Reuben wiped his eyes. “While working on the ship with Uncle Casey, I’ve missed my mother terribly. But I thought about it and figured that my father would scold and beat her every day if she were still alive. It’s my fault for being so useless. If only I had been capable of leaving home with my mother then, maybe she wouldn’t have died.”

Gloria was unsure how to respond to Reuben’s remark. Life was filled with discontentment and too many helpless situations. She stretched out her hand to pat h