Great-grandfather

When I was five years old, great-grandfather lived with us a few months a year. He wasn’t always home. All I knew was he traveled a lot, either visiting friends or gambling somewhere. He studied Chinese medicine and could give prescriptions to others. I remembered seeing many of his old medicine books, which were written in Chinese calligraphy.

Great-grandfather didn’t like to work although he was intelligent and literate. At his time, those who could read and write gained a very high social status. Unfortunately, we, as great-grandchildren, never got close with him because he had such a horrific temper, like a walking bomb, which could be set off anytime of the day!

There are only bits and pieces of memory about great-grandfather from my childhood. I recall one of the episodes a long time ago.

“So, how come we have a stainless steel lunch box at home from the railway company? Shouldn’t people return those when they finish eating on the train?” asked I.
“Oh, you don’t know how smart I am. I just put it into my satchel and pretended sleeping when the clerk walked back and forth to collect others’ boxes.”
“But that was stealing!” shouted I.
A slap came across my face like a lightning before I could react.
“Ouch! What was that for?”
“How dare you, talking to me like that, you little brat! Remember I’m your great-grandfather!”
“But…but teachers at school always…” Another slap came my way but I dodged with a jolt of instinct.
“Hahaha, not bad not bad, I guess I’ve taught you well! Never stand there like a cadaver, letting others hurt you. But you could’ve defended yourself by a punch!”
“Could I really?” I asked with awe.
“Of course NOT! Silly-egg! I’m still your great-grandfather!”
“Now tell me what you’ve learned in school today?”
“Oh the usual things, math, Chinese, history, science, and music. I am good at math.”
“Umm, that’s great. Math is good for your logical thinking. But don’t forget to memorize Chinese poetry and practice calligraphy everyday!”
“Okay, but why did you ‘borrow’ the lunch box from the train?” asked I cautiously.
“Ai-yah, you never give up, huh? I think the ticket was too expensive and the lunch was disgusting, so the box was something I could take home for all the money I paid. Those bastards ripped off people with outrageous ticket fare and lousy food!”
“But that was still wrong!”
Now I could see fire burning in great-grandpa’s eyes and the walking cane in his right hand was about to lift, and so were my trembling legs…
“You CAN’T take away things that don’t belong to you!” crying out loud as I ran from a major disaster.
“Confucius said: righteous people gain wealth via righteous means!” shouted I more loudly.
“Confucius my arse! He is a dead old fart! You come back here, bastard!”

I guessed many nerves and cells on my face and in the brain died due to the gruesome dialogues and action films we played. Sometimes I wondered why he behaved the way he did.

Once a shrewd man, now a feeble being with dementia

On an early spring morning, I woke, brushed teeth, washed my face, and was about to eat breakfast. Suddenly, I heard a glass-shattered sound coming from the kitchen.
“Ai-yah, who put my false teeth in the rice bowl?” said angrily great-grandfather.
I quickly went into the kitchen and tried to sweep the broken pieces of the ceramic bowl.
“Didn’t you put them in the bowl last night? You always do that before going to bed!” said I.
“Nonsense! How can’t I remember if I put them in the bowl? It’s you, right?”
“Umm, I never touch those. They look creepy to me!”
“Creepy? You said I’m creepy?”
“No no, I meant the teeth.”
“Where is your mother? I need to talk to her!” shouted furiously great-grandpa.
“She is at the market, selling vegetables.”
“Where is your father?”
“Well, he is at work.”
“Then why are you home? Shouldn’t you be at school with your siblings?”
“Umm, I had a cold and mother wanted me to stay home for rest.” Now my feet were getting weak.
“Cold? Rest? I think you’re just avoiding school and being lazy!”
“That’s not true!” I retorted.
“What now? Raising voice like that? You want to argue with me?”
“No, I don’t dare, I’m just stating the fact…” as I stared at my feet as if they were not mine.
“Stating my arse! I think you ARE fabricating the fact!”
As I tried to defend myself again, I saw a twist of muscle around the eyes of great-grandpa.
“WHO the heck are you, anyway? Why are you in my house?”
“What? I am your great-grandson!”
“Bullshit! I’ve never seen you before! And I don’t have any great-grandchildren!”
“Oh my god, what happened to you, great-grandpa?”
“Stop calling me great-grandpa! Get the hell out of my house or I will KILL you!”
As the old man grabbed the knife on the chopping board, ready to charge, I fled like a frightened antelope being chased by a ferocious leopard.