(IX)—
Dad, there has been a stray cat coming around the stairwell outside my door. I think it belongs to someone in the building, but it has been sitting there in the evenings anyway. I have not let it in. I am barely keeping up with things as they are, but I am managing well enough.
I even cooked dinner last night without setting off the fire alarm. You would probably find that funny. You used to say your life would have been easier if you had been better at those things, but I am getting the hang of them now. They are not as difficult as I thought they were.
I have been keeping the place clean too. I suppose that is why the landlord only leaves rent notices through the door, even though I am the only one coming back here at night.
I am running low on money again, but it is all right. I had to sort out your prescriptions this week, and I also paid for the phone card by your bed. The nurse said the ward had run out, so I went to the pharmacy across the road instead. It cost more than I thought it would, but I kept thinking that you would probably want to make a call if you felt up to it.
I will wait near the phone today incase you do.
Get well soon,
Hoku
-Sent December 21st, 1998-
. . .
Dear Hoku,
I know we have not known each other very long, and it has taken me a little time to settle in as well.
There have been many changes this past year, and I know that not all of them were easy, especially for you. Nonetheless, you handled them better than most people would have.
And it has, in its own way, made me often think about what to say to you when we are sitting down to eat, even when it is only small talk.
I am more used to speaking to college students than to someone your age, so I may not always say the right things.
Even so, I would like you to know that if there is ever something you need or something you are uncertain about, you may come to me. I will take you seriously.
Jiang Hao
I left something for you in the library. It is on the shelf just beneath the highest one. I thought you might like this series.
Happy seventeenth Birthday!
-Written December 21st, 2000-
. . .
-Sent December 21st, ????'
Who is this?
-End-