The Father Who Waits at the Darkened Alleyways

Memories of her father, translated…

There came, a yellow ray of light, out from the entrance of the darkened alley, a thin frame, with a flashlight approached, he’d started, cussing at me.  I’d, focused my eyes, and realized that it was, my father, he was, waiting for me, at the entrance of our street, as the rumbling winter cold wind blew, she’d, shivered and quivered, and continued scolding me, “Do you know how late it is, why don’t you, just stay out and die, and don’t EVER come back again.”, as he’d cussed on, he’d turned that flashlight towrd the darkened alley, led me onward.  My tears were, circling in my eye, this was the way a father loved his daughter, I suppose.

My father, he’d, always loved us deeply, using his own ways: as his children got into fights outside, he’d learned about whose fault it was, then, the whips came down on our bodies, and, as the night falls, and everything became, quieted, he’d, started, rubbing the oinments on our bodies.  My second youngest sister recalled, how she was, awakened by the minty scent of the ointment, she’d, looked at my father with sleepy eyes, and as he’d kneaded her muscles, he’d told her, “You’ll be okay in the morning.”

My father is the eldest son, the pressures of carrying on the family’s last name, it’d forced him to have a son, and, he’d raised five daughters, and two sons total.

The pressures of the economics, it’d made my parents work really hard to bring in the money, back then, the hat industry was on the rise, the plastic hat with the embroidered on patterns was the main exports, my father went to the hat factory, to pick up half a dozen half-finished hats to give them out to the workers to help, he’d rode out on that ancient scooter, from the coastlines of Taichung, to the mountains of Dongshi.  Forty years ago, the roads weren’t as flattened or smooth as it is right now, for a hat that he only earned a couple of dimes on, he’d not cared about how hard it was, and yet, his children didn’t know this, it wasn’t until high school, when I’d started, chatting with a classmate, and she’d told me that my father had gone to her town, to pass out the hats to work, “your father said, that as school started, the tuitions are like those huge tidal waves, they’d, crushed him.”, I’d felt that sourness rising up from my heart, and I’d, come to know, how much my father was, giving to us.

On the weekends, all of us, would sleep in, and, his way of waking us up was quite unique, he’d taken out that black vinyl record, and played the songs of the famous Japanese female singer, and this worked way better than the alarm clocks, the seven of us who were, squeezed into the top and bottom bunks all, hopped off our bed in an instant.

My father kept pondering on how to make more money, so his wife and children will have it easier, being handsome as he, he auditioned for a role in the programming, and was given the role of a doctor; unformtunately, my mother had her doubts of the entertainment industries, and so, my father had to, give it up.

My uncle who lived in Taipei told, there was a fortune-teller who was right on the money, he’d pulled my father to get his fortunes told.  The fortune-teller told, that my father has a second lover, and that everything will happen, and my uncle started watching to see.  And surely enough, on that very year, there was, a widowwho was rich, who had her eye on my father, but my father was more than settled, told her, that he was already married, that he won’t have any of that, shattering the fortune that the fortune teller foretold of him.

As my younger brother passed his college entrance and was accepted to the economics department of National Taiwan University, my father was ecstatic for days on end, and later, one of my sisters passed the government employees’ exams, one for the telecommunications bureau and the other for the post office.  My father started asking around which one is best, seeing how his children has a smooth ride in their studies and career, was what made him feel most at ease, he’d saved up all he could, and bought us the best school supplies.

 a father who was there, every step of the way, as his children grow up…photo from online

In my studies, from my first year of middle school to my second in high school, I was in the examinations track, and, I’d become, broed, and, in my second year of high school, I’d started rebelling, and, I’d found my headmaster, and had him, transfer me into the easy class.  After my father knew, he’d ridden that creaking ancient scooter to school, attempted to get me to change my mind, he’d stood next to the headmaster, and begged me, “Won’t you consider it again?” and in the end, he’d, left, disappointed.

Before my college entrance exam, my father who’d saved up everything he’d hearned, he’d bought a cake for my birthday, and, made the wish of how I can, get into a college that’s ideal, but, unfortunately, it didn’t, work out as he wished it would.

That year, the black van took my father in the darkened nights of Taiwan’s seaside freeways, I’d held on to his mildly warmed hands, not knowing what I should do, and, as the tears fell, it’d been, seven years that’s come to pass already.

And so, this showed, how much high hopes this man has for his children, and yet, the children had their own paths of life to follow, and, this man still kept giving to his family, made sure his children are, well taken care of, and, in that era of time, that, is considered a good father.