THE WEAK SWALLOW INJUSTICE

Chen-Kung Ho

THE WEAK SWALLOW INJUSTICE

Chen-Kung Ho- photo by DH

Author: Chen-Kung Ho:

Chen Kung Ho, MD, PhD: born in Taiwan, USA citizen, has lived in the US for 60 years. A specialist in pediatrics, neonatology, and genetics. Has been professor of pediatrics, attending physician at Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and later a general pediatric practitioner. Now retired. Hobbies include fishing, traveling, and writing. Published a collection of short stories, and a novel, the Survivors of the Desert, in Apple Books.

Belen is a young Mexican girl in her early twenties who had just come to America. After living at her cousin's house in Alabama for a few months, she got a job as a nanny in Atlanta through an employment agency. With the used car she bought, she nervously drove down the interstate highway for the first time. One week after starting her job, she wrote the following letter to her cousin:

... They are white. The husband works at an insurance company, and the wife works at a department store. They have three children: Amanda, who is eight years old, Becky, who is four, and Chris, who is two. I make a hearty breakfast and dinner every day, and also prepare snacks and treats. During the day, I clean the house. In the evening, I don’t get any free time until after dinner when I finish washing the dishes. Everyone in this family is very overweight. The husband is of average build, but he probably weighs around 290 pounds. The wife isn’t taller than me, and she looks close to 300 pounds. One day, Amanda and I were weighing ourselves. I weigh 120 pounds, and she weighs 160 pounds. The three children all look like dolls that have been inflated like balloons. When I help Amanda get dressed, I see thick, sagging lumps of fat on her chest and stomach."

After I came to America, it was the first time I saw so many overweight people. Compared to people back home, the ones who are fat there could only be considered slightly overweight. My employers’ whole family really “knows” how to eat. In the morning, I have to cook three sunny side up eggs for the husband, three over-hard eggs for the wife, and two scrambled eggs for each child; besides that, they also eat sausage and bacon. As soon as the husband and wife come home, I serve dessert. They taught me how to make it, and now I’m quite skilled at it. I can make really good cakes, pies, pizzas, and things like that. The wife especially loves the icing on the cake (you know, that stuff made from whipped oil). Both the adults and children shovel it into their mouths, one big bite after another. When I first came to your house and saw those desserts, they were so tempting, I ate without a second thought. Later, when I weighed myself, I had gained three pounds, which scared me. Since then, I’ve been very disciplined.

The hardest part for me is that there are no green vegetables to eat. The only vegetables they occasionally eat are salads. A big bowl of fluffy lettuce, but when cooked, it turns into just one tablespoonful of vegetables. I’m used to having a whole bowl of cooked vegetables. They eat steak or hamburgers four or five times a week, and chicken or turkey two or three times. I can’t eat that much meat, so I asked the wife to buy more vegetables, but they don’t eat them. One day, little Chris caught a cold and didn’t want to eat anything. The mother became very worried and pulled out all sorts of things he usually liked, like cookies, cake, candy, and desperately fed them to him. I thought to myself: he’s not eating, that’s a perfect chance for him to lose weight. But they don’t think he has any weight problem.

One day, I said to the lady of the house, 'Your backyard has a large piece of land. Could you let me use a corner of it to grow some vegetables?'

 'What do you want vegetables for? I don’t eat vegetables.'

 'I like to eat vegetables, madam,' She thought for a moment and said, 'Okay, you can plant them.'

That day, I was very happy. I took a hoe and a shovel to loosen the soil and pull out the weeds. The next step was to go buy vegetable seedlings and seeds. The next day, I asked her to take me to the garden store. After bringing back the seeds and seedlings, I planted them, watered them every day, and now they’ve grown quite well…

**

One Saturday afternoon, while Belen was working in the garden, the lady of the house walked directly from the garage to the backyard, heading toward Belen's garden. She usually wasn’t interested in knowing what Belen was doing in the backyard, but today, she said with a smile, "Hi! Belen, I went to the weight-counseling clinic today, they weighed me, and I’ve lost three pounds!"

"That’s great!" Belen sincerely wished her, "If you go ten times, you’ll lose thirty pounds, right?" she said, laughing, trying to lighten the mood.

"Things aren’t going that well," said the lady of the house. "I’ve gone several times before, and not only did I not lose weight, but I actually gained more. The diet plans suggested by the nutritionist have been a real ordeal for me. Didn’t I ask you to make the menu she recommended for me this week? I had to use an immense amount of willpower to swallow it."

"Ma'am! If you could eat the vegetables I grow, eat a lot of them, I believe your weight would drop even more."

"The thought of insects and worms crawling and biting on the vegetables really turns my stomach."

