Red Thread Sisters (9781101591857) by Peacock Carol Antoinette

Author:Peacock, Carol Antoinette
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin USA
Published: 2012-09-12T04:00:00+00:00

Her parents were waiting on the porch. Wen saw her mother, paler than usual, gripping a railing, as if to support herself. Her father paced from one stair to another, his eyes scanning the street.

“Wen! Oh, thank God!” Her mother seemed to collapse in relief.

“Where were you, Wen?” her father demanded.

“Walk. Remember? I told you this,” Wen answered, lowering her eyes.

“You said ‘short,’ Wen!” her father shouted. “You were gone over three hours.”

“We found your cell phone here, so we couldn’t call,” her mother accused. Little creases fanned around her brow.

“You were gone so long, we thought something had happened, Wen,” her father said.

“Where were you, Wen? Were you running away?” her mother asked.

“I not run away,” Wen said.

They were so angry. Now they’d change their minds and send her back as an extra for sure.

“We have to know, Wen. We’re your parents and we need to know where you go.” Her mother waited for an answer.

Wen froze. What should she tell them? She was trying to find a home for Shu Ling, all on her own, keeping a secret from them. That might make her parents mad, like she wasn’t even grateful for the home they gave her.

“Wen, if you can’t tell us, you’ll have to stay in your room until you’re ready. You owe us an explanation,” her father said.

She had to tell the whole story. No matter what happened.

“OK. My friend Shu Ling,” Wen began. “Shu Ling wait too long in orphanage. She need own family here in America. I made big promise.” Wen met her mother’s gaze. “I told her, she come next. I find her a family too. But this I cannot do. Not know how. I went to the McDonald’s, for family. This not work well.”

“McDonald’s? Is that where you were, Wen? That’s so far away.” Wen’s mother shuddered.

“Only way I could do,” said Wen. “Had to do this.”

“But why didn’t you ask us for help, Wen?” her father asked.

“I could not.”

“All these weeks here and you couldn’t just say, ‘I want to get a home for Shu Ling’? Why not?” her mother asked.

“Afraid,” Wen whispered.

“Afraid of what? Tell us, Wen,” her mother said.

Wen hesitated. “Afraid,” she began, her voice low. “Afraid you send me back for asking for too much.”

“Send you back? Where did you get that idea?” her mother asked.

“This happened to An Fei.”

“Oh, Wen.” Wen’s mother sighed. “You’re family. We would never send you back. You belong with us.”

“But now Dad has no job,” Wen said. “So I think, maybe I’m an extra, you cut me out.”

“Nobody’s an extra in a family, Wen.” As if she couldn’t help herself, her mother gave her a quick hug.

Wen felt numb. “Not an extra,” she repeated.

“Never an extra,” her mother stated firmly. “Never.”

“Here, you must be thirsty after that McDonald’s hike. Let’s go inside and get you something to drink,” her father said.

As Wen sipped her water, she kept repeating her parents’ words in her mind, as if to memorize them. Then she went back to her bedroom and picked up the old orphanage backpack waiting in the front of her closet.

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