They kept piling up every small favor from my childhood, slapping them on me like whips.
I took a deep breath, forcing my voice to stay steady. “Uncle, you’re right. I did eat at your house a lot when I was younger. But do you remember? I always waited until your big dog, Bobby, finished eating before I dared to go to the stove and take the bowl that was specially left for me. Sometimes there’d still be scraps of meat in the dog’s bowl, while my bowl only had watery porridge.”
Denna hurried to interrupt, but I raised my hand to stop her. “As for the tuition, you may have forgotten. But my dad knelt in your main hall back then and signed an IOU, mortgaging our house, agreeing to three percent interest, before you finally lent three hundred dollars. The village committee’s accounts should still have a record of this.”
Yovie’s eyes turned red. She planted her hands on her hips and stood firmly in front of me, her voice fierce.