Chapter 6

The one good thing about traveling with my father was that we got to experience the joys of Diplomatic Immunity. And what did that mean? It meant that once my father flashed his green passport, we didn't have to wait in line or go through Customs. I always wondered about the whole practice of granting free entry to certain individuals. Weren't they, in effect, giving some people license to carry contraband? If I were some kind of drug lord, there was no way I wouldn't kidnap a few diplomats' kids to get them to smuggle in a few million dollars worth of heroine. And cocaine. And maybe a few bowls of grandma's kimchi.

"Hurry up," my brother roared at me. It had been a long flight but did he really have to take his frustration out on me? Besides, it wasn't like we were standing on the very long and slow moving 'Non-Citizens' line with the other frustrated passengers. But it did feel rather good to glide past them. So good that I couldn't stop myself from giving them a Miss Universe wave.

I followed my family till we found the Embassy driver holding my father's name on his little cardboard placard. I stepped through the automatic doors and into the sweltering heat.

Okay.

So maybe if I'd been arriving in Saudi Arabia, I would have been more prepared for it. Or was it because I'd stepped out from an air-conditioned airport and onto the street? But that wasn't exactly a unique situation; after all, I constantly went in and out of air conditioned buildings in Seoul. Whatever it was, I hadn't quite expected so much humidity and stillness in the air. It was only a short walk from the doors to the parking lot but I could already feel beads of sweat forming on my head.

"Is it always this hot?" I asked the driver as we loaded our luggage into the van.

The tall, stocky man called George shook his head and laughed. "Only in August. August in Virginia is always like this but don't worry, it'll get a better," he said cheerfully. "I'll turn the air on in the car."

"Oh, great," I started to say, fanning myself. But wait a minute, did he just say Virginia!?!?!



****





"Welcome," the ambassador's wife said the moment we stepped into her home. Her unnecessarily handsome husband stood graciously behind her and smiled at us. "I'm so happy to see you!" she said, flinging her arms around us and kissing us on our cheeks. "I've really been looking forward to meeting you guys," she said in English with what I later learned was a twang. As in t-wang.

So, even though I hadn't spent my life fluent in English, I could tell the difference between regular English and cowboy English. For some reason, I'd never really thought that people actually spoke like that – I'd somehow just thought it was some kind of long running joke. But apparently, I was wrong. Or maybe DCians Virginians didn't realize that the joke was on them.

George had tried to explain it all to me, something about the DMV area, but I couldn't quite understand why people claimed to be living in D.C. when in fact, they were in Virginia. I mean, the stupid airport was called Washington Dulles International Airport, but the damn thing wasn't even in Washington, D.C. How in the world did that make sense?

And to make matters worse, although I hadn't really expected the streets to be paved in gold, driving through the state and looking at the wooden buildings with their square, symmetrical shapes and white columns, I'd wondered if I'd somehow become a character from "Gone With The Wind." Surely, this wasn't America!!? What happened to all the cool people in all the Christina Aguilera videos?

"So would you like some soda?" Mrs. Kim asked us as she led us to the living room where her daughter and son were seated, looking very grumpy.

In the past, whenever I was visiting my Dad and he took us to see the Ambassadors in which ever country we were in, they always spoke Korean to us so it was quite weird to see a Korean lady only speak to us in English.

"So what do you think of America so far?" she asked.

After a few minutes of pointless gab, it was dinnertime. To welcome us, she'd laid out a huge spread of "American cuisine" which constituted of mashed potatoes, ham and other things that didn't seem to improve in taste no matter how much salt and pepper I sprinkled on them. On occasions like this, I usually occupied myself by looking at the different ways the Coat of Arms could be stamped on very single piece of silverware and furniture but this time, even that couldn't detract from the bland taste.

After dinner, the ambassador claimed he noticed that us kids were getting bored with all the adult talk so he suggested that we go and hang out in the game room.



***

My brother and the ambassador's 10 or so year old child were playing videogames when his 17 year old sister sat next to me.

"You're going to need English lessons?" she asked in accented Korean.

I shrugged. If I did, it certainly was news to me.

"Well," she said, looking over at the boys in front of the television, "I wasn't too keen on it before but…." She looked back at me. "Your brother wouldn't be attending our school?"

I groaned and looked away. I couldn't remember her name but I wasn't sure I even wanted to. With her slim physique, long hair and pouty lips, she would have been just his type if her chest wasn't as flat as a t-board. But come on, what was it with all these girls and my brother? He wasn't that hot.

"Is he?" she asked, nudging me.

"He already graduated. He's going to university."

"Oh," she said, not bothering to hide her disappointment. "So I guess he wouldn't be living at home?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know? Interesting." She looked back at my brother and let her eyes linger on him. "How's your English?"

"Don't worry about it."

She turned back and smiled at me in the condescending manner an adult smiled at a child. "Say something in English."

I rolled my eyes. "Forget it. I really don't need English lessons."

"Come on," she said, slapping my knee playfully. "Just say anything."

