Graffiti In My Heart

Chapter One

"I'm going back to Korea," said Dara to her mother.

"I think it's about time I see Dad." Her mother was still speechless. Over dinner that evening on her graduation, she opened up her plans to her mother, stepfather, and two siblings.

"But you know nothing about Korea! How can you survive there? Plus, I don't know if your father can help or if he is still alive!" Her mother was desperate. She doesn't want Dara to go back to which she understands.

At the age of 20 years old, she finished her Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing degree. She was the best writer and a public speaker in town. She published three books to date. But one of her very few hidden talents is her sense of humor. She was a natural comedienne. She was an all-time champ and a crowd favorite in her university, the University of Kentucky. Whenever she joins contests on spoken word poetry, her witty performances, and aesthetic wordplay is always complemented with comedic adlibs. And it still works every time.

For the past year, she had been continuously communicating with a "professional scrounger." It was just recently when she found out about her biological father being terminally ill and had a few more weeks left to spare.

"He's still alive, but dying," replied Dara to her worried mother.

"Just give this chance to me. I promise. This will not change whatever we have right now as a family. I don't need another dad. I already have one. I just need to reconnect with my roots and to know where I came from. That's all I need Mom. This is the peace I need right now." Dara then left the room. Her stepfather just stared at her calmly as she walked away.

"Let her be," said Tom Sanders, Dara's stepdad to her mom. 

Dara was only three years old when her biological father, Hyung Park left her and her mom. They migrated to the U.S. filled with dreams for of a better life. But the business her biological father attempted to build, crashed before it even flourished. Her father got so depressed, packed his bags and left them without a word nor even a single penny. Dara's mom, Jennie Park, struggled so much just so they can fill their empty stomachs. She had three different jobs to sustain their lives in the foreign land. Her mom met the Korean-American owner, Tom Sanders. Her mom was working with Tom who pitied their situation. They were then allowed to stay for free in one of Tom's cafés. Tom had four branches of Tom's Cafe in Kentucky. Tom's mom was Korean while his dad was American. That explains why he can communicate with Jennie in Korean. After a couple of years, Tom and Jennie married, and eventually adopted Dara to be Tom's legal daughter. A year after their marriage, Jennie gave birth to twins, named Daniel and Dana. Dara was just five when her mom married Tom, so it was always Tom who took the role of being a father to her. She loves the man and has no intentions of hurting both Tom and her mom in any way. She just wanted to meet her biological father.