It's Definitely Not All Mary Poppins

Illusions May Shatter, But Memories Stay (1)

The sixth full day without the children was awkward. Matthew resumed stewing, seething under his skin in a way no one knew how to handle. Liza, Audrey, and Toby emptied from the house on Cherry Street slowly, lingering, as if waiting for Matthew to retract his words. He didn't, and when the house was empty except for the nanny and his employer, it was as if Yang had never opened himself to him. As if Matthew had never revealed what had happened the day he was assaulted to his friends. As if they kept their mouths closed, and the world kept spinning.

The children did not call that day.

The seventh and eighth full days without the children were filled with rain, overcast skies, and no light. Audrey arrived with groceries, and work continued on the house. Matthew worked on Lloyd, though eventually gave up from frustration; nothing seemed to fit properly. The children, again, did not call.

Matthew was listless, drifting along the corridors he could still access like a ghost. He floated into the gutted kitchen, over the newly-laid concrete floors, and into rooms that were streaked with shadows. With no Lilly or Eli, he had little reason to reinforce his "ultimatum"; thus the two dined separately, rarely seeing each other even in passing. He heard when Yang was on a business call and made himself scarce. Whether or not Yang did the same, Matthew didn't care. He focused his attention on the house, the restoration, growing frustrated with Lloyd and his confusing electrical mechanics.

So by the time the Yangs' black car rolled up the drive, Matthew couldn't help feeling relieved that they were back. Unnerved that they were back after so long, and very ready to throw a pizza into the oven for dinner and hear everything Lilly and Eli had been up to.

Mr. Yang appeared behind him, and only hummed to reveal his emergence from his office. "Are they all right?" he whispered, voice surprisingly scraggily.

"I don't know," Matthew said through his teeth.

Mrs. Yang stepped out of the car first, dressed immaculately, and brushed herself down. She called to her son in such a way that made Matthew shudder, but Yang stepped through the threshold and onto the graveled path. Mr. Yang Sr. stepped out next, opening the passenger doors for the children. Jun rounded towards the trunk of the car for the children's things.

Lilly got out next. Her eyes were sunken, ringed in lines of black. Matthew expected her to burst from the car and run up to him, hugging his legs and insisting she had "a million and five things to tell you"; she didn't. Lilly retrieved her things from her father, ignored him as he kneeled down for a hug, and moved around the car towards the front door.

"Hey," Matthew said, kneeling down. "You look tired. You okay?"

"Tired," she mumbled, shrugging off her jacket and abandoning her things and shoes at the door. Her eyes were hazy and distant as she moved on, being swallowed by the house.

Eli looked no better. His eyes were tired, like his cousin's, but his expression was harder, trying to stay together. He got his backpack and suitcase from his uncle, accepted a halfhearted hug from the man, kissed both his grandparents "goodbye", and moved fast from the car towards the front door.

"Hey, bud," Matthew said, standing up. "You guys tired? If you need – "

Abandoning his things inches from the front door, Eli grabbed Matthew and hugged him with such forced it made Matthew step back.

"Hey, hey, hey," Matthew chuckled. "Don't let me fall over. I missed you, too. Are you hungry?"

Eli's response was to hold him tighter, breathing in deeper that made Matthew stop and consider. He could almost hear the frown on the eleven-year-old's face. "Don't go," he whispered into Matthew's groin. "Lilly and I like you. I swear, we like you."

"I like you guys, too."

The boy looked at him. The answer was clearly not enough to satisfy him, because Eli asked, "Did we bother you?"

The sound of the car trunk closing made Matthew glance up. Mrs. Yang spoke in Chinese to Jun, with Mr. Yang Sr. joining in on the conversation, whatever they were saying. Regardless, the way Mrs. Yang's hands moved suggested a rigidness, and the tone of Mr. Yang Sr.'s words dripped in condescension. Jun interjected every so often, but was shut down so quickly it made him curl into himself. Mr. Yang Sr. pressed his hand between Jun's shoulder blades, rolling him back into an upright position. Every time he curled inward, Mr. Yang Sr. scolded him.

Matthew managed to wiggle himself out of the boy's grasp. He kneeled and put his hands on his shoulders. "What did they do?" he asked, his words too firm for his own liking.

He shied away. "They said...we shouldn't call you since you're leaving. We should..." His eyes were growing misty. "They said it'd make you mad if we kept calling you, and, and then Lilly said that they were wrong, and it all – " Elliot cut himself off.

Removing his hands from Eli's shoulders, Matthew didn't press. He knew if he did, Eli would break down, and he couldn't stand the idea of Mr. and Mrs. Yang seeing their grandson crying over their departing nanny. "Go put salt in the corners," Matthew told him. "I'll find some happy music to play, and ask Lilly if she wants to make any talismans. We'll keep away the bad. Just for tonight, okay?"

Eli nodded slowly, soaking in his words.

"I missed your calls."

"You did?"

"Yeah."

"But you – " He sniffed, sucking in mucus. "You didn't call us, either."

"I know. A lot happened here, and...it was a lot."

Eli's eyes dropped to the concrete beneath his feet. Something in his expression shifted, and he gathered his things from the front door. "I'll go salt the corners," he sighed, disappearing into the depths of the house.

Matthew watched Jun subject himself to another three minutes of conversation before peeling away from his parents. The Yangs climbed back into their car and disappeared down the drive, the sound of the engine softening into the sound of the trees. He crossed his arms as the older man waved at nothing, as if the gesture were to heal the whole interaction, but it only made Matthew upset. "Answer honestly, Yang. Do your parents even like you?"