Rosalind suddenly turned around and saw Malcolm standing not far away, dressed in white and holding a white towel in his hand.
“Malcolm?”
Seeing her, Malcolm looked surprised before he walked towards her.
“You should have told me that you came to pay respects to your mother. If I knew you were coming today, I wouldn’t have come.”
He smiled and then naturally began to wipe Eva’s tombstone with the towel in his hand, carefully and meticulously.
It was clear that among all the tombstones, Eva’s was the cleanest, and it wasn’t just cleaned for a day. It was obviously regularly maintained.
“Do you come here often?”
Rosalind watched him move with such familiarity as if he were the groundskeeper here.
“I come by to see Eva whenever I have free time.” Malcolm finished cleaning Eva’s tombstone and then tidied up the small weeds growing nearby.
Rosalind felt a pang of guilt. As a daughter, she hadn’t done this herself and had left it to Malcolm. “Thank you, Malcolm.”
“Thank me for what?” He raised an eyebrow, folded the towel, and put it in a bag. “Eva liked me very much when she was alive, and I admired her strong and unyielding character. Doing this has nothing to do with you. You don’t need to thank me.”
“Malcolm, I-”
“You don’t need to say anything,” Malcolm gently interrupted her. “Don’t feel pressure. Since I’ve said it’s voluntary, you don’t need to feel guilty. In fact, I should thank your mother. Sometimes when I’m in a bad mood or feeling troubled, I come here to talk to her. It’s a way of relieving stress.”
Rosalind lowered her eyes. “You really don’t have to do this, Malcolm. I can’t give you what you want.”
“Did I ask for anything in return?”
“Rosalind, I’ve long stopped expecting anything.” Malcolm stood in front of Rosalind, with a self-mocking and lonely expression. “Don’t take away even this last bit of solace from me. You can’t be so cruel.”
He had restrained himself from calling her frequently. What more could he do?
Rosalind kept her head down and remained silent, knowing that no amount of persuasion would work.
He had persisted for so many years. If he were someone who listened to advice, things wouldn’t have come to this.
“I won’t keep you from paying your respects to Eva. You two can have a good talk. I’ll wait for you out there.”
“Okay.”
Rosalind nodded and watched Malcolm turn and leave until his figure gradually grew smaller and disappeared.
She placed flowers in front of the tombstone and then sat down beside it.
“Ms. Perkins, I’m here.”
Whenever she called Eva “Ms. Perkins” in the past, she would get a glare in return. Her mother would say she was being disrespectful but would always reach out to touch her.
Eva had always been strong-willed and stubborn throughout her life.
Rosalind wondered if her mother could speak calmly or peacefully.
Rosalind remembered her middle school days when she secretly worked part-time, returning to the hospital late at night after each shift. One day, exhausted from her job, she almost collapsed into bed, drifting in and out of sleep. In her haze, she felt someone gently stroking her hair, so tender and full of affection!
She heard her mother’s sigh and a heartfelt apology full of guilt.