It figured that the first time I would officially meet Naira’s dad, it would be in my boxers. Naira’s parents knew about us and the baby. They weren’t too happy about us being together or living together… or having a child out of wedlock. In general, they hated me.
Naira assured me that her parents had come to terms and were happy for us; however, I took the cowardly route and avoided meeting them.
My heart pounded like a drum, and anxiety surged through my veins. My lungs felt like they were being squeezed by a giant. And, my stomach was knotted so tight that I thought I might throw up.
“I am very sorry for–” I blurted.
“It’s okay. I should have knocked instead of letting myself in,” her father interrupted.
“Oh,” I whispered. I was trying to apologize to him for the way things turned out untraditional between Naira and me. Although, apologizing for being in my boxers would have been a good apology, too.
“I’m still getting used to you and her,” Mr. Kang nodded as though he was talking to himself.
“I know that I’m,” I took a deep breath. “I know that I’m not Asian. Or a doctor. I didn’t go to college and…” I groaned and rubbed my face with my hands. “Ugh. I sound like a loser. No wonder you and Mrs. Kang hate me.”
Mr. Kang chuckled. I lowered my hands from my face and looked at him. He was shaking his head and laughing.
“I don’t hate you, Mr. Mattis,” Mr. Kang smiled. “We have a lot more in common than you think.”
“We do?” I was confused by his words. How could he and I have a lot in common?
“Well, I doubt you come from a family with ten children and farm a rice field,” he replied with a chuckle. “Were your parents rice farmers?”
“Can’t say they were,” I laughed. “Being a rice farmer is more honorable than the professions they chose.” I groaned at the thought of my druggy parents.
“Yes. Naira told us you had a rough time growing up,” he said softly. “I am sorry to hear that.”
“Um. Thank you.”
I wasn’t sure what else to say. Naira had told them every detail about me, I was sure. It wasn’t that I could be upset with her for doing so, but I had a hard enough time telling her about my childhood.
“Despite how you might feel, myself and Mrs. Kang do not have ill feelings towards you,” Naira’s dad said, making me sigh.
“But you probably think I ruined her life,” I whispered.
“Ha!” he said dramatically. “Naira is stubborn. She won’t do anything unless it is under her terms.” His words made me laugh.
“She is very stubborn.”
Mr. Kang and I shared a good laugh. The nerves and tension I had been feeling dissipated. I finally found myself able to breathe without fighting for air.
“See. There’s no reason to hate you. She is a grown woman. She makes her own choices. Do we wish she would have waited until marriage before the two of you moved in together? Yes. But we understand that today’s generation is different than ours,” he stated, while looking at me.
“I didn’t move in just because of the baby,” I assured him. His eyes widened and he looked like he was about to faint.
“Baby?” he asked softly.
Oh. Fuck.
Naira told me she had told her mom about the baby. She said her mom was ecstatic about the baby. I had always assumed Naira and her mom had told her dad.
“They didn’t tell you?” I groaned.
“They? Naira’s mother knows about the baby?” I replied to his words with a nod. “How long?”
“How long?” I was afraid of answering the wrong question and causing more issues in this already fucked up situation that Naira and her mother had put me in.
“How long has Mrs. Kang known?” he asked with his eyes narrowed in on me.
“A few weeks,” I blurted.
“A few weeks!” He shouted and shot up off the couch. He began ranting and raving in their native tongue. Occasionally, he would go quiet, look at me, and start going off again. At least I assumed he was cursing me out.
“I’m very sorry no one told you,” I said softly, when he went quiet for longer than a minute. He stood by the window with his back to me. He sighed heavily and shook his head.
“Those two are in a lot of trouble,” he groaned. “No wonder you are scared to meet me.” I wasn’t sure if he was actually talking to me or just talking out loud, so I simply nodded. “Grab your shoes,” he said, turning and looking for me.
“Sir?” I asked in shock.
