CHAPTER 04

Ulmer’s grandmother, Mollie, was the mother of Ulmer’s dad. She was the one who raised Ulmer when he was a child.

Ulmer had diarrhea issues until he was four years old, so his mother never really took him close and put him in her lap. And it was Ulmer’s grandmother who tended to him and showered love on him unconditionally.

From her perspective, Ulmer was her first grandson, so she adored him a lot.

But because Mollie told her son about the affairs his wife was having with other men, Ulmer’s mom never liked Mollie and always made her life difficult. Over the years, she manipulated her husband to send Mollie out of the house.

Mollie was now living with her second son who was a decent man, but his wife was much worse than Ulmer’s mom. She always verbally tortured Mollie, but because Mollie couldn’t go back to Ulmer’s mom, she could only swallow the shame and stay at this house.

It had been three months since Ulmer last saw Mollie.

After visiting the graves of his parents and siblings again to apologize to them, Ulmer set out to meet Mollie who lived in another city that was almost 400 kilometers away.

When he went to her home in the afternoon, his uncle and his family were eating in the hall. Mollie was the only one eating in the verandah. And there was very little food on her plate.

Though his uncle’s family saw Ulmer, none of them even greeted him right away. They acted like they didn’t see him.

Ulmer didn’t really care about them, either. He sat down next to his grandmother. He gently put his hand on her feeble-looking hand which looked veiny. Her skin looked shriveled because she was already in her eighties.

Mollie felt his touch, and her hand slowly traced along his arm and touched his face. “Ulmer?” a bright smile surfaced on her face. Even though her eyesight greatly worsened in the past five years, she could barely see his face in a blur. It brought tears of happiness to her eyes.

“Why are you eating so little, Grandma?” Ulmer asked.

Mollie’s expression changed. “I’m not that hungry anymore, Ulmer. I’ve grown old, have I not?”

Even though she said that, he could see that she was trying to not look pitiful.

“Yeah, but you’re eating only a handful of rice, and I only see four beans,” Ulmer said. “That’s not enough to kill your hunger.”

Mollie forced out a smile and emotionally grabbed his hand. “I’m old and blind, Ulmer,” she said in a low voice. “If I eat more than this, I’ll become a burden to them. I don’t want them to kick me out.”

Her words brought tears to Ulmer’s eyes. He leaned his head into her head and silently shed tears. “I’m sorry, Grandma. You don’t deserve this life. I will soon find a way to take you with me. Until then, please bear with your hunger.”

Ulmer’s words touched  her heart. She raised her hand and rubbed his cheek. “How can I be a burden to you, Ulmer?”

“You’re not a burden to me. Did you think I was a burden when I was a kid?” Ulmer asked back.

“No, but…. You don’t know your mother. She won’t allow you to—”

“Don’t say anything. Leave everything to me. I’ll come back once I get a grip on my life,” Ulmer assured her.

He understood that Mollie and others in this house were not yet aware of the fact that Ulmer’s parents and siblings died.Both of their families didn’t have good relations lately because they quarreled over property partition many years ago. Ulmer didn’t feel like telling his uncle or aunt about their deaths because he thought they wouldn’t care, and he didn’t want to tell Mollie right now either because he didn’t want her to cry even more.

After all, Ulmer knew how much Mollie loved his dad because Mollie first gave birth to him when she was 43. Her first son was her world for a while after that.

Mollie gave Ulmer the copper bracelet her husband used to wear back in the day. Ulmer thanked her for it and kissed her.

The two names ‘Mike & Mollie’ were carved on the inner side of the bracelet. Mike was his grandfather’s name. He never got to know his grandfather all that much because he was a tobacco addict and died of tuberculosis when Ulmer was quite young. The only memory Ulmer had of his grandfather was his grandfather playfully kicking him as a greeting.

Ever since Mike died, Mollie’s life completely changed. She suffered a lot even though she had two sons.

Ulmer talked with her for a little while and then silently put a bundle of cash under Mollie’s pillow and then departed.

As per Dove’s guidance, Ulmer reached the sea shore.

“You still didn’t tell me where we are going,” Ulmer uttered, staring at the sea which was quite rough at the moment.

“You’re still at level 1, Ulmer,” Dove’s voice rang in his mind. “You struggled to defeat Kale. If I didn’t put some of my strength into your fists, you would have lost the fight against him.”

Dove’s words made Ulmer purse his lips.

“The way you are, you wouldn’t be able to stand a chance against the opponents you’ll be facing soon,” Dove said. “So, you’ll be practicing on your way there and level up fast.”

“Practicing? How?” Ulmer couldn’t help but ask.

“By swimming across the pacific and beyond,” Dove said, widening Ulmer’s eyes and skipping his heart many times.

He was supposed to swim through those rough waves that looked like they could topple giant ships with ease? What sort of joke is this? It sounded too unbelievable and unreasonable to even think of it as a joke.

“You’re kidding, right?”

“We’re on a serious mission here, Ulmer. Why would I joke?” Dove responded.

“ I don’t even know how to swim.”

“Oh, you can learn along the way. No problems.”

Ulmer’s expression worsened some more. “I promised my grandma I would return, but if I knew I had to do something crazy, I would have left her with some more insurance.”

“Stop complaining and start swimming.”

“Tsk, a promise is a promise, so I’ll put my trust in you,” Ulmer said and walked ahead into the mighty ocean. His heart was racing very fast. He looked like a nobody against the high waves. “Fuck. I can’t possibly swim through those waves. If I end up as shark poop, I’ll bury you inside me so that no one will ever find you.”

“There are a lot of creatures in the sea that eat even poop, so you can’t do anything about me after you’re dead,” Dove retorted, “but don’t worry. I won’t let you die, that is as long as you don’t give up… my friend.”