Chapter 155

“Why are you suddenly interrupting? If you’re not selling vegetables, just go on your way. Why are you butting in?”

“Why, you ask?”

Aunt Marie pulled Tom by the shoulder and brought him close to her.

“He’s my son! I left him to learn how to bargain, but I can’t just stand and watch!”

The owner’s brown eyes shook violently.

“Your son?”

“Yes!”

“He… doesn’t look like you?”

“Well, I gave birth to a handsome son. My husband is quite a looker!”

Tom unconsciously thought of Uncle Ron, Aunt Marie’s husband, and crumpled his face.

Ron was far from handsome; he had a rough, frightening face with a large scar on his cheek. Whenever he approached, children would burst into tears out of fear.

When Tom first met Uncle Ron, according to Aunt Marie, he had cried loudly asking to be rescued.

And now Aunt Marie is saying Uncle Ron is handsome? She sure knows how to lie.

The owner didn’t seem to believe it either, and took another look at Tom.

“Are you really her son?”

“Why are you so suspicious when I’m telling you he’s my son?”

“I should believe it when you give me a reason to believe! He doesn’t resemble you at all!”

Tom quickly hugged Aunt Marie’s waist as he noticed both pairs of eyes on him. He’s quite quick-witted.

“She is my mom!”

As soon as he said that, Aunt Marie knelt down and hugged him tightly.

For some reason, his heart felt heavy at that moment.

* * *

“Hmm, hmph! Hm!”

Tom hummed a tune, holding his bulky wallet in his hands.

‘She’s a mean lady.’

The purse the owner reluctantly handed over after a long dispute was twice the size of the first one. It was so heavy that it almost made him stagger. If Aunt Marie hadn’t been there, he would’ve undoubtedly left without getting his due.

“Thank you.”

As Tom bowed, Aunt Marie ruffled his hair.

“Thankful, huh. But from now on, don’t be like earlier, be more assertive. You have to be a tough guy to survive.”

“Tough guy?”

“It means to live with more confidence.”

“I think I’m living pretty confidently.”

Aunt Marie chuckled.

“That’s right, you’re tough enough. You dug up all those potatoes alone in that scorching sun.”

“Next year, I’m going to plant potatoes myself. I haven’t learned it, but I saw my father do it, so I can!”

“That’s right, if you don’t know something, ask me.”

“Yes!”

“More importantly, don’t leave my side. A little kid like you carrying that much money alone can get into a lot of trouble.”

Tom belatedly realized he left his wallet behind. 

He quickly stuffed it into his shirt pocket and clung tightly to Aunt Marie’s side. Perhaps it was because of Aunt Marie’s warning, or he felt paranoid about the watchful gazes of others. He looked around rubbing the back of his neck, feeling a sense of unease.

Every time he came out to the bustling streets, he had become accustomed to the scrutinizing stares.

What shocked him was a carriage parked in a remote corner of the plaza. It was an ornate, twin-horse carriage that was completely out of place in this quiet countryside village, redolent of manure. Just looking at it brought back unpleasant memories, making his stomach churn.

“Why are you like this?”

Tom was gently patting Aunt Marie’s arm with his trembling hand when she comforted him by softly patting his back.

“…”

By the time Aunt Marie shifted her gaze to where Tom was looking, the carriage was already far away.

“It’s okay, it’s okay.”

Finally, Tom managed to let out the breath he had been holding in until his face turned pale, and released Aunt Marie’s arm. Having Aunt Marie by his side helped him calm down quickly.

Afterwards, Tom and Aunt Marie shopped in the market, buying everything they needed. They bought pepper, which was running low due to the frequent consumption of soup lately, and cheese to accompany the baked potatoes they loved.

Passing by the butcher’s shop, Tom had a sudden craving for meat, so he decided to buy a small portion.

He wondered if he had overspent, but Aunt Marie had always said that it was okay to indulge a little on the day you earned money, so he felt somewhat relieved.

“Have you bought everything?”

“Yes!”

“Shall we go back then?”

“Sounds good!”

Tom, his arms filled with purchases, smiled satisfactorily.

‘I can do it on my own now.’

I can do it. I’ll live diligently and become proud.

Just as Aunt Marie had said, he’ll become independent!

* * *

Wearing his father’s straw hat and diligently tending the garden, Tom suddenly looked at his own hands.

His hands, once as fair and soft as a noble’s, had become covered in tiny scars after just two months. Despite washing them thoroughly, the dirt under his nails wouldn’t come out. Calluses had formed in various parts of his palms.

They were the perfect farmer’s hands.

But he wasn’t sad. Tom was rather proud of his hands, which were slowly becoming similar to his father’s.

Drip. A drop of water fell onto the dry soil. As Tom was looking at the dark spot that appeared on the ground, drip, drip, drip, more raindrops fell.

“Huh?”

Tom, who had been digging the ground as usual with his straw hat on, looked up at the sky. Dark clouds had silently filled the sky, which had been clear just in the morning.

