Dear Daughters
Dear Peter, Love Wendy[CONTENTID1] Dear Daughters [/CONTENTID1]
[CONTENTID2] “Each snowflake was a sigh heard by an aggrieved woman somewhere in the world. All the sighs drifted up the sky, gathered into clouds, then broke into tiny pieces that fell silently on the people below. As a reminder of how women suffer.”― Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns [/CONTENTID2]
[CONTENTID3] Suji was woken on Saturday morning, just before the ground buried Baekhyun in her nightmares. She broke in cold sweat as Taeyeon screamed her name. Steam erupted from the kitchen and the scent of burned meat caused bile to rise up her stomach. Suji covered as she winced.
She stomped into the kitchen where Taeyeon fanned the dense smoke with an exasperated expression. “Suji, thank goodness you’re up! My friends are coming for lunch at one. Could you please run to the store and get some beef? I’m after burning this one.”
“I can see that,” Suji quipped sardonically.
With a bitter after taste, she took a detour to the butcher’s. Though it was rare, she hated guests at their house. Taeyeon had a small inner circle, but her mother loved to socialise, even though they were too broke to host most of the time. Once the food was ready: kimchi and tuna soup, some sushi with cheese and spicy salmon, beef bibimbap and pickled sides, Suji proceeded to get ready.
Taeyeon wore a flashy dress that people would have thought was not age appropriate for her. Her make-up was flashier, and she wore giant hooped earrings, and a sparkling statement necklace. Suji opted for something simpler, a black knee-length dress with a chiffon style skirt instead of Taeyeon’s sparkling blue. She added some smoky eyeliner and a red lipstick that Taeyeon insisted despite her protests.
Then, the guests arrived an hour late, much to her luck. They consisted of three ladies she had never met before. Ladies who wore branded items from the tip of their snooty nose, to the pointy heels of their smooth toes. Yoona was the kindest out of the three, but Hana and Mari regarded Taeyeon’s simple house with a haughty grimace. They picked on their food while Yoona and Taeyeon chatted happily, and in the end decided not to eat.
“Oh I’ve already ate,” said Mari, when Suji asked her why her plate was still full.
“And I only eat meat with American quality beef,” said Hana. She smiled to reveal her pearly veneers. Her nose was also too straight to be true, and her pointy jaw could have cut through the meat without the use of forks.
Suji’s mood darkened, and perhaps she expressed without knowing, because Mari later said, “Your daughter lacks social skills, Taeyeon. You need to find people her age group. Is she nineteen? Perhaps Yoona’s boys might be a good fit.”
“Oh, I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Mari,” said Hana. Suji wondered if her chin would drop to the floor if she landed a neat kick underneath it. “Yoona’s boys are as classy as her. They need someone as intellectual as their superb minds.”
Yoona snorted and waved her hand dismissively. “My boys can hardly read a sentence off a book, Hana. The youngest one though, he likes to read, and writes some bizarre stories. But his older brothers are a lost case. Taeyeon, you’re so lucky you have a daughter. If my husband never hired a cook, I’d be doing all the cooking myself.”
“Oh, Suji’s like my rock you know,” Taeyeon added, as enthusiastic as ever.
“Maybe it wouldn’t be so hard if our culture didn’t force girls to do all the house chores,” Suji added, bitterly.
Taeyeon heaved a nervous laugh. “She’s got a great sense of humour too.”
“Far from it,” Mari said dryly. “Anyways, it’s been a pleasure. We better get going. My husband returns from the hospital in an hour, and I better make sure he’s got dinner at his table. You know how men can be—they can’t think on an empty stoma
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