The lady of the house chatted casually while looking at the different types of vegetables. She asked Belen the name of each vegetable, and Belen said that she knew some of the English names, but for many, she couldn’t say the names in English and could only tell them in Spanish.

"Look at all these holes on the leaves, they’ve all been bitten by insects. Would you dare to eat them?" said the lady of the house.

"Oh, they don’t bother me, I really enjoy eating these vegetables," Belen said. "I don’t spray pesticides, that’s why there are these holes."

Suddenly, the lady of the house screamed, stumbled backward, and immediately fell flat on her back with her legs in the air. She tried to raise her head and chest, but could only lift them two or three inches before falling back down. She tried turning her body to the right, then to the left, but couldn’t manage to turn herself into a side-lying position. She pushed her hands down hard onto the ground, but her massive body remained unmoved. She bent both knees, attempting to lift her large abdomen, using all her strength, but only managed to raise it two or three inches off the ground before it immediately dropped back down. She looked like an overturned turtle, flailing her limbs, futilely.

When it happened, Belen was watering at the other end of the garden. She saw the lady of the house in trouble and immediately ran over to help. Belen crouched down, placed the lady’s arm on her own shoulder, and held her arm tightly with both hands, then stood up with all her might. After three attempts, she finally helped the lady to her feet.

"Why did you scream just now?" Belen asked, puzzled.

"I saw a big caterpillar."

"Where?"

"Right under that big leaf of the vegetable."

Belen, curious, walked toward the direction the lady had pointed to.

"Oh no! That's too scary! Don’t go look, Belen!" the lady called out to her.

Before the lady had finished speaking, Belen was already flipping the vegetable leaves. Sure enough, there was a one-inch long, fat green caterpillar. Belen picked it up with her hands, threw it to the ground, and stomped on it.

"Belen, how did you train yourself to be so brave?"

"I've been catching caterpillars since I was a child. These caterpillars turn into beautiful butterflies, and when I think of butterflies, I'm not scared!"

"I really admire you!"

It was a warm afternoon, and Belen felt very comfortable. But the lady of the house felt hot and stuffy. Sweat poured down her body, and she kept wiping the sweat that dripped into her eyes. The makeup on her face was smudged by the sweat.

"I can’t stand this weather," she said. "I’m going inside to cool off with the air conditioning. I really want a pizza. Could you bake me one, Belen?"

"Of course! I’ll do it right now."

Belen turned off the faucet and followed the lady into the house.

The three children were sitting in front of the TV, eating potato chips while watching. When they heard Belen was going to bake a pizza, they excitedly stood up and gathered around her. One said, "I want two slices!" The other said, "I want three slices!"

"Okay! I’ll bake two large pizzas so you can all have plenty!"

Belen felt very satisfied with her work of several months. The kids liked her, and the parents appreciated her work. After only a short time, they even gave her a raise. She often sent money to her parents and bought gifts for her brothers and sisters.

Of the three children, Amanda was in third grade, Becky was in Pre-K, and Chris was in daycare, which was right next to the school. At first, the dad or mom would handle the school and daycare drop-offs and pick-ups. Later, Belen suggested doing it herself. The dad was happy to have someone to help, but he wanted to be sure Belen knew what she was doing and that it was safe. So, he asked Belen to go with him to the school for three days. After that, he let Belen use her car to pick up the kids. Every morning and afternoon, while Belen was driving, he would sit next to her. After a week of practice, he felt comfortable letting Belen handle the pick-ups and drop-offs on her own.

Belen had been handling the heavy responsibilities for several months now, and she was doing things with ease, feeling satisfied and happy. She had met several teachers and staff members, and every day, she would exchange a few words with them at the place where the kids got into the car. Over time, they learned that she was Mexican, so they began greeting her in simple Spanish.

One day at noon, while Belen was making cheesecake, she heard the sound of a car pulling up. Not long after, the man of the house appeared in front of her. Surprised beyond measure, without thinking, she blurted out, "Sir, why are you back so early?"

"I happened to finish my work earlier today," the man said, smiling and revealing his uneven teeth.

Belen had always thought his teeth weren’t very nice, but today, his friendly smile softened the image of the imperfection.

"I went out to visit a company's boss today, and once the deal was settled, I came back."

"Sir! Would you like some coffee? I can brew some for you."

"That would be great! Please brew me a cup! Your cheesecake is already giving off a wonderful smell. It's the perfect dessert to go with coffee."

A few minutes later, Belen brought the fragrant coffee and cheesecake to the dining table for the man to enjoy. He loosened his tie, rolled up his shirt sleeves, turned on the ceiling fan, and, while sipping his coffee, he complimented her:

"Belen, your coffee is just as good as Starbucks, and your cheesecake is just as good as the one from that famous cheesecake shop in Buckhead. I really wish I could keep you here forever."

