I'm good but not as good as an angel and I'm bad but not as bad as a devil. I am who I am and no else
is like me.
***
In Mpumalanga, South Africa.
"Grandma, I miss mommy and Papa Brian..." Mark said softly, weakly looking at Shirley, who was
blowing on the porridge to cool it down for him.
Shirley paused slightly then said with a smile, "Mark, you're sick and your mommy and papa Brian are
busy right now and they need someone to take care of you. Don't you like staying with grandpa and
grandma?"
Mark paused then he asked, "Do they not like me anymore because I'm sick?"
"No, no, how could that be?" Shirley said hastily. She put down the porridge and delicately stroked
Mark's face with her hand. She felt her heart ache as she looked at his sweet face. In the past few
days, Mark had lost a lot of weight because of the operation. Shirley could not help but feel sorry for
him. She said, "Mark, you must believe that nobody loves you more than your mommy and Papa Brian.
You know what? No one else wants to see you grow happy and healthy like they do. Whatever they're
doing now, they're doing it for you. So trust grandma, okay, Mark?"
Mark pressed his mouth together as he stared at Shirley then nodded. He said, "Okay, I understand.
I'm going to grow up healthy and happy and I'll protect mommy and papa Brian."
Shirley smiled and softly pinched Mark's nose with her fingers, "What about grandma and grandpa?"
"Of course, I will!" Mark said with a smile—he was so pale because he was still recovering.
Shirley didn't leave until he finished eating, after which, he took a nap. Shirley sat by his bedside for a
while—he looked so feeble. She couldn't help but sigh. Even the strongest and toughest man would be
emotional from being sick and being taken care of by the people he loves the most let alone a kid.
When Mark was taken here, he was unconscious. So when he woke up without his mom and dad
there, he felt bad. When Mark was already fast asleep, Shirley asked someone to watch over him so
she could go back to her room. To her surprise, she saw the person she had been wanting to see for
the longest time sitting in her room.
"Shirley!"
Wing ran to Shirley and hugged her. Shirley hugged her back with a smile on her face. No matter how
much time had passed, Wing still loved seeing Shirley. She was still the little girl every time she saw
Shirley. Shirley ran a finger through Wing's long, silky hair and asked, "I thought you were going to A
City? What are you doing here?"
Wing released her as she replied, "Brian said there was going to be an emergency in A City soon so he
told me to wait it out. And besides, I didn't want to be of any trouble to him." She had lived in Dragon
Island as a princess for several years so she was quite aware of that the political climate was going
through same changes as a result of social transition and wild ambition of some people.
"Okay, that's okay!" Shirley nodded. Brian already had his hands full with Molly so how could he still be
taking care of Wing too? Shirley looked around and then asked, "Are you here alone?"
"Weston's here too. He just went out with Richie," Wing said, "What about Mark? Richie just told me
that Mark was normally asleep at this time of the day so I didn't bother to go to his room and say hi."
"It's nothing, it's nothing..." Shirley said waving her off, "Mark's too young to be bothered by such
problems."
This seemed to strike a nerve because Wing's face immediately darkened. As someone who went
through something similar, she had a pretty good guess what Mark was feeling now.
***
A City.
Molly hadn't seen Brian in two days. Maybe it was because of the bad mood she had been in or her
chaotic mind but either way, she couldn't find a job yet.
"Mrs. Molly Long, you look a little pale. I made bird stew for you. Would you like to try it?" Lisa asked
tenderly.
Molly attempted to smile then shook her head. She felt so tired that she didn't want to do anything but
lay in bed. "Lisa, I'm a little tired so I'm just going to take a nap first. I'll be downstairs later to try it,
okay? You can rest now," she said.
Today, she had gotten home pretty later than usual—the night was already a blanket of stars. And as
she had expected, Brian wasn't there—he'd been so busy nowadays. In fact, he had rarely been so
leisure as in the several days in QY Island last time.
The thought of QY Island came to her mind again...
As her mind raced, Molly paused slightly as she climbed her way upstairs, grimacing. This was reality
now but she often still thought back to everything that happened in QY Island.
She lowered her eyes and glanced at the ring that was sitting on the fourth finger of her right hand. One
day, she had asked Brian why the blue diamond was called "the Soul of K." Brian had just simply held
her in his arms and said in a low voice, "The Soul of K is the symbol of an organization. Once you have
it on you, the organization will protect you no matter what even if you're an enemy, they can't hurt you."
At that time, Molly had wondered if Brian was part of that organization. But she hadn't asked him
anymore. When she decided to be with this man, she had to accept everything about him. Even if he
was, let's say, part of this underground organization, what did it matter? He was still Brian, her son's
father and her husband. But now...
As these thoughts ran through her mind, Molly lowered her hand on which the ring was worn. She
made her way to Mark's bedroom. She entered the room and sat down by the bedside, then she raised
her right hand again. The blue diamond glimmered ever so slightly under the light of the wall lamps.
She stroked the diamond lightly. She had the urge to throw it out but she knew she would miss the
feeling of it around her finger when it was put on for the first time by him.
She took the ring off and held it between her fingers. Her vision started to blur with the tears welling up
in her eyes until she couldn't see the blue light of the stone clearly. She just kept staring at the ring for
who knows long—she had already lost track of time. She took a deep breath and wiped off her tears.
She opened the drawer at the bedside table and tossed the ring inside before slamming it shut.
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