Chapter 3

Dad tapped on the "play" button with a grim expression on his face.

In the video, the firecracker was exploding loudly in my room, but I remained motionless in my bed as though I never heard a thing. It wasn't until the thick smoke billowing from the burning rug filled my nose and mouth that I suddenly opened my eyes, coughed violently, and rolled off the bed.

At once, the disapproving looks on everyone's faces turned into that of shock and anger as they glared at Dexter.

"Dexter Hoffman!" Dad roared, slamming his hand down on the coffee table. "You set off a firecracker in Dante's room in the middle of the night? Did you know that you nearly set the house on fire as well? You nearly killed him!"

Mom pulled me into her arms again, feeling heartbroken for me as I continued coughing up the smoke from my lungs. She then pointed at Dexter and chided, "Dante can't hear a thing! He didn't even respond when you set off the firecracker next to his ear!

"But if he never woke up because of the smoke, he would have died in his sleep because of you! How could you be so vicious?"

Dexter's face turned deathly pale, his expression grave. He clenched his fists tightly, but there was nothing he could say to defend himself.

I hurriedly wrote, "Mom, Dad, please don't be mad. I'm sure that Dexter was only trying to celebrate my coming home. But it's too dangerous to set off firecrackers inside the house. I don't think he should do that again."

Mom's and Dad's faces darkened even more.

Ever since that incident, Dexter was forbidden from getting close to me at all. He was also grounded at home to reflect on his behavior.

Meanwhile, I was happy to do whatever I wanted and paid no attention to him.

Early the next morning, I went downstairs after washing up and realized that nobody had gone to work. Instead, they were all waiting on the couch downstairs for me.

There were a couple of items laid out on the coffee table. I took a closer look at them and nearly chuckled out loud.

There was a thick stack of hearing-aid flyers and catalogues on the table, a few lifetime VIP membership cards for learning ASL, and even a disability identification card for me.

Mom pulled me over to sit on the couch. Her eyes were red as she showed me a note that they'd written beforehand.

"We never knew how much you suffered when you went missing for so many years, Dante, and we're so sorry for that. You must have had quite a huge shock because of the firecracker incident the other night.

"But I promise that we won't let anyone hurt you like that anymore."

I took out my notebook and wrote, "It's okay, Mom. I don't blame you for anything. What happened that day was just an accident. I'm not afraid anymore."

Dad walked over and patted me heavily on the shoulder. His tone was solemn as he said, "Next time, just write it down if you need anything from us in this house. I won't let anyone bully you ever again!"

Desiree then came up to me with a warm glass of milk. She looked at me and made a few clumsy motions with her hands.

I stared at her for a moment before realizing that she was actually signing to me.

Her signing wasn't the most accurate, but I understood what she was trying to tell me. She was saying, "I've got you."

She then put her hands down and said seriously, "I've already registered for an ASL class. I'll soon be able to communicate better with you."

I felt a complex feeling rising in my chest when I saw everyone trying their hardest to make things up to me like this. I lowered my head and took big gulps of the warm milk.

Just then, there was a flurry of footsteps coming from the top of the stairs. The next moment, Dexter rushed down to the living room.

He had dark circles under his eyes, evidence that he barely slept at all last night. The look on his face was one of manic excitement.

He got extremely jealous when he saw the four of us sharing a warm moment in the living room. He glared at me and chuckled maliciously before marching up to the coffee table.

"Go on, keep lying to us all you want!" he roared, gritting his teeth while pointing at me. "Mom, Dad, you've been deceived by him all this while! He's not deaf or mute at all! And I have concrete evidence!"

Then, he fished out something from his back pocket and slammed it hard on the coffee table.

I looked at it and was stunned at once.