Catching Up to You

Chapter 6 - Why Didn't You Call Them?

"Do you know what I just realized?"

"What?"

"Ba mẹ are going to disown us after hearing each of our news."

"Oh shit, you're right."

Linny was lying in her own bed while Trang crashed on the floor in her own sleeping bag. Today's news had gotten Linny the most preoccupied since her last 80-hour work week, that she hadn't completely processed the consequences that would follow her last day at work.

"I vote that we not tell them until February is over."

"... Yeah."

"Wow, this must be my birthday week or something, since you're just agreeing with me on everything. I'm proud to see how much you've grown, em."

"It's not the first time we'd be hiding things from them, especially you," Linny attempted to shoot a glare at her older sister in the pitch blackness.

"Hey, I can still feel your eyes on me in the dark, you know?"

Linny closed her eyes and snickered. "Jie... So, why didn't you try to call our parents more often while you were away? I thought the three of you were getting along better these days."

A two seconds' pause and then a heavy sigh released from the grounds.

"After what our parents did to me, I couldn't talk to them for the longest time. You know that, right?"

"Yeah," Linny replied softly. She was there when the biggest fight in her life happened. She covered her eyes in a futile effort to erase the stained memory. The incident happened on Trang's graduation day, 4 years ago. "I wouldn't blame you either after learning what they did to you."

"In order for me to feel comfortable talking to them again, I need to feel like I can trust them. And trust... takes time. A lot of time." She spoke the last few words with emphasis.

"Ugh, it's just weird, you know? You were always so much closer to them than I was." Linny's weekly check-in calls with her parents averaged two to five minutes at most, which usually consisted of the same five questions: "How are you?," "What are you doing?," "How's work?," "Have you eaten yet?," and "What did you eat?" She would respond to them robotically with responses that even her auto-fill email feature could perform for her if the conversation had taken place by email.

"Yeah, was. I feel like I'm visiting two completely new people next weekend." The bitterness was more than just a hint detected in Trang's throat.

"Going home and pretending like nothing's happened?" Linny wished she had more to say than a few reaffirming questions and yeahs here and there.

"I wish we didn't have to go home and visit." Trang pouted, biting her lips at her regretful announcement of her return.

"Trang... it's better to let them know now than later. You're going to be staying here for good now," Linny said.

"Unless they drive me crazy again," Trang muttered.