The life of Nusi

Chapter 14: Mr. and Mrs. Chun

The sound of slamming doors and breaking glass have become the norm at Nari's home since the accident. Silent dinners and nasty looks have replaced loving embraces and I love you's. Tears seem to be the only make up Nari's mother wears anymore. A home that once was filled with love has become a cold empty prison where dreams come to die. Heartache and despair fill the minds of the once loving couple. How could separate ends of a dining room table seem like miles apart? How can someone say such hateful things to a person they swore to love until death do them part?

Night after night Nari's Mother would have dinner on the table, and like clockwork, her father would call and say he would be late. An empty chair where Nari's father once sat had become the norm each night, and a plate of food being thrown in the trash always followed the call, but this night was different with Nari's mother. There seemed to be a rage in her eyes this night.

"GO TO YOUR ROOM!" Nari's mother yelled at her before she could finish her dinner. With tears rolling down her face, she wheeled herself into her room and slammed the door. Grabbing her pillow Nari screamed,

"I HATE YOU!" Knocking all the things off her nightstand with a crash. The door swung open!

"YOU CLEAN UP THIS MESS YOUNG LADY!" Nari's mother screamed at her. "YOU'RE JUST LIKE YOUR FATHER!" she screamed again. As she picked up a snow globe that Nari had gotten when they were in the states and thew it against the wall. Glass and water went everywhere. One shard of glass cut Nari on her cheek. Nari screamed,

"I WISH I HAD DIED WHEN THAT BUS HIT ME!" Nari's father had walked in the front door and hurried to her room hearing the commotion, but Nari nor her mother saw him. "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" Nari screamed. "I WISH I WAS DEAD!" She screamed again.

"OH NARI!" Her mother cried, "I didn't mean to take it out on you."

"YOU ALWAYS SAY THAT!" Nari screamed again as the blood ran down her cheek. "WHY DO YOU AND DADDY HATE ME?" She screamed, "I'M SORRY I'M SUCH A BURDEN TO YOU AND DADDY!" She continued. "I DIDN'T WANT TO BE A CRIPPLE!" She screamed again, and with that Nari slammed her head down on her nightstand so hard, blood splattered on every wall.

Nari's mother's face turned white as blood speckled her face. Nari raised her head showing the huge gash running down from her forehead and swung her head back down towards the nightstand for another blow. Nari's mother's eyes widened, waiting for the inevitable impact of Nari's head. Just a muffled thump was heard this time. Nari lifted her head, only to see her father holding her head. With tears in his eyes, he said in a soft voice,

"I'm sorry my little one." Then he turned to Nari's mother and said, "I owe you an apology too my dear." Neither Nari nor her mother knew what to say. "Let's get you both cleaned up, then we need to have a family talk." With that Nari's father quickly got what he needed and tended to both. Both sat there in silence, dumbfounded by what was happening. Nari's father sat them both at the dining room table and made them some tea. "You drink this while I clean up that bedroom," he said to them. They sat there not saying much.

"How's your head?" Nari's mother said to her.

"It's ok," Nari said as she rubbed the bandage her father had put on her cut.

"I'm sorry about what happened tonight," Nari's mother said in a sad voice.

"Me too..." Nari said back. Nari's mother reached over and softly took Nari's hand as she began to cry.

"Oh, my baby!" She sobbed. "What have I done?" She said again. Just then Nari's father sat down in his chair at the end of the table. Nari felt a warm safe feeling seeing her father finally sitting in his chair. A rush of dread washed over her as she saw him laying papers out on the table.

"I knew it!" She thought. "He is going to divorce mother and leave us all because of me!" Before she knew what she was doing, she screamed out,

"OH DADDY! I WILL BE BETTER! I WILL WALK SOON! I PROMISE! DON'T LEAVE US! DADDY! PLEASE!" Tears flowing like a river. Nari's mother just looked at the papers like a person waiting for the guillotine.

"What!" Nari's father said wide eyed. "Where is this coming from?" He said again. He looked up at Nari's mother with a puzzled look on his face. "Isn't this what you wanted?" He said to her, as he handed her the papers. While Naris mother read the papers, he grabbed Nari and hugged her like he would never let her go. Nari's mothers' eyes moved quickly over the papers.

"WHAT?" She said, reading on. "WHAT!" She said again and again. While Nari's mother continued to read the paper, Nari's father whispered in Nari's ear,

"There are only two things in this world I love. I am holding one of them and the other is reading papers at the other end of the table." Nari's grip on her father tightened as he pulled her back and wiped her tears from her eyes.

"You mean this?" Nari's mother said in an excited voice.

"Yes, my love." He said to her. Nari's mother flew from across the table and hugged them both, showering them in kisses.

"WHAT IS IT?" Nari said puzzled.

'You tell her." Nari's father said to Nari's mother.

"He sold the business!" She said. "But why," she said. "You spent your life building that business from the ground up. You love that business." She said. He smiled at Nari's mother and said,

"You tell her why Nari." And with that Nari repeated too her mother what her father had whispered in her ear. The family went to the kitchen and started a makeshift meal as he told them all that had happened to him in the past few weeks, and why he had decided to sell the business and spend as much time with his family as he possibly could. But that's a story for another day. Remember, when parents fight, they are not the only ones that get hurt.