Silver Repetition by Lily Wang

Author:Lily Wang [Wang, Lily]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: House of Anansi Press Inc
Published: 2024-01-03T17:56:52+00:00

04

“What did the specialist say?”

“A year ago, he said three months.”

“Ah, has it already been a year?”

“I do an mri every three months.”

“It’s been a year! Look how skinny you are!”

“I can’t eat sugar or oily things. I can’t have fatty foods.”

“Emily! Let Auntie look at you. You’re starting university in the fall? Such a good child. Eh? Where’s Yuè Yuè?”

“Come in, there’s no need to be polite.”

“Really, I can’t stay.”

“There’s really no need to be polite.”

“You have to come visit me. We’re practically neighbours now! I can’t stay. I want to, but I can’t. You have to come visit me sometime. I can’t stay today.”

“Are you sure? Come in, sit, have some tea. It’s red tea with goji berries. There’s jujubes in there too.”

“Ah, I brought you something. It’s nothing. I hope you’ll accept it.”

“You do too much. Really, this is too much. You really don’t want tea? I’m making lunch soon.”

“No, no. I haven’t done enough. I’ve thought about you many times, but I haven’t come to see you even once …”

I roll off the side of my mattress on the floor and kick the last inch of the door closed to go back to sleep.

“Who was that?” When I get up, I glance down from the staircase, past the banister. I see the top of my dad’s head as he walks to the living room after locking the front door.

“Lǐ Zhī is a good friend.” Dad is careful to avoid tripping on the slippers strewn around the shoe rack. “You said she grew it by herself?”

“They can’t finish all this now that their eldest son has moved out.”

I go down the staircase. Light pours through the sliding glass door, filling every corner of the living room. Shoe rack, hallway, basement door, the living room with its wooden floors and old leather couch, my family standing at the dining table, bowed and marvelling over two plastic bags.

Emily is on her knees on a dining chair, peering into one of the bags. “They’re huge!” She pulls out multiple red lumps from the bag.

“Criticize yourself for your mistakes.” My dad begins to put away the tomatoes that Emily has just taken out. “You wake up this late every day! How can you face anyone?”

“Dad’s right, Yuè Yuè.” Emily looks worriedly at me. “Why do you sleep so much?”

My mom is washing a tomato in the sink with her back to us. She shakes off the water from the tomato and takes a bite. “Oh!” Mom comes over to the table, thrusting the tomato at my dad, who bends his head and takes a bite of the tomato from her hand.

“Can I have a bite?” I ask.

We pass the tomato around, humming and nodding among ourselves, juice dribbles from our knuckles to our wrists; tassels of red hope, around our wrists.

I hear hurried footsteps outside.

“Let’s find a time to visit Lǐ Zhī,” my mom says and licks from her palm to her fingertip.

It sounds like someone is circling the house, trying to come in.

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