"Thank you, Sir! You're too kind. The coffee and cheesecake are both things that Madam taught me to make."

"You’ve learned quickly and authentically. You probably deserve a break now, don’t you? Come sit here and have a coffee while enjoying the cheesecake you made."

"Thank you, Sir! I already tasted it while I was making it. Now I need to bake a pizza for the kids and Madam. They’ll be home soon."

"Belen, you're truly an excellent housekeeper. I’m very lucky to have found you."

When the pizza was done, Belen cleaned up the kitchen and told the man that she was going to pick up the kids.

"I’m coming with you. I want to see the kids earlier," he said.

"Sir, should I ride in your car?" Belen asked.

"No, I’ll ride in your car."

"Sir, my car is an old one, and it doesn’t have air conditioning. You might not be comfortable."

"Next to you, I won’t feel hot," the man joked.

"Sir, I’ll move the car from the backyard to the front yard, and then you can get in."

As the man got into the car, Belen noticed he was holding three slices of pizza and had already taken a bite of one.

"Belen, would you like to eat a slice?"

"No! Thank you, I’m not hungry."

"Belen, you really have great self-control. No wonder your body is so slim. The smell of this pizza is so tempting, I can’t control myself."

The man talked to Belen about a lot of things, trying to make the atmosphere lighter, but Belen didn’t fully understand everything he said. Some things she understood, but she didn’t know how to say them in English, so she responded in Spanish. Though worried that the man might not understand, Belen tried to keep the conversation going.

Belen suddenly felt the man's heavy hand on her shoulder. She felt very uncomfortable and wondered why he was doing this. She wanted to shake it off immediately, but she didn't know how to do so. Pushing it away seemed impolite, but she also didn't want his arm to remain on her shoulder. In the midst of confusion, she remained silent for a few minutes, although the man continued talking to her.

"Sir, could you please move your arm? I can't drive like this," Belen gathered her courage and said that.

"Oh! Sorry! Sometimes, when I'm talking excitedly with a friend, I don't even realize I'm putting my arm around their shoulder." He withdrew his hand and added, "The school is almost here."

At the parking lot, the two children saw their dad sitting in the car and started cheering. They waved their arms and danced around. When the staff opened the door, the children ran over to their father, greeting him with hugs. After exchanging a few words with the staff, Belen drove the car away. She drove to the nearby daycare to pick up Chris.

The car was lively, and Belen felt no need to participate in the conversation. She kept thinking about why the man had behaved like that today, but she couldn't figure it out. When they returned home, the children started demanding pizza, and she got busy taking care of them, pushing the earlier incident out of her mind.

A week later, the man came home earlier again. It was around noon, and Belen was watching TV.

"I've been working outside again today," the man said without waiting for Belen to ask. "I finished my work, so I came back early."

"Sir, would you like some coffee?"

"Sure, please brew me a cup." He went to his room to change into more comfortable clothes. When he returned to the family room, the fragrant coffee was already on the table.

"Sir, would you like a piece of cake to go with it?"

"Great! You're really sweet." After taking a few sips of coffee, he said to Belen, "Sorry to disturb you while you’re watching TV. You can continue watching! What show are you watching?"

"I don’t know what it’s called. It’s about a love story, and it plays every day at the same time, seemingly never-ending."

"Oh! I know, you’re watching a soap opera. Go ahead and keep watching, I won’t disturb you. I think I’ll go to my room and take a shower."

Belen returned to the sofa to continue watching TV. When the man came back to the family room, his clothes smelled faintly of men's cologne.

"Can I watch TV with you?"

"Oh, of course!"

"Can I sit next to you?"

"Sure!" She said this, but felt a bit nervous, recalling the scene from the day they picked up the children.

"Do you like love stories, Belen?"

"Yes, I do."

"I like them too," the man said. "Belen, you’re really beautiful. You must have many love stories, right?" Belen was confused by this intrusive question about her personal life. She didn't know how to answer, so she hesitated and said, "No! No!" The man continued, "Can I be your friend?"

Belen felt even more puzzled. Her intuition told her that the man seemed to have intentions beyond friendship. The adrenaline surging through her made her heart race. Trembling, she said, "Sir, you are my employer. Since I started working for you, we have been friends."

"I want to be even closer friends with you, can I? Like a boyfriend."

"Oh, no, no! I’m here to work for you. You have a wife and children."

"Belen, don't worry about that. I just want to have a good time with you. If I were to date you, I would take you shopping, buy you lots of things you like, and take you to nice restaurants."

‘Oh, no! No!’

