Friday 29 December 2017

2.36 Just a Story


After a very long flight and an almost as long series of bus rides, Tula is finally home. She leaves her bags on the front yard for the time being, knowing no one in this small town would dream of stealing it. 

She looks around the house and notes that it hasn't changed a single bit. Walking through the front door is like stepping through a time machine. Even her grandmother's paintings hang in the exact same positions on the walls, still just as bright as when they were freshly painted. 



Paolo rushes to greet her. 

"Oh I'm so happy to see you!" he gushes before she can even open her mouth, "And so is Haliya! Well, once she gets back from ballet she will be. She's grown so much since you left!" 




Right, her younger sister. Tula has trouble imagining her as anything but a little toddler. Internet in the hotel was usually only good enough for voice calls and pictures. 

"Does she even recognize me?" Tula frets, "She was only two when I left..." 

"She's always happy to see your pictures," Paolo is quick to reassure her, "She keeps telling her friends about her 'cool sister' in China." 




Tula smiles with seeming relief, "Oh really? Aw, that's so sweet! I can't wait to see her." 

Noticing her father's shining eyes and soft smile, she realizes that he's just as excited to see her. And nervous. He probably still blames himself for being a bad father. She almost shakes her head; just like her dad to get caught up in the past. 

"I missed you so much, dad!' 



With those words, she sweeps him into a hug. The relief that he feels all but floods from his every pore. 

"I missed you too. Now go get settled, I'll bring your stuff in. I'll try to get Haliya to leave you alone for a few hours, you need your rest..." 

Tula waves his concerns away dismissively, "Nah, I slept on the bus here. Just send her my way once she gets home." 



And sure enough, several hours later, Haliya bounds up the stairs to see her big sister. Tula was looking for something to read, but a person can do just as well as a book. 

"Wow," Haliya breathes, "You're so pink!" 

"And you're so...yellow." 

Haliya's face scrunches up, "And blue..." She sticks her booted foot in front of her a little. 




Tula and Haliya stare at each other silently. 

There are tons of questions Haliya wants to ask, like if Tula really went on the Great Wall and if she can use chop sticks and everything... man, her sister's so cool! 



Tula can see the adoration in Haliya's eyes and obliges with a hug. Haliya returns it eagerly. 

"I want to hear all about you," Tula says with a smile, "I hear you're doing ballet? I'm jealous, I could never dance..." 



Haliya's eyes widen; her sister wants to know about her

So she shyly tells Tula about her dance classes. She likes the dancing, but the giggling with her friends seems to take priority. 



Tula listens with interest, nodding in the right places and continuing the conversation; do you like your teacher? Ooh, you'll have to show me your pirouette sometime... Maybe you could teach me to dance! 



When Haliya beams at her, Tula knows her little sister could be very... 

useful. 




Haliya is exhausted from ballet and school and eagerly accepts Tula's offer for a bedtime story. Haliya normally sleeps in Tula's old room, but with Tula home, she's kicked upstairs to Paolo's old bedroom. It seems that he kept to his promise to be with Sun downstairs. 

Tula starts with the story on the page- about a canine police officer- but quickly sees that Haliya's eyes are pinned on her face rather than the book and that she's not really listening to her story. 





Tula's gaze wanders to the pictures of her mother and father. She is completely unsurprised that Paolo keeps them up. 

"Do you know who that is?" Tula points to the photos. 

Haliya looks at them and shrugs, "Daddy and some lady." 

"Do you know who that lady is?" 

Haliya gives it some thought, "No..." 

Tula smiles, "Let me tell you about her. In a story."

She flips to the first page, which is introducing the protagonist, a german sheperd named Officer Sheperd. She decides to alter the story juuuust a little bit.  

"Officer Sheperd met a lovely fox named Christina. She wore flowers on her head and she was very beautiful. He knew he liked her immediately, but little did he know that her father was the dastardly Mr. Hunt! Mr. Hunt was the one behind all the stealing. Mr. Hunt was the one making the forest animals so sad..." 



Haliya cocks her head, "I thought you were going to tell me about the lady in the photo..." 

Tula smiles, "I am, just pay attention..." 

"'Kay..." 

"Officer Sheperd heard from Miss June-bug that she saw a fox leaving the house on the night of the robbery. Their ears were pointy, their tail was bushy..." 

Haliya gasps, "Who was the stealer?" 

Tula smirks, "Let's find out..." 



"There were only two foxes that lived in the town. Mr. Hunt....and his daughter Christina. It had to be Mr. Hunt, Officer Sheperd thought. Christina was too nice to be a thief." 



"But when he came to the fox den to arrest Mr. Hunt... all he found was Christina. She had Miss June-bug's dresses, Mr. Toad's safe, and most importantly of all..." she pauses for dramatic emphasis, "...Officer Sheperd's heart." 



