Whitney's always quiet when she's angry, and avoids talking as much as possible.
Mom tells me her eyes are like windows, you can see through them immediately.
But to me, her whole attitude is an open book.

Clinton heads out to the garage to get the car, while Whitney sits on the porch at the yard, waiting.
"Henry," my dad calls unexpectedly, "work on yard, no questions asked."
"Whitney told Clinton she did it last week," I reply, nervous about what would happen if Whitney and I were at the same place.
"Back in 1952, we clean dead bodies," he mutters, "you, not even yard!"

Ah, dad. He's always so clear with what he did then, after the war years. You can't hear that anywhere else.

"World war 2, Hangchow to Hong Kong, yeye only ride fishing boat, save to go San Francisco, move north Jia na da."

Jia na da..?

Oh, Canada.

Dad's always rambling about this war stuff, when we both know that when Whitney's angry, it's the third world war.

"Ah, dad. 'Scuse me," I pat his hand, "gotta watch the leafs."
"No, you watch Lau. Whitney Lau." He grabs the remote and switches off the television, as expected. "You gege, why fight dragging so long?"
I arch a brow. How does he know this? "What do you mean, 'fight'?"

"Chinese man, not idiot man," a laugh escapes his dry lips. "women, they harder to fix than world crisis."

"Pardon me!" mom's voice is heard from the kitchen, clearly unamused of what dad had said.

"I'm joking," he yells back, then whispering, "really, gege have much work to do."

"What, dad? Do you mean on the yard, or Whitney?"

"Chinese man know what to work on better, women." his voice trails away along with his steps.

I look out the window and see Whitney headed to the car.

As quickly as I can, I run up to the car, it's just a few feet away now.
Clint steps on the engine harder, the car's speeding from me.

"WHITNEY, CLINTON!"

A few more screams, and their car stops. Clinton backs up, the window rolling down for us to meet, face to face.

"What? You do know that we're not allowed to back up, it's against the law." Clinton boredly says, rolling his eyes.

Short of breath, I inhale a few times before speaking. "Can I come with you?"

Whitney, from the corner of my eye, shakes her head in disapproval.

"Please," I slur, grabbing onto the passenger's door handle.

"Get in, you're sweaty." he finally nods.

As I enter the car, the two are both insanely quiet. Coughing, I reach for the radio and I hear Adele playing.

"Isn't her voice beautiful?" I suggest conversation, but they're both busy with their own thing. Clinton driving, Whitney playing an air violin.

"Boston's next week," Clinton looks up the mirror to see me, "What are your plans?"

Whitney shrugs, and I give her a cold look. "Meet up with Taeyeon, then do some music, you know, the usual."

I lean back to the fur chair and rest my eyes, my voice weary. "Where are we headed?"

No reply.

"Wasn't it family day a few days ago?" shock creeps up on my mind. I wonder if Whitney thought about us.
"Yeah, but it wasn't a really family day," Whitney's voice plays on repeat.

It wasn't really a family day.

It wasn't.

"What'd mom and dad do for the day, sport?" Clinton joins in, the car stops at a light.

She thinks for awhile. "I spent it with friends, and mom and dad, I guess they were just at home, doing stuff I don't want to know about."

I point to the snow flakes outside, and lean over to the window. "Aren't they a pretty sight, eh?"

"We're low on gas, I'll pull over," Clinton informs.

A girl looks at us, holding a clipboard. "What gas will it be, sir--"
She pauses, eyes widening. "Henry Lau?"
"No, it's ing Bruce Lee," I hear Whitney comment.
I hit her arm, turning to face the woman. "It's nice to meet you."

Quickly, she forces the pen out of the clipboard and hands it to me. "Sign my chest?"
"Excuse me, we came here for gas. Henry's also enjoying time with his family, so if you mind?" Clinton saves me from signing her s.

The lady nods, disappointed. "What'll it be," she doesn't bother to ask politely.

A gallon of kindness from Whitney Lau.

Teeeenth chapter, oh yeah baby, it.

Anyway.

Yeye- Grandfather on dad's side

Gege- Older brother

Jia Na Da- Oh, Canada. HAHA

Kudos to me for making a decade of chapters. YEEEAHH BOI!