by Asia Olanna
“Nothing but a little bit of Neosporin won’t do,” he said.
JONG-SOO
Bit-na could barely walk.
She was a trooper though, and soldiered on through the hospital, slowly tiptoeing with us out into the cover of night.
You would think that the hospital had high security, but there were many people asleep on the job.
Tons of people meandering around the hallways, going to treat other people they could understand better.
Ultimately, Bit-na was not Japanese, and people could barely comprehend her complaints. They checked up on her, but they did not foster the same kind of care as if they could understand every word she said.
By the time we reached the front desk, the night-shift man there did not seem at all fazed by our leaving. Many other people were outside on the pavement, entering other vans, hospice care or whatever.
We wouldn’t stay behind to sign any papers.
No “discharge against medical advice” for us.
We really didn’t even have to. There were no legal obligations for us.
We slipped inside the Maserati.
Then we peeled away from the parking lot, joining the rest of the night traffic, which was to say nonexistent.
We drove to Miyazaki Airport, which was only a couple of minutes away, just a drive down and over the Nippo Main Line.
I watched as our Maserati drew attention from passersby, and as the wheels went over a bridge softly and gently.
There was a high school nearby, and I wondered, had I had better parents…
“The future’s going to be so different for us,” I said, as I parked off to the side road. We were right by the entrance of the airport, only a couple of steps away, and were entering the lobby. Cool air conditioning breezed over my face. I blinked, enjoying the sensation against my skin. “This is going to be different for all of us.”
Henrietta nodded, holding my hand, holding Bit-na’s hand.
“I can’t believe that I’m actually going back,” she said. “It’s about time. It’s about time.”
HENRIETTA
The plane ride was extremely long.
Several hours going on twenty, maybe twenty-three.
Finally, we landed in Los Angeles, after several stopovers, torturous waits.
Back in the United States, I felt alive.
I was home.
We were crammed into the middle aisle, Bit-na not feeling so well, the gauze red like a tomato underneath her clothes.
We helped her up, waiting for all of the other passengers to get out, and then we slowly walked her down the aisle, as if she were some sort of morbid bride, married to her wounds.
Walking out of the airport, there were still so many eyes on us, even more so than in Japan. We were the attraction of the lobby, the attraction outside as we waited for our taxi to come get us.
“Thank God for Kyung-joon wiring us money,” Jong-soo said. “Without him, we would’ve been left for dead.”
From the taxi, we docked at a local hotel, nothing fancy at all, cheap.
We stayed there, waiting for the night.
“Let’s turn on the news,” I said, grabbing the remote control.
The shocking part?
There was no mention of Korea.
Actually, it was as if everything was going on normally.
Surprising, because I thought…
No, silly me.
Over here, Jong-soo wasn’t a big name. And me? I was just another average girl. I was just another nobody. So, of course, to have my story not appear on television wasn’t surprising at all.
“It’s like nothing has gone on,” I said. “Good deal. I don’t think we would have wanted anyone chasing us.”
“Better that way,” Jong-soo said.
We put down Bit-na on the bed, letting her rest. And then Jong-soo and I slept, slept like little children.
JONG-SOO
Henrietta wanted to call her family. I thought that would be a good idea, since here, she had the contacts not me.
I got some money from a local ATM machine and handed it over to Henrietta. “I’ll be back in a couple of minutes,” she said. “Give me an hour at most.”
I waited for her in the hotel room with Bit-na. She looked at me from the bed, her eyes so puffy, tight and shut. “I’m just glad he’s dead,” she said, with a grin. “I’m just so glad he’s dead.”
We had pulled her shirt up over the gauze to cover up any of the blood. We had changed her bandages as much as we could. But still, you could tell she was beat. Something had happened to her.
I didn’t even want to walk out in public, because I thought people might have thought me a woman beater.
“Well,” I said, “we’re better over here. We’ll be safer over here. I’m glad that we got out too.”
When Henrietta came back, she was smiling to herself. She had her fingers on the numbers, ready to dial. “Okay,” she said, “I’m just going to call my best friend. And then my dad. Okay?”
“Okay,” I said. There was nothing more I could do anyway. But to wait for fate to unravel itself.
