Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
RILEY
“Should I be concerned?” I ask, looking at the life-sized cut-out of an Asian man in a tuxedo.
“Why would you say that?” Betty pours the rest of her tea and brings it to a small table next to the window. She sees what I’m staring at and laughs boisterously. “It’s nice, isn’t it?”
“It’s… I mean he’s…” I stare at the cardboard cut-out of a man with pale skin and shiny pink lips. “Uh… who is he?”
“He’s Seo Min Jae,” Betty says confidently, as if I should know what that means.
I gingerly take a seat across from her. “Who?”
“He’s the lead singer of Neon Veil. Have you not heard of them?”
I shake my head slowly.
Betty whips out her cell phone so fast it looks like a magic trick. She then begins to play the most high-pitched, auto-tuned, overly engineered song known to man.
“What is that?” I ask. “Are they speaking English?”
“It’s Korean. It’s K-pop!”
“Oh.”
“This is my favorite song on the album. ‘Echoes of AfterImage’. The song is about the loneliness of loving someone who can’t love you back.”
That sounds like the theme song of my life.
Betty winks. “It just came out yesterday. Isn’t it great?”
I stare at the giddy woman before me. Betty Kalinsky was so tough in the repair hanger that she once made a grown man cry.
Her words were sharper than talons and she could tear at a person’s very soul with just a few cold observations.
It was suffocating working under her at first, especially when I noticed that she would let the male technicians pass with a warning if they made a mistake, but she held me to a higher standard of perfection.
One day, I had enough and I knocked on her door to pass her my resignation letter.
“Are you doing this because of me?” Betty asked, her voice cold and dry.
Since I was leaving and had nothing to lose, I decided to be frank. “Women make up two percent of this industry. I was excited to work for a female manager, but I didn’t expect you to be like everyone else and treat me differently because I’m a woman.”
“I treat you differently because I see something in you, Riley. Real drive. And this industry is hard enough on women without giving anyone extra room to doubt you. If I push you more than the others, it’s because that’s what the world is going to do.
I want you to walk into the fire steady and unshaken—because you’ve already felt the burn.
I want you to be confident with everyone else because those puffed-up lead mechanics aren’t scarier than me. ”
Betty took me under her wing and while it was often a violent, unpredictable and sometimes miserable place to be, she did it.
She made me tough.
I even got a promotion, beating out several of my male seniors. The local newspaper came out and did a feature on me.
Of course, that feature was never published after… everything.
But I still feel proud of myself for making it that far.
Betty’s smile stretches from ear-to-ear and I start smiling too.
“I have something for you,” Betty says, darting around her sizable studio.
The Happy Go Lucky nursing home is surprisingly modern. I checked it out with Betty when she was considering this place and another nursing home closer to the city and we both agreed—this one felt like home.
Betty passes along a box and leans forward, practically levitating off the chair with excitement.
I pull off the top of the box to reveal a hoodie. “Thank you, Betty.” Unfolding the black sleeves reveals a logo with a foreign language under it. “Is it Chinese?”
“It’s Korean.” The grin threatens to burst off her face. “This is official Neon Veil merch.”
“I… I see.”
“Look,” she points to the foreign symbols on the shirt, “this is their name in Korean.”
“Wow.” I fold the jacket up and set it back in the box. “It seems comfy. Thanks, Betty.”
“It came all the way from Korea, you know.”
I freeze. “How much did it cost?”
The Happy Go Lucky nursing home has a hefty resident fee. Most of Betty’s retirement benefits are being funneled here to off-set the exorbitant costs.
“Don’t worry about the money. I wanted to get it for you.” She takes my hand in an uncharacteristic show of affection. “I keep remembering the past these days.”
My eyes widen. “How much do you remember?”
“I remember…” Betty tilts her head, concentrating.
I lean forward.
“I remember…”
My heart palpitations are about to make me unconscious. Please, Betty. What do you remember?
“… being so harsh with you. And I remember making you cry. A lot.”
Relief nearly sweeps me off my feet. That’s good. There are some things I hope Betty never remembers and, for now, she doesn’t.
Betty shakes her head. “Now that I’m old with no children or husband, you’re the only one coming to visit me. I treated you so badly and yet you’re still here. You’re a sweetheart, Riley. Better than I ever was.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is true. I’m going to spoil you as much as I can.”
“You don’t have to do that, Betty. If we start comparing, then I’ll have to spoil you so much more.
You’re the one who recommended me for promotions and you spoke highly of me in every room.
You’re the one who helped me study for the certification exams. You stayed up night after night, going over every detail with me.
When it comes to my career, I owe so much to you. ”
I owe her everything.
It’s why I was willing to give up everything for her too.
“Enough sentimental talk.” Betty pouts. “It makes me itchy. Put on that jacket and come over here by the sofa.”
She picks up her tea and navigates to an orange sofa that faces a small TV.
It’s hot in the studio, but I dutifully zip up and flounce onto the sofa. “Whatever we’re watching can’t be long, I only have thirty minutes for lunch and then I have to get back to the bay.”
“It won’t take long. The music video is only three minutes.”
I choke on the tea. “Music video?”
“Seo Min Jae has an amazing dance solo. He does these hip thrusts…” Betty bites her bottom lip which is smeared red. “Oh, if I were a few decades younger, I’d fly to Korea and nab that young man for myself. Otto-kay-yo!”
It feels like someone else is inhabiting Betty’s body.
I have never seen my mentor this exuberant and I can’t tell if it’s her true self finally unmasked away from the pressure of airplane maintenance or if it’s the condition that put her here, loosening its grip just enough to let something lighter through.
Either way, I watch a very stylish Korean boy band dance—yes, hip thrusts included—for the remainder of my lunch and then I bid Betty goodbye and let the door click lightly shut behind me.
“Excuse me,” a nurse calls as I’m sprinting to the door. “You’re Miss Betty Kalinsky’s guardian, right?”
I do an about face. “Is something wrong with Betty?”
“No, no. Not at all. She’s settling in fine. She’s a tough cookie that one. Won’t let anyone cheat during bingo.”
I nod. That sounds like her.
“I just like to get to know all the guardians. Betty talks about you often and I wondered when we’d get a chance to meet you.”
I duck my head guiltily. “I haven’t had time to visit as often as I’d like, but I’ll try to make it more.”
“I’m sure she’d like that.”
I check my watch and wince. Lunch is officially over and I need to get back to the garage. I doubt Jimmy, Carlos and Blade will be there—people don’t change overnight after all and those three are notoriously late. However, I need to set the example and be there on time.
I back away from the nurse, on the verge of exchanging a polite goodbye when a tall, thin woman breezes past me.
“Excuse me. Haiii! How are you?” She steps ahead of me and gets the nurse’s attention. Despite the cheerful, upward inflection at the end of every sentence, I immediately catalogue her as rude. “I’m looking for Mr. Brooks, but I’m not sure where to find him.”
The fighter inside me wants to confront the woman for butting in so obnoxiously; however, I remind myself that I’m late and this is the perfect excuse to make my exit.
Giving the nurse a nod goodbye, I turn stiffly.
And my body freezes in utter shock when I see the woman’s face.
Standing before me, wearing a daring halter top, tight checkered pants and enough rings to call every jewelry thief in a three-mile radius is Layla.
Nathan’s ex-girlfriend.