"Christina wanted to become nice again, so she went with Officer Sheperd. The other police officers could help her. But poor Officer Sheperd was too sad to talk to her anymore. That's when he met Miss Star, the yellow starfish. She liked building things. He liked Miss Star a lot, so he asked her to build a house. They could both live there and be happy. She made the house just for Officer Sheperd. He loved it! He and Miss Star moved into the house. But even though she made him happy, and even though she was very nice... he still thought about Christina. He wanted her to get better." 

Haliya's eyebrows furrow; she can't follow Tula's story very well. But, as her eyelids droop, she fights to keep listening. 

"So even though he loved Miss Star, he always loved Christina a little more." 



Haliya falls asleep at this point, her exhaustion winning out over the many questions she has about this story. 



Tula kisses her sister's forehead, having a vague memory of her mother or father doing this when she was young. 




"Sweet dreams." 



The next morning, Tula and Haliya have a very late breakfast. 

"Key lime pie isn't a very healthy breakfast choice," Tula criticizes. 



"Oh don't worry, I let her have some," Sun says from behind them, "She likes sweets." 

Haliya giggles, "Mommy always lets me have pie for breakfast." 

"A little sugar never hurt anyone," Sun defends. 

Tula arches an eyebrow, but says nothing. 




"I bet you didn't eat pie in China, I bet by the time the sun rose you and those tourists were already running on the Great Wall." 

Tula chuckles, "You've seen too many movies..." 

"But you did go on the Great Wall, right?" 

"Only about a million times," she mumbles before adding at a normal volume, "Yeah, I went there with friends a lot."

"Were any of them your boooooyfriend?" 

"...No, Haliya." 




Haliya pouts, "I thought you'd fall in love and get married and have Chinese babies..." 

Tula coughs, pretending to be shocked, "Haliya!" 

Sun's face remains neutral, but Tula can see the twinkle in her eyes, "She's not the only one who thought that..." 



As Paolo sits down to join them for bruncht, Haliya turns to Sun. 

"When will I get a niece or nephew? I want to hold a baby..." 



Sun turns to Paolo, "Was Tula so baby-obsessed when she was her age?" 

Paolo rolls his eyes, "A lot of little girls are. Calm down, it's normal." 

Haliya pushes away from the table, "I'm going to bake!" 




While Haliya makes muffins, Tula tries her hand at painting. Aside from art classes in school, she's never held a paint brush. It brings back some memories of her grandmother, painting serenely. Well, obsessively after her grandfather's death. Strange what activities the mind clings to when things change. 

Maybe Tula can't understand it, but she can see if art does anything for her. 




Haliya makes a single, fluffy muffin. Seeing Tula painting, she stares at her grandma's paitnings and quietly zones out. She's only seen a few photos of Persis, but wishes she could've met her. Most of her friends live with their grandparents, or at least see them weekly. Why did she have to have such a small family? She doesn't even have a cousin her age to play with. 

Well, there's Bree, but she's normally in Bridgeport for school. Aunt Xara decided instead of the constant coming and going Gregory, Seth, and Omar had during their childhoods that Bree should be with her mother as much as possible. 

Haliya sighs. She bets that there're lots of big families in Bridgeport... 




Tula inspects her work. 

Decent, but could be better. 




They have pie for dinner too. 

"All this pie is going to make us fat," Tula mutters.



"W-What? Really?" Haliya is shocked. 

Paolo shoots Tula a look from the other end of the table. 

"Only if you have too much," Paolo corrects. 



"Oh, ok..." And there's never such a thing as too much pie, so she should be fine, right? 

As they eat, Paolo and Sun cite the late time and head off to bed. This leaves the sisters alone. 




"Did you ever use kung-fu on anyone?" Haliya asks. 

"Only in sparring matches." 



"Oh..."

Tula smiles, "Well I did fight a vampire once..."





Haliya is entranced by her sister's story. An ancient vampire? Last-minute strikes while backs are turned? Her sister is so cool! 



"And did you save Prince Rafael?" Haliya asks, her eyes intense, "Did you live happily ever after?" 




"It's just a story, Haliya..." 

Haliya pouts. Everything is "just a story" it seems. 

"How about Christina and Officer Sheperd?" 

"Stories can be based on some truth. That doesn't mean all of it is real." 

Haliya's brow furrows in confusion, but she shakes her head. Adults are weird. 




"So when will you have babies?" Haliya moves on to her next urgent line of questioning, "I want to be an aunt." 

"And why to you want to be an aunt?" 

"Mommy and daddy say I'm too young to be a mommy, but you're already old!" 

"I'm 19, Haliya..." 

"You know what I mean. You can get married! I checked..." 



Well, this dinner has certainly been... informative. 

Her sister likes happy endings, it seems.
She has a lot to learn.

Monday 27 November 2017

2.34 Unstoppable


Tula decides it's just best to rip off the bandaid. 

"I've been thinking about earning my own money, and I found a pretty good job." 

Paolo smiles warily, "Oh, what would you be doing?" 

"Giving tours..." 




"...in China." 




Paolo, who was putting his dishes away, pauses mid-stride. And he stays that way for a long...
long... 
looooooooooong 
time. 

