Fantasia

XXX

"Woah, I really did that?", Brett's mouth was agape and his eyes big, reflecting the yellow light flooding this corridor.
Eddy nodded. "Yeah, you were pretty convincing."
"I can't really picture myself saying all those things and being... sensitive and all..."
"You are quite a sensitive guy when it comes to others." Or maybe, it had just been with Eddy...?

"And I'm so sorry about what happened with your dad", Brett remarked, a bit more down than before. Yeah, right. Not sensitive at all! "Did he... was he sick or something?"
"Yeah", Eddy confirmed, "Cancer. It was too late when we discovered it. At least he didn't have to suffer for too long, but it was quite a shock for us. My sister was abroad back then and we had to fly her in for the funeral. My mum was devastated."
"Of course! Gosh, it sounds awful! And at that time too." Brett shook his head in great empathy.
"I mean, I was a bit older already. I guess it would be even worse for younger kids, you know. I was eighteen back then, so an adult technically. I still missed him like crazy though."
"Figures. Are my...", Brett started hesitantly. He didn't need to finish the sentence for Eddy to know what he wanted to ask.
"Your family was fine. At least a decade ago. I'm sorry I don't know about now."
"It's fine. Thanks for telling me anyway", Brett sighed, visibly relaxed.
"Sure thing."

They sat there in silence for a moment, each in their own thoughts after everything that had been said and heard till now.

"So, I had a good relationship with my parents back then?", Brett asked after a while.
"Mhm. Not super close, but closer than most Asian parent-kid relationships."
"That's good."
Eddy sniggered. "You and your brother were on good terms too. He was more quiet than you, so you always tried to get him out of his shell."
"I must have been super annoying."
"You probably were." Eddy propped up his other leg and smiled.
"What about you and your folks?"
"We...", Eddy began, deliberating over what to say and what to leave out. To determine what was important for Brett to know and what could be left unsaid.
"Our relationship was more complicated. Again, not surprising for a typical Asian family, but nonetheless... I always felt it was a bit cold. I was closer to my dad than to my mum. He was more understanding, more chill. Still strict and stuff, you know, but not as strict as my mum. She always insisted on good grades in every subject, on me attending every violin and piano lesson and every 補習班 (supplementary class) there was out there. I mean, she looked after me very well, cooked great food, let me play games when I was done with all my homework and chores and cared for me when I was sick. She was around, but she had her own ideas on how I should live my life. I think that's what mostly made our relationship more complicated, you know what I mean?"
Brett nodded with serious eyes. "Sounds kinda controlling, if you ask me."
"It was, sometimes", Eddy stated, "but I get that she comes from a background, where poverty was a reality. Her family wasn't poor, I think, but she grew up on the countryside with no opportunities to study or get any higher degree. So I guess she wanted the best for me. It just didn't correlate with what I wanted."
Brett's eyes got even more serious when he concluded, "And what you wanted was to become a musician."
"Exactly!", Eddy said.
"How did it go down then? You had to tell your mum eventually, right?"
"I took your advice and went for it. So, yeah. I told her."
One could practically feel the tension in the air, when Brett asked a quiet, slightly trembling, "And?..."

"Well, and then", Eddy sighed, "shit did hit the fan."