42. Chapter 42 #2
Seconds later, the white sheet covering the sign to the new building falls to the ground. The air occupying my lungs is stolen; a lump in my throat prevents me from taking a breath, and my jaw slowly drops.
The sign reads: ‘Han Jackson Community Centre.’ Written in mint green letters, but what causes my tears is the brass statue of my grandfather.
My Ji-ji, with his angelic, welcoming smile, portrayed in his exact likeness in statue form, standing tall next to the entrance of the building…
revealing what I wondered was hidden under there earlier.
My breathing hitches as I take in his stance, his arms opened wide, much like they would be every time he would reach out, waiting for a hug.
Now I understand the reason Oliver took his place behind me.
Once the sign and statue were revealed, it didn’t stop there.
The black cloth covering the windows fell to the floor, revealing the inside of the building, followed by Tracy, Gran, LJ, Macy, along with some other extended family I saw during Seollal, all yelling “SURPRISE!!” and my legs go weak.
My heart twists in my chest as I fall back into Oliver. The children jump up and down, cheering at the top of their lungs, and my family makes their way out of the building as one of Oliver’s arms rests around my waist to keep me upright.
Gran is the first to reach me, and I burst into tears.
Her arms wrap under my armpits and hold me tight, while my chest vibrates with struggle.
Unable to form words, leaning on Oliver for support and let my Gran soothe me whilst I cry.
Gran gently pats my back, as I look through blurry eyes to see the children drawing on the walls with the paint while Tracy and Randall supervise.
I sob so hard, a hiccup makes Gran and me both jump as she pulls away to wipe my tears away and accepts a baby wipe from Macy, who’s now by her side and wipes away the ruined parts of my makeup.
“Now, that’s enough tears for now. You haven’t even seen the inside yet.” Gran teases, clutching the wet wipe and gently squeezing my face.
“J-Ji-ji.” I gasp, letting one last tear fall as Gran nods at me and turns to look at the statue with tears in her eyes.
“Almost as handsome as he was in real life,” she hums, turning back to kiss my nose, then steps aside so LJ can pull me into a tight hug, and I let a few more tears escape.
He then pulls away to take Leo away from Macy, who is next to embrace me, before each member of my family forms a hug train.
The children are giggling loudly as they paint away to their heart’s content, and I look up to see Mei, standing next to Theo, whilst she paints a daisy on the wall.
When the hug train comes to an end, everyone heads back inside.
The children, too content with painting, remain outside.
I then step forward to take my weight off Oliver, who hasn’t said a word since, but the smile on his face is still there.
He grabs my hip the moment he sees me stumble.
Maybe I’m completely ready to stand on my own when he places his hand on the small of my back and leads me forward.
Before we make it through the door, Mei and Theo appear at my side.
Their crafting aprons are now off, and dressed in their smart clothing.
Mei was dressed in a cute pink dress, the same shade as my turtleneck, with a white daisy in her hair, much like the one I just saw her draw, and Theo was dressed in a cotton shirt, a pair of black jeans and his signature Super Mario-themed shoes.
I hadn’t noticed his attire before as he was wearing his coat, but this was the first time I’d seen him dress in anything that wasn’t themed after his favourite video game.
Each of them takes hold of one of my hands and pulls me through the threshold, with Oliver following behind.
A small gasp left my lips as I looked left to right.
The walls were painted the same mint green as the sign outside.
There was a reception desk to the left and a decent-sized waiting room on the right.
The walls leading up to both were filled with drawings I know were made by the children from the care home because I remember helping them with these exact pieces of art. Mei and Theo pull me towards the waiting room.
At first, I didn’t understand why, but then the big bulletin board hanging in the centre of the wall in front of us answered my questions.
A picture of our family hangs in the centre, a photo I haven’t seen in years.
One I wasn’t sure we even still had. Ji-ji and Gran are sitting on the sofa we have back at home.