"That's just a joke, right?" Sun asks, a tight smile on her face, "You're not serious, are you?" 

"I'm dead serious. I already filled out the visa application and the job application. I'd start in a few months. I'd be there for about a year and the money's pretty good," Tula smiles at her fear-stricken parents, "I need this change. Being here...there's too many bad memories. I need to get away from it." 

When no one says anything, Tula assumes they just need time to let it sink in. She silently gathers her plate and utensils, and heads for the dishwasher. 



When Tula takes her father's plate, the movement is enough to snap him out of his shock. 

"No, absolutely not. You're barely 18! You can't just go all the way to China on a whim," he snaps, a mixture of worry and anger flickering over his features, "It's not safe." 

Sun freezes, feeling like a deer caught in headlights. Why does she have to be here when they're fighting? 



"Too dangerous? You've been in the military since you were barely older than I was! How can working in Shang Simla be any more dangerous than that?!



"Don't try to turn this on me. I've never been deployed. You've never lived on your own- hell of a way to start, in a foreign country. Do you have any idea what could happen to you there?" 

"Do you? You've never lived outside of this tiny town!" Tula fumes, "Maybe that's ok for you guys, but I can't stand it here..." her rage melts into tears. 

Sun smiles sadly. "Come on guys, don't fight-," 



"Do you have any idea what it's like to see the place where it happened every single day? To be reminded that everyone knows whenever I go out? Do you know what it's like, looking at Haliya and realising that she could have gotten hurt because I didn't want to say anything?" 

Paolo's eyes fill with tears, "...I know exactly how it feels..." 

"Then you understand why I need to leave. Not forever, I'm not running away. I just... I just want to be normal. Somewhere where I'm just Tula Winterly, not "the girl that awful thing happened to", not someone who needs to be under lock and key..." 




Her voice becomes choked with sobs, "Please dad... I'm not doing this to hurt you. I know that you're only watching over me because you love me, but if I'm ever going to get better, I need to move on. I can't do that here, cooped up in this house. I can't do it here when everyone walks on eggshells around me... I just want to get better.



Watching his daughter cry and beg, Paolo's heart breaks. 

"Oh, Tula..." 

"I'm sorry, dad. I don't want to hurt you..." 

Paolo takes her into his arms. 

"Just...give me some time to think it over. I don't want to force you to stay here..." 

Tula looks up at him. "I'll be in my room when you want to talk..." 



Paolo and Sun wait until Tula's closed her bedroom door behind her. 

"Do you think it's smart, to let her go all the way to China by herself?" Sun asks anxiously. She understands Tula's intense desire to find her own job and live life on her own terms, but this seems risky to Sun. Like Tula said, none of them have ever left the city before. It would be so easy for her to get hurt or taken advantage of... 

Paolo smiles sadly, "She's either going to go with our blessing, or she's going to go crazy in here until she fights her way out. I don't see that we have much of a choice." 

"But there are probably other cities she could move to instead. Ones not so...far." 

"She's already made up her mind, it seems. I don't want to dictate what she can and can't do in her life..." 



Paolo stares down at the floor, eyes wide with disbelief. He's actually going to let this happen. His daughter is going to live in Shang Simla, by herself, for at least a year... 

"I think I need to lie down," he squeaks. 

Sun nods, "Me too..." 

***



Tula waits outside anxiously. Summer is drawing to a close, meaning that the nights are beginning to cool. Tula shivers a little as the sun dips lower in the sky, eager to get into a nice, warm car. 

She's heard that the weather in Shang Simla is still balmy and hot this time of year. 

"Your taxi to the airport won't be here for another ten minutes," Paolo says grumpily, "You don't need to be so eager to leave." 

Tula grins at her father, "I'll miss you too, dad." 



She turns to her father. He sighs, his eyes beginning to water. 

"I guess there's nothing I can say to stop you from leaving?" he jokes weakly. 

"I must say, you make a compelling case with that heart-breakingly sad face... but I'm going to have to say no." 



"Well, I just want you to know... whatever you do, and however this year goes... I'll always be proud of you, Tula." 




She throws herself into her dad's arms. 

"I'll miss you so much," she whispers to Paolo. 

Paolo hugs her tighter, "You better not forget to call." 



She laughs, the noise intermingled with tears, "Don't worry, I won't." 

"Promise?" 

"Cross my heart and hope to die." 



Sun walks outside, ready to say her farewells. 

"Hope I'm not interrupting dad and daughter time," she says jokingly. 

Tula pulls away, "I think we're about done." 




Sun decides to go for a much more upbeat goodbye. 

"You'll do great," she says, smile wide. 

Tula returns Sun's high-five, "You can count on it." 



"Promise you'll send pictures? I want to show Haliya what the rest of the world is like." 

"Of course! Hey, maybe you guys could visit me sometime..." 

Sun guffaws, "Ha, fat chance. I'm fine staying here. But if you can convince your dad, I won't stop you." 



No one can stop me, Tula thinks triumphantly to herself. At long last, she'll be living independently from this family. 

She can't wait.