"Mum?" A little boy of 9 called his sickly-looking mother, but her eyes remained closed.
He looked taller than a boy of 9, fierce, and no doubt he was extremely strong too. Looking down at the brown envelope in his hand, his sad eyes clouded with tears.
"Mum, you need to eat. I brought you something." His voice wasn't stable this time.
He made a sound by rubbing the envelope together to get his attention but she still kept mute, deep into her sleep like she would not need to ever wake up.
He sniffled and closed his eyes for a little while as if to stop the tears from dropping but they didn't stop. His face became wet and he made muffled sounds to stop crying out loud like a baby.
"Son..." A whisper-like sound too small to sound called, but the ever-alerted Liam heard it.
Snapping his closed eyes open to reveal yellow orbs, he stared at his skeleton-liked mother with anxiety and excitement.
"Yes – yes, mother. I brought…" His words were stumbling over each other as he hurriedly bent.
"Liam … my son." She called ever so slowly and low.
He stopped halfway when he saw her stretched, bony hand slowly coming for him. Not waiting to waste any second, he grabbed her hand but with extreme care.
"Mother." His voice was breathy.
"You… *cough* you will have to get to, *cough*"
She started coughing, a hacking cough that made him wince. She jerked from the flatbed she laid on, only to hit it back again with the force that made Liam think she would end up breaking into three places.
He watched with sadness and frustration that there was nothing he could do about her situation. Each session of cough getting even worse than the last, and soon enough, she came to an abrupt end but not without spilling out red liquid from her nose and mouth.
"Mother? MOTHER!" Laim roared with pain into her ears when she got extremely still.
Seeing her wince in reply set his pacing heart to a clam. He got busy looking for a clean cloth to clean the mess on her face, but she stopped him with her frail hand.
"I will do it myself." She looked determined.
Liam's heart gave a heavy thud at her resistance but his hand didn't stop. If there was something he had inherited from his mother, it was her stubbornness and pride.
"I said…"
"I allow me to do it myself, Mother. You…" He closed his eyes at the next words about to leave his mouth.
"You can barely take care of yourself." His eyes flew open again and his strange yellow orbs were determined.
Her heavily lidded and dull eyes looked at his, and she knew instantly that there was nothing she would do to stop him from doing what he wanted to do, so she dropped her hand.
Liam, carefully avoiding looking into his mother's eyes, diligently cleaned the blood on her face and body before proceeding to roll her over, change the bedding, and leave her on a naked bed.
Coming back to her bedside, he picked up the fallen envelope with a wet patch at the bottom and handed it to her, almost stuffing it in her face.
"I brought you food. You need to eat." His voice turned cold.
"I am not…"
"STOP IT MOTHER! STOP!" His chest heaved after that, his face stoic.
The frail woman on the bed, who was not expecting his reaction, was startled.
"Mother," Liam called again but she had her eyes closed, stubbornly refusing to look at him.
"Mother please, eat." He stretched the food towards her again.
Being a 9-year-old street child with a sick and stubborn mother was not an easy task.
"Not hungry." She managed to blurt out and his jaw got tensed.
"Do you care about me, Mother? Do I mean anything to you?" He found himself asking.
Getting on his knees, something he would only do for her, he stretched the food in his hands towards her again.
"I am begging that you eat." His shoulder was slumped like the whole burden of the world was upon him.
"You know if I do…"
"It doesn't matter, I don't care. Just eat Mother." His stronger and louder voice dominated her weak ones.
"Before I do, I need you to…"
Knowing what she was about to say, Liam had to consciously stop himself from getting angry.
"I will go. I will go talk to him. I will do everything you want." He said hurriedly.
She looked a little surprised he finally agreed to fulfill her long-lasting request.
Seeing her try to sit up, he stood up to help her, and after a little struggle, she placed her back against the dirty wall of the house in readiness to consume whatever it was he brought for her.
Seeing three slices of pizza displayed before her, her eyes watered, and snort ran down her nose, but seeing his diligence in making sure it was presentable to the eyes, she willed herself to be strong. She knew how he got it.
He stole.
"I know I stole it, don't ask me. You need to eat." He turned himself away.
"I can't eat myself." She managed to get the words out and soon enough, he was already by her side, putting the food into her mouth.
"You are hungry aren't you?" She asked in between her slow chews as his rumbling stomach penetrated her ears.
He kept quiet, only focusing on feeding her but after consuming a slice, she stopped, her face morphing into one who was experiencing terrible pain.
"You should go there – do it now!"
"Mother…"
"Go!" She forced the words out of her mouth which seemed to drain her energy faster with the more words she produced.
"Now…" She had managed to say while she writhed in pain, spewing the contents of her stomach on the floor.
The last image he saw of her before leaving the shabby room to the place she sent him.