‘Belen, if you and I were to have a relationship, and we both like each other, I would make you become my wife. What do you think?’

‘Oh, no! No!’ She had long since lost interest in watching TV. She stood up, intending to go to the kitchen. At that moment, the master pulled her down and told her to sit next to him. His arm draped over Belen’s shoulder, and she tried to break free. However, the master's arms, as strong as a gorilla's, were locked around her neck. No matter how she twisted her body or moved her hands and feet, it was of no use.

‘Belen, just sit down and listen to me. I like you, and if you become my girlfriend, I will give you many benefits.’

‘I'm not interested, let me go!’ Belen said angrily.

The master's left hand began to touch Belen's breasts, "You are really plump, please calm down and let us be together, okay?

He leaned forward and tried to kiss her, but Belen's head twisted left and right, making it impossible for him to do so. The master's hands groped up and down her chest and abdomen, pushing Belen down and making her lie on the sofa. The master's huge body pressed against Belen face to face. At this time, his hands were not on Belen's neck. She took the opportunity to roll over, slip off the sofa, and run away quickly. The Master's hands grasped her blouse. As she ran, half of her clothes were torn off, revealing one breast. Belen grabbed a tablecloth and covered her chest with it. She ran to her bedroom and locked the door. The master followed, twisting the doorknob while urgently knocking on the door.

‘Belen, please open the door. We can have a good talk.’

She remained silent as she hurriedly stuffed her clothes and other belongings into her handbag.

The master continued knocking on the door: ‘Belen, please open the door. I need to talk to you.’

She remained silent, afraid the master would break down the door. Carefully, she opened the window, threw her handbag out, and then jumped out onto the grass outside. When she landed, she twisted her ankle, which made it difficult for her to run fast. She endured the pain and quickly made her way to her car. Only when she started the car did she finally let out a sigh of relief.

**

"Where am I going?" She asked herself. Her thoughts were chaotic, with no destination in mind. She drove out, not looking at the road signs, unaware of the names of the streets. She just wanted to leave this home as quickly as possible. She thought about going to her cousin’s place, but Alabama was far away. She wanted to find another job, but it wasn’t something that could happen right away. Until she found one, where would she stay?

As she wandered around to pass the time, she passed by a park. She drove in, found a spot, and parked the car. She wanted to rest for a while to calm her nerves. She also wanted to tidy herself up. Her chest was still covered with the tablecloth, her hair was disheveled, and there were scratches and bruises on her hands and back. Her car was parked far away from the other cars. She changed clothes and applied makeup inside the car, then stepped out to get some fresh air. She kept wondering what to do next. She had a lot of worries and wanted to talk to someone. She thought of her cousin, so she went to a public phone booth, fumbled through her handbag, and realized she didn’t have enough change. Reluctantly, she decided to make a collect call.

When the phone was connected, Belen described what had just happened to her.

“Belen, you should report it to the police. That guy committed rape, and this kind of crime carries a heavy sentence in the United States!”

"I don’t want to report it, I just want to find another job."

"Belen, the law in the United States will protect the victims."

"I am not a legal immigrant. I don’t want to cause trouble for myself."

"I welcome you to my home, rest for a while, and then go back to work once you’re mentally recovered."

"Okay, thank you! Let me think about it and get back to you."

**

The man later found out that Belen had run away. He felt very frustrated. He put in his car the two white porcelain vases with intricate artwork and pawned them at the pawn shop while he was driving to pick up his children. When the two older children saw that it was their father who came to pick them up instead of Belen, they asked in unison, "Where is Belen?"

"She ran away. She no longer works for us."

"Wow!" The children let out a disappointed sigh.

When they returned home and found there was no cake or pizza to eat, they felt very dissatisfied and complained a lot.

“Would you like to have some ice cream? Dad will go to the freezer and get some for you.”

“Okay!” Everyone said happily. They ate ice cream while watching TV.

“Dad, can we invite Belen to come back?”

“She won’t be coming back after she leaves.”

“What will we do when we go to school from now on?”

“Either Mom or I will take you in the morning. I will arrange for the daycare to take you there at 3 o’clock, so you can be with Chris. At 6 o’clock, I’ll go to the daycare and pick you up to bring you home.” The children were reassured and stopped asking, continuing to watch TV.

When Mom came home, the children rushed up to her and reported that Belen had already left.

"How could this happen?" she asked her husband.

 "I don't know. When I came back, she was already gone. I found the vases were gone, and the tablecloth was taken too." The mistress walked over to check the vases and tablecloth, and sure enough, they were gone.

"Mexicans are unreliable. We were so nice to her, and she seemed happy here. Why would she leave?"

"Maybe she found a better job," the husband said.

Chen-Kung Ho

END