Chapter 9: Nari Nari
The truck sputtered down a street in the middle of Boston. It didn't seem like the nicest neighborhood to be in, but they seemed friendly enough. Mr. Yung pulled into the driveway of a small house. I grabbed my bag of the ground. I slammed the door shut and walked up to the porch with my bag in one hand and the chips and candy bar in the other.
He opened the door and an inviting burst of hot air gushed out of the house. The lights were on and gave everything an inviting look. There was bright colored furniture and paintings everywhere.
"It's very colorful." I muttered.
"Nari like a lot of color. She very colorful person. Hate gray and brown and other neutral color. She just like her mother. Always looking to stand out and make something of herself." Mr. Yung replied happily.
"I can tell." I wasn't even lying. There was nothing in the house that wasn't brightly colored. It was like someone took a rainbow maker and turned it on overdrive and it exploded.
I noticed etch mark on the door frame to the kitchen. They must be measurements. They stopped right under six feet. Nari must be pretty tall.
"Nari! We home!" Mr. Yung bellowed. He was small but very loud when he wanted to be.
"Coming Papa! Do you want hot chocolate?" A tall girl practically ran into the room after about three seconds of her reply. She was dresed in lounge pants and a tank top. This family was very loud.
"Ah, Nari. This Nick. Nick, this the girl you protect, Nari. And no thank you, give some to Nick." The girl blushed as her father mentioned my orders to her.
"Hi there, Nick." She shot her hand out towards me and grabbed my wrist, pulling me into the kitchen.
"Remember your own strength, Nari!"
The kitchen was small and covered in a child's drawings. I heard the refrigerator close and the cabinet open quickly after. The girl was almost a blur as she rushed around the kitchen opening and closing cabinets and drawers. The room was filled with banging and crashing of silverware. She didn't stop until she slammed the microwave and hit the timer.
"You want some hot chocolate? I know it's cold outside. Sit down if you want wherever."
I took a seat at the small table that had three lawn chairs clustered around it. Nari opened the fridge to get a carton of milk and placed it on the counter. The microwave beeped and she was pulling a steaming mug out in seconds. She poured the milk and popped in two big marshmallows.
"Here ya go. Hot and ready like a porn star." She giggled as she handed me the hot mug and a spoon.
"Thanks?"
"Don't thank me. You're a part of this family now. Get used to the jokes and the yelling." She giggled again.
Whoever this Nari girl was, she had a very bubbly personality. I would gladly fulfill my duties of protecting her.
I pressed the mug to my lips and tilted the end up. The hot drink spilled out and onto my shirt. I managed to burn my tongue on it, too. It was all over.
"Oh shit!" I covered my mouth and immediately regretted swearing. My tongue burned like fire. Fucking thanks, hot chocolate.
"Oh fuck. I'm sorry. I should have warned you it was hot." She yanked out a rag from a drawer and held it under running water.
She handed me the rag. I dabbed at my face and shirt. There was hot chocolate fucking everywhere. Nari held her hand to her forehead in exasperation. She ran her hand through her hair. Both hand were in her hair. She looked like she belonged in a nuthouse.
"I'm so sorry. This is a very shitty welcome." She looked like she was about to cry.
"It's okay. I'll live. Just a small burn."
"No. It's not okay. This is all my fault." She whimpered.
This girl, she had emotions all over the place. One second, she's super fucking happy, the next moment, she's a mess.
"I said it's okay. Where's the paper towels so I can clean up?"
"We don't have any right now. And you aren't cleaning shit."
"I'm cleaning it because I made the mess. You made me hot chocolate. That's the nicest thing someone's done for me in weeks."
She sighed dramatically. "Fine. I'll get a towel." She left the kitchen and took a hallway to the left. I heard a loud crash and a muffled "shit."
I ran down the hall to see a pissed off cat and Nari on the floor holding her knee.
"What happened?" I asked as I helped her up.
"I tripped on Fatass," she hissed out as she hugged her knee.
"You named your cat 'Fatass'?
"His full name is 'Fatass McGee' but that's too long to say. I only call him 'McGee' around Papa. He thinks that's his name but he would be mad if he found out his real name. What he doesn't know won't hurt him." She tried to stand up straight but opted to standing on my leg. "The other cat is somewhere. Her name's 'Funny Face'."
"You get creative with names, huh?"
"You should what I named my stuffed animals when I was little." She snickered, I can assume, at the thought of the names.
"Where should I put my things down? This bag is getting heavy."
"I'll show you to your room. I'll warn you, it's not a big house, so the rooms are pretty small."
She led me down another short hallway with a door at the end. She opened it to reveal a small room with a twin sized bed and a little side table with a lamp on it.
"Like I said, it's not big. I hate that it's not decorated. I'll figure out what kind of music you like and we can eventually wallpaper your room with band posters." She turned to look at me up and down. "You look like a rocker in the making."
I dropped my bags down and stared at the blank walls. I can't even imagine what Nari's room looks like. It's probably covered in bright paintings and pictures of friends and band posters and inspirational cat banners. She seemed like that kind of person.
"I need to go to a funeral in two days. Do you think I could go?"
"What do you think we are? We aren't monsters that keep you from a funeral. Who were they?" She leaned on the door frame for support.
I crinkled the note in my pocket. Feeling it gave a sort of comfort. "Her name was Gunhan."
"She sounds pretty. How old was she?"
I let go of the note. "She was gorgeous. She was only seventeen."
She was still for a second. "Oh bummer, man. Yeah, you can go. Was she your friend?"
"I don't want to talk about it anymore." I snapped at her.
She drew back in shock. "Okay, you can go. I just need to know where it's being held."
"It's in Roxbury."
"Alright. I'll leave you alone now." She turned around and limped back down the hall.
I fell back on the bed, staring at the ceiling and crinkling the note in my pocket. Today was way too long for my liking. I didn't even care about cleaning the hot chocolate. She wanted to clean it so badly. Then again, she was also hurt from Fatass.
Shit. I already fucked up my orders.
I stood up from the bed and looked for Nari. She was on the floor again but she was just staring at the ceiling with her arms and legs straight out. She took notice of me staring.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"I'm trying to straighten my back." She stated it so plainly like it was obvious I should know why she was on the floor like a maniac.
"You're very strange." It wasn't said as an insult. Just a statement.
"You would be surprised at how any times I've been told that." She started to wave her arms and legs around like a snow angel.
I stared at the grooves she was making in the carpet from her carpet angel. "I don't think I would."
She made a really bitchy face, "funny."
"You're going to fuck the carpet up." I held out my hand to pick her up.
"I've been doing it since I was little." She pointed to various carpet angels around the floor that I hadn't taken notice of until now.
"I also saw the door frame. Hard to believe you were small at one point."
"You're one to talk, Iron Giant." She moved around like a robot. She was very energetic. I'll give her that much.
"I forgot to mention, I have a candy bar. I don't like almonds though. You want it?"
"Sure. I'll eat it after dinner. We're having soup."
"What kind?"
"Tofu in pork broth and noodles."
"Oh, I don't think I've had tofu."
"It's fucking disgusting."
