Chapter 35

March 1998 – Hazzard

Little did Daisy know in what form her past would come back to bite her. Explaining to Turk that night in Atlanta, over containers of barbequed pork, how she was involved with Darcy Kincaid was difficult enough. Convincing him she hadn't pulled the trigger on that shotgun? It took some fancy footwork because Daisy knew who had pulled the trigger, and it was not her story to tell.

Anyone who really wanted to know-how, or why, Darcy Kincaid ended up in the hanger at Hazzard Airfield with his private parts blown to bits need only read between the lines of the third book of a prominent Hazzard author.

Over the forty-five days, since she'd last seen Turk, Hazzard had returned to some semblance of normal. Again, normal for Hazzard. Turk had cautioned her the process of gathering enough evidence to arrest and convict Lazzaro would not be a quick one. February had slipped into March, and March became Spring. As well as the promise of wildflowers popping out of red dirt fields come April.

"Daisy, stop daydreamin,'" Bo called from the other side of the truck, "and help me with this. I don't want this stuff to get wet in case we get a downpour on the way to Finchburg."

Not realizing her mind had wandered off, Daisy returned her attention to the task of helping Bo. Pulling the tarp over the donation boxes of clothes and household items in the truck bed, she anchored it to the frame with a cinch strap on her side.

Unfortunately, Spring also brought a more dangerous kind of weather. When asked about the weather in Georgia, most people relied on an old adage: the South has four seasons - summer, football, pollen, and tornado. An F3 twister had strafed houses and farms over the weekend when it touched down in a neighboring county.

"Are we picking up Annie before we leave Hazzard County?"

"Nah, she's workin' at the school this mornin'."

"She mad at you again?"

"Maybe," Bo grunted and pulled harder than necessary on his strap.

Bo and Annie's tempestuous relationship notwithstanding, the phone was still tapped. The GBI had traced the source back to some shell company owned by Niki Lazzaro. He'd had the tables turned on him when the FBI rerouted all the calls from the farm through what they called a spoofer. The FBI had put a wiretap on Lazzaro's phone, something, according to Turk, which took about 165 pages to apply for and usually took an act of Congress to get approved – or Cooter Davenport. It was something the GBI had been trying to obtain for years.

The family meeting to decide what they should do seemed to go on forever. One of the many times she missed Uncle Jesse's no-nonsense proclamations of 'the right thing to do over the easy thing to do.'

Since early February, Turk had called Daisy's mobile at least once a week to check in 'for Enos's peace of mind.'

March 1998 – Goyang-si, Republic of Korea

Enos fidgeted as he waited. Pulling the collar of his jacket up to cover the back of his neck, he wished he'd prepared a little better – like wearing his knitted cap to cover his ears instead of the plain, dark navy ball cap he'd been wearing when he came home from work. The longer he waited, and the more his ears stung, the more agitated he became about the reason he was camped out on the front steps of his father-in-law's house, in the dark, on a frigid evening in late March.

After he had been there ten minutes, Mizz Baek kindly brought out a hot cup of tea. She bowed several times apologetically, asking him respectfully to return later, without adding the "after you've cooled down" dangling on the tip of her tongue.

He was spoiling for a fight and had no intention of cooling down. The document served to Soonie, while alone and weary from persistent morning sickness which had only lately begun to ease, was burning a hole in his inside coat pocket. It was enough to keep him rooted to the spot.

"It's none of your doin', Mizz Baek. I know you're caught in the middle, and I'm real sorry about that...but I'd be much obliged if you would tell Mr. Mun I'm prepared to sit here 'til hell, or this stoop freezes over."

'Have it out' was closer to his intent. After three days in Taiwan, he'd come home and found Soonie in a highly agitated state and was at a loss to understand it. She had sounded fine when he talked to her on the phone earlier in the day. He thought the stress of the custody battle might be affecting her coping skills. If she wasn't four months pregnant, the process wouldn't have put such a strain on her. Something else he'd begun to feel guilty about no matter how much she tried to convince him otherwise.

Soonie called his mobile three times in the first half-hour, begging him to come home. He refused. She threatened to come get him. He convinced her to stay home.

Another fifteen minutes ticked off before Mun Chung-hee made an appearance. As soon as he opened the door, Enos stood to face him. He did not bow to his father-in-law. Bowing was a show of respect.

He took off his shoes and his ball cap at the door and followed Mr. Mun into the sitting room where Baek Sung-mi stood, hands clasped together placidly at a subservient distance.

"Mizz Baek's got nothin' to do with what you and me have to talk about."

"I am present only to translate," she said softly, with a bow of her head.

Acknowledging her gesture with a similar nod, Enos returned his attention to Soonie's father.

"I know you can speak and understand English, Mr. Mun. But I understand enough Korean to get by if that's what it's gonna' take to get this settled."

