Lay: In Honor of His Memory

“Babe come on. We don’t have all day. We have to go to Macys and get this gift for Dad,”

Aileen came rushing out of the house with her dress flowing in the warm spring breeze. Lay smiled at his wife of 2 years as she fixed her hair and hopped into the car.

“Sorry babe. I can’t look a mess going to the store besides don’t you love it when I wear short dresses,” she playfully raised her dress so Lay could see her thigh. He quickly pulled it down and rolled his eyes as she laughed and kissed his cheek

“Don’t do that or we won’t be getting this gift,” he grabbed her hand and kissed it

Lay’s father was being honored for his 30 years of service with the LAPD. Jie Zhang is totally dedicated to the force, protecting its citizens, especially his family. Even though Dad loved his job he would definitely trade it in for his family. Family was important in the Zhang family.

Jie always told Lay growing up to lay down his roots with a lovely woman and have many children since Lay was his only son. So when Lay met Aileen, he knew instantly that she was one even though she played hard to get for 8 months.

When Aileen first met Lay in college she had no interest in him whatsoever; she actually tried to avoid him a few times. But with the help of her friends and Jie, she finally gave Lay a chance and she never looked back. They dated all throughout college and married after graduation. Lay was laying down his roots and he couldn’t have been happier.

“Today is such a nice day. The air is crisp, the birds are singing…” Lay chuckled at his wife

“What has gotten into you?”

“You have Mr. Zhang,” she leaned over and kissed him again, “Last month and the last two weeks and even last night,” he blushed, “Are you trying to break a record or something? Are you trying to put your wife in the hospital with all those new moves,” he laughed, “By the way where did you learn that stuff? Was it Kai? Kris?”

“Suho,” he said simply as Aileen gasped

“Not sweet innocent Suho. You mean our Suho; the Suho who can barely hold a conversation with the opposite with turning bright red. That Suho,” she laughed

They arrived at Macys. It was very crowded but when was it never crowded. Lay opened the door for Aileen and held her hand as they walked into the store.

“I know Dad wanted that cologne. What was the name of it?” Aileen said as Lay looked around

“Why don’t we just ask someone?”

“No let’s see if we can find it first,”

“You just want to delay us leaving so you can spend more time with me,” she rolled her eyes as he laughed and kissed her cheek

They were playing around in Macys for about 20 minutes when they suddenly gun shots. Everyone screamed as some people tried to run for exits or scatter to find hiding spots.

“Omg,” Aileen’s heart dropped as Lay grabbed her and they and a few other customers hid behind the perfume counter.

In walked two men with masks and hand held guns. They looked as if they wanted to rob the place. One man was rather built and very tall as he had on all black attire while the other man, maybe a foot shorter was more slender with dark blue attire.

“This is a robbery. If everyone cooperates we will be quick,”

Lay and Aileen were behind the counter closest to the two men. She was shaking violently as Lay held her and closed his eyes to say a prayer. The employee that was with them had to press the panic button that was located around the counter. It would alert the police. She slowly moved around the counter even though Aileen grabbed her to stop her. The young lady was caught as one of the guys saw movement behind the counter.

“Whoa what do you think you’re doing?” he asked the girl cockily

“Please don’t do this. Please…” he shot her

Aileen screamed. The other man came around and pointed his gun at them.

“You people get up! NOW! And give me all your jewelry and money. NOW!”

Lay, Aileen and the 2 other people hiding gave the robbers all their stuff. Aileen though refused to hand over her wedding ring. It was Lay’s grandmother’s ring and it meant the world to her. The robber grabbed her hand in order to rip it off.

“NO!” Aileen struggled with him

“I don’t have time for this,” the other guy pulled out a knife in order to cut if off of her

Lay quickly took it off and threw it at the guy as he pulled a distraught Aileen away from him.

“We’ll do what you want. Just don’t touch my wife,”

“That’s a good man and you better control her or I won’t hesitate to kill your y wife,”

Macys was swarming with police and news crews. Everyone was on the edge of their seats as they watched the horror unfold. The Zhangs and Banks all gathered at the Zhang’s home holding each other and praying for the safety of their children. Lay’s and Aileen’s friends were also scatter around LA watching their TVs in fear for their friends’ lives. And no one was more involved than Jie himself. They had footage of Lay and Aileen entering that Macys so he knew he not only had the other people to worry about but the two people he loved more than anything; the two people he would die for were in there right now. The other cops thought to suggest to Jie to sit this one out because it was personal for him but they knew better. Jie was wonderful at this job and he was going to get everyone out alive. They set up a plan to storm the store but they had to make sure they were accurate because they didn’t want a bloody outcome. The waiting period was the hardest for Jie but he said a prayer and did his job.

