13
I woke up again.
It was still daytime; it wasn’t tomorrow yet.
The smell on Mom was even stronger.
I stood on the stool and opened the window to let in some air. Mom used to do it this way.
“Hey, kid, that’s dangerous! Get down now!” a man across the street shouted loudly at
- me.
“Is there an adult at home over there? Your child is climbing out the window!”
I told him, “Sir, I’m not climbing out the window. I’m opening it.”
But the man seemed not to hear and kept telling me to get down.
I got down, and the man finally stopped shouting.
Wind blew in, rustling Mom’s soft hair. The bad smell finally faded a bit.
The photo also blew off and fell to the floor.
I picked up the photo and looked at us in it.
That night, after Mom said she’d never divorce, even if she died, Dad stopped coming
home.
But Mom took me to his office to find him. She said she wanted to take some more
photos.
Mom dressed up beautifully and put me in a pretty princess dress too.
Dad coldly said he had a meeting that afternoon and told Mom to take me home, and
never to come to his office casually again.
Mom didn’t get angry. She gently told Dad, “This is the last time. I won’t come again,
ever.”
“Just one more photo, please. Lily can look at it when she grows up. Otherwise…
otherwise, it’d be so sad.”
Dad eventually agreed to go with us.
When taking photos, the photographer kept telling Dad and Mom to get closer, to smile
more.
But in the end, I was the only one smiling.
After the photos were taken, Mom told the photographer to rush the prints, the faster the
better.
Then Mom said to Dad, “Lily wants to eat at McDonald’s. Let’s go once together.”
Dad frowned. “You should give the child less junk food.”
Mom smiled. “Just one more time. We won’t eat it again after this.”
Then she took Dad’s hand. “Really, I’m not lying.”
I also kissed Dad’s cheek. “Daddy, I want to eat it.”
<
Dad reluctantly went with us.
Mom ordered lots of delicious food, and even let me eat ice cream, which she usually
didn’t allow.
I was really, truly happy.
There were so many children at McDonald’s, all with their moms and dads, but I felt like I was the happiest one of all.
My mouth was covered in cream. Dad took a napkin to wipe my mouth, and Mom stood nearby, filming us.
Dad asked what was so great about filming this. Mom said it was fun.
Finally, she even asked someone to take a photo of the three of us together.
On that day, we took more photos than we would for the rest of our lives.
