but then, she realized that there wasn’t really much she could say.

“Now my mom too..” I said in a shaky voice. I couldn’t help but to remember what happened this morning. Her telling me to invite Grace over because we would be having dàizi tāng and chāshāo fàn for dinner, the scene of her kissing my forehead, the scent of her perfume, and the warm smile that she gave me before she left the house. Everything, everything was just replaying in my head.

“Too? wait- no don’t think about that too.” said Grace.

“How can I not?...” I asked as more tears ran down my face. My dad was gone too. It was hard enough losing him, so why? Why did we have to lose our mom too? What have we done to deserve this? What did my mom do to deserve this? Why does God keep taking away the people I love?