Friday

"Come on, Krystal, it's time to go," you yell from the kitchen.

You hear a muffled "Sorry, Uncle Jason, I just want it to be right." A minute later, your niece comes out of the bathroom.

She was wearing one of her uniforms from California with alterations. Her attire was a khaki skirt with a white button-down shirt. The top three buttons on her shirt were undone, and she had already tossed the tie in the trash.

Striking a pose, she says, "So how do I look?"

Privately, you thought she looked like a naughty girl. "I think you look fantastic, sweetie."

Krystal gave a happy bounce. Before surprising you by reaching up and kissing you on the lips. "Thanks, Uncle Jason," she tittered as she went to the car.

"She's into you bigly," was what Jennifer had said to you. You hoped to God she was wrong because you hadn't been able to say no yet.

Arriving at school, you wished her a good first day. Heading to the office, you picked up your mail and saw that Jae-woo Lee was demanding a meeting for that day during your administration period.

Taking a sip of coffee, you think to yourself, "Great, it's not as if I didn't have a thousand other things to do."

Walking to your classroom, you saw the glee club had been hard at work decorating the lockers of the football team. During your first period, you were reminded you had never actually seen any of your team in their actual outfits.

Beth Anne was in the green and white uniform. The outfit's short shirt showed far more than was normally allowed by the dress code. As she sauntered up to the front, you found yourself drawn to her legs, remembering how they wrapped around you as Beth Anne screamed out your name. As she dropped her homework in the baskets, she licked her lips, mouthing. I miss you, Daddy, before sitting down up front.

Launching into your lecture of the colonies following the French and Indian Wars, you had a good class. The second period also passed at a brisk pace, and you could already see anticipation for that afternoon's opening football game build.

Almost as soon as your students had filed out of the classroom. Lili's mother and father arrived for the meeting. If you had to describe Lili's mother, she was a porcelain doll come to life. She was short at 4'8", and when it came to looks, you could see Lili took after her. She was dressed in what you would call soccer mom chic.

Lilies' dad, though, just had you shaking your head. Where Lily's mom's expression was serene. Her father looked like he'd smelled a dead fish.

"Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Lee. I'm Jason Clarkson, the cheerleading coach. How can I help you today?"

Mrs. Lee looked over at her husband with what you saw as concerned resignation.

"My daughter wished to quit cheerleading. You will cut her from the team today." Her father demanded.

"Really..." was your skeptical reply. "Mr. Lee, Lili could quit the team tomorrow if she so wished. So why are you telling me this and not her"

"My daughter does not wish to lose face with her classmates. So I must do it in her stead."

The incredulousness on your face was clear to see. Choosing your words carefully, you say, "Sir, I'll admit I've been at Tempest for a couple of weeks. But I've looked at my cheerleaders' files. Lili has been on the team since her freshmen year. At every practice we've had, she has been engaged and active. "You take a deep breath knowing this isn't going to go well. "Sir, your daughter is not afraid that the team would hate her if she wanted to quit. So please, why don't you tell me what this is really about."

You could see the anger building in the man. Concerned, you looked over at Lili's mother. "Mrs. Lee, could you..."

"Hayan Agma! You will not speak to my wife." Mr. Lee snarled. Red-faced, the man screamed, "I am the head of the Lee family. My word is law. You will cut my ungrateful daughter or..."

"Or what, Mr. Lee?" you interject.

You see, his face starts to turn purple. You stand up trying to remain calm. "Or what, Mr. Lee?"

He balls his fists as he starts to rant, "You sneering Baeg-in with your hatred of tradition. Filling my daughter's head with lies, making her disobey her family."

Clutching her purse, Mrs. Lee pleaded, "Please, husband, calm yourself."

Before you can react, he turns to his wife. "Don't you dare side with them. I refuse to let my daughter be some Baeg-ins maechumbu." Putting his back into it, the man strikes her with a savage open hand, screaming, "Know your place, woman."

Without thinking about it and before she had hit the floor. You took two steps, throwing yourself at Lili's father. Hitting the incensed man mid-chest, the two of you went crashing over two desks. Mr. Lee's head bounced off a third desk, cracking the desktop.

Your class room door crashed open as Ted from next door ran in. "Is everything all... Oh fuck," Ted exclaimed as he took in the situation.

Holding down what you didn't realize yet was an unconscious man, you looked at your colleague, saying, "Get security; this fucker just punched his wife."

"Got it," Ted replied as he ran out.

You could see that Mr. Lee had a cut on his head and was out cold. Getting up, you went to check on Lili's mom, who was in a fetal position. You crouched down next to her when Markus from across the hall stuck his head in, asking, "Need any help?"

You shake your head, saying, "I'm good. Ted went for security."

"Okay," was his reply before calling out, "All of you back to class."

You gently place your hand on her shoulder, saying, "Shhhh, it's alright. Try not to move. Help is coming."

"I'm sorry, I'm sooo sorry," she whimpered.

"You have nothing to be sorry about, Mrs. Lee," you assure her.

"I couldn't...I tried to tell him." She moaned.

"Tell him what?" you quietly inquire.

"He wanted Lili to marry his friend's son. After she said no, he ordered her to quit cheerleading." She starts crying again. He would not listen, then he lost his promotion, and he blamed it on her... "You console her, repeating that it wasn't her or Lili's fault until two of the school's police officers entered.