“We’re going out for drinks.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Naira
Looking at my phone, I checked the time again. So many things needed to fall into place in order for my plan to work. And Eli still hadn’t replied to my text asking him to be dressed in something nice and to meet me at the Big Apple Cafe.
What would I do if he turned me down after all of the planning I’d put into today? Sometimes it helped to be a lawyer, to get around the red tape. I had the papers, Eli’s best friends were supposed to be at the Cafe waiting on us with my old boss and his friend, Judge Lawson.
“Maybe I should call him?” I mumbled.
“Stop worrying, daughter.” My mother smiled at me from a few feet away.
I knew this isn’t what she had hoped for but the more I had thought about things, the less I’d wanted to wait.
“Mom, I’m so –”
“No apologies. Sometimes we have to go with the flow,” she replied as she patted my hand and turned to Sister Mary Agnus.
“Here you are, Miss Kang,” the salesperson pulled me from my worries. “You sure you don’t want a traditional band? Many men like to trade them out.”
The gleam of a better sale was evident in his eyes, but I refused to let myself be upset with him. Who could blame him?
“Sorry but nothing about mine and Eli’s relationship is traditional,” I laughed and rubbed my stomach.
The baby was growing, and I was finally starting to show. Mom and I had decided it was best not to tell my father until it was absolutely necessary. I was hoping it would go over better once today was out of the way.
Today. I sighed and closed my eyes for a second as I went over my mental checklist. This was my last stop. The last thing I needed.
Today’s big event might be a surprise to Eli, hopefully a good one, but the more I thought of our baby, the more I felt that it was an important move. Our little one would arrive in less than four months. He or she deserved to have a stable home.
The salesperson chuckled uneasily and offered me the velvet covered box.
I snapped it open and took a quick look. It was perfect.
“Thank you. It’s exactly what I wanted,” I sighed in happiness and rubbed my stomach again.
“You’re welcome, Miss Kang. Please come back to us with all of your jewelry needs.” The man slid my receipt across the counter and then walked off to a couple who was making excited sounds in front of the engagement ring display.
“Mom, are you sure you want me to have grandma’s rings?” I asked her for the millionth time.
“Absolutely, she would want you to have them,” Mom replied instantly.
I glanced one last time at the jewelry case and inhaled deeply before turning to my partners in crime. “Well, it’s time to get hitched, ladies.”
“Where the hell is he?” I demanded of Lola when Sister Mary Agnes, Mom, and I arrived at the cafe to find that not only had my boyfriend not texted me back, but no one seemed to know where the hell he was.
“I have no idea,” Lola frowned and looked at a couple standing to the side with two little kids. “We sent someone to your apartment, but no one was there.”
“Great, just great.” I pulled out my phone and noticed I had a missed call. I swiped to display the call and immediately handed the phone to Lola. “I can’t… what if something happened.”
The logical assumption was that Eli had gotten up and headed out for t
he cafe and something had happened. Why else would he not have messaged me? But if he’d gotten my message, wouldn’t he have contacted me before leaving the apartment?
“There’s a message, do you want me to play it?” Lola glanced up at me and waited for my response.
“Yes.” I nodded and placed my hands on my stomach as I waited for the worst.
Lola had the phone to her ear and her mouth dropped open in shock. “Um… you’re going to need to hear this…” Lola stopped the message and switched the phone to speaker before restarting it.
“Yes, I’m calling…” Laughter filled the phone. “Fine, let me hear it, old man.”
Eli’s voice was slurred, and my stomach dropped out from beneath me. Had he gotten wind of my plans and this was his response?
However, before I got too worked up some really awful singing came from the phone.
“Desmond takes a trorrey to the jewerrer's store
Buys a twenty carat gorden ring
Takes it back to Morry waiting at the door
And as he gives it to her she begins to sing
Ob ra di, ob-ra-da, life goes on, bra
Ra-Ra, how the rife goes on”
“No, no,” Eli laughs and then sings...
