Fiction

Butterfly Love

Inspired by Winslow Homer Butterflies, 1878

It was an early morning in the summer of 1878. Lady Catherine Harriston, wearing a Victorian-style casual dress and carrying a butterfly net with a specimen box, walked to the back garden of the mansion to catch butterflies. As the daughter of a farmer, she did not feel comfortable with her dress; the corset tightened her waist. She would rather wear clothes that are practical for the field.

In the garden, she saw two yellow and black Monarch butterflies flying among the flowers. She swooped the net down and caught one of the butterflies. She noted the other butterfly did not fly away. The free butterfly was just hovering above her head, flying around, and unwilling to abandon its partner. And the butterfly in her fingers was squirming as if it was trying to break free from confinement. She felt that the butterfly was just like hers, being imprisoned in this new marriage against her own wishes. She let go of the butterfly.

Philip and Catherine grew up in a village near Suffield town. They went to the town school together and worked in their neighboring fields. Over the years, they grew from childhood sweetheart to be lovers. They had their private meeting place by a stream in a grove near their village. Before her wedding, she went there to meet Philip for the last time. There were many wildflowers growing beside the stream and butterflies flying around. Philip got there first. He saw Catherine run towards him from afar, crying and wiping her tears. When Catherine came close to him, she threw herself into his arms and cried the whole time, unable to say a word.

“Darling, what happen to you? Can I help you relieve your pain?”

After she cried for a while, she slowly regained her composure.

“My father is Lord Henry's farm tenant. These last two years, my father’s farming s been getting bad. My father owes two years of rent to Lord Henry. Last night, my father told me that if I agreed to marry Lord Henry, he would cancel all debts. He will also give the ownership of the land to him.” Philip’s facial expression showed panic and twitched a little.

“My parents think Lord Henry is a nice man, and I will have a nice future if I agree to marry him. They begged me to accept the marriage. Otherwise, we might be chased out from our living quarters. My father might have to serve some jail time. And I do not want to see this happen, so I said yes.” Catherine said.

The two lovers hugged each other tightly and did not know how to solve their own problems. Finally, he told her:

“You made the right decision. I do not want to see your family broken.” And he pointed to the two flying butterflies on the wildflowers near the stream and said:

“My heart will be always with you. Even if I die someday, I will transform to be a butterfly and fly to stay around you forever.”

Catheline came back and rested by the window in her bedroom. She saw the two butterflies dancing in the garden. Someone knocked on her door.

“Madam, may I come in?” Catherine recognized it was her housekeeper Linda’s voice, who was her childhood friend from the same village. Linda just came back from visiting the village two days ago. Catherine opened the door abruptly; she wanted to know the news from her home.

“Did my parents say anything to you? What about Philip, did he say anything at all?”

“Your parents are fine; they just want you to take care of yourself. But Philip just passed away a few days ago. He was sick after you married. For the whole month, he just would not want to eat or drink as if he was possessed. The whole person slowly withered like a flower. I heard they said before he passed away, he had mumbled your name.”

Catherine’s tears started to drop. She felt sick and felt like vomiting but could not. She did not want to eat or drink, as if she was possessed. She stayed in bed for the whole week and the physician could not find any cause of the sickness. One day, when she woke up, she saw a yellow and black butterfly flying outside the window.

“No, it is not a butterfly, it is Philip, my love come to look for me. I will fly with him.”

Catherine felt like she could fly. She felt like she had transformed into a butterfly. She flew toward Philip. And they were flying freely toward the sky.

Nail Salon

In 1990, Song, a 24-year-old beautiful Korean girl, followed her newlywed husband Steve to Flushing, New York. They were college sweethearts. After graduating, Steve and her mother and sister immigrated to America first. When Steve found a steady job, he went back to marry her and bring her back to New York.

Flushing is a busy Asian community district. There are Chinese, Korean, and Indians in the same area. Song and Steve lived in a one-bedroom apartment. Steve worked as a manager in a Korean restaurant in midtown Manhattan. Song did not speak English; she could not find a decent job to help the family. With the help of her husband’s friend, she got a job in a Korean beauty salon as a manicure helper. It took her about 2 weeks of training to learn how to cut and polish nails. She also learned the variation of nail polish and gel polish. She also learned the good manners of customer service.

