Free The Purple Heart by Vincent Yee

item at the price offered. But everyone eyed the bowl
and tea set. It was a bowl and tea set that her mother had collected over the
years, one for each member of the family, and she would not sell it without a
fight. Soon, Minami noticed that her mother was saying “no” to every price
offered for the tea set, even when the price was pretty decent. But she
realized what her mother was doing. Her mother no longer had any intent on
selling the bowl and tea set. It represented their family dignity and she
refused all offers, denying unscrupulous buyers what they lusted after.
    Toward the end of the
evening, Minami had carried in the few items that did not sell. She walked into
the quiet house, illuminated by the few wall lights, since they had sold their
floor lamps. She dropped most of the clothing onto the living room floor and
then noticed that there was a warm reddish glow flickering on the fringes of
the back door in the kitchen. Minami went to investigate.
    Her mother was sitting on
the steps of the back door, watching a fire. Minami pushed aside the screen
door and the creaking of the wood made her mother turn around.
    She eked out a smile,
“Minami.”
    Minami sat beside her
mother, “What are you doing, Mom?”
    “Oh I’m just enjoying the
fire. I figured for the things we couldn’t sell, no one should have them. So a
little fire seemed appropriate.”
    Minami nodded and sat
silently next to her mother, watching the fire come to life. It was a
struggling fire and her mother would every now and then feed it an item or two
to keep it alive, as if to tame it, to keep the small fiery beast under her
control. Minami looked at her mother and watched the fire glisten in her eyes.
She seemed neither sad nor happy, but there was a sense of calm about her. Her
hair was tied back, and the light of the fire highlighted the few gray streaks
that ran through her hair. Her skin was still beautifully soft and shiny. A
couple of wrinkles here and there and a slightly sagging chin was all that time
had to cast onto her mother. Minami placed her left arm around her mother and
pulled her gently into her. Her mother reciprocated and drew comfort from her
daughter’s hug. But she ultimately missed her husband’s embrace when they were
alone–the way she would feel secure in his arms as he gave her a warm hug.
    Minami suddenly had an
idea, got up and told her mother that she would be right back as the screen
door slammed against the doorframe. She gathered up the clothing from the
living room and called for her siblings. She walked back to her mother, plopped
the clothes in front of her and sat down next to her. She smiled at her mother,
riffled through the clothing and picked out an orange shirt that belonged to
her mother.
    “No wonder this didn’t sell
Mom. It’s so ugly!” said Minami.
    Her mother stared back at
her daughter and then looked at the shirt and smiled, “How dare you? That’s a
perfectly good shirt,” she said sarcastically.
    Minami looked at her mother
with almost a sinister look and tossed the shirt into the fire that swallowed
it whole and fed on it.
    Her mother picked through
the clothing and found a white shirt that belonged to Minami. “This shirt, made
you look fat!” she said with a smile. Minami laughed. This shirt, too, was sent
into the hungry jaws of the fire.
    Soon, Miho, Yuka, and Yoshi
joined them and found the humor in the act and together the family fed the fire
and made good fun of one another. The fire roared and raged like a little
animal being fed throughout the night. The family took the opportunity to burn
most of their father’s fish-scented clothing, but Minami’s mother sacrificed
only those pieces he wouldn’t object to losing. She was anticipating his return
and didn’t want to lose hope.
    The last of the clothes
were fed into the fire as red ashes ascended into the night sky. Yoshi ran
after a few stray burning embers that landed on the ground and stomped out
their glow,