Broken

Chapter Six

“So, when are you going to talk to your mom?” Minho asked on the drive home.

Sokka was curled up asleep in the backseat and his phone was pinging with messages, probably from Chun-ji.

“Well,” Jae tilted her head to the side in thought. “I don’t know really. I want to but then I don’t at the same time. You know?” 

She knew she probably didn’t make sense but she was comfortable with Minho so she didn’t care, after all they were siblings now.

“I kind of understand, but explain a little more please.” He said as he looked both ways before making a turn. 

“Well, there’s so many things I haven’t really forgiven her for and I don’t know if I should.” Jae looked out of the window at the almost full moon with a wisp of a cloud in front of it.

“When I was younger my mom and dad were like a power couple. They did everything together and knew everything about each other. They even use to finish each other’s sentences.” Jae said with a small laugh as she remembered this.

“Then one day,” Jae continued. “My dad got sick, and we took him to the doctors. I was really worried and so was my mom. My dad was in pain and it hurt me to see him like that. I was daddy’s little girl and I didn’t like to see him like that.” Jae said, her eyes teared up as she remembered that day. 

“The doctor came back in with the test results and he wore a serious face as he told us that my dad had cancer and he needed to be treated.”

Minho looked over at Jae when they stopped at a red light. “I’m sorry. I can’t imagine how much that must have hurt.” He said in a soft voice.

“Yeah, well at the time I didn’t know what it was but seeing my mom react to it must have meant it was bad.” Jae said as she continued to look out the window.

The car began to move again and Jae continued to talk. “When we got home my mom was kind of put off I guess. She threw herself into her work, she hardly ever came home. My dad wanted to move to Australia where his family was so he could be closer to them in case he died. My mom hated that idea, because here in Busan everything was fine. They argued everyday about whether or not we should stay or go to you know, Australia.” Jae explained this with a slight anger in her chest and deep sadness.

“So, my mom finally gave in and we moved to Sydney, Australia. My grandparents were thrilled that we were so close to them but also scared and sad for my dad. My dad was going through treatments and he was always home. I did things for him. I would bring him snacks and talk to him about things at my new school and how quickly I was learning English. I told him I missed my friends in Korea but I was glad to be with him.” She smiled lightly as she remembered her dad and all the memories. 

“A couple of years went by and my dad got better and was soon declared free of cancer. Everyone was so excited. He still had to go to checkups every now and then but that was okay. Since he was getting better, he started to look for jobs. My mom didn’t like that. She found every little thing to argue about with him. My mom was like one of those almost extinct animals, you rarely ever saw her. One day she came home drunk and she got into a heated argument with my dad and she left. She never showed up. We went looking for her, we called her. We did everything we could. She just left. Then she called home one day and told dad to never call her again and that she was getting a divorce and told him to just keep me. She didn’t want anybody to bother her in her new life.”