our town were afraid of the Japanese police, and they were even more afraid of being locked up. Consequently, the police were able to do whateve they wanted, without encountering much resistance.

     After seven days, my father came back. He had changed. His face looked distorted. His left cheek was swollen and his eyes seemed to protrude from his head. There was a lump on his forehead and his cloths were ragged and dirty. Once my little brother watched him change his clothes; upon seeing the bruises covering my father's body, my brother cried out, "Oh, my father looks like a deer."

     My father had completely changed. Before, whenever he had the time he would play with us, laughing at our games. But now he wouldn't open his mouth all day long, and when he looked at us, there were tears in his eyes. He used to eat three bowls of rice at each meal, but now could barely finish one bowl. After a few days, he collasped onto his bed and didn't get up again. Our whole family changed. The gods of happiness had desserted us.

     My father stayed in bed for serveral months before he passed away.

     Soon after his death, my mother fell ill. My brothers and sisters were very young they were only one, three and four years old - - what were we going to do? My uncle and aunt lived next door, and they came over to help out whenever they could. If they hadn't, our whole family whould have perished. Eventually, my uncle was forced to sell his land as well, and they moved away from our town to try to find jobs. It seemed as though overnight, the Sugar Company had forced serveral hundred farm famlies to leave their land to find jobs elsewhere. Some started up small businesses. Th competiton between the businesses was fierce. People worked at temporary jobs, and when they had nothing to do, they became uneasy. My uncle and aunt couldn't help us out much then.

     When my father came back from the police station, he had brought six hundred dollars back with him. The money had dissappeared quickly, because we had to use it during his illness, and later, for his funeral. After recovering from her illness, my mother had to sell our last remaining piece of land.

     The day my father returned from the police station, he had tossed a bundle of money on the table without saying where it had come from, but we all knew it was the money the sugar company had given him for his rice fields.