I sighed. "My name is Oh Su Jin."

"We're in America, so say Su Jin Oh instead."

I frowned. "My name is Su Jin Oh."

She nodded. "Yep, you definitely need my help." She was fighting to keep her eyes trained on me but failing miserably because they kept darting at my brother. "I'll definitely love to help you."



***



"Su Jin ah," my father called from the bedroom. "Come to my room now."

"Den den den, you're in big trouble! Den den den," my brother chanted from across the living room. Dropping the letter I was writing to Min Ki, I got up, glared at my brother, took a deep breath in and reluctantly got off the couch. It had been a week since we arrived in the United States and my parents hadn't said a word to me about the whole airport incident. After walking around on eggshells for the first few days, I'd decided that by some miracle, they really didn't care. But from my father's tone, I knew that I was wrong. With my heart getting heavier with every step, I climbed up the carpeted steps.

Their bedroom door was ajar so about a minute later, I pushed it in further. My mother told me to step in and shut the door behind me.

"Sit over there," my father ordered, pointing at my mother's vanity chair. He sat on the bed next to my mother and looked directly at me. "That boy isn't your boyfriend, is he?" my father barked.

"W-which boy?" It was a stupid thing to say but with the daggers shooting out of his eyes, it was all that I could come up with.

"Oh Su Jin, the boy who held your hand at the airport and claimed he was your boyfriend," my mother said patiently.

"Ha Min Ki?" I asked sheepishly.

"Yes, him," my father barked. "Isn't he the one I allowed to come to my house almost every day for two months? The one I used to ask to stay for lunch before going home? The one, who I assumed was your brother's best friend? Or is there another Ha Min Ki?"

With my shoulders slumped, I shook my head.

I watched my father's feet as he paced up and down the room. He stopped right in front of me. "He's not your boyfriend, right? Isn't it true that you're not allowed to have boyfriends?"

I looked down and nodded.

"Good," my father said, heaving a huge sigh of relief. "Yuh-bo, isn't that what I said?"

"Su Jin ah," my mother said softly, "you weren't dating Min Ki?"

"I was."

"Then why did you just lie to me?" my father yelled.

"I didn't lie. I was only agreeing with you that it was true that I shouldn't have boyfriends," I said so softly that I wasn't sure they could hear me.

"What is that? What does that mean? What is a boyfriend, Su Jin? What does that mean?" my father was practically screaming at the top of his lungs. "You kids watch television and think that you can just copy everything you see there. What do you know about a boyfriend at your age?"

I shut my eyes and tried to block the sounds of his bellow. How was this fair? What was so wrong about loving someone? Did he really have to scream at me like that? Even though I didn't want to give him the satisfaction, I couldn't stop the tears from stinging my eyes.

"What did you gain from this boyfriend-girlfriend business? How long has it been going on for?"

I kept my lips together and didn't look up.

"Answer me! Ans--"

"Stop shouting at her!" my mother interjected.

The tears had begun to fall freely now. What had I done wrong? Had I robbed a bank? Had I murdered a new born child? Had I poured acid on someone's face? What crime had I committed?

My mother walked over to me and stroked my hair. "Sweetheart, how long has this been going on for?"

I looked up at her through the blur of my tears. Was she putting on an act for my father or had she also been oblivious about our relationship? There were times she'd walked in on me talking to him on the phone and even caught us talking alone a few times he was supposedly visiting my brother. She hadn't figured it out? "Not long, Umma."

She sighed. "I know that it might seem like we are being unfair, but you have to understand that you're still a little child to us."

"She's not just a little child to us - she's a little child. Period," my father growled.

"What happened between you… you know… I mean, you and him, you know in that way?" she asked, sounding both choked and terrified. The way parents spazzed while attempting to speak to their children about sex, you'd think that they were all virgins. "Nothing happened at all. Am I right?" she asked hopefully.

From the look in her eyes, I knew she so badly wanted it to be true. And I was a little saddened that she even had doubts. I'd always thought that at least, she knew that I wasn't that kind of girl.

"Nothing happened?" she repeated.

I nodded. "Nothing happened." Kissing didn't count. Right?

Satisfied, my mother finally exhaled then went back to sit on the bed. "Well, since he's still in Korea, I guess things are different. So end it now. By the time you return, you'd be old enough and if you want to continue, then I will give you my blessing then."

"They won't be receiving my blessing for sneaking around all this while. If he wanted to see my daughter, he should have told us about it instead of making a fool of me."

"But you know that things are different here in America," my mother said, ignoring my father's rant. "American boys are different. They expect things. School starts tomorrow and you're going to meet all sorts of people there. I am sure you might be curious but remember that it will be different with American boys. If you let them touch you, they will want more. If it gets too far, you never know what they will do. So there's no rush, okay? Just face your studies and forget about boys. Be patient and when you get older, you will find someone and get married. Okay?"

No Min Ki, no American boys, no life. I looked up at her. "Yes, Umma," I lied.