โIโm trying to tiptoe my way down the hall when my mom calls my name. โSadie? What are you still doing up?โโ
I spin around, and the room spins too. The alcohol is still sloshing around in my stomach, my bloodstream, rendering everything blurry and surreal. I have to squint hard to focus. My momโs removing her coat, setting her car keys down on the counter; theyโre easily recognizable because she
refuses to throw out the bright ribbons from chocolate boxes and insists instead on wrapping them around the key ring. There should be five ribbons in total, but when I blink, they duplicate into a mess of squiggly pink and
blue lines.
God, Iโm so drunk.
โIโm not drunk,โ I announce loudly. This seems like the normal, not- guilty thing to say, but I can tell from the way Mom stares at me that Iโve slipped up somehow.ย Itโs okay, I attempt to calm myself, biting my tongue so hard I taste the sharp tang of blood.ย At least she hasnโt found out about the party. Youโve cleaned up most of the evidence. Thereโs absolutely no
wayโ
โDid you . . . host a party while we were gone?โ Mom asks, frowning. Before I can reply, she strides into the living room and starts inspecting all the furniture. I want to disappear. โThe dining table is askew. The books on
the shelf arenโt in alphabetical order. The left cabinet drawer is open. And is thatโโ She wipes a finger over something on the wall so minuscule that I canโt even see what it is until she holds it right up to my face, under the lights. โThatโs a piece ofย glitter, isnโt it?โ
Sheโs being very accurate. It is, indeed, a singular, dust-sized speck of glitter.
โWe donโt own anything with glitter in this house,โ she says, switching to Mandarin now. She always speaks in rapid Mandarin when sheโs agitated, as if all the words in the English language arenโt enough to contain her rage. โGlitter is, without a doubt, the worst thing humanity has ever
invented.โ
For reasons that escape me, I decide that the best response to this is: โWhat about weapons of war?โ
โExcuse me?โ
โNothing,โ I backpedal. Iโm having trouble standing up and talking at
the same time. Or maybe just standing up without support. Or maybe being a human in general.
โWhatโs going on with you?โ she asks, her gaze heavy on me.
Everythingย is too heavy: the air around me, the clothes on my body, the skin on my bones, the invisible force pressing against my chest. The effort of a single, shaky breath. I can feel my palms sweating, the truth rising up like bile. โIโโ
โDid you miss us?โ Max comes strolling into the room from the other side of the house, grinning wide. Heโs holding up a packet of Wang Wang soft gummy candiesโthe lychee-flavored ones I love the mostโwhich he waves around before me like a victory flag before dropping it into my palms. โDude, you should have been there. Da Ma invited a bunch of her friends over and I absolutely thrashed them at mahjong. They ran out of money and had to start paying up in candyโyou like this flavor, right?
Anyway, it was hilarious. Mom forced us to leave before I could take everything, but I swear, if given the chanceโโ
โIโm talking to your sister,โ Mom says irritably. โGo wash up.โ
โWait. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a second.โ My brother stares at me. โAre youโdrunk? Dude, I canโt believe this. What the hell happened?โ
I open my mouth to deny itโ
And break down into tears instead.
Iโm completely, utterly horrified. I never act this way. Iโm only meant to absorb what others feel, present the best side of myself, sit still and swallow
my own emotions. But itโs like Iโve lost control over my own body, like Iโm watching myself from the ceiling as I stand here in the middle of the living room, crying and clutching the gummy candy. Iโm inconsolable. Hysterical. Iโm sobbing ten yearsโ worth of tears, choking as if thereโs something sick and poisonous inside me, something painful, and I need to force it out of my system. But itโs stuck. Itโs festered beneath my flesh for so long now that itโs a part of me, the deep ache like a thumb on a tender bruise.
โHold up.โ Alarm flashes over Maxโs face. Iโve witnessed him having a mental breakdown over an ad about a lost squirrel before, but he hasnโt seen me cry in years. โBro, youโre scaring meโโ
โMax,โ Mom says quietly. โGo.โ
He doesnโt protest this time, but he keeps shooting me worried glances over his shoulder as he hurries down the corridor.
Then my mom gently grabs my arm. Sits me down on the couch next to
her.
โWhatโs wrong?โ she asks. If Mandarin is her language for anger, itโs
also her language for softness. Itโs her voice coaxing us to sleep when we
were younger, her humming under her breath as she sewed the buttons back into our jackets so they were good as new again, her telling us it was time for dinner, her whispering goodnight as she turned off the big lights, her calling to let us know she would be there soon, just wait.
โI regret it,โ I manage to say on a stuttering breath. I weep like I havenโt in ages, not since I was an infant.
โRegret what?โ
Everything.
I regret writing the emails, I regret throwing the party, I regret kissing Julius in a moment of impulsivity and giving him the power to humiliate me. I regret it so much it feels like my liver is bleeding dry. I regret it so much it feels more like hatred, a knife turned inward, nails squeezing into
flesh. I hate myself for everything thatโs happened, because every mistake is my own to bear. And it feels like fear too. Like pure, animal terror, the stomach-curdling moment in the horror film when you realize you made the
wrong move, you unlocked the doors too soon, and the masked man with the chain saw is standing right behind you.