On one Saturday, the manager let her start to help on her first customer, a middle-aged Korean woman who dresses fashionably, a milky white Gucci wool dress with contrast trim, with a pearl necklace, pearl earrings and a diamond ring on her right ring finger. Song was deeply uneasy performing her first service for the customer. Her body trebled lightly. She was overwhelmed. The fashionable woman notes Song hesitation. She asked Song:

“Are you new in here?” Song nodded in answer. The fashionable women frowned and yelled:

“I need a more experienced manicure technician.”

With the motto of “Customer is always right”, the manager must change her for another technician to perform the service. Song walked aways silently to wipe away the tears that fell on her face. As a Korean woman, she was rear up to be a gentle and obedient woman, all she known was resignation, not arguing with people.

That night, Steve takes Song to a Korean nightclub to relax her mind. That same night, the nightclub held a karaoke singing contest. Since Song was a singing star back in Korea, Steve encourages his wife to participate in the competition. Song performs a Korean pop song. Her euphemistic sound mesmerizes all the nightclub customers. When the music ends, the applause of the audience resounds in every corner of the club. The undisputed champion has emerged. When the club’s owner learns of Song’s identity back in Korea, he offers a contract for her to be the resident singer in the night club. He also invites her and her husband as distinguished guests to a Korean community’s party of the year on the Saturday night of the end of that month.

On the night of the community party, Song dresses up for the party. Her light pink colored one-piece dress, light pink high heels, and hair accessories display her young beauty and lively gesture. All the VIP table guests are surprised to see this young couple at the party for the first time. The fashionable lady showed up late to the VIP table too. She recognized Song right away. She was surprised and disdained Song and turned her head away to show she did not want to sit down at the same table as Song.

The party started with a few rounds of food and drink, then some stage performances. Then the nightclub owner, who was the host of the party, announces that a secret VIP guest was attending the party. Song was invited on the stage; the host introduces her as a Korean singing star that will perform a song for the party.

Once again, when Song sang, the whole venue was silent. Her pop song was exactly what the overseas Koreans wanted to hear. After the first song finishes, all the guests stand up and applaud. All the guests requested her to sing some more songs. She performed two more songs before she came back down to her seat. Steve asks her in a whisper:

“Why does the woman sitting across from us look a little ashamed when she looks at you?”

“She is the lady who showed disdain for me at the beauty salon,” Song replies.

Smiling

It was 1978. Kim, a 50 years-old divorced Korean woman, immigrated to New York with her family. She had her 70 years-old-mother, her teen aged daughter and son with her. They immigrated with the invitation of her younger brother, who was an American citizen.

When Kim was young, Korea was under the Japanese colonial rule. She studied in a Japanese educational school system. She spoke fluent Japanese. However, she retained her Korean cultural heritage of meekness and hard work. She divorced her husband because he cheated on her out of wedlock.

When she settled down in New York, she needed to find a job to support the family. With the help of her brother, she found a server job at a Japanese club and restaurant. Most of the customers were Japanese. With her fluent Japanese language, she could handle her job quite easily. If there were American clients, the host would come help on translate.

One day, an American couple came in for dinner. The host was not around at the time. Kim reluctantly went forward to greet the guests. She led them to their table and served them with menus and water. She stood with a smile on her face. She wished that the host would come back as soon as possible.

The man gave her his foods and drink order. Kim just kept a smile on her face; she did not understand a word of it.

“Why has the hostess not shown up yet?” Kim’s mind was shaking with anxiety.

The man repeated his order a few times. Kim kept smiling; her heart was pumping rapidly, her body trembling; her palm sweating. Finally, the man got angry and yelled at her. Kim burst into tears in front of the customer. Fortunately, the host showed up just in time to smooth things over for her.

On the subway ride back home after work, Kim thought about quitting the job. But when she got back to her rented apartment, Kim’s eldest daughter asked her in Korean:

“Mom, I move into New Rochelle College next week. I need some money for buying books and other expenses.”

