Chapter Five #2
It also didn’t help that ten years didn’t change the two of us much at all. We still cut our hair the same length. Our body types were still the same, and we didn’t gain any new or visible piercings or tattoos. There was nothing about me to make a person think I wasn’t Soo Min Kim.
Our differences had always been on the inside.
“Okay,” I breathed, returning to Nari. “Do you have any silly questions to ask me?”
Her brows blew up, mimicking the little “o” her pink lips made. “I can ask too?”
“Sure can.”
“Hmm.”
Her look of concentration was so adorable, it made my heart burst. There was a hundred percent chance that if my baby-crazy self had known about Nari earlier, I would’ve bankrupted myself a long time ago, because I would’ve showered her with gifts and attention at every possible opportunity.
“Uhh, how... old are you, Mommy?”
I laughed. “I’m twenty-eight, but that’s not a silly question.” I tickled her, making her squeal so loud Doctor Martin spun away from her laptop to check on us. “You have to ask a silly question, like am I a flying purple people eater, because the answer is...” I roared, pouncing on her. “Yes!”
Roaring, groaning, growling and carrying on, I tickled Nari all over—peppering her face with kisses.
She flat-out screamed with laughter, kicking and twisting to get away.
“I’d say you’re going to be just fine.” Dr. Martin tapped my shoulder, drawing my attention to the pill cup in her hands. “Wouldn’t hurt to go to the hospital for an MRI, but your symptoms fit with a concussion, and they’re only going to tell you what I’m telling you now.
“You need to rest for the next couple days,” she said.
“No strenuous activity. Limited screen time, and take this when you feel a headache coming on.” She tipped the pain pill onto my palm.
“Your blank spots will fill in now that you’re home and in familiar surroundings, but if you feel yourself getting worse instead of better, or you’re not back to your old self within a few weeks, I want you to call me immediately. ”
I agreed. “Thank you, Doctor.”
“And, you three.” She turned on Micah, Rhodes, and Alex, ending their argument with Davis. “I want you to monitor her, keep her hydrated, and all-around be at her beck and call.”
The four of them traded chuckles.
“Now, if that’s all”—Dr. Martin pinned Davis with a look—“she needs to rest.”
“Yes, of course,” he replied, finally peeling himself off the door.
“I’m glad to see you’re in good hands, Mrs. Kim.
The tow company should be in touch with you directly, but if you don’t hear from them within the week, call me personally and I’ll take care of it.
” He crossed the room and laid his business card on my nightstand.
“If you need to discuss anything with me,” he murmured, meeting my eyes. “Just call.”
“Uhh, right. Okay.”
Tipping a nod, he left—following Dr. Martin out the door.
It closed shut, leaving me alone with Sue’s family.
“Lily, baby.” Micah came over and lifted Nari up. “Why don’t you go and get Mommy some water, so she can take her medicine?”
“Okay!” She shot off and out the door, racing to obey.
“So,” I spoke up when I found my voice. “I know you guys will want me to go to the hospital for the MRI, but I really feel fine—”
“What the fuck do we care if you get the MRI?”
I blinked. What did he say?
Rhodes scoffed, lips curling. “Damn, you always did put on a good fucking show. Making up some shit about losing your memory just so you and everyone in the room can hear us say that you own us, and have done for seven years.”
“Was that your favorite part of the performance?” Alex asked, snapping my eyes to him.
The expression on his face actually made me scoot back against the headboard.
“’Cause I was fighting to keep down my breakfast when she was playing and tickling Nari like she hasn’t been leaving every room our daughter enters since she was fucking born. ”
“Wha...? What—?”
“Save it, Sue,” Alex snapped. “When we all woke up this morning and your bed was empty, we actually let ourselves hope that you fucked off and weren’t coming back.”
The three of them turned away, heading out the door.
“We should’ve known that was too good to be true.”
They left, leaving me sitting there with my jaw literally hanging. At that second it finally hit me that Sue had three husbands, but I had her phone... and it didn’t ring once the entire night.
They didn’t call asking where she was.
They didn’t text to see if she was okay.
They didn’t say I love you or I’m so glad you’re safe when I walked through the door.
Micah, Rhodes, and Alex truly were my soulmates.
Because they hated Sue just as much as me.
I CREPT OUT OF SUE’S room the next morning, tiptoeing through my own house like I didn’t belong there. I certainly didn’t feel welcome since Micah, Rhodes, and Alex didn’t come back after walking out the day before. They really didn’t give a shit about my recovery.