HENRIETTA
“Where have you been?” Latasha said. I was walking around the room, and then outside into the hallway, where I had better reception. Still, her voice came crackly over the phone, the speakers sounding like they were about to explode from the pressure of her surprise. “I cannot believe that you’ve been gone for so long? I’ve been trying to reach you by Skype and email. I tried texting you. What happened over there? It’s not even a year yet. Tell me everything.”
As I held the phone in my hands and walked over to a window, I stared into the sky, wondering what to tell her.
Her voice sounded strange to me, surreal, almost dreamlike.
Like she wasn’t there on the other side, talking to me.
I looked at the phone, as if it was a strange piece of technology only invented a couple of days prior.
All of the people around me, talking so casually, normally.
I had been a captive for so long, and now I was free.
Free to do whatever I wanted, free to love Jong-soo as I felt necessary.
And I did love him, had come to love him.
What kind of experience could compare in America as I had encountered with him?
We toppled a gang dynasty, had so much hot sex, and he saved me, saved my life.
Was compassionate, understanding.
Knew what it took to be a man by my side, always looking out for me.
Where in all of America could I find a man like that?
I held the phone away from me for a moment.
There would be therapy sessions for sure.
And lots of talk from my father.
After a little bit of thinking, and a lot of hand wringing, I said, confidently, and with a ton of grace, “Well, I had a hell of a vacation…”
And I told her everything.
Everything.
“Are you… I don’t think you can be… I think you’re joking?” Latasha said, after I finished my story.
“Everything is real,” I said. “Everything that I’ve told you.”
“It can’t be… I heard a story on the news briefly—it was mentioned for just a little bit but—are you serious?”
I jumped up and down. “I’m serious. I’m serious!”
“You sound… I think you’re happy?”
“I’m just excited that I’m alive,” I said. “I’m alive. I’m alive!”
♦♦♦
After waiting a week for Bit-na to recuperate, we booked another plane for Lincoln, and then I called my dad.
I held back from talking to him simply because I wanted to arrange all of the proper words in my head.
What I would tell him.
What I needed to say.
I decided in the end I would give him a very sanitized version of events.
It’s not like I could tell him and have him believe what I was talking about.
Furthermore, how many people did you know hanging around Korean gangsters?
My father still had it in his mind that Asians were all the same, and too busy studying to do anything else besides homework.
I said to him, over the phone, “I’m sorry if I didn’t contact you for a really long time, but it’s just—I was so busy!...”
Isn’t that the traditional excuse when children don’t contact their parents?
Well, that’s how it’s always been for me at least.
♦♦♦
The time came for Jong-soo, Bit-na and I to board the plane for Lincoln.
All of us were pretty nervous.
We could get caught.
And there were still other things to figure out: like the status of Bit-na’s wounds, if she would heal properly. They were looking good though—she would have no problems in the end.
And if she did, we had world-class treatments available to her.
As we flew, and I rested against Jong-soo’s shoulder, thinking about him and me, I wondered what was next for us in life.
Jong-soo kissed me on the neck, saying, “I know it’s going to involve you and me every day all day.”
I slapped his shoulder playfully. “You can be so cheesy sometimes,” I said, laughing.
Bit-na smiled in the seat next to us.
“The first time I saw you two, I knew you would be together,” she said. “You’re just meant to be.”
Bit-na and I were definitely on the right track.
Having bridged our differences, we were already beginning to get closer and closer. How much closer, I could only imagine.
My relationships made the flight so comfortable, I was able to ignore the crying babies and loud people playing music, the people snoring, and those kicking my seat.
The flight attendants came by, and we ordered a couple of graham crackers, and some chips, some water. I was sad. No longer would I be able to eat kimchi whenever I wanted. Nor would I get cheap meals—I never realized how much I had taken for granted back in Asia.
“Do you think you’ll ever miss it?” Jong-soo asked me.
“Maybe sometimes,” I said. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I’ve changed my mind: I only need good friends and a good boyfriend to be happy. Real relationships with people. That’s what matters most in life.”
And with that said, we all flew off to Nebraska, ready to live our lives hopefully drama free.
But, girl, you know how some people are a magnet for that kind of thing…
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Table of Contents
PART I
PART II
PART III
PART IV
PART V