Chapter 159 - Anne's Big Secret: Family Suffering
Chapter 159 – Anne’s Big Secret: Family Suffering
The sound of Anne's scream made Mrs. Delilah and Mrs. Riley, who were tidying up the basket after it was used by the last customer, shocked. They immediately ran and went into the cashier room where Anne was still sleeping. The two of them were surprised to see Anne's body and face covered in sweat, even though at this time the air conditioner in the shop was very cold.
"Anne, what's wrong with you, Dear?" asked Mrs. Riley frantically as she wiped the sweat off Anne's face using her clean handkerchief.
"Have a drink first, Anne," said Mrs. Delilah quietly as she gave Anne a new bottle of mineral water.
Anne, who had just had a nightmare, immediately grabbed the drink bottle given by Mrs. Delilah and immediately drained the water in the bottle quickly.
"Okay, now you calm down, Anne. Take a deep breath and calm down, having a nightmare is tiring," said Mrs. Riley quietly.
"What's wrong, Anne? Why are you so messed up? If you have a problem, it's better to share and talk about it, Anne. Don't keep it to yourself. Indeed, sometimes we prefer to keep our secrets within us, but if you are not strong enough to withstand the burden, you can share it with people you trust, so that the burden is slightly lifted off your shoulders," added Mrs. Riley. She felt sorry to see Anne was gasping because of her nightmare.
"Yes, Anne, if you want, we're both ready to listen to it. That is, if you believe in us," said Mrs. Delilah softly.
Hearing the words of the two middle-aged women in front of her silenced Anne, then she looked with teary eyes at Mrs. Riley and Mrs. Delilah in turns. After that, she then took a deep breath while closing her eyes slowly so that her tears slowly rolled down her cheeks.
"Actually, my dream is to become a pianist, Ma'am, the first musical instrument I know is the piano. Even though it's not mine, I really like it," said Anne quietly as she opened her eyes slowly.
"My father was a casual laborer in a small village called Cochem, which stretches along the river Moselle in Germany. We lived in this village until I was one year old, because my mother was a church minister, so we moved around following orders from the church where she was worked. And finally we moved to a town called Triberg im Schwarzwald because my mother received an order from the church to serve the church in that small town. Triberg im Schwarzwald is a beautiful city surrounded by green fields and is located in between the tall trees in the black forest. In this city too, all the bad things happened to our family. I, who was always brought along by my mother to go to church for Sunday services, was always happy when I heard my mother playing the piano. I always preferred to sit under the feet of my mother while she played the piano. Maybe for a child my age at that time it must be scary to hear piano being played so close, but not for me. I actually enjoyed my mother's music on the piano, sometimes I even fell asleep under the piano while hugging her legs. I could fall asleep like that because she had to accompany the choir when the service lasted for approximately six hours every day, two hours in the morning, two hours in the afternoon and two hours in the afternoon. When all the congregations went home, I was always trained by my mother to play the piano, even though I was not yet in school but I was already good at playing some of Beethoven's symphonies, because my mom was a fan of Beethoven and Mozart. That's why I even memorized ten popular songs composed by Beethoven when I was five years old." Anne stopped her story while closing her eyes again, because after this all the tragedy happened.
"Finally, when I was five years old, I learned a big secret why we had to move around. I overheard the conversation between my mother and father who were receiving the presence of a guest who was very rich at that time. He came with lots of money and jewelry as well as pretty clothes and delicious food that I had never eaten in my life. Because I didn't know anything, I was just busy enjoying the food brought by the stranger until I finally heard their very serious conversation. It turned out that this person was my father's employer who was interested in my mother and he was always chasing my father and mother everywhere because he wanted to make my mother his fourth wife. But because my mother loved my father, she refused the rich man's request and was willing to move around with my father and myself. Of course, it was to avoid the arrogant rich man. Since that great rejection, all our suffering began. My father was always fired from his job every time he worked as a mason. He would only work for one week at his workplace, after which he was fired for unclear reasons. That was why my mother was willing to work odd jobs in rich people's homes, like washing their clothes and other menial duties. When I was young, I really didn't know what really happened to my parents. What I know was that every night my father would come home with new wounds on his body. Even though he said he was fine, but I knew and was very sure that the wounds on my father's body must be very painful. Because after he was asleep, I heard my mother cried and apologized to my father. It continued until I was seven years old. And that was when my mother started getting sick. Of course, as a woman who was weak, she was unable to carry the burden of being the breadwinner for our small family. My mother was willing to take an additional job at someone else's house again so that we had a little extra money so we wouldn't starve for the next week. That was why my mother was willing to take a lot of work to make ends meet while still working at the church," Anne stopped talking again, because her chest felt tight. Remembering the sufferings of her parents, she still clearly remembered the feeling of being hungry when she didn't eat for almost two days because at that time her mother's salary was withheld by her employer. And this was what made Anne really appreciate food because she knew how it felt to be hungry.
"Anne, Dear. If you don't want to tell us, you do not have to force yourself, Dear," said Mrs. Delilah quietly, holding back her tears.
"That's right, Anne. I don't want to see you like this," added Mrs. Riley faltered. Seeing Anne repeatedly clutching her chest as she spoke made her feel so sad. She believed Anne must have suffered a lot in telling them both.
"No, Ma'am, I am all right. I will finish this story, at least after I told you everything, maybe all the fear and pain that is stored in me will disappear, "said Anne softly.
" Are you sure, Dear?" asked Mrs. Delilah quietly.
"I'm sure," Anne replied briefly, full with confidence.
to be continued