crazy husband

(Baonghean) - It was a stormy night. She had a fever, he ran back and forth to take care of her. At midnight, knowing that the situation was not good, despite the rain and wind, he carried her to the hospital. While running, he kept calling her name. He had no money, borrowed money and only had enough for her to stay in the hospital for one day. The next morning, he had to sell blood to buy medicine for her. During the days when she was sick, he had to earn money with one hand, cook porridge and medicine for her with the other. To have money, he had to work harder in a state of fatigue because of staying up late and waking up early and also because of selling blood. The day she recovered, was also the day he collapsed.

Illustration: Hong Toai

He fell off his bike on the way home because he was dizzy...

That accident did not take his life but took away many tears from her when he became a three-year-old child. That is, he did not know anything, liked to laugh and cry, did not know what he was thinking! Hearing that he was sick like that, her whole family tried every way to influence her to abandon him and come back to live with her family. Not having the heart to leave him alone, she was abandoned by her family. With no other choice, she had to live with him in the cold house.

Feeling so sorry for him, she had to sell the land that they lived on to get money for his treatment. She ran from one hospital to another, but his illness still did not improve. With no other choice, she had to send him to a mental hospital. A week later, her tears flowed again when she saw him standing in front of the house calling for her. Even though he was a three-year-old child, he still remembered the way home to find her.

She was so weak that she hugged him and cried.

She swore to herself that she would not take him anywhere.

She hugged him tightly, as if afraid he would disappear again...

So from then on, wherever she went, he followed. He ate very well, and was tall and big. Looking from behind, he seemed full of energy. But only when talking to him, did people understand. Every morning, he carried a basket of fish for her to sell at the market, then wandered around. At exactly 11 o'clock, he came back to carry it for her. He was gentle, and whenever he saw anyone doing something heavy, he would jump in to help, so everyone at the market loved him very much. They often gave him cakes and fruits, and whoever was better off would give him some money. He put it all in his bag. He saved it all for her.

No matter what people joked with him, he just smiled and said yes yes. But if someone accidentally said something to her, he was ready to give that person a punch. Once, he got angry and beat someone to death just because that person complimented her beauty. He only stopped when she came to hug him.

In this market, no one dares to compete with her for a selling spot, because every time someone argues with her or fights for customers, he is always there, standing in front of her, holding a wooden stick in his hand, ready to fight them.

Everyone was afraid, they said why bother with a crazy person so they let it go.

Since the day he disowned her, her father developed a drinking habit. He became more and more addicted. Then he passed away. When he heard the news, she cried. Seeing her cry, he hugged her tightly and cried too. After crying, she took him to a gold shop to sell the necklace he had given her when they got married. Seeing her take off the necklace, he snatched it back. He knew she loved it so much that he didn't want her to sell it!

She smiled:

"I'm selling it to my mother for my father's funeral. When I get a job, I'll buy you a bigger, more beautiful one." He finally let go and smiled. From then on, he only brought cakes and bottles of water home for his sister, but never gave her any money.

I don't know if it's because he doesn't take his medicine or for some other reason, but lately he's been having epilepsy. Every time he has a seizure, he foams at the mouth. After the seizure, he starts to smash and beat up anyone standing nearby, but when she holds him in her arms, he returns to normal. People advised her to take him to the hospital. The doctor said he had become seriously mentally ill. Put him in an isolation ward. She lied to him, telling him to take him out. Put him there. He kept crying, hugging her, and it took her a long time to let him go.

Tears streamed down her face. She had to run as fast as she could so she wouldn't hear him calling her.

Every month she came to visit him. She did nothing, just looked at him, cried her heart out, and then went home. He was the same, when he saw her he wanted to go home. Many times she wanted to take him home but couldn't. Then one day, the hospital announced that he had died - during a seizure he had banged his head against the wall and died.

They said, before he died, he kept calling her.

She fainted again and again...

The day she went to bury him, the hospital gave her his bag of belongings. Inside were all her pictures. Underneath the clothes was a box, inside was a silver necklace. Along with a piece of paper with her name scrawled on it!

Her tears flowed.

That day was also February 14th. That year, she had just turned 23.

Short story by Tieu Tu HK