I returned home unannounced after four years in Canada and found my wife with a shaved head, terribly thin and struggling alone in the backyard. My mother said she had sought that punishment herself. I didn't scream. Instead, I got my phone...
“That bald woman should not be seen when we have visitors!”
I heard my brother Derek screaming before he even walked through the door.
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Anatomy
Communication Teams
Foreign currency and currency exchange
In the backyard, my wife, Clara, was on her knees picking up the pieces of a broken plate with her bare hands. His head was shaved. His cheekbones were sunk. Next to his feet was a bucket of dirty water.
Anatomy
“Pick up the pieces, Clara,” my mother, Vivian, shouted from the room. “If anyone cuts himself, I will deduct him from the food.”
I stood still behind the fence, still with the suitcase in my hand.
No one knew he was back.
A temporary shutdown at the Calgary metallurgical workshop had unexpectedly given us several weeks off. My friends went to visit their families. I bought a ticket that same night because I wanted to surprise my wife.
For four years he had worked twelve-hour shifts, eaten reheated food in a workshop that smelled of burnt metal and endured winters that cracked my lips.
Each month I would send between two and three thousand dollars to Vivian’s bank account.
That money was supposed to be used to finish the house, build our future and take care of Clara while I was away.
In total, he had sent almost a hundred thousand dollars, in addition to a bonus every December.
I never questioned him.
Terraces and gardening
I trusted my mother.
I trusted Derek.
And most of all, I thought my wife was safe.
During our video calls, Clara always said:
“I’m fine, my love. Don’t worry.”
But a few months ago he stopped turning on the camera.
Bad internet connection, he said.
His phone was old.
I was tired.
Now I knew why.
Clara tried to stand up, but her legs failed.
Pregnancy and Maternity
Derek went out into the yard in new designer clothes and a glass of whiskey in his hand.
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House and garden
cane
Dictionaries and encyclopedias
“Hurry up. We still need the dishes for dinner.”
“I’m dizzy,” Clara whispered. “I almost didn’t eat yesterday.”
