Bloom




 * //__ Two Cultures  __//**

“How can you have an 8 on this exam?” Minh’s maternal grandfather Lam shouts at her as he sees her Music test result. He seems really angry but in Minh's mind he just looks like an old monkey who eats hot pepper.

“It’s not even a main subject,” Minh argues back. However, he does not care what she says and he phones her mother right away. She nearly opens her mouth a second time but knows she can’t speak like that to her elders.

Minh has been an excellent student for so long but it’s not what she really wants. She has to learn by heart every subject whether she either understands it or not. So, she will get a good mark. In public school, 8 is a quite high mark. It makes her position at the top of the class absolute.

Without saying anything else to her grandfather, she picks up her backpack and runs out of his house. On the way home, she can think of nothing except what to say to her mother.

“Mom, I’m home.” She throws her stuff down and goes straight to her room. She walks past her mother like an emotionless zombie as her mind has been switched off for hours.

Lying down on the bed, she flashes back to what she has been doing for all those years. Has she ever done anything for herself rather than studying junk and trying her best to please her family? Has she ever had joyful times with her friends? Or does she have things she wants? All the answers she is searching for are “NO”. Minh is so sick of everything. She is sick of the pressure that she is under and she decides that she will do something. She wants to take revenge on those who force her to grow up to be someone she does not like. Her rage makes her feel guilty as she realizes that her thoughts are against the ancestor’s rule to respect her elders. “What am I going to do?" She murmurs by herself with no energy left in her body.

“Exam, exam and exam... Why must we take exams all day?” She signs as her head is lying on an old table. “Really, can we have a rest now?”, she complains with her friends who share her mood.

Knocking on her head, the examiner walks by and mocks her: “No way”

“The test papers are so hard and nearly no one can do all the questions correctly. So how can I get a 10?” Her palms get wet and her mouth starts to feel dry. However, she has to try her best to avoid the blame of Lam. She starts to freeze even though the sun is freaking hot as she cannot do the questions four and five. She imagines all the punishment she will face.

“Haizz, what can I do?” She shouts out and her face turns red like a tomato. Unluckily, she gets caught by the examiner and is sent to the office.

Her mother and father are called to the school. They walk in the room and stare coldly at her. She feels their anger burn the atmosphere around her. She wants to stand up but the principal tells her to sit down immediately.

After an hour of explanation and signing the detention form, Minh’s parents drive her home with heavy clouds above their heads. In her mind, she murmurs that when all of them are at home, she will be punished really hard. Another two hours of saying what is good and what is bad by her parents makes her bored. Without a word, she stands up and heads to her paternal grandfather, Binh, who always gives her useful advice and is the only one she trusts.

“Grandpa, what should I do? I don't want to study anymore. I’m sick of everyone who seems to take care at me but the fact is they are not.” She cries aloud when she sits on the old couch with her hands tearing a piece of tissue that her grandfather Binh has given her.

“You mean Lam and your parents?” He asks peacefully.

“How... how can you know?” she opens her eyes as wide as she can and her mouth is like a big “Black Hole” in the universe. “Can you read my mind?”

“You have a lot to learn.” It’s a strange thing for her. “What do I have to learn? I’ve learnt all my life and is it not enough?” She fights back at her grandfather but he says nothing at all. He just gives her a mysterious smile and starts watering the orchids.

“Like I said, you have a lot to learn.”

“Good advice.” Tiding up her shoes at the door, she then says goodbye to him and runs away as she leaves the unclosed door behind.

“An old person is a mystery. So, whatever...” She sighs tiredly.

“Tet, I hate Tet. It’s the time when all my disgusting relatives come to my house for the stupid celebration. I receive lots of red packets but I think everything else is boring. Especially when “old Lam” asks me about the marks, it makes me feel like a hot volcano that can be explode anytime.” Minh wants to tell everyone what she thinks but there is a paranormal power hold her back. Unlike her, all of her cousins like to yell out their scores to prove that they are good. “Such nonsense”, she whispers as she walks out of the crowds.

“Where are you going, tell me about your scores, are you afraid because you have bad marks?” Lam giggles as he says and then everyone starts to laugh at her or even tell their children not to play with her.

“Silent.” Stopping for awhile and then she continues “I know that you are all from countryside. All of you think all that matters is if your children have good marks but you don’t know anything that is good for them. Studying is important but have you ever thought that life is not just in books?” She expresses her mind as she cannot hold it any longer. She feels much better after saying all the things she wants to say. However, the victory smile fades: “You have to open your open mind, the times have changed, leave the past in the past, we move into the future...”

Binh smiles mysteriously as he whispers quietly so no one can hear: “Go on kid but you still have a lot to learn.”

However, Lam does not think that way. “What an insult! How dare you speak to me like that?” His face is turning red like a thousand bees have stung him at the same time but he does not spill out everything in his mind. After a few seconds thinking, he stands up straight like a young man but actually he has a stick to hold on to and as shouts at her, his saliva is going straight to her face and even his fake tooth is coming out of his toothless mouth. “Stop it. You said all the nonsense because you are jealous as I love the others more than you. If you study better, maybe I will love you more.”

She holds her tears and fights back at her grandfather: “No, you are the one who needs to stop. You are Vietnamese and your mind is narrow. You say I have to learn about my own culture. Well, I’m also Chinese but as you force me to have a perfect score, how can I learn about my other side’s culture. You have a lot of things to learn,” she cries out and runs aways.

Sitting alone in her room, she cries. She cries a lot. She cries about every hard time she had to take from Lam.

“Don’t you want to come down and see the dragon dance, it’s one of the Chinese culture,” Binh comes and encourages her. “You know, you are right, I’m proud of you.” Then, he goes on as he gives her a smile. “Hey, how about I sign you up in a Chinese language school and you can learn some of our culture?”

“Ok, like you said, I have a lot of things to learn.” She smiles at him and dries her tears. “I think I should come to apologise to him”

“And he should apologise to you also.” He gets her the tissue and then they both laugh.

The black colour in her eyes looks brighter as she thought that she has two blood lines running is her veins and now she understands the true value of herself through a simple smile and a few words of Binh's. “Thanks grandpa, you have taught me a wonderful lesson that I’ll never forget.”

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