Immature Mistakes | mj.q✓

Thirty-Three

'What the hell happened out there!?' Evelyn asked her sister while they were in their room after they had arrived. Michael didn't say anything to any of them, but just like he had promised, he didn't hit Ava.

'Mrs. Ma is dad's ex.' Ava replied emotionlessly.

'What!?' Evelyn got up from her bed. 'That's crazy. What does dad even know about love?'

'Trust me, underneath that hulk of a man is probably a heartbroken person. I could tell by how he spoke to me.'

'Creepy.' Evelyn mumbled.

Ava opened the door from her room then walked out, standing next by the stairs. She watched her father sitting in the dining alone, looking into nothingness and not saying a word. He was the most emotional and most vulnerable he had ever been.

Ava walked down the stairs and looked at her father. He didn't bother to look back at her, he continued to stare at the wall.

She proceeded to walk into the kitchen and make some tea for her father. Even though all these years she had thought he was an absolutely terrible person, she felt like he could use a shoulder at that moment.

She waited for the tea to come to a boil, before she poured it in a mug for him. She returned to the dining room and placed it in front of Michael.

'I didn't ask for this.' Michael spoke seriously, looking at her.

'I know, but you probably need it.' Ava pulled a chair opposite him.

Reluctantly, Michael grabbed the mug and took a sip of the tea. There was silence in the room except for the water dripping into the sink in the kitchen. Still more, Ava didn't mind. She just wanted to understand her father's actual feelings for Mrs. Ma and what had actually happened.

'We're all vulnerable at some point in our lives.' Michael finally spoke after taking his third gulp at the tea. 'Was it strange for you to see me like that?'

She nodded.

'Well, I'm human too. I've got my weaknesses and things that hurt me.' he shrugged helplessly.

'A friend once told me we all have a story, something that's made a large impact on us that it fairy impacts the way we live. What's your story dad? I have a feeling you've never shared it with anyone before.'

Michael cracked a small smile as if what she was saying was senseless. 'Why would I tell you?'

'Because who else would you tell?'

Michael thought about it for a moment before he started to speak.

...

'You should probably sleep now, you have school tomorrow.' Mrs. Ma told Jiaqi as she caressed his hair.

'I do,' he nodded, 'but I don't think I'll be able to sleep unless I understand what's going on.' he was sitting on his bed in his room, and his mother had simply come inside to give him a "goodnight". But Jiaqi wanted more than that, he wanted an explanation.

'There's not much I can say.'

'I think there is.' he encouraged.

Mrs. Ma slightly smiled then sat down next to him. 'Well you can already tell that I knew Mr. Habibe, I knew him since the first time he came here when he was about 18.'

Jiaqi nodded curiously.

'I thought he was a pretty handsome man, a really hardworking immigrant. He lived among the outcasts and the not so well to do people. But that somehow made me like him even more. And you know...I was from a well to do family.'