3: 3

3.

The dinner broke up, and Nora stood there with her arm looped through Edwin's, both of them waiting on me.

"Hurry up. What's the holdup? Nora's legs have gone numb from standing."

Edwin snapped it at me, cold.

I sat there looking at the wreckage all over the ground, not moving.

"Edwin, my stomach hurts. I hope it's not that time of the month coming."

Nora's voice went all soft and pitiful.

That got Edwin worked up.

"Sonia, what's your problem? It's the middle of the night. Nora can't stay up like this."

I gave a cold little laugh.

Someone who supposedly can't stay up late is the same someone who kept begging him to set this late-night thing up in the first place.

"I'm counting to three. If you're not on your feet by then, don't blame me for leaving you behind."

After his voice cut off, I turned and watched him walk away, and heard how final it sounded.

"This one's not on me. Even if she runs and tells my mom, I'm not scared."

Edwin's voice was full of nothing but impatience with me.

"Edwin, why don't I just grab a cab home? You wait for Sonia."

Nora gave in, so very thoughtful about it.

"No. I want to see just how far she'll push this."

Nora turned her head to look at me, her eyes brimming with amusement and a dare.

For Nora's sake, Edwin had left me behind more times than I could keep track of.

So many I'd lost count.

But the most dangerous one, the time that scared me the most,

was last year over the Fourth of July, on the highway.

Nora had been going on about wanting a road trip.

Edwin drove, dragging me along to keep her company.

Then she got upset in the passenger seat, so Edwin just pulled the car onto the shoulder and locked it there.

No markers set out behind us at all.

I sat inside, watching cars roar past, terrified out of my mind.

In a panic I dialed 911, and my phone happened to die right then.

So the police contacted my emergency contact instead, Edwin's mother.

Once she learned everything, Mrs. Mason lost her temper in a way I'd almost never seen.

She made him kneel at his father's grave for three days and three nights.

Nora stayed there beside him the whole three days and nights, eyes rimmed red.

Even after I explained I hadn't meant any of it,

Edwin only grew more and more distant with me from then on.

My phone rang. I wiped away the tears and answered.

"Parking lot. You've got three minutes. If you're not here, then get yourself home."

It was Edwin.

Before, I would have followed him obediently.

But tonight, all at once, I was sick of it.

The "don't" of "no need" never made it out of my mouth.

The engine started up, and the line went dead.

The night wore on. One by one the other parties broke up, and the barbecue joint went quiet.

The server kindly topped off my hot water.

Watching the steam rise, a pain drilled through me so sharp I couldn't stop myself from doubling over.

"Sonia, are you okay?"

I looked up. Aaron was standing behind me.

"How come you're back? Did you forget something?"

I cast around for it.

"Is it that jacket? If you go find Edwin, he'll give it back to you."

He crouched down and looked at me.

"Sonia, I'm not looking for a jacket. I'm only looking for you."

The server came over, all smiles.

"Sir, you're finally out. I've refilled the young lady's hot water twice now."

"It's totally normal for a young couple to argue. You're a grown man—just be the one to soften first, and the whole thing gets sorted."

Aaron thanked her.

He helped me up.

Maybe I'd been sitting too long. My right leg had gone numb.

I couldn't get my footing and pitched forward against his chest.

"There you go. Sir, hold your girlfriend a little more and it all works out."

Before I realized it, my face had quietly gone red.

Aaron didn't correct her.

He just smiled and asked the server, "Could I trouble you to make us a bowl of hot noodle soup? Pull the noodles nice and soft, chop the tomatoes fine, and go heavy on the garlic sprouts and cilantro."

After she left, I looked at him.

"How did you…"

"Sonia, I'll explain everything. But first, come eat with me."

4: 4

4.

Inside, the light from the overhead bulbs was soft.

The cold air from the AC cleared my head.

The noodles came out, and they smelled wonderful.

"Eat. I noticed you barely touched anything back there."

He ladled the noodles into a small bowl and set it in front of me.

I held the bowl, looking at him, wanting to ask.

"Eat first. When you're done, I'll explain."

Two bites in, the tears came without my permission.

I hadn't eaten hot noodle soup this good in so, so long.

Edwin didn't like it. He thought it was cheap, poor-people food.

After I got together with him, I never had it, not once.

Maybe I really was starving. I cleaned out the whole bowl.

"Thank you. That's twice tonight you've helped me."

He smiled. "Sonia, after all these years, you're still so distant with me."

He poured me a cup of hot water. Steam rose, and the light fell across his face.

For a second I felt like I knew that face so well.

I gave a small smile. "Edwin doesn't like me getting too close to other people. You're his friend. I don't want any misunderstanding."

His smile faded.

"But he gets that close to your friend. That doesn't bother you?"

I froze.

Edwin was fiercely possessive and controlling.

Wearing the title of his girlfriend, I had to obey him.

But he had lost every boundary with Nora long ago.

I took a sip of water and gave a bitter little smile, saying nothing.

"Sonia, I shouldn't say this."

Aaron paused.

But it was as if he'd made up his mind about something.

"Sonia, but I'm going to say it anyway."

I looked into his damp eyes.

"Do you really not understand what Nora meant?"

I thought back to what Nora had said at the dinner.

"I, I don't know which part you mean."

Aaron looked at me, and something else surfaced in his eyes.

If I wasn't mistaken, it looked like pity.

He took out his phone and played the video of Nora whining for Edwin to feed her the grilled sausage.

Only then did I notice, in the crowd of laughing people,

that flustered version of me, forced to smile along, looked so helpless.

"It was just a grilled sausage. Nora was being greedy, that's all. It's nothing."

Aaron looked at me, his expression very complicated.

"Sonia, that line of hers can't be explained away as her being greedy."

"You saw the sausage on top of the table. You didn't see the one under the table."

He was talking faster now, with an edge of urgency.

"Aaron, you've lost me. What's the difference between the sausage on the table and the one under it?"

"I know you're worried about me. But I can't get angry over one line from her."

By the end, my voice had gone quiet.

Right. Edwin could dump me on the street in the middle of the night.

What right did I have to be angry?

Aaron looked at me, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"Sonia, I'm not like them. Even if Edwin finds out one day, I'd still tell you the truth."

He opened his mouth, but he couldn't get it out.

He swallowed a few mouthfuls of ice water and still couldn't say it.

In the end he handed me the phone.

He pointed at a video and said, "This one. See for yourself."

One second was all it took, and I understood.

I finally understood what everyone at that dinner, and Edwin and Nora's laughter, had really meant.