3. CHAPTER 3 #2
“Put you in my truck, and drive you home myself.”
Jintae drops to his knees, hangs his head, and sobs. “I can’t go back. I… I’ve got no money left. They know where all my friends live. I just need to stay away until they calm down.”
Stepping back inside the porch, I rest the axe against the cabin door and sit on the bench above my beer. “Whatever you’ve done can’t be that stupid it’s worth risking your life for.”
“I’d have been fine. I’m not an idiot,” he sniffles.
“You’re real mouthy for someone without a clue.”
“Screw you.”
“Where’s the generator?”
“I’d have found it.”
“And getting it started?”
“I’d have figured it out.”
“There’s no internet out here.” The way his head shoots up makes me snicker. “That’s right, you bright spark. Cell service is the best you’ll get, and that’s only if there isn’t a storm.”
“You’d be surprised what people can suffer through if they’re determined enough.”
Reaching above my head, I flick the switch by the door, and the porch lights flicker on.
“What about solar panels? There’s probably enough power stored in the batteries to keep these lights on for an hour, but what if they break?
Can you fix the battery? Can you cut down a tree?
Make a fire? You’ll need to boil water to cook that Ramen.
And what about that water?” Unzipping the front of his backpack, I eye the bottles of soju.
“There’s none in here. So unless you’ve got a stash in your duffle bag, you’d have been shit out of luck because the filter in there is a bitch at the best of times. ”
“Fine, I’m an idiot,” he whispers. “I’ll admit to anything you want.”
“I don’t want you to admit to anything, you dense fuck!
But how can you not see that you coming here was dumber than dogshit?
” Without realizing it, I’m standing over him again, gripping the screen door frame, and shouting down at him.
“There’s a blizzard forecast for Monday.
And sure, with your noodles and the mystery cans still in the pantry from the last time I was here you could have made it till it thawed.
But you’d look like a prisoner of fucking war! ”
“There’s no need to yell at me.” His voice is meek as he talks down to my feet.
“And there’s no need to be so fucking stubborn.”
“So why are you here?”
“That’s none of your goddamn business.”
“I know the shop doesn’t close for the winter.”
“Do you want me to hit you for real this time?”
Jintae raises his chin just enough to look up at me through his eyelashes. “It’d be easier for you to just kick me in the head.”
“Don’t give me any ideas.”
“It looked like half the shop was dumped on the sidewalk when I drove past.” I force the sole of my boot against his shoulder, but his body is far more rigid than it was earlier. “Do it,” he taunts. “Teach me whatever lesson you think I deserve. God knows you’ve been wanting to do it for years.”
“Your mouth’s too smart.”
“Your head’s too big.” This time I make sure he lands on his back, but now he’s the one laughing at me. “Is that all you’ve got?”
“How much do you want?”
“Let me stay and you’ll find out.”
“Goddamn, Jintae. What the fuck are you talking about?”
With a deep breath, he stands. “You know I’ll do anything.”
“Except fucking leave.”
“That’s not an option.”
“I’m getting my keys.”
I’m only one step inside the cabin before Jintae is clenching my arm with both hands. “Whatever you want, I’ll do it.”
“Don’t touch me.” I try to shake him off but he doesn’t budge, so I throw my phone onto the sofa and pry him off with my free hand. Then, it’s only quick, but I see his eyes dart towards my phone, and without thinking I grab onto him with both hands.
“Why do you get to keep touching me ?” he strains, trying to get away.
“Because this is my fucking house, and I want to be left the fuck alone!”
“Tell me why?”
“This isn’t storytime. It’s you getting the fuck out of my face, time.”
“Do you think you’re clever for that one?”
“My god, do you hear yourself? Your mouth has always been ten times too big for this runt body of yours. Is it any wonder Tek and I couldn’t stand to be around you?”
“At least I’m not a bully. The only reason you and he were friends to begin with is because all the other kids were scared of him, too.”
“You weren’t even born, smart ass.”
“Gossip never dies in a small town.”
Moving Jintae like a rag doll, I swing my left hand and whip the back of it across his face. His neck cracks, and I shake him until he looks at me again. “Would a bully do that?”
“You just hit me!”
“But a fist would have knocked you out.”
“You’re insane.”
“You have no idea.”
“Is that why she fucked him?”
Time stands still as each of his words slices at a different part of me. Then he’s flying across the dim, freezing cabin. His head whips back, but as he tries to roll onto his side, I’m already kneeling over him—one hand gripping his shoulder, prying him back around with my fist raised in the air.
“Do it!” he yells.
I unfurl my fingers and backhand him harder than before. The shock and pain are clear in his expression, but I don’t feel a thing.
“Pussy!” he yells again.