Not even Nari came back with the water, I had a feeling that was because one of the guys intervened, and redirected her to another activity that had nothing to do with her terrible “mother.”
I did leave the room a few times to get food, water, and twice, to check on Omma. Both times I poked my head in my mother’s room, she was sleeping and her live-in hospice nurse asked me to poke my head right back out and let her rest.
The presence of Reynard Agassi, the nurse, wasn’t too much of a surprise. Sue did tell me Omma was ill and didn’t have long, and since Sue was in no way the nurturing type, of course, she’d hire someone to look after her.
What did surprise me was the notable lack of any other staff. If Sue didn’t nurse, she for damn sure didn’t cook, clean, garden, or mow, so where were the housekeepers, cooks, and groundspeople that we grew up depending on?
I passed through the dimly lit hall, straining to see thanks to the many burnt-out bulbs.
Not that I needed more light shone on the dingy walls, dusty furniture, and dirty carpets.
Every room I wandered into the day before was in desperate need of a good dust-sweep-mop combo, and the kitchen didn’t have anything in it other than a few dusty old cans in the pantry, and a mountain of takeout containers in the trash.
Did Omma and Sue fire all the staff?
My mother didn’t like to be seen in any way other than her best, so it was possible she dismissed the staff when she fell ill.
It was also possible that they all straight up quit and left when Sue bought Omma out of the house.
Sue wasn’t kind or respectful to the staff when we were kids. I very much doubt that changed when she became their boss.
Stepping out onto the landing, I gazed down on the bottom floor—listening to voices filtering out of the dining room.
“—gotta hurry, baby girl, or you’ll be late for school.”
“Daddy, I did all my homework,” Nari proudly announced. “It was so easy.”
“Well, naturally, it was easy for you—the smartest, most talented Lilybug in the whole world.” Even after all these years, I knew Micah’s voice when I heard it. And I knew there wasn’t a trace of disdain in it when he talked to Lily.
Not like there was when he spoke to the woman he thought was her mother.
“I bet you could do Daddy’s homework too, right? How does that sound?” I heard the strange plasticky squeak of Styrofoam. “Want to go to Daddy’s work and boss everyone around for me?”
“Yes,” she cried, giggling away.
“You got it, but first, school.”
“Is Mommy picking me up today?”
I straightened, ears perking up.
“Mom can’t pick you up today, sweetie. Remember, she’s not feeling well. That’s why she couldn’t tuck you in last night or have breakfast with you.”
I choked, indignation welling up in me fast. I would’ve happily done all of those things! He only had to ask!
As fast as that fury flared up, that’s how quickly it dissipated.
It wasn’t me he didn’t invite to bedtime or breakfast, it was Sue. And she probably gave him good reason.
I shook my head, turning away and continuing on.
I couldn’t imagine Sue as a mother. We hated each other’s fucking guts, so growing up, there weren’t any late nights spent giggling under the covers as we talked about our dreams and wishes for the future.
Meaning that I genuinely never knew her stance on children or if she wanted them, but I know that I’d never witnessed Sue care for a single being on this planet that wasn’t herself.
Every pet she was gifted she neglected. Every friend she made she gaslit and tormented with her stupid drama and mind games. And every member of her family she played, lied to, or tortured.
You didn’t tend to find those actions listed on the résumé of a good future mother.
Which makes me wonder what past experiences were on Omma’s life résumé before she had us. My steps slowed carrying me to my mother’s door. Was she cold, rigid, and exacting with everyone in her life? Or did she save those qualities for her only daughters?
“Hello?” I knocked, then pushed in. “Omma, are you awake—? Oh!”
Click.
A blur crossed the carpet—moving from the head of the bed to the foot so fast, they made my still concussed brain dizzy.
“Alex?”
The thirty-two-year-old man spun on me, lips curling and eyes flashing like I was a swarm of dung beetles that stormed the room. “What are you doing in here!?”
I jerked back. “Excuse me? What do you think I’m doing in here? I’m here for my sick mother? What are you doing in here? And why are you yelling at me?”
“I—I didn’t—” Alex tossed his head, his cheeks reddening. “I... apologize for raising my voice. You just startled me.”
I cocked a brow, no less confused by that explanation. I called from the other side of the door and knocked before entering. What was he doing that he didn’t realize I was coming in until I jump-scared him?
Stepping further in, I noted the corner nook where Reynard set up his chair, books, and medical items was vacant. “Where’s Mr. Agassi?”