11 #2
“I can’t even imagine,” Kenny said. He could not believe this was happening to his brother-in-law. “What else can he do?”
“Kyungjin-ah.”
“Hmm?” His sister usually called him Kenny.
“What do you think of us going back to Australia?”
“How?” Kenny blurted out. “I mean, great. We’d love to have you. Does he want to do the same thing here?”
“He’d take what he had before, which would be a step down.”
“Can he get that job?”
“I don’t think so. Do you know if Qantas is hiring?
” Helen held her breath as if she could bottle up the worries inside her and keep them from escaping.
It was wrong to trouble her younger brother, but she didn’t know what else to do.
Already she had asked Sonya, who had offered money, but there was apparently no job at Chairman Mun’s company, where her husband was president.
Kenny faced Lily, who frowned with concern.
“Right after you told me, I checked. Nothing. You could get a travel visa, maybe, and try to find something here, but—” He shook his head. It just meant immigration trouble later.
She heard the elevator chime and checked the wall clock. Helen spoke faster.
“Maybe he could do something different?” Helen had been afraid to say this because if she said it out loud, their problems would grow more real somehow.
Lily took the receiver from Kenny.
“Sweetie. Oh, sweetie.” Lily was a tough girl from Campsie, but she was soft with her tribe. “I can only imagine how hard it must be for you right now with the kids being everywhere. I will keep Mido here forever if you let me. Yun is amazing, too.”
Helen wiped her eyes. When they heard, Sonya and Kenny had been immediately pragmatic, but not gentle. Right away, her siblings had come up with practical solutions. There was never any time for sadness or griping. Lily’s tender voice softened Helen’s stoic resolve.
“I’ve been thinking. Of course we want you here. But before you start at zero, I think you have to do one more thing.”
Helen waited. Lily was wiser in some ways than her brother.
“You have to talk to Shin’s wife. Call her and tell her to fix it.”
“Mary?”
“She will know how. She’s your friend. Right now, she still has the chance to save your family from the situation you’re in.
That asshole Shin will drag this on. Call his wife and tell her what’s going on.
I’ve had enough of this guy jerking you around.
It’s bullshit. Tell Mary to clean it up.
It’s not her fault, but it’s still her mess, too. ”
Helen looked at the wall and envisioned her sister-in-law’s pretty oval face, the radial laugh lines around her kind hazel eyes.
“Oh, darling. I’m so sorry this is happening.” Lily paused. “Listen, you’re not making a request. You’re telling her that she gets to fix this.” Lily felt it was fair for Shin’s wife to share the burden.
“I can’t. It would upset John. She’s done so much for DH, letting him stay with them during so many school breaks. Mary is even DH’s emergency contact at Andover.”
Lily ignored this. “You must tell her. She’s your friend.”
“Mary is suffering, too.”
“Her husband is ruining your family’s life.
She’s in Korea now, right? Time is not on your side.
Call her now, and if she doesn’t answer, then go to her house.
Show up at her beauty salon. Go to her church.
Make a scene. Stop being polite. You can’t feed and educate your kids in Korea on your salary alone, love.
If you don’t call her, I will,” Lily said. “Try me.”
Helen didn’t know anyone like Lily.
“When does she return to New Jersey?” Lily asked.
“She’s here. For another week, I think. I’m not sure.”
“Get off the phone now and call her.”
Lily smiled at her husband and passed back the handset.
They arranged to meet at Lucky Girls, a tearoom near Ewha that had been around since their school days. Mary was early and waiting for Helen. She had already ordered tea and cake.
“I’m glad to see you,” Mary said. Sympathy pooled in her large eyes. She wore an old black linen jacket, which Helen remembered her buying on sale at B. Altman. A classic beauty, Shin’s wife looked chic—gray wisps framed her dark bobbed hair. She wore pale lipstick and no other makeup.
“It’s nice to see you, too, Sister.”
“I’ve been thinking about this all night. I couldn’t sleep. My husband said he was working on it, but I don’t think—” Mary looked away.
It occurred to Helen that this might be their last conversation.
