Mute Mom's Silent Smile, My Lifelong Regret

Summary

My mom was mute, and also, the village's notorious outcast–publicly branded a tramp.

When I was ten, I saw her, clothes disheveled, rushing out of the local bachelor's shack, clutching two hundred dollars.

I hid behind a haystack, watching the village kids pelt her with stones, calling her filthy.

She didn't dodge. She just held those two bills tightly to her chest, her face bloody, and smiled at me.

It was from that day on that I never called her "Mom" again.

I started studying relentlessly, just to escape this godforsaken valley and never come back.