She made a face and laughed. “Clara. That’s what all of this is. I’m here as part of a retreat with other social media tastemakers.”
My heart thudded down into my feet. “Oh. I guess I didn’t know.”
“Didn’t I mention it?”
The fatigue from the travel hit me so hard then that I almost fell over. “Maybe you did? I don’t remember.”
“We’ll still have fun! I’ll just have to do a few events here and there.”
The idea of being trapped in a resort full of social mediatastemakers made me want to scream, but I forced a smile. “Cool. Give me a sec and I’ll meet you out there.”
As soon as she left, I pulled out my phone, connected to the hotel’s Wi-Fi, and took a deep breath. I had avoided this long enough.
After a couple of rings, my dad answered. “Clara?”
Out ofnowhere, a tidal wave of homesickness rushed over me, filling my lungs. I couldn’t breathe.
“Clara? Can you hear me?” he repeated.
I nodded, stupidly. Realizing he couldn’t see me, I cleared my throat. “Yeah. Hi.”
“HI?! IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY RIGHT NOW?”
Something about his yelling calmed me down. I understood this; this was familiar.
“YOU WENT TO ANOTHER COUNTRY WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!”
Pause.
“HOW IS THAT LEGAL? WHAT HAS THIS COUNTRY COME TO? OH, BETTER NOT LET IN REFUGEES, BUT SURE, HEY, LET A MINOR FLY TO CENTRAL AMERICA!”
Pause.
“ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?!”
I cringed. “Yes, I’m listening.”
His breath came out in angry huffs. “Well? What do you have to say for yourself?”
“Young lady.”
“What?!”
“You forgot to add ‘young lady.’”
Another pause.
“Clara, I swear to God, I’m going to—”
“Kill me?”
“You know. Maybe. Maybe I’d murder you. My own child.”
I started to laugh then, but then the laugh got weird and garbled and filled with tears. I managed to say, “I was so mad at you.”
Pai’s silence made me squirm. Finally, he responded, his voice tired. “I know. But, you have to wonder, was this reaction perhaps ataddisproportionate?”
“Nah. Seemed about right.”