2 hours later and the robbers tied everyone up including a 1 year old girl who was frantically crying for her mother. Aileen was sick to her stomach as the robbers kicked the little girl to shut her up. Aileen snapped.

“LEAVE HER THE HELL ALONE! She’s just a baby,”

One of the robbers violently pulled Aileen from the ground by her hair. Lay was vivid as he struggled with his hands tied behind his back to protect his wife.

"Get your filthy hands off of her!" Lay yelled but the robber just laughed

“Listen you I’ve had enough of your mouth,” he shot in the air. There were screams

The police outside knew this was it. If they were executing hostages they didn’t have a choice. They all lined up to storm the place.

“I will kill you right now so I don’t have to hear another word,” he threw her on the ground and aimed for her head. He fired 2 shot. Lay jumped in the way.

“LAY!!!!!” Aileen screamed in horror as her husband laid in a pool of his blood

After that there was pure chaos. All Aileen could here was shouting and gun fire. She looked up to see her father in law Jie to the rescue. She could breathe a little bit until she saw something that would haunt her forever. Her father in law was shot.

“Jie!”

California Hospital Medical Center was in pure chaos. People with injures were being brought it. Aileen was in pure shock. She was able to call everyone to the hospital but she wasn’t feeling well and threw up in the entrance. A nurse tried to help her when she passed out.

3 hours later

Vivian and Arthur Banks and Ying Zhang were waiting by Aileen’s bed. They were happy she didn’t have a scratch on her but mentally they were very worried about her. She was mumbling and shaking in her sleep as they looked on unable to do anything.

Lay and Aileen’s friends were waiting anxiously in the waiting room for news of Aileen, Lay and Jie.

“Mom,” Aileen slowly opened her eyes, “Where is Lay? Is he ok? What about Jie?”

Ying burst into tears as she held her daughter in laws hand, “He was very brave, right to the very end,”

Aileen’s eyes welled up and she cried hard, “No, no, no. this can’t be happening. It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault,” Ying embraced the girl she loved like a daughter

“Shh. It’s not your fault,” she grabbed her face to let her know she was serious

“Yes it is. The man was kicking a baby and I told him to stop and he grabbed me and was going to kill me and then Lay jumped in the way. If only I kept my mouth shut he would be ok right now and Jie wouldn’t be dead. I saw it. I saw him get shot. I’m sorry,”

“It’s not your fault. Jie died protecting his family. Jie saved Lay’s life. Lay needed an organ donor and Jie was a match. Lay is going to be ok,”

“Baby,” Aileen looked at her mother

“The doctors did some test on you to make sure you were ok. You’re pregnant,”

Reality hit her hard. Her father in law was dead. Lay was going to live. She was pregnant. How can you be happy and sad at the same time? Life was not fair. Life was rather cruel. They went into Macys to get a gift for a man who would sacrifice everything and he did. A great man died today. It was ironic though as Aileen thought. A life ended as a new life began. She held her stomach and cried.

8 years later

Jie Michael Zhang was sitting in his classroom with his teacher, classmates and other parents. He turned around just in time to see his Dad enter the room with a huge smile on his face. Lay kissed Aileen as she smiled at Jie. Jie was nervous. Today was their presentation for “What I Want to Be When I Grow Up” He hopes he does his parents proud. He hopes he does his grandfather proud too.

“Michael you’re up,” said Miss Gray

Michael slowly walked up to the front of the room as he looked at his smiling parents.

“Hi my name is Michael Zhang and what I want to be when I grow is a cop,”

Aileen and Lay stood very still and listened to their son.

“The reason I want to be a cop is because cops protect people. They work very hard to keep the streets safe and lock the bad guys up. I want to tell you a story about a man named Jie Zhang. Jie Zhang was my grandfather. I never knew him because he died on the day my Mom found out they were having me. He died protecting his family. The name Jie even mean hero and that’s who I’m named after. My whole name is Jie Michael Zhang and in honor of his memory I want remember a brave, loving, fun, silly man who did everything he could to love and protect his family. I love you grandfather and I miss you. When I grow up, I want to be just like you,” Michael smiled when he ended

There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.