Jesse repeated the handshake with Paul’s friend and said, “Oh right, I heard you were here. Alice and I did a whole Korea trip before the baby came.”
“You are…?” Paul said to me, which made it easy to tell him and Minjae my name. Like Alice and Jesse, Paul eluded my memory. All the children back then had seemed like an amorphous group I’d felt too shy to getto know. Paul seemed intent on trying to remember, but I could tell he couldn’t quite place me.
Minjae took the seat Mrs. Yun had abandoned and moved it close. His eyes had a glimmer of humor in them, and he leaned forward with interest at all of us. I was intrigued by his great complexion; clearly someone had advised him on skincare. Smooth and dewy. I was wondering what to say to him when he turned his head close to mine and spoke to the patio stone at our feet, “Hey, who’s that?” He pointed his chin across the yard.
I followed his glance. Channing was standing on the bed of the trampoline with her arms out to Austin. They were slowly jumping together.
“You know her,” Paul said to him. “We went to her house when we were kids.”
Minjae tilted his head to one side as if to jog his memory. “She moved away?” he asked.
“In high school, yeah,” Paul said.
Alice was looking at Paul with amusement, and I guess I was thinking what she was thinking—that Paul seemed to know everything about my cousin. Did this mean something to Alice that I wasn’t aware of? I decided to help him out.
“Paul’s right. Channing’s only back for the summer,” I said.
“Like me, I’m only here temporarily,” Minjae replied. “I remember her. She was fun.”
His English didn’t have a hint of an accent, and I told him.
“He’s one of those strangely talented language people,” Paul said. “Tell them how many you speak,” he coaxed his friend.
“Don’t listen to him. I went to boarding school near here since I was ten years old, that’s why,” Minjae said, and then he motioned to the trampoline, and we all turned our attention to my cousin.
I didn’t realize I’d gasped until Paul said, “You okay?” I nodded, mygaze frozen. Austin was now sitting on the rim with Edison, and Channing was jumping by herself in the center of the trampoline.
Her arms were extended on either side of her, like wings. With each bounce, she rose higher in the air, even reaching above the height of the netting. Nothing would keep her from falling off and landing on the hard ground if she didn’t land straight. The children’s voices traveled across the cut grass, urging her to go higher still.
I was already on my way across the yard in case she fell, and I was surprised to find Minjae beside me when I heard Mrs. Yun call out, “Eomeona! Watch out, Channing!” I looked back at her. It was the awe and worry in her voice that mirrored my own, the expression my mother had used often. Mrs. Yun and the young woman who had walked into the yard with Paul and Minjae were standing near the table with trays of food in their arms. Nearby, Harabeoji and Mr. Yun were also watching Channing, their hands holding long chopsticks.
Paul was running to catch up to me and Minjae. I turned back to the trampoline just as Channing reached the pinnacle of her jumps, bent backward, tucked her legs in, flipped once, twice, and landed with her feet safely before vaulting up again and turning backward, this time with her long legs extended. Channing was five nine to begin with, so she had to reach really high to turn multiple times on her way down. I was a handful of inches shorter than her.
We were right by the netting by then. “Unbelievable,” Paul called out.
Channing leaned back into another series of combination rotations. The children clapped when she was done, and she gave them a wave, dismissing their applause, before quickly parting the netting and stepping forward down the short ladder. “Your turn,” she said to them over her shoulder.
“No, wait—don’t tell them to try that,” I called out. I needn’t have worried. Austin jumped up once and then landed on his back gently. The springs of the trampoline eased his collapse. Edison claimed a turn and arguments ensued.
It took me a second to notice that Minjae was waiting at the bottom of the ladder. “Not so bad,” he said to Channing, and offered her a hand. Their eyes were locked on each other, a little longer than was casual. I looked away, embarrassed for them. Paul had walked around the trampoline toward the children. He encouraged them to jump safely, bending his legs to show them how, and then he called Minjae over.
As soon as Minjae was out of range, Channing whispered, “What just happened?” And I said, “What do you mean?” and she said, “I know him from somewhere.” She seemed nervous. Excited and nervous.
Chapter 6
He’s just a guy with great skin,” I said.
She hid a laugh behind her hand. “He’s so sweet and funny.”
“You’ve said that before,” I reminded her.
“Like when?”
“Like Fall River guy, Billy Kim?”
“Oh. Okay, good thing you reminded me. Thank you. I’m fine.” She straightened up just as Paul headed toward the house and Minjae joined us.
“Do you get dizzy when you rotate?” Minjae asked Channing with a serious expression on his face, as if he had to know the answer urgently.
