My Seoul Man

Chapter 10

I remember hearing Charlie call out, "Okay, let's give it up for this lady who feeds us so good every single year! Talkin' 'bout our own personal Beyoncé—Eboni where you at, girl?"

I don't remember walking up to Lana and Yoli to get the star quilt that's still up on my wall in the bedroom to this day.

But the fact that it's up there proves I did make it over to them some kind of way. Legend has it that AJ gave me the little pat in the small of my back that got me moving in that direction.

The reason I don't remember any of it myself...well, there are lots of reasons.

I'll start with the star quilt Yoli and Lana were holding up. Now, I told you about the fancy swag bags I'd seen out in Cali, with all kinds of expensive merch in them that I knew I'd never be able to afford. But a star quilt is more valuable than any of that swag bag shit.

They're pretty much the most sacred gift you can get at a gathering like that. I mean, when someone lays a star quilt on you, it's like they're praying that you'll have a long, happy life and...just all the good things. So you usually get them for big milestones in life, like earning your PhD or making it back from some heinous foreign war or something.

And yes, they're another thing that you see appraised for ridiculous amounts of money on that show I told you about. Makes my heart hurt when I see one on there because I know whoever gave it up must've been really desperate for money at the time.

Yoli hugged and kissed me like she thought I deserved one, though. Ronnie hugged and patted me, too. And then...well, you know how sometimes you say something hella stupid just to say something when you're feeling all awkward and goofy? I looked at Lana and blurted out, "Cute earrings" the split second my addled brain clocked how cute they were.

And damned if that woman didn't take those earrings off and lay them right down on top of that quilt—they were little ceramic "blankets" with an Ainu design in the middle. And she just grinned and gave them to me.

I was laying my hand on top of them trying to make sure they didn't slide off when saw the band of braided gold on my thumb—that's the main reason I'd zombie walked up there in a daze.

Oh, you're no more ready for this than I was when it happened.

But it had happened. Just a few minutes before Charlie called to me, AJ had taken that ring off his finger and tried it on all the fingers on my right hand until it finally fit that thumb.

Yep, right after that "I can't do this," that had made my world stop turning. While I stood there staring all dumbfounded at one of God's most perfect creations looking extra perfect with the tan and wind tossed, jet black hair...

I thought he was telling me I couldn't have all that perfection. That I'd made a huge mistake bringing him into this magical world full of peace and joy...

But just as I was about to try to ask him why he couldn't "do this"—why he was doing this to me—the man leaned down and kissed me senseless.

And I knew from the way he kept kissing me that he wasn't going to ever tell me he couldn't "do this" again.

And sure enough, when we came up for air, finally, he said, "I can't let us be just...this thing we do when I'm home for a few days."

So, I exhaled and said, "Do you have any idea--"

But he grabbed my arm and started hauling me off into the trees before I could blurt out the rest of that sentence. And we started to laugh we picked up speed and broke into this crazy sprint almost like we were racing each other.