As the knife plunged in, the hot gushing blood splattered out, staining Leland’s hands red. His eyes were bloodshot, whether from emotional contagion or from the sight of the blood that had reddened his eyes.
The scene before him was overwhelming, certainly not something a ten-year-old could bear.
But Leland held onto the knife, one stab was not enough, as he twisted the knife while pulling it out, then stabbed the man in the abdomen.
The man fell to the ground, his mouth moving, but Leland couldn’t hear a word. His vision blurred, Leland seemed like a machine possessed by hatred, repeating the same action, pulling out the knife, stabbing again, watching the white vest on the man turn red, like blooming red flowers.
How festive…
He thought he heard someone calling him, who could it be? Who would call him at this moment? Who would come to save him and his mother at this moment?
Yes, no one could save them, just as Winifred had said, it’s better to rely on oneself than on others, the survival of the fittest. Why waste time poisoning when one knife could solve everything? Poisoning didn’t kill the man, but it ended up harming his mother.
Only one thought remained in Leland’s mind, only by killing this man with a beast’s heart, could he and his mother find liberation.
Every problem had to be solved at its root, eradicate the cause, to prevent future trouble.
Just as Leland was about to stab for the fifth time, a voice came from behind.
“Leland…”
Leland immediately stopped, as if a pause button had been pressed, he regained his senses, and looked at the man lying on the ground, with four bloody holes from his stabs.
The man hadn’t fully breathed his last, but losing so much blood meant he wouldn’t survive. Gasping for air, he stared at Leland, then opened his mouth.
“Leland, my good son… You think killing me will end all this? Your mother won’t live long, all because you poisoned my drink… Your mother died from drinking the poison you put in… Remember, it’s because of you she died… It’s you who killed her…” The man grinned, a mouthful of blood spewing from his throat, his neck slumped, his eyes wide and unyielding, refusing to close even in death.
Even in his final moments, he wanted to drag Leland’s heart to hell, to make him live in pain and regret, to never have an easy life again. This was a curse!
He never would have thought that the “dog” he had raised for so many years would dare to stab him to death.
His hands were covered in the man’s blood, feeling queasy, Leland’s body stiffened, shivering all over, his fingers trembling, the knife slipping.
This knife… was stolen by him from the driver’s car, he had thought of this moment when he took the knife, mentally prepared. Yet at this moment, when he actually stabbed the man himself, he felt anxious.
The fresh blood spurting from the man stained him all over, he didn’t know how to deal with the scene before him, nor how to handle the body.
Should he call the police? He would end up in jail, right? If he went in, what would happen to his mother?
Or should he secretly dispose of the body, chop it up and bury it? How to clean the blood on the floor? Buy a bag of cement to cover it… What about the smell of blood? Just make a person disappear like that, wouldn’t others suspect?
In an instant, Leland considered various possibilities, when the voice from behind him came again.
“Leland…”
Leland shuddered, as if standing in a snowfield in the dead of winter, a cold wind blew, his body reacting uncontrollably, trembling.
He twisted his neck, stiffly turning around.
The woman lying on the bed moved her hand, as if trying to pull him back from the edge of the cliff. Her dull eyes had regained intelligence, her face pale as a sheet of white paper soaked in water, her lips a faint bluish color.
Having attended funerals, Leland had seen dead bodies, and at this moment, his mother’s complexion resembled that of a corpse in a coffin.
Leland crawled and stumbled towards the woman.
With a thud, he knelt on the floor, hands covered in blood, grasping the woman’s pale hand.
Her nails were also a bluish-gray, devoid of warmth: “Mom, don’t speak, I’ll take you to the hospital…”
A smile played at the corners of the woman’s mouth, she wanted to touch her son, to praise him for growing tall, but she couldn’t, even this simple act was unattainable, something she had longed for in life but couldn’t achieve, she had to wait until her son came back to see him one last time.
Her child had always been strong, never shedding tears easily, yet now to see tears streaming down his face, it caused her heart unbearable pain, tears flowed from her eyes.
“Leland, don’t cry… My death is not your fault… Death is a release for me… Leland, my treasure, you must be happy… Mom, I can’t be with you anymore…”
Leland shook his head, choking: “No, don’t, Mom, I don’t want you to die, I haven’t earned enough to buy you new clothes, haven’t taken you out to eat delicious food, please don’t die… I only have you left.”
As her pupils began to dilate, she weakly whispered, “Study well, go back to school, get out of this place…”
The woman gently squeezed Leland’s hand, then her fingers relaxed and she lost all her strength, Leland stared wide-eyed as his mother closed her eyes, as if she were sleeping.
He reached out to touch her face, “Mom, don’t sleep, open your eyes and look at me… please…”
His mother couldn’t hear his voice, couldn’t hear his cries, he sobbed, as if a rope tightened around his heart, he cried uncontrollably, wiping his tears with blood-stained hands, his face smeared with blood.
He climbed onto the bed, trying to lift the woman, wanting to carry her out and take her to the hospital for examination.
But his strength had long been depleted from stabbing the man, coupled with the overwhelming grief now, he had no strength to hold the woman tightly, as he stepped off the bed, he stumbled and fell, the woman falling with him, landing in the pool of blood, staining the woman’s body.
Kneeling beside her, Leland tightly embraced the emaciated woman, “I’m sorry, Mom, I’m so useless, I hurt you by dropping you, dirtying your body, I’ll take you to the hospital for treatment, once you’re admitted and medicated, your body will recover, no one will bully us again, I’ll work hard to earn money to support you, I’ll study, we will be happier day by day.”
The woman had already stopped breathing and her heart had no more beats, Leland knew his mother had left, departed from this world, but he couldn’t accept it, couldn’t bear such a blow, he could only kneel on the ground holding the lifeless body, deluding himself again and again.
“Mom… I know you’re tired, rest if you’re tired, when you wake up, I’ll cook for you, now that I have money, I can make stewed meat soup for you, you’ve always loved beauty, I’ll give you a clean and beautiful dress.” Leland forced out a smile uglier than tears.
In Leland’s memory, his mother’s hair was long and black, down to her waist, woven into a braid in front of her. She was beautiful and loved beauty, in the summer, she would wear a floral dress and stand in the sun, smiling gently at him.
He remembered his mother pushing him on a swing, measuring his height with a ruler, sewing his clothes with a needle and thread, and the figure of his mother cooking in the smoky kitchen.
-“Leland, how about I make your favorite crispy pork ribs tonight?”
The taste of his favorite crispy pork ribs has long been forgotten, along with the image of his beautiful mother, locked away in the dusty, aged photo album.
Covering the woman’s body with the sheet, opening the wardrobe, he tried to find the most beautiful dress to put on his mother, but after searching all over, he found nothing attractive, all were old and worn.
Every day, he spent so much money to drink and gamble with the man, but couldn’t buy his mother a new dress.
Suffering unbearable pain, wiping the blood off the woman’s body, he changed her into a nightgown, braided her sparse hair, the room dim and gloomy, as he opened the door, Leland hoisted the woman up, stepping on the blood on the floor, leaving bloody footprints with each step.
Finally, he carried his mother out of this “prison”, looking at the sky outside, Leland, with a trembling voice and nasal tone, muttered, “Mom, the sunshine outside is so good… so good…”