7

“Pa Pa, where are we going?”

Shi Hui asked inquisitively as she tried the best she could to catch up with her father.

Her father was a tall, dark skinned man. One step of his, is equivalent to her five steps. Obviously, “touch” is not his love language, and well, it was for Shi Hui. She looked at his big hands, hoping he would hold hers.

“Pa Pa’s going to get you some fruits,” He replied without looking down.

She looked around the unfamiliar surroundings. Shi Hui knew she was far from home; they took two buses to get here, but she would not dare question her father. There was something about him that she feared. She could not quite remember.

“Remember, don’t talk to anyone. Be quiet when Pa Pa is talking. Just smile if someone say something to you.”

If Shi Hui had known the word “weird”, that would be the first thing that comes to mind.

“Okay Pa Pa…”

They approached a well lit hawker centre. She tried her best to read the sign.

“Be..dok.. Bed.. ok..” She gave up and focused on keeping close to her father. Shi Hui had skipped a grade in preschool and she found primary school difficult to cope with.

The hawker centre was buzzing with people. Her father weaved in through the crowd, and she was having a difficult time following. She was never fond of crowds nor noise, she didn’t know why, she just didn’t like it.

She was about to whine to her father when her father stopped in front of a fruit stall. He signaled her to sit at the table nearby. She was delighted, and was immediately distracted by the surroundings.

“Er, hello. Ah Seng asked me to come here…” Her father started his conversation with the fruit stall owner.  Occasionally, as her father talked, the fruit stall owner peeped over his side, and looked at Shi Hui.

She caught those glances, and she began to feel scared, wondering what would the fruit stall uncle do.

“You look at her la,” Her father said, “so skinny. We don’t have enough money to buy food, and she is attending primary one now. Don’t have money to buy books, pay school fees…”

She had heard this before. Her father said the same thing to the nice uncle who was selling some roast and barbeque pork. She knew a nice treat was coming.

She looked at her limbs. She was not that skinny. She was in Trim and Fit club, as her teacher found her overweight. She seemed to be the youngest member of that club. Why would her father tell such lies?

Just as she expected, the fruit stall owner disappeared behind his stall and reappeared with a slice of watermelon in his hand. He walked over to Shi Hui and gave it to her, saying,

“Hi little girl.. Must study hard okay? If not, you’ll have a really tough life. Don’t be like Uncle, all day have to stand here and sell fruits..”

As much as she would love to take the fruit and eat it, she looked at her father for a hint. He tilted his head towards the uncle, and there it was!

“Thank you Uncle!” She gave her biggest smile.

“Ah, good girl, good girl!”

The fruit stall owner went back to his stall, and this time round, he came back with her father’s treat. She did not know what it was, but she was happily savoring her precious fruit. It’s rare to have fruits, they hardly have fruits at home.

“Come girl! Say thank you to Uncle again!”

Shi Hui gave another big bright smile, and did what her father said. He took her hands and she thought to herself,

“Pa Pa’s really happy!”