Thereโs nothing I want more than for time to be a physical thing, something I can split into two with my own hands, so I can turn it around, shatter it, undo all the consequences.
โIs this about the party?โ Mom asks. โBecause Iโm not mad. I wish you hadย toldย me, and I donโt condone the alcohol, but Iโm actually quite happy. Itโs about time you did things like a normal teenager.โ
This is so shocking my tears freeze in my eyes. โYouโreโnot?โ
She smiles at my surprise.ย Smiles.ย I wonder if Iโve been transported into an alternate universe. In the correct version, she would be lecturing me or chasing me around the house with her plastic slippers. She would be mad that I keep ruining everything, and she would have every right to be. I donโt deserve to be forgiven so easily. โOf course. When I was a teenager, I threw parties every few weeks. They were very popular.โ
โIโ What?โ A dull throbbing sensation has started behind my eyes, but I canโt tell if itโs from the liquor or the crying or the strain of fitting this
bizarre information into my brain. โSince when? I thought you said . . . I thought you said you herded the goats around the mountains when you were a teenager.โ
โJust because we had goats doesnโt mean we didnโt have parties.โ
I blink. The room is spinning again, faster than before. โBut . . . Iโm not allowed to. I shouldnโt be having fun and throwing parties andโand doing the wrong things. Iโm not supposed to cause any trouble.โ
โWho told you that?โ she asks. โWho said you werenโt allowed?โ
Nobody, I realize. But nobody everย hadย to tell me. It was enough for me to cower behind the wall as my parents fought, enough to watch my father leave, to feel the doors trembling in his wake. It wouldnโt have happened if it werenโt for me. Thatโs the truth I always crawl back to, the bone that set wrong in my body all those years ago. My dad had been at work, Max had been out playing basketball with his friends, and my mom needed to go buy groceries, so sheโd asked me to steam the pork buns for dinner. Iโd been so
eager to prove that I was reliable, but then Iโd gotten distracted by the show I was watching. I only remembered the boiling pot again when I smelled the smoke. The sharp, bitter odor of something burning.
I had slammed my laptop down and sprinted into the kitchen to check, but it was too late: The fire had burned a hole straight through the bottom, the metal scorched so severely it was coal black. It had been my momโs
favorite pot, the one she had bought with her savings and shipped all the way from a store in Shanghai. I didnโt try to hide it when she walked in an hour later. I just stood there guiltily, my head bowed, the damage on open display behind me.
โHow can you be so irresponsible?โ sheโd demanded, rubbing her face like she hoped to scrub away her exhaustion. โI only asked you to do thisย oneย thing while I was gone. Youโre not a baby anymore, Sadie; I expect
more from you.โ
Iโd apologized, over and over and over. โI know. Iโm sorry. Iโm really sorry, Mom. Please donโt be angry with me. Iโm so sorry.โ
But then my father had come home, and heโd been angry tooโnot at me, but at my mom. โSheโs still a child,โ heโd insisted, dumping his
briefcase on the couch. โWhy do you always do this? Why do you always make a big deal out of nothing? Itโs just a pot.โ
My mom had whirled on him with alarming speed, her eyes flashing. โYou say that because youย neverย cook. You go to work and come back and expect dinner to be all ready and waiting on the table for you. Youโre no better than a child yourself.โ
โItโs my fault,โ Iโd put in. My parents so rarely argued that I didnโt
know what to do, only that I hated it and needed to make it stop. โIโll fix it, I promise. I-Iโll find a new pot, the same brand as the old one. I wonโt do it againโโ
But they were no longer even looking at me.
โI never cook because you donโt let me,โ my father was saying. โYou lose patience within minutes; look at you, youโre losing patience nowโโ
โDonโt be such a hundan,โ Mom had snapped, and thatโs how I knew she was really furious: She was swearing in Mandarin.
And just like that, my father had exploded. Heโd slammed his hand down on the table so hard I expected him to break something, his features twisted with rage. The melted pot lay forgotten on the stove. They glared at each other from opposite ends of the room, and then it was like some kind of invisible barrier had broken, and they were flinging accusations at each other, complaints, curse words.
โDo youย enjoyย making other people miserable?โ my dad had accused, and I couldnโt help it anymore. I was caught between two sides of a war, and by pure protective instinct, I stepped out in front of my mom. Chose my alliances without thinking.
โDonโt talk to my mom like that,โ Iโd said. Quietly, at first, then louder. โYouโre upsetting her. Justโjust go away.โ I hadnโt meant it. I was only sick and scared of their fighting. I only wanted the argument to stop.
Hurt had flickered over his face, and I got the sense Iโd committed some terrible act of betrayal, before his thick brows drew together, his hands balled into fists. โYou all want me to go? Fine,โ he spat. โI will.โ
Then he was leaving because Iโd all but asked him to, and my mom was right there, watching him, witnessing our lives collapse in on themselves. โDonโt come back,โ she yelled, and he never did.
