A Perfect Crime Read Online Free

last remains of my anxiety and called my mother. This was the first time I’d ever picked up the phone and called her of my own volition. We were always fighting.
    When Pa died, Ma didn’t shed a single tear. She just launched herself into her business selling fizzy drinks and snacks. She was stingy, my ma, preferring to drink only boiled water and do all her own heavy lifting. If I tried to eat any of her stock she’d bat me away, saying it was unhygienic, that they’d all been fried in second-hand oil. I’d retort that such famous brands couldn’t possibly endanger their customers’ health in such a way and she had to admit that it was also a question of lost profit.
    ‘Why do you care so much about making money?’ I asked.
    ‘For you, of course.’
    ‘For me? And yet I’m not allowed to eat even one packet?’
    ‘I’m trying my best to scrape together a living. For you, yes.’
    ‘And what if I get cancer? Won’t it all have been for nothing?’
    ‘Well, you’re not having it anyway,’ she replied in her arbitrary way.
    Money was her only love. Every cent that passed through my fingers made her eyes bulge in anguish. If she was forced to choose between me and one thousand
yuan,
well, you get the picture. Later I came to see it all differently. Those funny arguments only happened because she was scared to see me grow up, this illiterate woman whose one measure of life was the struggle to make money. It was her sole means of controlling me.
    I argued with her less after that. She could do whatever she wanted. But now, as her voice reached out to me from the other end of the phone and I thought about the fact that I was about to leave this world for ever, tears welled up in my eyes. You only have one mother. I’d read that in a book. I sat up quietly and listened to her solemn counsel.
    ‘Son, you’ve completed an important stage in your life, so make sure you listen to what your uncle and aunt tell you and work hard.’
    ‘Mm,’ came my reply.
    We didn’t have much to say to each other, so I asked, ‘Has Auntie arrived?’
    ‘Yes, she’s here. She’s very good to me. She brought me lots of expensive clothes.’
    ‘When’s she coming back?’
    ‘Tomorrow afternoon.’
    That was enough, so I hung up. Only one day left now. It was time. I decided to text Kong Jie. She was the only person I knew who would come over.
    My aunt is driving me mad, I can’t take it any more. I could kill her.
    What is it? Calm down, we’ll think of something,
she replied.
    Her voice was like a heavenly waterfall cascading over my body. Moments later it was gone. I hesitated. I could feel excitement in every bit of my body. I heard her voice again and it came clearly – soft, honest. Anxious. Loyal. It was the sound of love, even if I wasn’t the only one to receive it. I burst into loud sobs.
    I cried so hard it didn’t feel real. I paced the room. I was miserable, because I knew now I would kill her. Because I could.
    I found a notebook and wrote the date, but I couldn’t think of anything to say so I jotted down some random sentences and then wrote:
    it’s her, it’s her, it’s her
    it’s her, it’s her, it’s her
    But I tore that page out and burned it. I needed to leave this for the police. I started again:
    cousin cousin cousin cousin
    cousin cousin cousin cousin
    I wrote page after page, until my hand hurt so much I had to stop.

Action

T he alarm was set for 9.00 but I was awake by 8.00. I sent a text to Kong Jie.
    We can’t stand each other. I’ve nowhere to go. I’m packing my stuff and leaving this afternoon at 2.00. Can you come?
    Can’t you fix it?
she replied.
    No, I’ve already bought a train ticket back home for this evening.
    There was nothing for a long time. I stared at the phone, my plan falling apart. Relationships never last. What’s important to one person is just piffling dog shit to another.
    Just then her reply bleeped onto the screen.
    Don’t be too hasty, see if you can fix