Page 20 - beyond-hate

18.

THE MAN

I already asked her. While she
doesn't acknowledge it, I am almost
sure that the perpetrator is the
Amerasian who lives in the next
hamlet.

THE GIRL'S MOTHER
(startled, as if about to faint, she mumbles)
What? What? Is it the Amerasian?
The black man?

THE MAN
The difficult thing is we didn't
catch him in the act, and our
daughter refuses to say anything. I
hope that she will return to normal
soon and will tell everything. But
this is a shameful thing. Should we
tell the police? If we tell the
police, we might as well tell
everybody in the town, and then how
will you and our daughter look
everyone in the eyes? Furthermore,
to have proof, our daughter must
undergo an examination...

THE GIRL'S MOTHER
(recoiling)
Don't, don't do that! My poor
daughter, she has suffered enough.
Don't torture her more.

The man's face, after the sleepless night, looks ragged and shrunken -

- the more so when one notices the deep wrinkle on his forehead, the
hollow cheeks, and unshaven stubble. He sits thinking silently and
then speaks haltingly.