“Ob-la di, ob-la-da, life goes on, bra
La-la, how the life goes on.”
Everyone stared at each other. No one was looking at me as two men began laughing and arguing over the words to Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da by the Beatles.
“Who is he with?” Lola asked as she played the message again.
“Naira’s father,” Mom replied as I gasped and raised my hand to my mouth.
My eyes burned and I wanted to run from the cafe. How in the hell had Eli and my dad ended up drunk calling me while they sang one of my dad’s favorite songs?
“Mom?” I turned to my mother and spoke to her in her native language.
“Yes, daughter?” My mom looked at me.
“Where did you tell dad to meet us?” I asked and immediately knew the answer when her face paled.
“How could you?” I snapped.
“Don’t you take that tone with me, young lady. I raised you better than that.”
“Does anyone know what they’re saying?” Someone asked nearby.
“Everyone, I’d like to thank you for coming tonight and helping me set up this surprise wedding. However, my boyfriend and my dad didn’t get the memo and are currently drunk as skunks somewhere in the Big Apple.” As I finished my little speech, I turned and stormed out the exit.
Anger filled me as I stomped down the sidewalk. Voices yelled from behind me, but I wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone. Logically I knew I couldn’t be angry at Eli. Because of my plans, it wasn’t like he knew what was happening. My own dad didn’t, so I knew he didn’t spill the beans to Eli.
“Naira, slow down. I can’t walk that fast,” my mother panted as she caught up to me.
“I’m sorry,” I replied out of habit as the tears began to fall down my cheeks.
It didn’t take us long to reach my building and we rode the elevator up in silence as the tears continued to well up and fall. Hormones and emotions pushed at me as I thought about the message Eli and my dad had left on the phone.
When I approached my door, I fumbled with my keys until my mom took them from me and unlocked the door. As she pushed the door open, we heard rowdy singing coming from inside.
We stepped into the apartment only to be caught in my dad’s sights.
“Rucy! You’ve got some splannin’ to do,” he laughed as he looped an arm over Eli’s shoulder.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Eli
A light shined bright through my eyelids. I rolled onto my side away from the light and groaned. My body pressed against another body. The body smelled of alcohol and men’s aftershave.
The memories of going for drinks with Naira’s dad flooded me. I soon found myself sitting up and looking down at Mr. Kang who was curled up with one of the couch pillows. He wore boxers and a white undershirt.
Quickly, I grabbed the blanket from the couch and covered him. And then I took in the damage around the apartment. Other than the coffee table and couches being moved… and Mr. Kang and I in the middle of it, the living room seemed to have survived our drinking.
What the hell happened? I wondered and rubbed the back of my neck as I thought about the hours prior.
When Mr. Kang and I had left the apartment to go grab a drink, I thought maybe a beer or two. I wasn’t a big drinker so even the thought of one beer made my stomach turn. However, there was no way I was passing up an invitation from my future father-in-law.
Mr. Kang had driven us to a restaurant/bar in Chinatown. When we walked through the doors, all eyes were on me. Most likely because I was the only non-Asian in the entire place that I could see. Mr. Kang shouted something to them all. Everyone nodded and then went back to minding their business. I didn’t bother asking any questions. The whole thing seemed like a scene from an action movie and at any moment, Mr. Kang was going to start kicking some ass.
The beers I thought we were going to have never happened. We had found a seat in one of the booths and Mr. Kang ordered the drinks. I hadn’t a clue what he said to the waiter. All I knew is the waiter came back with a green glass bottle and two glasses. Naira’s dad had quickly filled each glass halfway with the clear liquid inside the bottle. The liquid that I now referred to as ‘gasoline and lighter fluid had a baby’.
The first bottle, we simply drank in silence. Bottle two, Naira’s dad was ranting about Naira and his wife and how they were always trying to keep secrets. Then he was ranting about how poor men like him and I needed to stick together, and we were better off without the women. And, how he didn’t hate me originally because I was white, but because I looked like I was going to rob him.
