Seeing herself in her mirror makes Jia Crawford cringe. It isn’t due to a lack of confidence. Her left eye’s swollen, nearly to the point she can’t open it. Her brother Shin can throw a punch, especially when he knows the target won’t punch back.
Her dad’s been freaking over her signing up to be a vigilante; when he sees this he’s going to give her a reason to cringe. She considers locking her door and not leaving her room until it heals. She could subsist on half empty water bottles and crumbs from the bottom of chip bags. Her life isn’t stopping though so that’s not an option. All she can do is make her way downstairs and face what’s coming.
Entering the kitchen, her dad and Shin are sitting at the table enjoying breakfast. Each of them has a bowl of cereal and her dad’s working his way through his morning paper. It’s surprising to find Shin up this early, especially since they didn’t get here until the middle of the night. She expected he’d sleep the day away. During her night of vigilantism she caught him in the middle of robbing a family’s home while they were on vacation. She had to find an excuse to let him go, hence the swollen eye. The alternative was turning him into the police and she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
Shin’s so lucky she decided not to turn him in. She should have. For her generosity she gets a black eye, and he gets to sit here like it’s any other day enjoying his fruit cereal.
There’s no point trying to hide the injury. It’s so purple it’s hard not to stare at. Her dad turns to say good morning with a smile on his face but it’s gone in a moment, replaced by a look of horror. He gets to his feet. “What did you do to your face? Who did that to you?”
“Don’t lose it. It's not as bad as it looks. Ran into a guy who was in over his head last night. Trust me, he’s feeling worse than I am today.” She stumbles to the cupboard to pull out a coffee cup.
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Her dad follows after her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You're going to end up getting really hurt, or worse. You’re trying to use karate against people who have guns. That's not going to end well for you soon enough. This has to end Jia. Now.”
Pouring a cup of coffee she says, “This guy didn't have a gun dad. He was backed into a corner and he lashed out. He actually apologized after everything was over. Where’s your trust in me? I know what I'm doing, and I can handle myself. Please, just back off. I would have expected this sort of thing from mom but not from you.”
That shuts him up. There’s always been an unspoken competition between her parents over their children. Shin takes after their mother, while she has a special bond with their dad. She doesn't want being a vigilante to ruin that. She's not going to stop though and if he can't accept her decision he’s going to have to work that out for himself.
Trying to change the subject, Jia turns to her brother. “What are you doing home? Thought you were staying in Sonoma.”
He's clearly taken aback by the question. He can't tell the truth and she knows why he's actually home. After what she’s going through for him though, she wants to see somebody else squirm for a minute. He’s the one who should be in the hot seat. Unable to come up with a good answer, he keeps it simple. “Was in the area, thought I'd say hey.” He fills his mouth to avoid having to say more.
“You got in pretty late last night for someone just wanting to say hello. I don’t think you were here when I got home.”
He glares at her, chewing slowly before responding. “Yeah, I guess not.”
Annoyed at her dad’s judgment and her brother’s reluctance to take any heat off her, Jia grabs a pack of toaster pastries to go with her coffee and heads back to her room. She has to be at the winery soon enough. She doesn’t feel like fighting anymore. Before she heads to work, she wants a few moments of peace. That’s what the doctor ordered. Well, that and an ice pack.