Page 11 of Perfect Happiness
“Auntie taunt me.”
“Jane taught you that?”A bittersweet smile appeared on his face.
“Well, there’s this kid at school who picks on me.When the teacher’s not looking, he pulls at my hair, lifts up my skirt, and sticks out his foot to trip me.Auntie says I shouldn’t be scared of kids like that.‘Next time he’s mean to you, slap him across the face and say this,’ she said.”
Father laughed again, this time even louder than the last.But Jiyoo didn’t know what was so funny.
“So,didyou do it?”
“No.”
Jiyoo cast her eyes downward.
“Auntie said I can do it.She says I have ‘determination’ ...”
Auntie Jane had taught Jiyoo that determination was the courage to see something to the end.But as far as Jiyoo saw it, this was something she didn’t have.She practiced endlessly in her mind, but whenever the time came, her heart would race and she would start to feel dizzy and nauseous.And in the end, she never stood up to the bully.
“But I’m too shy.I get embarrassed and act stupid when I get excited.If I don’t want to be treated like a dummy, I should just keep my mouth shut, like I’m not even there.”
Father’s laughing stopped, and the cheer on his face disappeared.
“Did your mother tell you that?”
Jiyoo suddenly felt uneasy.Seeing the look on Father’s face, she realized she said something she shouldn’t have.At times like this, the best thing was not answering.Thankfully, Father didn’t press her.He only added one more thing:
“Your Auntie Jane is right.”
Father studied Jiyoo’s face for a moment.His gaze was cautious and gentle.A few seconds later, the smile returned to his face.He seemed to be telling Jiyoo that he wasn’t scolding her.It was the flapping of wings that finally broke the silence.
“That’s a coot,” Jiyoo said.
Aha, Jiyoo’s father mouthed.“You know your stuff.”
Jiyoo shrugged her shoulders.“They’re a bit grumpy.That’s why they race around on the surface of the water.”
Jiyoo’s father again mouthed the wordsAha.Behind his glasses, his eyeballs were spinning round and round like giant Ferris wheels.Jiyoo had seen this look many times.It meant that Father was impressed by how much she knew.
“Should we go to look at the other ducks?”Jiyoo asked.
As soon as she asked, Jiyoo’s father took her hand.Jiyoo took her father to the trail circling the Half Moon Marsh.It was by the time they arrived at the end of the trail that she saw another duck she knew.The little rascal was sitting in a dip in the grass and silently staring up at Jiyoo as though it were going to the bathroom.Afraid that it would fly away, Jiyoo quickly turned to her father to show him.
“It’s a mandarin drake.”
She didn’t tell Father that its other name was scoundrel.She thought this would upset him.But she didn’t have any time to tell him because in the grass near the water was a nest.It was made of grass and reeds and had several light-brown eggs inside it.Jiyoo counted the eggs.One, two...
“I see five eggs.”
Father put his fingers to his lips.Shhh.
“Let’s see what duck these belong to.”
Father wrapped his arm around Jiyoo’s shoulder and squatted in the reeds.They didn’t have to wait long.A loon swam over and gently perched itself atop the eggs.In the distance, another loon called out.Wa-ooo.
“Mother told me that when the daddy loon is far away, he’ll call out to his young.Like this.”
Jiyoo stuck out her lips and made them into the shape of a duck bill.
“Wa-ooo.I’m coming.Wa-ooo.I’m cominggg ...”
