Another Day in the Life 3
It was a long day of worrying for Lin; she was distracted in class because she was unsure of her sister's whereabouts, she was not ready to be mentally attacked by her mother, and the thought of having confrontation with the two of them made her stomach churn. She took her time walking home from school even though she was dying to know if Su got home safe. When Lin finally arrived, she walked through the door into a quiet house.
"Hello?" She called softly as she walked into the living room and glanced around the empty space. She crossed into the hallway and threw her backpack into her room before moving to the next door down from hers. "Su?"
Lin turned the knob, expecting to find another empty space, but that was not the case. She peered inside and saw her lump of a sister lying on the bed asleep. At least she got home safe, Lin thought and shook her head. She closed the door as quietly as she could and decided to get a jump start on homework before having to make dinner.
"Girls! Momma's home!" Toph called in her most chipper voice as she trudged through the door.
"Hey Chief!" Lin responded from the kitchen as she stood over a sizzling pan of pig-chicken with spicy cabbage.
"Smells good, daughter." The esteemed Chief of Police said and bent her uniform off her body as if the metal was a banana peel. It landed with a clank on the floor, leaving Toph in her white tank top and work pants. She dragged herself to the couch and plopped down with a loud sigh of relief. She stretched and put her feet up on the tea table, finally able to unwind from a hectic day.
Lin popped in to the living room with a tall glass of water in hand and gave it to her mom. "I thought you could use this."
"Thanks, kid… What would I do without you?" She said and forced a smile.
"You would starve, for one. Dinner's ready. Do you think you can make it to the table?" Lin joked.
"Ah – one of my many talents." She said through a groan as she reluctantly pulled herself off their comfortable couch. "Suyin, Dinner!"
The three girls sat down to the table for their nightly meal, Lin and Su remaining silent as their mother spoke of her day on the job.
"– So I told those guys to get lost or come back to the station with me!" She said, finishing an anecdote. When no one responded to her story, Toph took another bite of her food and sighed. "What's with the crickets?"
Another few moments passed where her teen and pre-teen said nothing, but continued to eat.
"Well – enough about me. How was your day?" Toph asked, hoping that a direct question would make them talk.
The sisters exchanged a frustrated glance and then Lin eventually gave in to the awkwardness.
"It was fine, mom..." Lin said in the dullest voice she could muster.
"Well don't act so cheery about it." Toph responded sarcastically. "Is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine. I just had a long day at school, is all." She said and glanced furiously across the table at Su who was staring angrily right back.
"Su?"
"Fine." The young earthbender replied with the same timbre as her sister.
Silence followed again and Toph was tired of it. She stuffed a dinner roll into her mouth before deciding to speak. "Alright, what's going on between you two? Is it some sister thing that I won't get?"
"Something like that." Lin replied, hoping her mom would not pry any further.
As soon as they seemed to descend into quiet awkwardness again, the ringing sound of their wall phone filled the room. Lin and Su immediately shared a look of fear, knowing that each of their schools had a reason to call home for one reason or the other.
"I'll get it." They both said simultaneously and got to their feet.
"Sit down, both of you!" Toph shouted and then stood. "I'll get it." She wiped her face with the napkin, threw it onto the table in frustration and then made her way to the phone with a groan.
"Hello?" She asked without even a hint of patience in her voice. "You're talking to her – Mhm – Really?" The 'really' was less than amused. "What did she do?" Toph listened for a long time after that. "Of course. I'll be sure to address it – yes – I understand – Well – I appreciate your concern – Mhm – Goodbye."
Without a word, Toph returned to the table and sat. The only sounds were the clinking of silverware against the plates as they tentatively continued to eat. Toph gnashed her teeth, anger building up inside as the silence persisted. At the point where she couldn't take it anymore, Toph slammed her fist onto the table with a loud bang, rattling all of the dishes that sat atop the surface, and caused the girls to jump.
"That was your principal on the phone, Lin. How about you tell me about your day one more time?" She asked in a demanding tone.
The teenager sighed and put down her eating utensils. "I missed my first two classes."
"Yeah, so I was told. Why?" Toph asked indignantly.
Lin froze for a moment and looked across the table at Su, whom she promised not to throw under the bus. "I – I woke up late."
"Don't you dare lie to me." Toph hissed, "I taught you better than that!"
Lin fell silent, unsure of what to do next.
"Fine – As you gather your thoughts, I'll move on to your sister."
"Huh?" Su responded involuntarily.
"So, you're skipping school now?" Toph probed as she switched gears to her other kid.
"How did you know?" Su asked with exasperation.
