sugar; hansol vernon chwe

c h a p t e r 9

9

"Where are you rushing off to?" Uncle Junsu mused, setting down his mug on the coffee table.

"I'm supposed to meet up with some friends at twelve o'clock and it's already eleven thirty." I filled him in as I laced up my shoes.

"You better hurry then," He chuckled, stretching his legs out to lay them lazily on the table before him.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" I laughed at his obvious statement and threw my bag over my shoulder. I was just about to head down the stairs when Aunt Cara called out.

"Amaya!" She yelled from the bakery, "Your furniture just arrived!"

"My furniture?" It took me a moment to realize what she was referring to, "The moving truck came?"

"Yep," She confirmed, her footsteps leading away from the stairs. I fumbled after her, hurrying to see for myself.

Sure enough, my belongings had showed up. The humid afternoon air hit me as I stepped out of the shop, the sky a blinding gray-white color despite the warm weather. A worker from the moving company was propped up against side of the truck smoking a cigarette. Aunt Cara was conversing with him calmly, yet it seemed to be anything but friendly.

I coughed, waving some smoke out of my face as I approached the couple. "What's going on?"

"Apparently, all he's paid to do is unload the truck. We've got to carry everything upstairs ourselves." Aunt Cara smiled, but her twitching right eye gave away how irritated she really was.

"Ma'am, I have other customers to see today so if you don't mind I'll just start taking everything out." The employee said with an unamused sigh.

"Oh, alright." My aunt gave in, throwing her hands in the air.

The worker pounded on the passenger seat door of the vehicle twice and another man stepped out in response. In no time, a gathering of my boxes of unassembled furniture and clothes sat in piles on the curb. The truck sped off without a look in the rear view mirror.

"Well, he was a jerk," I noted, plopping down on my desk chair.

"Yes, I suppose he was," Aunt Cara gave me a sympathetic look, "I was heading to the farmers market, but I could stay and help you get everything inside if you'd like."

I peered around at the boxes. There was a lot, but it was definitely manageable. Besides, how could I make her do this for me when her and my uncle have been so generous? "It's okay, Aunt Cara." I promised, "You go ahead. I'll be fine on my own."

"Are you sure?" She reviewed slowly, readjusting the bag that hung loosely on her shoulder, "Junsu's back is bad, so he can't help either. I feel bad leaving you all alone."

"It's totally fine," I repeated reassuringly. The last thing I'd want is for her to worry about me.

She looked around hesitantly before saying, "You're a doll. Phone me if you need anything."

I nodded, "See you soon."

She breathed out slowly, finally heading off down the sidewalk.  When she was finally out of my sight, I began to calculate what boxes should be brought in first. I laid back in my chair lazily with a discouraged sighed.