Baby me in Gran’s arms and a young LJ sitting on Ji-ji’s lap, a handsome fella with the same colour hair as mine, with his arm around Gran with a big smile on his face, despite how uncomfortable it must be with his glasses seconds from slipping off his face - my father.
And lastly, a woman whose likeness I take after, all the way from her short-cut hair to the thickness of her thighs, with her arm wrapped around Ji-ji’s. Her eyes are tired from raising two children under the age of five, yet she has a smile masked with relief of mending old wounds - my mother.
The very photo that had to be kept in storage because the memory was both painful and joyous to look at, the one none of us knew at the time would be the last one we would ever take together.
Tears stream down my face as Oliver reaches over my shoulder to offer me the handkerchief, which he always kept hidden in his suit pocket.
I let go of Theo’s hand, accept it, and dab my eyes dry before looking back at the collection of smaller photos that help create a family tree of the Han/Jackson bloodline.
When I reach the bottom, I notice that there is a small plaque at the bottom of our family portrait that reads:
“The Han/Jackson family has always been built up of those who come in different shapes and sizes. We stem from more than one culture, and although we love harder than others, we never stop supporting each other. We strive for every single success and offer our shoulder in the result of failure.” - Han Nam Gil.
I dab the new set of tears reading Ji-ji’s name after I swear, I could hear him recite those words as if he was standing right next to me, written in the likeness of his handwriting.
I then look around to see the simple waiting room stacked with current magazines, the free Wi-Fi password on a sign next to the bulletin board and the big kids section filled with toys and colouring books, and more.
I’m curious to take a longer look around, but am pulled away by my two little tour guides as we leave the room and head straight for the lift located on the opposite wall.
The four of us climb to the first floor to see it decorated with streamers and balloons.
Oliver then takes the lead and explains to me that the first floor is the play centre for children.
We enter a massive room, covering the entire floor with vibrant coloured walls.
The first step is to remove our shoes and slot them neatly away in the shoe shelf.
We head onto the soft mat material when Theo and Mei let go of me to dive into the giant ball pit sitting at the bottom of the jungle gym that reached the ceiling and took up the entire the right corner of the room, the corner closer to Oliver and I is a soft adventure trail, the left corner is a refreshments stall where the children can stay hydrated and buy snacks.
The toilets are beside it; then, way in the back, there’s an arts and crafts corner, like the one in the care home, but double the size.
“This is available to the community free of charge,” Oliver reveals, making me turn to face him.
“You could arrange for there to be mummy and toddlers’ mornings, host activities for the kids during half term and the summer, even host birthday parties and events here.
There is a cafeteria on the other side, with a built-in photo booth where the kids and parents can take commemorative photos.
” Oliver adds, turning us around to reveal the room I didn’t even know was behind us, with everything he just said.
I open my mouth trying to speak, but I’m interrupted by the swarm of children that spills out of the lift and comes charging towards us.
Startled by the sudden burst of screams, I jump towards Oliver, and he tucks me against his waist. My hand rests on his chest as we wait for the herd of children to run past, then look up to realise the position we’re in.
As Tracy and Randall appear in the room, we jump apart.
Then I turn so Tracy can give me a shoulder squeeze as she and Randall can focus their eyes on their ten-plus children, including a few of my little cousins playing happily.
I smile, watching each of them for a while before turning back to see Oliver offering his hand again.
I flinch at his touch but accept it as he leads me back to the lift.
We climb inside and ride two floors in silence, but I can’t ignore the gesture of his thumb brushing the back of my hand, turning my skin hot.
We exchange glances as we head up, when he gently tugs me out of the lift.
We arrive on a floor with a row of closed doors, which require a key card to open.
Oliver uses his free hand to reach into his suit pocket and pulls out a key card to unlock the door closest to us, and gestures for me to go first. I step over the threshold and take in the suite-like bedroom, like what you find in hotels, with an en-suite bathroom and kitchenette in the front corner.
I do a one-eighty of the room, checking the decent-sized bathroom, then back out to look at him, standing in the middle of the room.