“My kids and I have been living in the country
for years, and I haven’t seen a dime. I don’t
have to stay here, but we can’t survive!”
“This year’s flood was bad, everyone’s broke,
and we have nothing to eat. Everyone’s selling
their blood.” I pulled up my sleeve, showing
my arm. “I don’t want to sell my blood
anymore, so please, have some pity and let us
stay!” My arm was bruised and covered in
needle marks.
The crowd gasped.
Everyone there was a farm kid, and they knew
that country folks depended on the land.
Without food, we’d all die.
Finally, they noticed that Carol’s kids were
wearing the best clothes.
My kids were wearing rags, and their hands.
were covered in blisters.
“How did she survive with two kids in the
country?”
“The government gave her so much help, yet
she’s hogging someone else’s resources and
life. It’s not right.”
Tom looked at my arm and finally felt guilty.
He knew my life was hard, but he didn’t know
く
“Sarah, I, I…”
Tom couldn’t get the words out.
Then, a man in uniform arrived, and everyone
got quiet.
I heard someone say, “Colonel.”
I looked up, and a tall man walked over.
Tom tensed up and saluted him. “Colonel.”
The Colonel looked around. “What’s going on
here?”
Tom looked panicked. “I handled this poorly.
Don’t worry, I’ll fix it.”
“How are you going to fix it?” the Colonel
snapped. “Are you going to send them back
to the country?”
Tom’s face went white.
The Colonel had guessed what he was
thinking.
The Colonel raised his voice. “Smith,
is this
what they teach you at military academy? To
abandon your wife and kids and enjoy
yourself here with another woman and her
kids?”
Tom stood straight. The Colonel’s words
stung, but he defended himself. “Colonel, my
brother was a fallen soldier, I promised him…”
“Fallen soldiers‘ children will be taken care of
by the country, they won’t suffer. If your wife
く
hadn’t made a scene, the whole base would
think Carol was your wife. You say that you’re
not involved, but you’re doing what married
couples do. Do you have no respect for
military law?”
Tom blushed.
The Colonel walked over to me and helped
me up. “Ma’am, I’ve heard your story. I’m the
Colonel, and I can help you. What do you
want?”
After all that, I finally saw a glimmer of hope.
I bit my lip and said, “Colonel, I want a
divorce from Tom.”
Everyone gasped.
く
A moment ago, I was begging him to take me
back.
Tom frowned. “Sarah, what are you saying?”
I looked up at him. “Tom, I want a divorce.
I’ve always put you first. You didn’t want us to
visit, so I didn’t. You didn’t give us money, so
I sold my blood to feed my kids.”
“I don’t want to do that anymore. I’d rather
raise my kids by myself than have a husband
who only cares about someone else.”
“No.” Tom grabbed my hand. “That’s not it.
There’s a misunderstanding. Let’s talk.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.” I pulled away
and said, “I want a divorce from Tom. I hope
you approve it, Colonel.”
<
With the Colonel there, I thought the divorce
would be easy.
But Tom was dead set against it, no matter
who tried to change his mind.
The Colonel put me up in the guesthouse, and
Tom came to see me almost every day.
When he said that he didn’t want a divorce, I
said, “Okay, send Carol and her kids away,
and we’ll stay together, and we won’t get
divorced.”
Tom responded strongly. “Sarah, why are you
always targeting Carol? If I don’t take care of
her and her kids, they’ll get bullied. Can’t you
be generous?”
“No!” I couldn’t hold back anymore. “You
think they’ll get bullied, but that’s just in your
head! My kids and I have already been
bullied!”
As a woman with kids and no man, I was
gossiped about constantly in the country.
I worked harder than anyone to feed my kids.
But the village gave me the worst land. My
kids got picked on by other kids.
The neighbor’s dog bit my son, and the
neighbor didn’t apologize, saying that we
deserved it since we had no man in the
house.
I didn’t want to distract Tom, so I never
mentioned any of this in my letters.
“If you had come back and seen us, even just
once, you’d know what we’ve been through.”
I started to cry.
Tom opened and closed his mouth, then said,
“I’m sorry.” In the end, Tom agreed to the
divorce.
Even though everyone told him to send Carol
away, the government would take care of her,
he couldn’t do it.
After the divorce, I was heartbroken.
I gave the mess of their personal lives to the
authorities, and they were shocked.
It was worse than they thought.
Tom wasn’t going to get his promotion, and
he could even be charged with messing up
military marriage.
I didn’t care about what happened to him.
After the dust settled, the Colonel gave me
some money as compensation for what Tom
put me through.
He told me the military would take some
money out of Tom’s paychecks to pay for
child support.
I used that money to settle down in the city.
I went to school and knew a little bit of
Russian, so the Colonel got me a job as a
foreign language teacher at the local high
school.
く
My kids started elementary school.
Life was simple, but way better than before.
I let Tom see his kids, but he didn’t visit.
The kids didn’t mention their dad as much as
they used to.
They knew what Tom was like, so they didn’t
look up to him.
Six months later, there was a familiar figure
at my door.
Tom looked beat up. “Sarah,” he said.
I frowned. “What are you doing here?”
<
Tom looked helpless. “I miss you and the kids.
Are you doing okay?”
“How strange,” I laughed. “You didn’t want us
before, why do you want us now? Did Carol
dump you?”