Bottle three, Naira’s dad was now feeling emotional having said we were better off without his daughter and his wife so he and I shed a few tears about not feeling good enough for the women. I confided in him my fear of being a bad husband and a bad dad. He then gave me countless advice and shared stories of how he thought he used to think the same way, when him and Naira’s mom first got together.
Bottle four was when I and those around us were wondering how we weren’t dead. A few people helped us hail a cab and then helped get our drunk asses into the cab. Cab driver only knew where to take us because I pulled out my driver’s license and waved it in front of his face. I then declared to the driver that Mr. Kang was my best friend and soon to be father-in-law. I also remember inviting the guy to my future wedding.
We got out of the cab. Instead of heading straight inside, Mr. Kang and I spotted the corner store, looked at each other, grinned, and then went to buy a few more drinks. We were heading up the stairs to the apartment with our bags, when Sophia and Ethel spotted us. They made their usual catcalls and flirty comments. That’s when Mr. Kang became my all-time hero. He stood in front of me and told the women loud enough for the entire block to hear it, “You leave my son ‘lone, you ol’ hussies! You very… very ugly women.”
Naira’s dad and I made it inside and I spent a good five minutes crying to him about how he was my hero for protecting me. And how Naira had protected me against the two old ladies but then apologized to Sophia and Ethel, so her protection hadn’t counted. That’s where things started to get foggy. We ordered take-out, drank, and sang incoherently to some old ass songs that I hadn’t heard of in my life and then… voila! Lying next to Mr. Kang, who was snuggled up with one of Naira and my couch cushions.
“One hell of a day,” I groaned.
“I’d say,” Naira grumbled behind me. My heart nearly burst out of my chest because I hadn’t heard her walk up.
“Hey, beautiful!” I quickly stood up, but my equilibrium wasn’t in agreeance and I fell onto the couch. My stomach sloshed. My head spun and pounded like a drum. “Ugh.”
“Not feeling too hot, are you?” Naira mused. I managed t
o pick up my head and look over the couch at her. She was smiling.
“You aren’t mad at me?”
“At first I was,” she sighed. “But after seeing who you were with, how could I stay mad?” She smiled and then came around to my side of the couch.
“I hadn’t planned on going out,” I assured her. And her. Since I was seeing two of her.
Maybe I’m still drunk?
“I think I might get sick,” I covered my mouth and took off for the bathroom.
“Welcome to my world!” Naira shouted at me with amusement in her voice. I couldn’t hear anything else she said because I was busy with my head inside the toilet.
During my time in the toilet, I realized a lot of things. One of which was why I would never go drinking with Naira’s dad again.
Naira and her mom sat across the dining room table from Naira’s dad and me. The women had told us they needed us to all talk. I personally wanted to be within arm’s reach of the bathroom, but Naira had given me the puppy-dog eyes, so I came out.
Her dad and I were barely functioning. Our language skills consisted of grunting, groaning, and pointing at things. Naira and her mom seemed utterly amused by our misery.
“You two need to eat,” Naira said, pushing the plate of toast back in front of her dad and me. Her dad pushed it back towards her before I could. Food was the last thing I wanted.
Naira’s mom yelled something in their native language at Naira’s dad. She might as well have hit me with a hammer because that was the effect her loudness had on me. And apparently, Naira’s dad because he grimaced and shushed her.
“Speak English,” Mr. Kang said softly. “My son does not speak that.”
He looked at me, nodded slightly and then patted me on the back before giving me a thumbs up. I was pretty sure he was still drunk, or maybe I was. But pride filled me having him call me his son in front of Naira and her mom.
Naira and her mom looked like they had seen a ghost. Their eyes were wide, and their mouths gaped slightly open. They looked at one another and then back at Mr. Kang and me.
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