“Do you want a broken face?”
“Do you really wanna beat me up?”
“You’re the one here.”
“But I’m not the one who screwed your girlfriend.”
To hell with punching him, I’ll kill him right here. Bury him outside. Rip him limb from limb until his blood is all I can see instead of that bastard's dick in her mouth.
I can feel my chest thumping, except it's not my heart, it's Jintae's hands pounding and clawing at me as I grip his throat.
“Please…Stop…” he croaks, trying to pry my hands away.
And even though I don’t remember grabbing him, I don’t let go.
I can’t. I’m too angry—at him for coming here, and the whole damn world for fucking me over.
But when he reaches up, puts his hand on my face, and tries to push me away with the last ounce of strength he has left, I finally let him go.
“You’re not… dead,” I tell him, as he glares at me. “You started it.”
“You're a psychopath.”
“You poked the bear.”
He rubs his neck. “Do you take accountability for anything?”
“Only when it’s my fault.”
Jintae’s mouth opens, but it quickly shuts again when his eyes flicker over my shoulder. And when I turn to see what it is, he tries to stand but loses his footing.
“Just stay where you belong.” I pull myself onto the sofa and pick up my phone. “Looks like I don’t need to call your brother after all,” I gloat, making a show of moving my finger slowly towards the screen.
“Please. I—”
But I’ve already answered the call.
“Eden. Eden, are you there?”
“Please,” Jintae mouths, raising to his knees.
“Eden?!”
I press the phone to my ear. “I thought I told you to leave me alone.”
“Have you seen my brother?”
“So you’ve already stopped giving a shit about me?”
“Goddamnit, Eden. Not everything is about you!”
“And don’t you love reminding me.”
“Have you seen Jin, or not?”
“Jin?” I ask, like I haven’t heard the name in years while staring down at his shadowed face.
“Yeah. He’s fucked up big time. I’ve even had my parents at my place.”
I act interested. “Really? What did he do?”
“Practically disowned himself.”
“Disowned himself?” I repeat, staring Jin right in the eye.
“He dropped out of college, left our parents a note, and…”
Tek continues to ramble on, but I’m overwhelmed by the anguish on Jin’s face, and by how powerful it makes me feel. “You,” I mime to him. “Are my slave.”
His chin hits his chest, but as I stand, he grips the front of my jeans and nods.
I pull the phone away from my ear and push the microphone into the palm of my hand. “You do whatever I say.”
“Okay,” he whispers back.
“No lip. No pushing my buttons.”
“Okay. I promise.”
I bring the phone back to my ear. “Look, Tek. I’m sorry to hear all that, but I’m not sure why you think I’d know anything about your annoying ass little brother.”
“Yeah, I know... I guess I’m just desperate and didn't know who else to call.”
“I suppose I should feel flattered,” I tell him with all the sarcasm I know he expects, while at the same time grabbing the back of Jin’s sweatshirt until he’s standing. “But I need you to consider me unreachable for the next three months.”
“But what if—”
“Goodbye, Tek.”
I hang up the phone and drag Jin with me as I walk into the kitchen.
“Th–thank you.”
“I didn’t say you could talk.” I hold a bottle of water against his chest until he takes it. “That’s all you’re getting until I decide you deserve some more.”
He looks at it then back to me with his eyebrows pushing together and a hundred questions dying to spill out of his mouth.
Dragging him back to the door, I take down a battery lantern from a hook beside it and pull him onto the porch.
Handing the lantern off to him as well, I make a point of closing the cabin door behind us.
Letting go of him, I take the five bottles of soju from the front of his backpack, then shove it at him.
“A downpayment for my good deed. Now get.”
“I thought you said—”
“And I thought I told you not to talk?” Exasperated, he jerks his head towards the cabin. “I agreed to keep your secret. I didn’t say you were staying in the cabin.”
If looks could kill, my head would be rolling across the porch. Unable to keep my laughter inside, I pick up the axe and jab him in the back with its blunt side. Down the steps and around the side of the cabin I direct him as he continues to look back at me.
Taking the lantern from him, I turn it on and walk towards the old, original cabin. The door opens with a loud creek, and I hang the lantern on a nail and wave inside like there’s anything in there worth looking at. “Home sweet home.”
Jin takes a step forward, then two straight back again. “I’d rather sleep on the porch.”
“And I’d rather you not be here. But as long as you are, this is where you’ll be living.”
“That’s not fair.”
“No, no, no,” I correct him with a smug grin and a shake of my head, then proceed to take his backpack off of him and force the axe into his hand. “What isn’t fair is that you have a whole pile of firewood to chop before you go to sleep.”
“But—”
“But you better get to chopping, if you don’t wanna make me mad.”