She was smiling so hard her jaw ached.When was the last time you were this happy? When you had something good to look forward to? Can you even remember?
Seeing Ranar that morning had been an unexpected bonus to the entire day, only regretting that it had happened before her meeting when she was distracted and on a time schedule.If you had run into him afterward, you might have offered to fuck him right then and there in celebration.He wasn’t especially smooth, which she decided was sweet and a definite green flag.He’s clearly not a player, or else he’d be better at this.
He asked about her move, offered reassurances for her meeting, and gave her some valuable insight regarding the town’s building codes. Sumi couldn’t remember the last time Jordan had started a conversation asking about her, what she was doing, where she had been, how it made her feel. Not even their final conversation had begun that way. Jordan had been flummoxed to learn that she couldn’t wait to quit her job, was appalled that she had quit at all, and was irate in his expected condescending–disappointed parent way that he had been the last to know.
Ranar did not seem to be in love with the sound of his own voice, a sharp and welcome departure from what she had grown accustomed to over the last three years.
The sight of his thick, brilliantly colored tail undulating out the door had nearly hypnotized her, and she wondered whathis scales would feel like against her skin. Rough and jagged? Smooth and silky? Would he be heavy against her? Would he hold her in his coils like a constrictor?And the tip!He had pulled the door open with the tip of his tail, prehensile, acting like a third hand.What else can he do with that tail?
Sumi bit her lip, forcing herself to calm down. It was one thing to have had this sort of fantasy several weeks ago when he was just a stranger in a shop —a rude, handsome stranger, you called him. Remember?— And quite different now, when he had offered to show her around the town.That’s a date, right? We’re going to be alone together. He’s going to show you things like the waterfall and the coffee shop and maybe his bedroom.
“Anyway, I literally just walked out of this meeting and Ihadto tell someone!”
Meredith squealed again.“I’m so glad you did! Give me a few weeks to get the kids settled into some kind of routine, and then you have to give me directions to this place. I’ll come up and we can have lunch. I amsohappy for you, Sumi!”
She had continued walking as Meredith spoke, impulsively turning up the pathway to the community center, pulling open the door.May as well poke around while you’re here. That guy said to get involved, right?She had no idea what the handsome, dark-haired young man meant by her beingat a disadvantage, and his remark aboutcommunity perceptionbeing her problem to deal with was ominous, but she decided to take the advice.Get involved and get involved quickly.
There was a long bulletin board running the length of nearly the entire hallway, and the whole thing was full. Classes, workshops, continuing education. Intramural sports, children’s programs, bake sales, ballroom dance. There was a wire rack on the ground, full of booklets. An outline of everything that was offered, Sumi realized, as she bent to take one from the stand.
If you want to get involved, there’s certainly no shortage of opportunities. Shehadalways wanted to take ballroom dancing. Maybe Ranar would be willing to take a class with her in his official capacity as her tour guide/future spouse.How would a naga dance? Maybe something else.
As she examined the calendar for a drop-in beginner’s life drawing class, a tall, red-skinned woman shouldered her way out of the door in the center of the hall on the opposite wall. Burnished gold bumps rose from her black hair just above her temples.An ogre.
Sumi watched as the woman unlocked the glass panel of the bulletin board she stood before, swinging it open. She was replacing several of the notices on the cork board, leaning back to ensure they were straight before closing the glass once more.
The ogress moved further down the hall, and Sumi found herself drifting to the space the woman had just vacated, thinking maybe she could get the jump on a brand-new class announcement.
This month in the Nippon Club — Chado — traditional Japanese tea ceremony.
“Shut thefuckup.”
She jumped, realizing the voice had been hers, that her first action in winning over community perception had been to practically shout vulgarities in the community center.They probably have toddler storytime going on. Senior citizen basket weaving. Wrapping teddy bears for needy children. And here you are, dropping F-bombs with zero abandon, uncaring of the delicate ears who might be listening. SO cringe. Sumi turned, checking to see if the ogress had heard her. Sure enough, her head had swung around.Are you fucking kidding? They heard you back at City Hall.
“I mean . . . shut the front door.”
The other woman snorted, shaking her head. “I try to catch myself sometimes. Or at least, I used to. Then I just decided it was easier to teach my daughter there are some words we use to express strong feelings, but they are at home wordsonly. I’m just lucky cuntnugget wasn’t her first word. Believe me, it was a nail-biter.”
Sumi laughed, delightedly. Half of the teachers at her former middle school were of the holier-than-thou variety, and they never failed to keep the other half —herhalf — miserably in check. “I used to teach, so you’d think I would be better at this.”
The ogress reversed course down the hallway, coming back to where Sumi stood, her eyebrow arching as she approached. When she spoke in Japanese, Sumi’s face heated.Nope, that’s not gonna work. I was raised in a jar of mayonnaise.The other woman raised an eyebrow, still grinning.
“Okay, nevermind. No language skills, but youareinterested in the tea ceremony.”
Deep breath. You’re going to get involved. She nodded hesitantly. “My mother was Japanese, but she died when I was young. I-I was raised by my father’s family. White. Human.”
Another snort from the ogress.
“But I just moved here. I-I promised myself I was going to reconnect to . . .” She trailed off, raising a hand.
“Not white, not human?”
“Yeah. That part.”
Despite her social inadequacy, the ogre woman softened. “I get it, it’s important. That’s why I do the club, actually, for my daughter. My brother and I emigrated together, almost a decade ago, and this is home now. But that doesn’t mean it’ll ever behome, you know? When I started volunteering here, I decided I owed it to her to bring pieces of home here. I don’t want her to lose that part of herself just because she’s growing up in the unification. It’s important to be connected to tradition.”
She probably needed to find a therapist, once she settled in, before the speed in which she seemed able to move from joy to tears gave her permanent whiplash.Iced Grande Menty-B.Sumi nodded, pushing her tongue into the roof of her mouth to hold back her tears.
She had tried explaining to Jordan what it was like growing up in neighborhoods where she didn’t have the community, but Sumi knew he didn’t understand. What she hadn’t shared with him was that it only ever grew worse as she got older. Those little pockets of Asian friends she had in first and second grade broke apart, the singular tie that bound them growing brittle and thin, snapping as those other children grew up into their own culture and heritage. She had always been simultaneously too much and not enough, with no community of her own.That’s going to change here. You’re going to find where you belong in this place.
