“Yeah, I know, but then when you learn you don’t have time to waste, you’re changed. You aren’t like everybody else anymore.”
Soon, two large garbage bags were full, and the corner was once again empty. We dragged the bags to the stairs. I made sure the boys were still in the living room playing their games after hanging up with their parents before yelling up to Channing to let the bags tumble down to the landing and then to the first floor.
She followed soon after and surprised me by suddenly embracing me, her arms tight. “Kent isn’t going to ruin our summer.” There was her optimism.
“Good,” I said. Together we dragged those bags out to the garage. “We’ll drop them off at a donation center.”
“Yes, but not today. You’re only here for a little while.” She stretched out her arms and looked at me as if she were a bird about to take flight. “Let’s go outside,” she added.
I agreed it was a perfect summer day, not hot or humid, and she got the boys out to the side yard, where the Ahns had a little patio with some chairs and a small table. Nothing as elaborate as the Yuns’ terrace, but it was convenient.
Outside in the sun, Channing showed the boys how to do a gymnastics move where they sat on the ground and stood up in one motion. I was glad to see she was carrying over the coaching she and Minjae had done for the boys last evening.
I was sitting in the yard watching them when Harabeoji called and said he was helping Mr. Yun revive a garden. I told him we’d see him the next day. There was still laundry to do, and I knew if he was here, he’d work harder than he should at his age.
I was loading the dishwasher after dinner when the doorbell rang. Channing was upstairs putting the boys to bed, so I answered it. A uniformed police officer looked at me with suspicion. The sky was black above his head.
“Can I help you?” he said. Wasn’t I supposed to ask him that question? We hadn’t called the police. Did he have the correct house address?
I was so surprised I didn’t answer and tried instead to peer beyond this white man with piercing light brown eyes. Had something happened out on the street?
“Do you speak English?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Are you the owner of the New York state license plate?” he continued, speaking slowly, enunciating each word.
I nodded again.
“Name and identification,” he continued.
The palms of my hands stung with heat and tiny streaks of electricity. My brain stopped working for a moment.
He narrowed his eyes at me. “Neighbors alerted us to an unidentified vehicle.”
Relief and comprehension arrived together. I smiled at him. “That’s my car. I’m from New York,” I said.
The man placed his hand on the door frame, bracing himself. “Identification, please.”
Channing appeared at the top of the staircase just then. She bent to look at us through the balustrade. “She’s my cousin. Just visiting. The Ahns know she’s here,” she called down to us. Her knee jiggled up and down.
“We’ve had break-ins,” he said.
“I know, I know, it’s your second time here in two weeks,” she said.
“Channing, could you get my bag from the kitchen? It has my driver’s license,” I asked. I didn’t know why exactly, but I didn’t want to let himinto the house. He seemed threatening, though his request was simply identification. Was it his right to do so? Was I overreacting?
There was silence before she brought me my wallet. Despite my best efforts with sweaty fingers, the license wouldn’t budge. The plastic window in the wallet had glommed on to the document. I held it out to him, wallet and all.
“Remove it, please,” he said.
“Is this really necessary?” Channing asked.
The officer tilted his head at me. “It looks like I have to take you down to the station,” he said.
Chapter 11
Wait,” Channing called to us. She held her phone up to her ear. “Yes, he’s here again. You don’t have to come over, just talk to him on the phone?”
