As high school approached, Layne feared that her outstanding granddaughter would attract unwanted attention. So, she encouraged Malaya to continue pretending to be a bully.
The smile vanished from Malaya's face.
Did Cheyenne find out?
The clothes were scavenged from a second-hand market by the household staff, who said they were taken from deceased patients in nearby hospitals.
Most of these people had contagious diseases and no one to claim their bodies. They were hastily cremated to dispose of them.
When she sent the staff to buy the clothes, she had been discreet about it. She was afraid that if the matter got out, it would tarnish the "kind-hearted" image she had carefully built for herself.
But how did Cheyenne find out?
One day, after wearing a black cotton coat, she felt completely uncomfortable. She walked down the street feeling dizzy and lightheaded. Accidentally, someone bumped into her.
His scissors tore through her coat, causing dirty, bloody clumps of cotton to fall out, emitting a nauseating smell.
People around her looked at her with disgust and disdain, covering their noses as they walked away from her.
From that day on, rumors spread through the campus about Cheyenne's unkempt appearance. Everyone assumed she had accidentally stained her clothes during her menstrual cycle, even dying the cotton inside the coat red.
For young girls just starting junior high, many were naïve about such matters. Cheyenne was shocked when she first discovered bloodied cotton inside her coat.
She skipped class and went home.
At the doorstep, she saw an old and tattered lady, carrying a bag with a blue checkered pattern. The old lady opened the bag with a smile, revealing a pile of dirty clothes.
The maid, with a disgusted expression, handed her two bills, then walked into the mansion, carrying the bag of clothes.
A few days later, Malaya handed her two "new clothes," one of which was from the bag.
When the old lady came for the second time, Cheyenne followed her all the way to the ruins behind the hospital.
It was a huge garbage dump.
Piled high were discarded medical waste, bloodied needles, empty bottles, and a heap of abandoned clothes.
Every day, old people and children came to scavenge through the trash, picking up clothes to wash and sell in the second-hand market.
Curiously, Cheyenne opened a black plastic bag at her feet.
As she pulled it open, she glimpsed something drenched in blood. It was a clump of severed human limbs, a head separated from its body, with red blood mingled with white brain matter.
Some resembled bodies that were six or seven months old, almost formed with a basic human shape... Cheyenne let out a scream and flung the contents of her hands aside.
The old lady, thinking that Cheyenne was also one of the trash collectors, mocked her for being startled. After all, these were all discarded waste from the gynecology department.
Many of the pregnant students were underage and dared not tell their families, so they hurriedly had abortions. Since they couldn't afford a cemetery plot, the hospital had to handle the disposal.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: She Became Rich After Divorce (Cheyenne and Kelvin)
Nice story...