One of the checks on Mr. Lee while the other comes over to you. "Mr. Clarkson, Leo can take care of her. Can you tell me what happened while it's still fresh?"

You follow Martin into the hallway. Where you quietly tell him about the meeting and what happened. You also tell him what Lili's mother told you. Two EMTs and Principal Smalley show up as you're signing your statement.

You give a condensed version of events to the principal when Leo comes out of the classroom.

Walking over to you, he says, "Principal Mr. Lee is coming around; he's being arrested and turned over to the city police." He then says, "Mrs. Lee has requested that we don't pull her daughter from class and let her finish out the day and, if need be, stay with Beth Anne for the night."

"Beth Anne is a friend of hers on the cheerleading squad," you tell him.

"How's Mrs. Lee?" asks the principal.

Thinking about it, Leo guesses, "I imagine they are going to take her for x-rays, but she's going to have at least a nasty concussion."

Taking in the news, Barbara says, "Okay, thanks, Leonard." Looking at you, she says, "Jason, I'm going to move your 4th, 5th, and 6th periods to the theater."

As Lili's mom was leaving on the gurney, you could hear the announcement for your classes moving to the theater.

Reentering your classroom, Mr. Lee was facedown and was handcuffed. Still pretty out of it, you could hear him slurring,"Fucking Baeg-ins."

You could see a dressing on the back of his head, and a large pool of blood was soaking into the carpets.

Grabbing your briefcase, you filled it with everything you needed for your classes. You never considered yourself a vengeful man. But you fought down the sudden desire to stomp on Lili's father some more as you passed him.

Stopping at the office, you saw another ambulance pull up and a city police car. Going inside, you tell Barbara about the blood soaking into the carpets. She thanks you, saying she'll find you a new room for now till they can be replaced.

Fourth period, of course, brought questions, which you answered with a simple, "There was an incident in my classroom that is being cleaned up." You saw that Krystal was sitting with Jennifer and the gang. You really hoped Jennifer was wrong. Because, as you've already admitted to yourself, you were unable to say no.

During second lunch you could hear whispers that some Asian guys had been hauled out of school on a gurney in handcuffs. You were about to leave when you heard someone call out, "Mr. Clarkson."

Turning, you inwardly groaned; it was Lili hurrying over to you. Hurrying up to you, she blurted out, "Kerri was in PE, and she told me she saw my dad being hauled away in handcuffs. Is it true?"

You knew you shouldn't say anything, and this was the office's job. Looking down into her frantic eyes, you just had to tell her. "Follow me."

You lead her to the gymnasium and sit down with her on the bleachers. Taking a deep breath, you say, "We had a parent-teacher conference during 3rd period. Your father started demanding that I cut you from the cheerleading squad."

Hearing that, Lili jumped to her feet furious. "He did what!"

"That's not all that happened," you tell her.

She could see that sad look in your eyes. Balling her fists, she sat back down and in a quiet voice asked, "What else did he do?"

Closing your eyes, you tell her, "There's no easy way to say this. He started ranting, and your mother tried to stick up for you." Lili nods, and you tell her the rest: "Something in him snapped, and he punched you, Mother."

Lili collapses back onto the bleacher, an inarticulate cry echoing from her. "The school police said she has a concussion, and they took her to the hospital for x-rays."

You could see sadness and fury just bubbling underneath her gorgeous exterior. Finally, she asked, "And him?"

"I tackled him before he could do anything else. When I took him down, his head hit a desk and bled all over my classroom floor. I assume he's looking at least at assault."

"Good. He deserves to be in jail." She hotly vents.

"One more thing," you say. "Your mother was in a lot of pain, and she said things. Like you said no to marrying his friend's son. She also said something about a promotion that he lost and blamed you."

Lili looks at you for a long time. An incredulous laugh bubbled out of her as she said, "He was lying even to her."

You could see her start to shake; the so-called marriage was not to a friend's son. "All you could do was sit there and be here for her as the rage burst forth. "My father wanted to sell me to his 32-year-old boss. He expected me to be a good little Korean girl and spread her legs at his order."

"That's barbaric," you gasp.

Grabbing onto you, she burst into tears. While hugging you, she would also hit you, not out of malice but out of a need to vent. "That's tradition," thud. "Speak only when told," thud. "Think what you're told," thud. Be what you're told," thud.

Somewhere in the litany, Lili's mood changed. Her fists stopped pounding on your back. She looked up into your eyes you could see heat but it wasn't anger it was need.

"We can't do anything here," you whisper.

"Please, I need to feel you inside me. Tonight I don't care where; just please don't say no." She whispered.

You were surely going to hell, "sometime tonight I swear."

Nodding, Lili disentangled herself from you. Standing up, she headed for the door to the lunchroom. Looking around, you didn't see anyone. Hopefully there were no witnesses.

You sat there pondering your seemingly hopeless situation. They were taking over your life. And unless you were the luckiest son of a bitch on the planet, you knew this was going to end in a prison cell. It was an ogre's choice. Go back into the sad cave that was your life and give up all the color that Jennifer and her friends had given you. Or live with it and revel in it, hoping the memories were enough in a 4'x6' box.