Mr. Mun dismissed Mizz Baek in Korean. Enos caught enough of it to understand it was innocuous. However, she left only after giving her employer what Enos thought was a strange look. It seemed... defiant...not something he would have expected from her.

After she left the room, Enos pulled the document from his coat and laid it on the table.

"I came here to get an explanation for this."

"I should think it self-explanatory, Mr. Strate." Apparently, Mr. Mun had decided to keep the conversation in English and nonfamilial.

"Yes, Sir. I understand the meaning. I just wanna' know how anyone could do something like this to his own daughter."

The document on the table was a petition to the court by Mun Chung-hee to block Gem's adoption.

"I do it for the child."

"She has a name."

"Yes, I believe you call her 'Gem.' Her name is Mun Eun-kyung."

"Her father, your son, is the one who nicknamed her Gem."

"Unfortunate my son is no longer here to corroborate that."

"Maybe if you'd paid more attention when he was alive, you'd be able to corroborate it on your own."

Enos knew he'd thrown out the poop and waited for it to hit the fan. Before either one of them could explore the result of said activity, Mizz Baek appeared in the sitting room with Gem holding her doll in one hand and dragging a coat with the other.

"We are ready to leave." Mizz Baek carried two suitcases, one small and one large.

"I forbid it!" Mr. Mun proclaimed.

Ignoring him, Enos knelt to Gem and helped her on with her coat and received a tight hug in return.

"Mizz Baek, can you please take Gem into the foyer while I finish up here?"

Sung-mi took Gem's hand without acknowledging Mr. Mun and led her into the small entry hall with the tiny little girl straining against her efforts and looking forlornly back at Enos. He tried to reassure her with a smile and a wave. When she and her nanny disappeared from view and out of earshot, he turned back to his father-in-law.

"You can forbid it all you want, Mr. Mun. My wife has legal right to custody, and I'm taking Gem home. And if you ever expect to be any part of that sweet little baby girl's life, you're gonna' need to find a right way of doin' it."

After all his efforts to find Eun-kyung's birth mother, none of which yielded any results, the custody process had dragged on through March. Finally, Soonie had been awarded legal guardianship of Mun Eun-kyung by the family court under both her surnames: Mun, her legal patrilineal surname in Korea; and Strate, her legal surname in the U.S. They were not required to adopt Gem to take her to the United States.

The will was upheld under the law giving the paternal right to children, and it irked Soonie no end. However, she had been willing to accept it to assure her guardianship and maintain her father's involvement in Eun-kyung's life. If for nothing else than to avoid any more disruptions in her routine.

After the day's events, Soonie swore she would move heaven and earth to deny her father any access to Gem. It was Enos who had tried to talk her down from the ledge.

Now he was right out there with her.

The financial crisis in South Korea had spread to other Asian nations and continued to unnerve the public. Tens of thousands of people were either out of work or at a severely reduced wage. Seoul police officers refused to enter parts of the city because of the unrest. Panicked lenders were withdrawing credit from affected countries, with the trickle-down finding its way to Mr. Mun's company.

It was the only excuse, thin as it was, for his behavior left to the man. Enos still held out hope he would come to his senses before he permanently lost both his daughter, his granddaughter, the granddaughter, who was yet to be born.

South Korea's economic issues were outside the walls of the Strate house. Inside, cradled in Enos's arms, Gem and her doll had fallen asleep while he was reading to her, exhausted from giggling over the funny voices he made.

He rocked with her for another few minutes, enjoying the peace it gave him. He had only remembered after the fact that Latoya's birthday had come and gone in February without commemoration. He would not forget her, but her death no longer haunted him. He supposed he had at last reached the final stage of grief after seventeen years.

Soonie turned down the covers while he gently slid Gem onto the little pallet bed. She pulled the covers back over her niece, then kissed her husband; her lips on his still tasted of honeysuckle nectar and morning dew.

"If you keep reading comic books to her, she will think it is how all Americans speak," Soonie teased.

"And my hill country accent'll give her a better example?"

"I love your accent. Te amo."

"Tu eres mi alma," he whispered and drew her into a protective embrace.

Spanish was the language they used for intimacy, and for moments they kept for each other.

"Before Gem went to sleep, she called me Appa. I…I wasn't sure what to say."

"Is that such a bad thing?"

"Aren't you afraid she'll forget her real Daddy?"

"Enos, mi vida. No matter what my father or anyone else says, we are her parents now. It is what Jae-sung wanted for her and how it shall be. We will all remember him...She will forget only the pain."

Translations (Spanish to English):

"Te amo" means 'I love you' in more intimate terms (for lovers) than "Te quiero."

"Tu eres mi alma" means 'You are my soul."

"Mi vida" means 'My life."