‘That’s why the sun wasn’t too hot.’

A light rain during summer helps with farming. It makes watering the parched land easier and the cool weather prevents exhaustion. Tom gripped his seedling hoe and was about to start digging again.

However, the thin rain quickly turned into a heavy downpour. The rain was pouring down so heavily that it hurt his shoulders and back.

Tom quickly grabbed his seedling hoe and the basket he had placed next to him and ran home.

Tom went to the bathroom, washed off the muddy water, dried his body and hair with a towel, and came out into the living room. The rain outside had become even heavier, and the backyard was barely visible through the window due to the darkness.

“Wow, it’s pouring heavily.”

Suddenly, Tom counted the days with his fingers. After a while, his eyes widened as if he had realized something, and he let out a sigh of relief.

“I’m glad I didn’t plant the seeds.”

Relief wasn’t exactly the right term. He couldn’t plant because of the rain, but anyway, the seeds he had intended to plant would have been washed away by the rain.

That’s right. It was already the beginning of the rainy season.

For at least a week, heavy rain would continue like this. Tom stared out into the darkening outside, then turned to look inside the dark house.

During the rainy season, the family couldn’t farm and had to stay home all day. Because they couldn’t afford to use expensive candles freely, they had to gather around a single candle lit in the living room.

His stepmother complained about her poor eyesight while sewing or knitting, and his father hurriedly worked on all the farm tools before the end of the rainy season.

Tom spent his time drawing on a small blackboard or playing marbles with pebbles while lying on his stomach on the floor.

The days were dark and scary, but never lonely. However, the living room, which was quiet but bustling with energy, was now empty.

It was the first rainy season that he was spending alone since he was born.

Tom suddenly became aware of his reality.

* * *

The rain was pouring down heavily when Aunt Marie came to see Tom. As expected, the food basket she brought was completely soaked in the rain. However, thankfully, the bread inside was almost dry, unlike the cloth covering the basket, which was thoroughly wet.

“Are you really okay?”

“I’m fine!”

Despite Tom’s brave reply, Aunt Marie seemed unconvinced.

“Why don’t you come and stay at my house during the rainy season? We can’t work in the fields anyway. You can play with my kids.”

Tom shook his head again. Why should he go somewhere else when his house is perfectly fine!

Aunt Marie tried to persuade Tom with a sense of regret, but Tom defiantly ran to the sofa and pulled a blanket over himself.

“That’s all I need.”

“Okay, I understand. If you’re scared to be alone later, be sure to come to my house.”

“Yes!”

However, that probably won’t happen. Why would he be scared of a bit of rain?

With the blanket draped over him, Tom ran to the door again, waving goodbye to Aunt Marie. After seeing her figure shrink in the distance, he locked the door and lay back on the sofa.

‘I have boiled potatoes, and there’s also the bread Aunt Marie gave me.’

He felt like having some warm cheese, so he rummaged in the kitchen and found a bowl he hadn’t used in a while.

He lit a candle under the bowl, thinly sliced cheese on top of it, which would melt and could then be spread on the boiled potatoes.

It was a simple but exquisite dish. It was okay to enjoy such a luxury for a day.

For a while, Tom busied himself in the kitchen, carefully slicing the cheese and potatoes, and then returned to the living room and placed the bowl over the candle.

Not much later, the cheese began to bubble and melt. Looking at the oozing cheese and potatoes, Tom swallowed his saliva.

Just as he was about to wrap the cheese around the potato with a fork, the window lit up as bright as day and then darkened again.

Tom was so startled that he hunched his shoulders. He almost dropped his carefully prepared food.

Tom quickly put his fork down on the plate and covered his ears.

Boom, boom! A thunderous sound reverberated as if it would shake the world. Even with his ears covered, it was so loud that his chest pounded.

‘I’m not scared.’

Tom took a deep breath and popped the half-eaten potato into his mouth. The crumbly potato and the salty, greasy cheese were indeed a good combination.

Next, he also put some cheese on the bread Aunt Marie had given him and took a bite. The bread was hard and difficult to chew, but the more he chewed, the richer the flavor became, and it went well with the cheese.

“I’m not scared.”

He deliberately chewed his food more vigorously.

“I’m not scared of a little rain.”

However, when the sky flashed again, he threw down his fork and crawled into the blanket.

“Ahh!”

When he was scared during thunderstorms, his father would chide him, asking how he could still be scared of something like thunder at his age. His father never comforted him, saying it was okay because he was there.

However, there were times when it was reassuring and comforting just to have his father beside him.

“Uhhh!”

Father, father, father.

I miss you.

Tom whimpered under his blanket and sobbed.

After his first rainy season alone, Tom started to dislike rainy days. The loud sound of rain hitting the windows and the musty smell of wet soil mixed with the peculiar smell of rainwater reminded him of the dim living room where no one was around.