Once the dust had settled, she told me it had nothing to do with me. It had been her choice. They were grown adults; they made decisions for themselves. All the expected, hollow excuses. But I didnโt believe her.
Couldnโt.ย Every time I played the scene back, I saw myself poised at both
the starting and end point. I had been the trigger, and all that came after had happened for what? Because I hadnโt listened to her. Because I hadnโt been well-behaved. Because Iโd been impulsive.
Because some mistakes were irreversible, like glitter in the carpet, a wine stain on a favorite dress.
โWhatโs really going on, Sadie?โ my mom asks, peering at my face.
I canโt bring myself to tell her about the emails, so I settle for the closest answer I can find. โEveryone hates me,โ I whisper. โI did something to
make them all hate me, and I thought . . . I thought I could change their minds.โ
She absorbs this for a moment. โWell, I doubt thatโs true. And even if it is, itโs not the end of the world.โ
I let out a shaky laugh. Adults are always saying that. Other thanย If someone asked you to jump off a cliff, would you do it?ย (which simply
doesnโt strike me as a realistic scenario; who would benefit from making somebody else hurl themselves off a cliff?) andย Youโll understand when you have children of your ownย (even though I donโt plan on ever having children), this seems to be their favorite line.ย Itโs not the end of the world.
And maybe thereโs some tiny grain of truth in it. Maybe Iโll grow up and change my mind a decade later. Except for now, thisย isย my whole world.
The people I sit next to in class, the faces I have to see at school every single day, the teachers who determine the grades that get sent to the university that determines the trajectory of the rest of my life.
โWhy donโt you just give it some time?โ she suggests. โThe more you force something, the less it works. Havenโt you heard the saying? A melon picked too soon is seldom sweet.โ
I stare. โYou mean . . . do nothing?โ Itโs an absurd notion. Itโs the route people who turn their essays in two days late would choose. But all of a sudden Iโm aware of how exhausted I am.
โYes, do nothing,โ she says firmly. โLive your life and see what happens. Of course, I donโt mean around the house,โ she adds. โI expect you to clean up all the rooms and return everything to its original place.โ
โIโ Okay.โ I start to stand up but she yanks me back down onto the couch.
โTomorrow,โย she says. โTonight, all you need to do is drink the chicken soup Iโm about to make you and go to bed, okay?โ
โOkay,โ I repeat again, stunned. I must still be very drunk, because I canโt help the next words that tumble out of my mouth: โIโm really sorry.โ
She shakes her head. โYou donโt have to apologize for the partyโโ โNot about the party,โ I say. โAboutโabout my father.โ
Silence.
Itโs the one topic in the house we never bring up. Itโs like a rash youโre told not to scratch, even when it pains you, for fear of making it worse. I already regret it, already want to take the words back, but my momโs gaze is calm.
โSadie. Itโs not your fault.โ โButโโ
โIt happened,โ she says, โand it was inevitable, and now we have the rest of our lives to live.โ
โInevitable?ย How? You never fought. You were both so happy up until that night,โ I whisper.
โOh, no, we werenโt happy. We werenโt in love with each other. We
were simplyย polite,โ she says, looking over my shoulder now, as if she can
see her past projected onto the bare walls. โI almost wish that we had fought more, that weโd cared enough to challenge each other and bicker over the
little things. Better that than just swallowing our resentment and staying quiet until we couldnโt take it anymore.โ
I feel like somebody has knocked me upside down. Like I might throw up at any moment. โThatโs not possible,โ I tell her. โI should have sensed it. I would have knownโโ
โYou were so young,โ she says. โYouโreย stillย so young. And we didnโt want you to know.โ She squeezes my wrist lightly.
โBut then . . . youโre not happy now,โ I say, scanning her face, noting the familiar signs of fatigue in the faint purple around her eyes, the downward turn of her lips. โItโs because heโs gone, isnโt it?โ
She shakes her head. โIf thereโs any reason why Iโd be unhappy, itโs becauseย youโreย not happy.โ
I am. Iโm fine, I try to say, except the lie wonโt even make its way past my lips.
โAll you do is work and study and live for other people,โ she goes on, gesturing to the stacks of textbooks on the floor, the shiny awards and
sports trophies on the bookshelf. โYes, you help out a lot, and Iโm very grateful for it; the bakery wouldnโt be running without you. But Iโd much rather see you enjoying your teen years while you can. I worry that youโre going to look back when youโre twenty or forty and all youโll remember is your desk and the dishes. Really, it would ease my guilt if you did.โ Her
smile is sad. โI never wanted you to have to grow up this fast.โ
My head buzzes. I canโt believe it. Itโs like spending years of your life training for a game only to realize you understood the rules all wrong.
โIโm going to make that soup now.โ Mom stands up. โStay here.โ
And then she heads into the kitchen, leaving me to reassemble all the pieces of my life I was once so certain of.