The Death Clause

Part 2

The kitchen, by the time she arrived, was already clean and tidy. The vegetable soup and rice were packed neatly inside open containers set neatly on the table. Each one is filled with a piece of plastic bag containing some soup, rich with pieces of collie flower, carrots, potatoes, and one boiled egg. The rice is sprinkled with pieces of fried onion and garlic, with one piece of homemade chicken nugget. It was all they could afford but everything looked delicious.

At the corner of the table, her mother sat reading a letter, a large smile on her face. Julia took a seat across from her, wondering now how she had thought breaking the news would be easy just because she had practiced it in her mind. The moment her Mother looked up it seemed all the bravery she had mustered vanished to nothing.

"Guess what?" Her mother lifted the letter in her hand, smugness on her face.

"What? What is that?" Julia asked. Her mother slid the letter over the table towards her and she caught it before it flew over the edge. Julie recognized the stamp as soon as she saw it and felt the pit of her stomach turn hot. It was an acceptance letter from Allway Bastion School of International Law. She swallowed.

"I didn't apply for this."

"I know. I did." Her mother said. She swiftly went to turn off the water cattle and made tea for the two of them. As she poured the golden liquid into a cup, the sound of her father's television filled the silence in the kitchen. Julia closed the letter carefully, "How are we going to pay for it? They don't offer loans anymore."

"I know. Well... we tried saving for your tuition fee for several years now but your father got sick, so we decided, your father and I, that we should sell the house." She said, smiling widely. Julia's lips parted, her heart beating rapidly in her chest, her feet cold, her hands sweaty.

"No," Julia said abruptly.

"What do you mean no?" Her mother looked up, frowning.

"Mom, I..." Julia took a deep breath. She remembered what Rick had said about breathing with her stomach instead of her chest. A simple technique to force her body to calm down. A simple way she finally proved to be effective.

"You don't want to study law?" Her mother, Mia, asked. Her grayish hair had begun to grow even more the past few years, the look of tired days slaving away in a factory mirror on her face, the tired bags under her eyes hung from evening shifts, and Julia feared for her. She feared for her mother and her father, afraid that their dreams for their child would cost them a difficult life in their old age. When they were supposed to enjoy the fruits of their labor, they might still be working because their wishes clouded their rational thoughts. Julia could not let them do that for her sake, not even for Mala's sake. They had done more than enough.

"It's not that I don't want to study law Mom. I... do not want to study at all."

Mia's eyes widened, and her eyebrows shot up to her hairline as she looked at her daughter carefully. She blinked a few times, "What do you mean?"

"Exactly the way I said it Mom. I don't want to study."

"Why ever not child? Do you want to work in a factory for the rest of your life?" Mia asked, sounding almost grief-stricken. Her eyes started to gloss from tears. Julia held her hand to her lap, stopping herself from reaching out to her mother. She knew when Mia was like this, she did not want to be touched.

"People who study law just study to do secretary work Mom. Everything is done by AI, I'm just going to be a filer and read documents." Julia explained, "The pay is just enough to survive on my own... I'm not going to be able to help the family."

Mia smiled, "What kind of a mother would ask her daughter for help like that? You don't have to worry about us Julia. You've always been a good daughter, you need to have a good comfortable life." She said, seemingly relieved as if the conversation had ended. But Julia shook her head, she no longer needed to think about what she wanted to say, she knew what she needed to say.

"And what kind of a daughter would I be, If I am okay living a good life knowing you've sacrificed everything just for me? You're getting old Mom. You and Dad both. You need this house." Julia said and she felt tears fall from her cheeks. Her mother's gaze fell on her lap, her fingers gripping at the edge tightly as if she would fall over.

"We can handle it," Mia said in a low voice, almost a whisper.

"And? What about Mala?" Julia asked, matching the tone of her mother. Afraid she would break the woman who had been her anchor throughout her life. Julia swallowed, "Mom, you don't have to think too hard for me or worry about me. I know what I want to be. I know what I'm going to do with my life."

At that life seemed to come back to Mia, she blinked as hope seeped through her eyes, "You do? What is it? What do you want to do?"

"I will become a Willower," Julia said. The blooming smile and hope on her mother's face faded so fast it was almost comical. Mia put a hand on her mouth and then called for her father. Julia knew it was bad when she had to call for him.

"I'm coming." Was what her father, Robert Padler, said as he rolled into the kitchen. Back straight. Face lifted. He was on wheels but he still carried himself tall. "What is it, honey? What can I do to help?"

"Help me get some sense into this child. She... God bless you, child, doesn't want us to sell the house but she wants to be a Willower!" Mia exclaimed, raising both hands at Julia as if presenting a case in front of a judge.

At that Robert blinked, looking at his wife and then his daughter and back again, "A Willower?" He asked, "Isn't that the name of the government's shadow soldiers?"

"It is Dad, and I want to become one," Julia admitted.

Her father went silent for a moment, before looking over to his distressed wife. "Sweetheart, you know children do not stay small forever." He said. "Sometimes we can do our best and have wishes for them, but they must decide for themselves what they want to do with their lives." At that, his eyes, although hard were watery, "Even if it means that they go against our wishes, we have to let them go. Because that is a part of being a parent... it is to let children go."

Mia broke into silent sobs, leaning on her father who held her tightly. As close as he could muster from where he sat in his wheelchair. He looked at Mia, then nodded, "Are you sure?"

"I am Dad."

"When will you go and do the examination?"

"It's tomorrow," Julia answered. Her mother was even more distressed when she heard this but her father could only nod. He gestured for her to leave and so she did.

Julia returned to the room where Mala lay in her bed with eyes wide open still. The magazine lay half over the edge of the bed, one hand holding it in place.

"I can't believe you managed it," Mala said in the darkness.

"I just needed to be honest," Julia admitted, hidden in the shadows of her room, enjoying the blanket of darkness concealing her tear-stained cheeks. She had thought once this was over, she would feel at least a form of relief, but instead, Julia could only feel a sense of dread. This was it. If she failed then she would rather be dead, because she would not let her parents sacrifice their home for her future alone. She could not live with herself if they fell into financial distress for her sake.

"Your phone rang like crazy," Mala said.

"What?"

"It's Rick, he tried to call you a few times." Mala turned to lay on her back. "Promise me you'll come back." She said.

"I don't want to make promises I might not be able to keep Mal."

"Please... just lie," Mala said to that.

"I promise," Julia said, walking over to Mala's bed. She put the magazine aside and then held her little sister in a tight hug. She smelled of sweat and cheap perfume Julia wished she could bring everywhere she went. So that she could feel that Mala was close. Suddenly Julia felt her eyes water. Even if she was the one who decided to leave, Julia realized leaving was difficult regardless of the reason.