A short story part 1

     This is a short story from a book called " Or else the lightning god" by Catherine Lim....


              He counted his money-five dollars and eighty-fice cents, and his heart glowed. Very carefully, he pulled up the corners of the handkerchief at last into a tight bundle which he then put inside the cigarette tin. Then, he put the cover on firmly, and his money, now safe ans secure, was ready to go back into his hiding place in the corner of the cupboard behind the stacks of old clothes, newspapers and calendars.
              Now, Ah Bah become uneasy, and he watched to see if his father's eyes would found his money-two dollars in twenty and ten cents coins- tied up in a piece of rag and hidden under his pillow, and had taken away for another bottle of beer. His father drank beer almost every night. Sometimes, he was in good mood after his beer and would talk endlessly about this or that, smiling to himself. But generally he become sullen and bad-tempered, and he would begin shouting at anyone who come near. Once he threw a empty beer bottle at Ah Bah's mother; it missed her head and went crashing against the wall. Ah Bah was terrified of his father, but his mother appeared indifferent. "The Lunatic," she would say, but never in his hearing. Whenever he was not around at home, she would slip out and play cards in Ah Lam Soh's house. One evening she returned, flushed with excitement and gave him fifty cents; she said it had been her lucky day. At other times, she came back with dis spirited look, and Ah Bah knew she had lost all her money in Ah Lam Soh's house.
              The New Year was coming and Ah Bah looked forward to it with intensity that he could barely conceal. New Year Meant ang pows; Ah Bah's thin little fingers closed round the red packets of money given to him by the New Year visitors with much energy that his mother would scold him and shake her head in doleful apology, as she remarked loudly to the visitors, " My Ah Bah, he feels no shame whatever!"

                              -to be continued-

*yawn* Um..im sleepy..its 1:37am here..gonna sleep..will write more tmr!!