12 #3
Mido realized that he was signaling to enter the 405, which had five lanes in each direction. Although she’d gotten her license, she hadn’t yet tackled this particular freeway, always teeming with traffic. “Oh. You need to pay attention. Sorry,” she said quietly, embarrassed by her keen interest.
Peter merged smoothly. “All good.”
“You ran away?”
“Yes. That’s how I ended up in Seoul. My mother had to come get me because I refused to go to school.
I went to London to listen to this punk band I liked but couldn’t get admitted into the club.
Naturally. So I slept here and there and hung out in Waterloo station.
I had a credit card, so I didn’t starve or anything.
I walked around Bloomsbury a lot. Eventually my mother found me at the British Museum.
I just kept returning to the Rosetta Stone, because that’s where we always met.
I knew she’d find me. Renee always knows where I am.
Anyway, that’s how I ended up at Andover with DH. ”
“Renee?”
“I’m allowed to call her that. It’s a joke. I mean, it’s actually her name, but anyway.” Peter smiled.
“I remember meeting you. At Eagle Academy,” Mido said. “I didn’t know you didn’t like England.”
“I like England very much. It’s one of my favorite places in the whole world. I’m a musician only because that little island has produced some of the greatest bands.”
“But you didn’t like school there.”
“No, when I think about it, I realize that I liked the school a lot. I learned loads. I just didn’t know how to deal with some of the kids. I could’ve stuck it out, but it was hard. I was alone. My mother couldn’t visit often. She was working in Seoul. Also, I didn’t want to worry her.”
Mido didn’t want to ask about his father, but he’d read her thoughts.
“My dad lives in Hong Kong. I don’t know him. I mean, I know him, but we’re not in touch. He’s not interested in me, and I’m not interested in him.”
Not knowing what to say, she blurted out, “You’re a good driver. I don’t know how to drive on the freeway.”
“Practice. Now we have to merge onto the 605 to get to Garden Grove,” he said. “Driving in California is next level. You might start smoking if you have to drive as much as I do.” He laughed.
“Is that why you offered to go to Ginny’s, so you could smoke?” she teased him, still thinking about how Peter had grown up.
“Garden Grove is on the way to Irvine,” he said, and turned on the tape player. They listened to Talk Talk, and the car filled with a happy, familiar sound.
Then Peter said quietly, “I was worried that Ginny’s guardian might be a bad person.”
It took a few minutes for someone to come to the door, and Peter made a face like he didn’t like that. When the person inside asked who it was, Mido introduced herself as Ginny’s hagwon teacher, and the door opened right away.
“Ginny is not feeling well,” the woman said in Korean. She was in her late sixties, wearing a beige-and-black plaid sweater with dark slacks and blue house slippers. She didn’t invite them inside.
“You must be Mrs. Chiu, Ginny’s guardian.
I brought these packets for her. Ginny likes to do them.
Of all my students, she completes her work the fastest and always asks for more.
” Mido smiled. “I feel certain she’ll get into Oxford Academy.
She’s very bright. I hope you’ll tell her parents how hard she works. ”
The woman smiled briefly, then turned quizzically to Peter, who hadn’t introduced himself. He looked serious and had a nice face, but she didn’t approve of his bleached hair and piercings.
“I’m also a teacher at Exodus. Can we say hello to Ginny, please?”
“She’s not well. It’s late. I’ll tell her you stopped by.”
“Will she be able to return to class next week?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Mrs. Chiu said. “Her mother is late on payments.”
“You’ve paid up for the month,” Mido said.
“Yes, because I’m never late with payments. But I advance the fees for the students who stay here. Ginny’s mother is late to pay me.”
“Is she okay?” Peter asked.
“IMF. That’s the excuse every parent is giving now for being late.”
“It’s not the child’s fault,” Peter said. His voice was sterner than usual. “The won is worth a fraction of what it used to be compared to the dollar.”
“I still have to pay everyone in dollars, though,” Mrs. Chiu countered. “The groceries, utilities, taxes, hagwon, and the mortgage.” She gestured with her hands toward the roof as if she needed to demonstrate the concept of shelter to the two young idealists on her doorstep.
“You’re not sending Ginny to the hagwon because her mother is late with her payment to you?” Peter couldn’t hide his irritation, his voice tremulous, and Mido placed her hand on his back to calm him.
“I’m sure you must be in a difficult situation,” Mido said. “Both my parents lost their jobs because of the IMF Crisis.”
The woman nodded with a modicum of empathy. She resented Peter’s tone. She’d heard of Miss Mido from Ginny, who loved going to hagwon.
“She’s actually not feeling well, and it’s late. You don’t have to believe me,” Mrs. Chiu said to Peter. “Thank you for stopping by. I’ll give the packets to Ginny.” The guardian dipped her head ever so slightly, more a nod than a bow, then shut the door.
“So how old are you again?” Peter asked.
“Twenty.”
They walked back to his car, feeling defeated.
“What do you remember about being in middle school?” he asked, not expecting a real answer. He was still thinking of the little girl.
“I was living in Seoul. We’d just returned from Sydney. The first day of school, my math teacher, Mr. Na, hit me with a brass ruler. Yun saved me.”
“She fought the teacher?”
“No. She became my friend. I didn’t have any friends in Sydney.”
“Yun is great,” he said.
“I’d fall on a sword for her.”
“I wish Ginny had that kind of person,” he said, opening the passenger door for Mido.