Green Tides

21

The whole house fell silent upon my father's departure. No one dared move or breathe. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Auntie Clove on the sofa. Her face was in an unnatural frown. I knew she thought of us as her children. No doubt that this whole event had upset her just as it had us. On her right, Elli was understandably fuming. She was clutching the envelope so tightly in her hands that I thought it was going to rip. Her breathing was rapid and her stance suggested a fight.

"I'm going upstairs." She announced suddenly

Seconds later we heard the door slam and silence fell upon the house once more. Keo turned to me. We were still holding hands and I just noticed how tight my grip was. I tried to let go, but he wouldn't let me. Instead, he made me face him.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

I almost laughed. Okay? In what universe would I be okay after what just happened? I would be some kind of psychopath if I was. I held it in because I knew he was concerned and didn't know what else to say.

I shrugged. "Yeah, I just need a second."

He nodded seeming to understand. "I'll wait for you in your room. I'm sure you'll want to talk."

"Yeah," I lied. I didn't really want to talk about it, but I knew I had to. "My room is the first one on the left," I informed him.

When I knew he was safely in my room, I looked over at Auntie Clove. I felt awful that such a thing happened in her house. We brought our family drama into her home and put her right in the middle of it. It wasn't fair to her.

"I'm so sorry, Auntie."

She gave me a smile only a mother could give. "Darling, you have nothing to apologize for. It was that asshole's fault."

I hesitated. "You're not-" I stopped wondering if I should even ask.

However, she seemed to realize what I was asking. "No Ty, I'm not disappointed in you for hesitating. It's a big ask and it was wrong of him to ask you to make such a choice."

"What should I do?" I asked, willing my voice to not crack.

She shook her head. "I can't answer that. Only you can. I'll only say this," She stood and crossed over to me. She placed a warm but firm hand on my shoulder. "do what you think is best. No one will blame you for following your heart."

I held in my tears once more. "Thank you, Auntie Clove, for everything."

Without warning, she wrapped me in a hug. "I would do anything for you, son."

She pulled away from the hug and wiped her eyes. "I'll make you and your sister something extra delicious for dinner tonight. Is Keo staying?"

"I'll ask him," I promised before heading upstairs.

Instead of going to my room, I entered the bathroom and locked the door behind me. I ran the water before sliding against the door. I felt the lump in my throat rising and my eyes started to sting with unshed tears. I wanted to cry. I wanted to sob relentlessly, but what would that have solved? What was I crying about anyway? So what my father showed up? So what he gave us an awful ultimatum? So what? It didn't matter.

But it did.

Much to my disgust, I was having a hard deciding. It's not like I wanted to live with my father who clearly hated me, but I wanted to stay with Keo. Besides, I just had grown accustomed to living here. I loved it. It was my home too, just as much as Sweden was. I didn't want to pack up and leave another home again. Then again, it was selfish to my mother. She had worked so hard to get Elli and me here. To betray her in this way would break her heart. I couldn't do that to her, but would leaving Keo break his heart?

I banged my head against the door, not caring about the sound it made. This was all too much. How would I ever make a choice? I moved to the still-running sink and splashed my face with cold water a couple of times before going to my room. I froze when I entered. In the middle of the floor was Keo with my suitcase and clothes scattered around him.

I rushed over to him and tried smacking the folded shirt in his hands. "What are you doing?"

"Packing." He said matter-of-factly. He refolded the shirt I messed up and placed it neatly in the suitcase.

I tried to stop him from grabbing another article of my clothing, but he was too fast for me. I huffed.

"Why are you packing my things? I still have time to choose."

He lightly pushed away my hand that was snatching clothes from my suitcase. "Don't be childish. You're going back home with your mother." He scolded. "Now, stop messing up your clothes, or else you'll regret it when you get back home."

I scoffed. "So, you want me to leave?" I asked in disbelief. "You don't love me? Is that it?" He was right. I was being childish, but I was on edge. Too many things were happening at once and I could barely keep up with any of them. I just wanted some time to figure it all out.

That made him stop packing. He glared at me. "It's because I love you that I'm doing this. If you stay here with your father because of me, you're going to let him win. Even worse, you would be him."

That hit me hard, but I knew he was right. It was what I needed to hear. If I betrayed my mother just to stay with Keo, I would be no better than my father. She didn't deserve that. I slumped down on the floor next to the pile of my clothes and watched as Keo resumed packing my things.

"We weren't supposed to leave until we graduated," I muttered. "That's when she was going to send the rest of the money, but now we have to leave sooner. It isn't fair."

Keo sighed, still busying himself with folding. "It's better this way." He claimed.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I don't see how. I finally found a place where I fit in. Back in Sweden, I looked different from my friends. They made broad assumptions based on how I looked. I was too Asian to be one of them even though I was also Swedish and had done the same things as them all my life. When I got here, it wasn't like that, except for Klui. Other than him, nobody cared what I looked like. I wasn't too Asian or too White. It was just me. I finally belonged. You can understand that, right?" I ranted.

He nodded. "To a certain extent."

"On top of it all," I continued, "I met you. I can't just throw that away."

Keo finally stopped packing. "Who says that's what we're doing? We both have phones. It's not like you're moving to another planet." He pointed out.

"But it's not the same," I whispered.

He stood up and looked down at me. "You're right, it's not." He admitted. "However, I strongly believe things will work out the way they are supposed to."

He leaned down and lightly kissed my forehead. "I'll show myself out. Take the ticket."

Only when I heard the front door close, did I start crying. Everything was finally going right in my life. I was finally satisfied and felt I belong. In the end, all it took was one person to ruin it all. Just like that, my life was taking another unexpected turn and I wasn't ready this time either.

The next morning, my father showed up just as promised. He smirked at me. "So, what's it going to be Tyde?"

"The ticket." I snapped. I snatched it out of his hands as I glared at him. "I'm going home, to my mother. I know the people important to me and I know what my priorities are. I know what family means."

He only rolled his eyes. "You're a soft kid." He muttered.

I kept my glare on him. "I never want to see you again and neither does Elli. You left once, I'm sure you have no problem doing it again."

Without a word, he walked back to his car. He drove off without a glance back at me. When I could no longer see the car, I knew it was finally over. I was surprised I got through the entire thing without a breakdown. I looked down at the envelope in my hands and sighed. This little thing had caused so much turmoil in my life. I wanted to toss it, but I knew better. I had to follow through. I observed the plane ticket and nearly dropped it when I read the date.

The flight was dated two days from now.