Peggy cast a dubious look at her son. "What for? Are you going out?" she asked doubtfully.
"Yes," Allen answered impatiently. "I can't bear to eat that rubbish anymore. It makes me feel sick. I must eat something fresh. Give me the money, mom."
However, Peggy was having none of it and refused to let him go out. "No way! I'm not letting you out. They're looking for us everywhere. If you go out now, you'll be caught. Can't you just try to bear with it for a few more days?"
"I can't bear it anymore," Allen said as he approached her. "Trust me. I'll be careful and come back as soon as possible after dinner."
"No. I won't allow you to leave yourself in danger," Peggy firmly denied him. Even if she had somehow managed to talk him out of his bratty way of speaking, he still wouldn't change his mind.
It seemed that he still hadn't realized the gravity of their situation.
"Give me the money quickly!" he insisted again impatiently, almost rudely. When he saw that Peggy didn't move at all, he lunged forward and quickly snatched the money away from her pocket. As he turned around to leave, her hand reached out to grip his arm.
"Listen, Allen, we can't go out today. Maybe another day…" Peggy tried to convince him one last time.
"Another day, another day! How many another days have you said? I nearly had nothing every day except the damned porridge. I want to eat something healthy now. Look at my face; can't you see how terrible it looks? Let me tell you something—I will go and you can't stop me. That's all!" Allen yelled at his mother.
He couldn't take it anymore, so he gave in to his anger. After his last words, he roughly pushed Peggy away, and she fell on the floor. Before she could get up, he took the chance to run away.
Peggy could only sigh and smile bitterly. She slowly stood up, and ate the porridge. After a few moments of silence, she turned to Sue and said, "You can have all the food."
Sue glanced at Peggy and observed her for a bit. "Mom, you have always treated him like a baby. Don't you feel tired of it?" she asked.
"You don't understand," Peggy said sharply. She ran a hand through her hair and sighed deeply once again.
"He's my son. I gave birth to him, so I'm glad to please him. Don't say anything against him! Nothing could come between my son and I. Remember that," she warned.
"I didn't mean to. I just don't understand," Sue said as a wry smile danced across her lips.
The air was silent while Peggy thought for a while. "I can't explain. You wouldn't know the feeling till you have your own boy," she murmured a few moments later.
"Maybe," Sue said. They said no more about it after that. It was clear that Peggy couldn't see anything wrong with her son. Sue just lowered her head and thought about her ill-mannered brother.
She decided that if she ever gave birth to a boy, she would never overindulge him like Peggy did—he might turn out the same as her brother.
It was late afternoon, but Allen still hadn't come back. Peggy waited anxiously for him and paced back and forth in the junkyard, her face full of worry and her hands balled into fists. "Where's my son? It's been a few hours already. Why isn't he back yet?" she muttered repeatedly.
Her face suddenly turned pale when an idea crossed her mind. "Something must have happened to him. Did he get caught?" she guessed.
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