The dots showing she was typing appeared before a long line of text:Minjae has to check out of the club by noon so let’s meet at JuttingRock. It’s a beach on the way to the airport. You’ll see signs once you’re on Shore Road. Remember!!! Do NOT tell the boys while you’re still inside the house.
I promised her I wouldn’t and then rushed around to pack supplies. Edison refused to budge from his spot on the couch. “No fair, you have to tell me where we’re going,” he said. The green-and-red colors of the screen reminded me of the books I’d bought for him and his brother that I had forgotten to give them. Austin followed me up and down the stairs and thanked me with great appreciation as though he never got presents, while Edison would not be lured away. “Tell me,” he said.
“I’ll tell you in the car,” I said. I dropped one of the books I’d gotten him into a bag. “Come on, Edison.”
I’m ashamed to admit I resorted to tactics I abhorred and had never used in my classroom. Channing was right, twenty-four/seven with children was different than teaching in a school. Threats, bribes, pleading. When pretending to leave without him didn’t work, I ran back inside and told him as softly as I could that we were going to Jutting Rock. If there was an audio device somewhere, I didn’t see it.
“I hate sand,” Edison shouted. “Jutting Rock is the worst, why are we going there?”
“You can stay on the blanket and not even touch the sand. I promise we’ll find a way to get to the beach club another day, for those French fries you love, okay? Deal?” I sounded desperate and hated myself for it.
The beach was surprisingly deserted for a Saturday, but Channing said it was probably because we were far from town and this park wasn’t as well-known as others. Still, I should have been more careful. There was a scattering of bright beach umbrellas propped up in the sand with a few people lying out on colorful towels, which made me feel better. Maybe others would arrive later. It was still early in the day.
Minjae said hello to me and the boys but didn’t seem to have energy for much else. He and Channing were sitting together on the sand entwined. They hadn’t brought anything. He said his suitcases were in the car when I asked. There wasn’t much else to do but drop two bags full of lunch stuff and towels I’d lugged from the car and tell Minjae and the boys to spread out the blanket and see what else I’d put in those bags. Minjae and Austin immediately complied, but Edison turned his back to us and crossed his arms. I pulled out the book I’d bought him and held it out. Peace offering. He grudgingly accepted it from me and turned to the first page.
Before his next tantrum, I had to talk to Channing privately. I grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet. “We’ve got to talk.” She was reluctant to leave Minjae, I could tell, but I told her we’d be right back. “Quick walk,” I promised. When Austin said he wanted to join us, I said we had grown-up stuff to talk about and afterward I’d take him for a swim. We showed him the pinkie promise of yaksok. I told him he and Edison could eat their muffins before their sandwich. I’d discovered that both boys loved miniature brownies that looked like little muffins, so they called them muffins instead of brownies.
Channing and I set off along the water’s edge, walking in our bare feet parallel to the shore.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Minjae’s mom wants him home. She won’t say why, and he’s so upset about it. He said he knew he shouldn’t have told her about me.” She wiped tears from her eyes.
“Well, why does he have to do what she says?”
“He’s all she has.” She looked out at the horizon. “I know how he feels, I want him to go and explain to his mom. I’ll miss him.”
“Okay so maybe Minjae will go to Seoul, talk to his mom, and come right back to you.”
“He can’t because of his visa.”
“There’s got to be a way around that. Did he get any leads from Kent’s party last night?”
“Dahee, stop.”
“We don’t have to ask Kent for help, there are others.”
She kicked at the water with such ferocity that I paused and walked around her until she met my eyes. With a steel edge to her voice, she said, “I’m only saying this once. He attacked me when Mrs. Yun left. I slapped him, but he pinned my arms and put his gross lips on my face. That’s when Harabeoji knocked so forcefully he surprised Kent. That’s how I got away from him.”
I suddenly felt sick. “Channing, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” she said, turning away. “It was going to happen. He was always going to try.”
“He assaulted you,” I said when I could find my breath. “We have to call the police. Right now.” I told her how he’d knocked me down chasing after her.
“Like they’re going to believe me. Do you know that his best friend is the chief of police, and his other best friend is the mayor?”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“Of course it does,” she sputtered.
“Harabeoji will say the door was locked,” I said.
“That doesn’t prove anything.”
“We still have to report him.”
“Not today. Promise you’re not going to ruin this last day with Minjae. I’m not going to let Kent steal this time with Minjae from me.” We weren’t able to talk any more about it because Austin came running at us full tilt.