"I got two different calls this morning while I was in a meeting with the Council. One from your teacher and the other from an officer stationed at the Little Ba Sing Se shopping mall." Toph said angrily at her younger daughter and then turned her attention back to the eldest. "You know, Lin. I expect this kind of thing from Su, but what were you thinking?"
In that instant, Lin no longer cared about the promise she had made; if she was going down, Su was going with her. "I was only late because she ran off and I had to drop everything to find her!"
"Snitch! You promised you wouldn't tell –"
"You're the idiot who decided to –"
"ENOUGH!" Toph boomed to end the bickering.
"I don't see what the big deal is – it's just school." Su stated with an attitude.
"The big deal is that you were being completely thoughtless! I don't care if you go to school or not, but I cannot have teachers, principals, and my own officers calling me at work to tell me that my kids are missing!" Toph declared forcefully. "I'll sound like my mother when I say this, but we have an image to protect. I am the Chief of Police and I can't look like I am unable to handle my own children! Su, that little stunt you pulled today was heard by the entire council. Could you imagine if the press got a hold of this? You were being –"
"I was being me!" Su yelled, momentarily overshadowing her mother's speech.
"Don't start with me, kid!" Toph uttered and shook her head.
"You never cared what anyone thought of you and neither do I!"
"Hey, I always cared about the way I was perceived and now I don't have a choice in the matter!"
"You always did what you wanted, so why can't I?"
"My situation was different. When I was your age, I was on my own – taking care of myself!"
"So?! I can do whatever I want, whenever I want and you can't stop me!" Su shouted and stomped off to her room and slammed the door.
"Don't you walk away from me!" Toph demanded to no avail.
"Leave me alone!" She yelled, her voice muffled by the walls.
Toph sighed loudly. Suyin was acting just as Toph did when she was young; defiant, rule-breaking, and angry. She instantly decided not to press her daughter on this issue any further. Space… All she needs is some space… Toph told herself.
Lin had just stayed still and quiet throughout the whole blowout. She looked at her mom who was massaging her temples, noticing the dark circles under her eyes that showed her tiredness. Su was still a little too young and wrapped up in her own selfish needs to notice that their mother was burned out exhausted from dealing with work and their family drama at home. Though she hardly showed it, Lin knew that Su's words and actions managed to penetrate the tough exterior of the greatest earthbender of all time.
"Mom, I –"
"How could you let this happen? It is your responsibility to keep Suyin out of trouble." Toph snapped, obviously not finished with her rant.
"I –"
"I am too busy to take care of this kind of thing. I thought you knew that you are my eyes and ears when I'm not around."
"I do, mom, it's just –"
"Then what is the problem?"
"I did everything that I could to make her go to school. I can't force her and I can't stop her from running off. I'm trying…" Lin replied, but felt like her words were falling on deaf ears.
"Try harder!" Toph barked.
"She climbed out of the window! What am I supposed to do? Handcuff her and drag her to school?" Lin responded, beginning to get irritated by her mother's lack of understanding toward the situation.
"Look, I don't care if she goes to school or not! I care that she stays out of trouble!" Toph exclaimed loudly.
"You don't really feel that way." Lin mumbled after a moment.
"I never went to school and I turned out fine, didn't I?"
"I guess…"
Toph sighed out her frustration and stood. "Dinner was good." She said in a low voice. "I have a headache and I'm going to sleep, so keep it down."
"I still have to clean up." Lin muttered with a hint of defiance.
"Just blow it off till tomorrow." Toph said as she sauntered off to her bedroom.
Lin sat at the empty table for a while after her mother left feeling numb from the day. She stared at her unfinished plate of food feeling less hungry than she did before.
Lin knew that there was only so much she could do about her sister – 'half-sister' as Su so frequently reminded her. Still, she never heard their mother say that she didn't care about something they did. Lin felt extremely hurt by that comment, wondering what kind of action would actually keep Toph's attention. Then she thought about Su, realizing that she was probably feeling the same way.
Lin took a deep breath and stood, then quietly made her way down the hallway and toward Su's bedroom. She hesitated, not wanting to be the cause of more yelling. She knocked lightly on the door, and when there was no answer she turned the knob. The room was dark, but the light from the hall revealed that Suyin was sitting on the floor at the foot of the bed cradling her legs in her arms.
Closing the door behind her, Lin walked inside and approached the bed where she sat down next to her sister. They were quiet; being sentimental was not a common occurrence in the Beifong household.
"I told you she didn't care…" Su murmured in the smallest voice, a stark contrast to the previous encounter.
Lin sighed empathetically and placed her hand on Suyin's shoulder for comfort.