“Your husband,” Mary sighed. “Such a fine person. I’m so sorry.
I know he didn’t do anything with that girl.
I am ashamed of my husband’s behavior. It’s inexcusable.
If you hadn’t told me, I don’t know when he would have.
No, I think he might never have told me.
I knew about her because she phoned.” Mary paused to collect herself.
“But I didn’t know what she did to Koh Yohan. I apologize. I apologize.”
Helen sat silently for a moment, then said simply:
“My husband needs a job.”
“Of course he does,” Mary said, indignant. Last night, her husband had not come home, and if he had, she thought she might have killed him then herself. They spoke in the morning when he finally returned to change his clothes for work, and he promised to fix it, but she didn’t believe him.
Helen sighed. “My husband can’t find anything else.
Nothing like Han River Industrials & Trading.
None of his friends called him back once he said he’s looking for work.
Apparently he can’t work for that Japanese company because they are still upset that our husbands became competitors.
Every day, John cleans the house, goes to the grocery store, and sits and says nothing.
He doesn’t complain. We haven’t told the children.
Bo knows something is wrong but doesn’t know what to—” Helen took a sip of water.
“Mido will be home soon, and I’m so grateful that DH is still in Vermont.
And thank you for letting him come to your house during breaks.
I can never repay you for all the things you’ve done for him. ”
“He’s like my son, too. And the boys love him. Everyone adores DH,” Mary said.
“I’m working full-time now, but I can’t support our family on what I make. We have to change apartments.” Helen blinked back tears. “I don’t want to burden you.”
Mary shook her head.
“My husband is weak. I should never have married him. My father was right. He said Shin Taehun was self-centered. I’m glad my parents didn’t live to see any of this.
If I wasn’t Catholic…” Mary looked up at the ceiling as if she could stare at God’s face, then closed her eyes.
“That woman called me, and she was awful. I’ve heard from many of his girlfriends, but there’s something different with her.
She told me they’re soulmates. She actually used that word.
But I can’t be angry with her. There’s no point.
My husband invited her into his bed. My father helped us, you know.
Taehun had nothing except his degree. We bought that house in New Jersey with money from my father.
Taehun sends us money for the kids’ school, but I still work because it isn’t enough.
Anyway. I wanted to see you today because I already made the call. ”
Helen wiped her eyes with a thin paper napkin.
“I called Kang Joonah and she fixed it. It’s not as good a job as the one your husband had.”
“You called the wife of Vice-Chairman Han?”
Mary nodded. “I told her what happened.”
Joonah had been in the same Ewha class as Helen, and she married a grandson of the founder of HRG.
Helen knew Joonah only from a distance, but Mary and Joonah had grown up in Seongbuk-dong and attended schools together.
They were members of the same church. Joonah had never liked Mary’s husband—a boy not from their world—but there had been a consensus among the girls at Ewha that Shin was one of the most attractive undergraduates at SNU, and he had seduced the beautiful and well-off Mary, who had known nothing whatsoever about men.
“Joonah talked to her husband, who already heard about the incident.”
Helen stared at Mary, uncomprehending.
“So this is Joonah’s husband’s solution,” Mary continued.
“You and John move back to Sydney. He will have a job, but your husband can’t have contact with that woman.
The job is for a team leader, but it’s a much smaller team than he had before.
The vice-chair will call your husband tomorrow.
HRG doesn’t want to lose our husbands. They have specific skills the company apparently needs. ”
Mary pulled out more napkins from the dispenser and handed them to Helen.
“I want you to keep the money that my husband gave you. It’s not enough for what we’ve done to your family. Joonah doesn’t know if there will be a subsidy for housing or schools because the new job is not as senior,” Mary said. “I’m hoping that somehow, the money can cover at least the move.”
“I don’t know what to say. I am grateful to you, Sister.”
Mary reached over and took Helen’s hands into hers. She bowed her head, her forehead touching their hands, and without saying a word, Helen understood that Mary was praying for them.
Helen knew that her husband would accept the post in Sydney. They had been back in Seoul for seventeen months.