Abusive Parents
The Willow and the Branch
My father was once the best-known peddler on Qingyun Street.
He walked from lane to lane selling everything from thread to malt candy.
Then he became addicted to opium.
He sold Mother back to a brothel and stuffed my little sister and me into the baskets on his carrying pole.
The last time he shouldered that pole, the rest of our lives swung from either end.
