What Happened to Enos'

Little Girl?

by KayCee1951

Part One

Chapter Seven

The Tiger, The Rooster, and Appa

August 4, 2022 (Again)

The time difference between Asia and Hazzard County still gave Sheriff Enos Strate a migraine even after twenty-six years. He always equated it with going backward or forward in time, depending on which direction you were flying. While it was 4:30 pm on August 4, 2022, in Hazzard, Georgia, it would be 8:30 am on August 5, 2022, in Hiroshima, Japan.

Or, his headache could be due to the fact that his twenty-five-year-old daughter hadn't checked in since she landed at the Hiroshima Airport. Esme was lost somewhere in tomorrow.

Gem kept reminding him that Esme was a responsible adult and could take care of herself. On the surface, that sounded good. However, he had seen too much not to worry about his little girl who often looked like she was still in her teens.

Gemmie also kept reminding him, "I was younger than Esme when I joined the Army Medical Corps. And went to a war zone."

"And we worried ourselves sick every day till you were discharged. I don't think your mama passed a day for that next month without makin' sure your DD214 was still in the safe."

"She's a Korean mother. That's what they do…it's like a job description. No matter how hard she tries, she can't escape it. Like you can't escape who you are." When Enos grimaced, Gem smiled. "It's a good thing, Appa. But you still have to let the baby birds fly on their own. You did. Omma did."

"Tell me all that again when your oldest starts growin' wings."

"Dang-it all, Dad…Point taken."

Esme found out she and Gem were biological cousins, not biological sisters, at the Hazzard Creek swimming hole. It was on their annual summer visit to their honorary grandparents, Rosco and Sarah Jane Coltrane. The twins were too young to make the trip and Yaya hadn't been conceived yet. Gem was eleven and Esmeralda was six…old enough to understand what the other children were whispering about. Everyone falls victim in some way to the cruelty of childhood and Esme Strate was no exception. She and Gem already stood out among the other children because they looked different. Esme even more so because she was so tiny, and her Asian face was crowned by the reddest hair any of the children had ever seen.

Gem was born in the Year of the Rooster. But Esme was born in the Year of the Tiger. So, of course, she called them all dirty rotten liars and proceeded to punish their misdeeds. When she returned to Maw-maw and Paw-paw's house, she was covered in dirt, with scratches on her face and arms, and a shiner on her left eye as red as a California raspberry.

When they heard Esme's story about what happened at the swimming hole, the first thing on Sarah Jane's mind was, "We'll be hearing from that child's parents, Purvis." (Sarah Jane was the only person on Earth that would dare to call Rosco P. Coltrane by his middle name.)

"Seems to me," Paw-paw Rosco said, "our little Esme got the short end of that stick. Maybe I should be the one calling that kid's mama and daddy."

Sarah Jane calmed Esme down, as well as her irate husband who was acting every bit the Rosco P. Coltrane of old. And it was Maw-maw Sarah Jane who explained it all to Esme, or at least what she thought a six-year-old could understand. At first, it was devastating for Esme to learn that those children she faced off with at the creek were telling the truth. It was still mean-spirited of them, but they weren't the liars she had accused them of being. It was like finding out there was no Santa Claus or no Easter Bunny, and worse yet, no Tooth Fairy!

When Gem came back from muscadine picking with Caleb Bernard, she corroborated everything their Maw-maw had told her…and then some. Gem knew Esme could handle more than just the basics. She would want to know the whys and wherefores.

Rather than being sore at Gemmie or her parents for keeping it from her, Esme turned their relationship as cousins/sisters into something she and Gem chose rather than having happened randomly, like biological siblings. The next time she encountered those gossipy children with their hurtful comments, she shut them down in just a few words.

"Ya'll didn't choose your brother or sister. I did. I choose Gemmie to be my sister, so she is…and that's the end of it." Then she stuck her tongue out at them and shouted the only logical follow-up, "So there!" (Cut her some slack. She was six.)

Ironically, years later when Appa took the job as Sheriff of Hazzard County, the girl who had given her that shiner became Esme's second-best friend. Gem was always, and will forever be, first.

So, when she phoned home from the village market, the number she dialed was Gem's.

After Gem left her father's office, she was hit with the same misgivings as her parents. Something wasn't right. She could feel it. And that's when her phone rang. It was some blocked number. She started to press 'End Call' until she heard, "Gem, wait…It's me."

It wasn't Esme's ringtone, nor was it Esme's cell number.

"Ez!" she shouted into the phone and then, worried that someone might hear, said, "Let me get somewhere less crowded." There were a few seconds pause where Esme could hear her breathing hard.

"Where the hell have you been for the last week?" Gem huffed.

"If I tell you, will you promise not to freak out?"

"Too late for that, so just spill it. You're in South Korea, aren't you?"

There was a moment's pause at Esme's end.

"Yes."

"Before you say anymore, you'd better consider that if Dad or Mom ask, I won't lie for you."

"I know. I never expected you to."

"How long have you been there, and how long do you plan to stay?"

"I've been here a few days. I need to stay at least three more weeks…"

"Three weeks…? Where are you now?"

"I'm not going to tell you…I can't tell you where I am. And you can't track this call to find out. That way you can honestly say you don't know where I am. All I will tell you is that I'm not in Seoul and I have no intention of seeing Mun Chung-hee or letting him know I'm in South Korea. I won't call again until I land at the Atlanta Airport…in three weeks. I don't know how you're going to explain it to Mom and Dad and I'm sorry to put this on you. But I'm an adult. I can make my own decisions, the same as they did."

"I wish I could disagree with you, but I can't. I'll figure out how to handle it on this end. But I won't out-and-out lie to them."

"I know, and I don't want you to. I only need a few week's grace. Please Gem."

"Esme?"

There was a hesitation before Esme asked, "Yes?"

"Just…don't go getting your heart broken."

"I knew I wouldn't be able to hide it from you, and I wish I could make you that promise. No risk…no reward, right? It's too late to turn back now."

"Yeah, I can tell that from 7000 miles away."

Neither Esme nor Gem could have known that while they were on the phone together, Sheriff Enos was reaching out to his contacts in the ROK.

Esme told Gem what she was afraid to tell Min-jun…something she had only just that second realized she wanted…to be with him for as long as she could.

Even if it ended right there and she never saw him again.