As a responsible mother, Kim decided to swallow her own pride and reported to work again the next day. Even though, she knew that she would remember this embarrassment on the job her whole life.

International House

“Ding ling ling. Ding ling ling.” The ringing sound of the telephone on the bedside table woke Noy up from her dream at midnight. Noy turned over in bed sleepily reluctantly reached for the phone and said: “Who is it? I am still sleeping.”

“It is mom, sorry to wake you up. It is noontime in Bangkok here.” Noy was wide awake when she heard her mother’s voice. She realized that the time difference between New York and Bangkok was 12 hours apart. She said: “Mom, I miss you. Any good news for me?” Her mom answered:

“My dear, I have to say sorry to you this time. Your father’s export business has been down recently. We might not send your money for the month in time.”

“Mom, how can I survive?” Noy asked.

“Do not worry, we will try to send you money as soon as possible. Please take care of yourself. Bye dear.”

“Bye, mom.”

It was fall-semester, 1973. Noy attended Saint Francis College in Brooklyn, New York. And she lived in a dormitory at the “International House”, Riverside Drive, upper New York. She needed to calculate her financial situation immediately. Fortunately, her parents had paid for the dormitory and the college’s tuition for the whole semester. Her monthly allowance from her parents was $2500, which was equivalent to $50,000 Baht in Thai currency. Noy knew that her parents never missed sending her money each month. Missing the allowance would mean their family business was in trouble. Noy was the princess of the family. She never worried about working for money since her childhood. She did not know if she could find a part-time job to support herself. Her pocket money was less than a thousand dollars. How could she survive? Bothered by the problem, she tossed and turned the whole night without sleep.

“Ding ling ling. Ding ling ling.”, The phone rings again at 8 a.m. in the morning. Noy pick up the phone. A sweet man’s voice came from the phone: “Good morning sweetheart, how are you today?” It was Paisan her boyfriend. Paison was a graduated Thai student at Columbia University. Noy’s mood turned a little bit better. It was like she had found a savior. She said: “Dear, may I see you today evening after school? I need to ask you for something.” Paisan said: “Certainly, I called you to seek a date too. I will meet you in the Thai restaurant at 5 in Chinatown.” Noy replied, “Yes, see you at 5.”

Saint Francis College was a small college at the time. There was not a big campus for all the students to romp around. Between class times, students would flock to the college cafeteria in the basement to relax, eat, drink, or chat with their friends. It was like a student center. There were more than twenty other Thai students in the college. The Thai students would sit in a corner of the cafeteria to chat in their native language. It was like a student club which made them close to each other. Noy was one of the most beautiful girls in the group. She was generous and courteous. She befriended every person in the group. That day the Thai group had a meeting to hold a dance party at the International House. Noy volunteered to represent the group to rent a ballroom from the I-House.

After school, Noy took the subway to Chinatown. Paisan was already waiting for her in the Thai restaurant. After they ordered their meal, Paisan asked her: “What is it that you want to talk to me about?”

“My parents cannot send money for me now. I do not know how I can survive.” Noy answered.

“Do not worry. To tell you the truth, my family is rich in Thailand. I can support you with no problem at all,” Paisan said.

Noy was finally relieved that she did not need to worry about financial problems for now. However, something unfortunate happened. A Thai lady customer in a purple dress just walked into the restaurant. When Paisan and that purple dress lady saw each other, their face colors suddenly changed. The purple dress lady angrily said; “Who is this girl? Do not tell me she is your new girlfriend.” Paisan was stunned and did not know how to answer. Noy asked the lady: “Who are you? Why do you bother us?” The lady answered, "I am his girlfriend."”

Suddenly, Noy understood that Paisan was a heartbreaker who pedaled two boats at the same time. Noy picked up her belongings and walked out of the restaurant in a rage. She did not even pay attention to Paisan calling behind her. That night, she could hardly sleep for another night.

Noy was sick for a few days after she returned to school. She resisted showing her sadness. She managed to rent the ballroom for the Thai student dance party. They managed to sell more than 150 tickets to the Thai overseas residents who lived in New York City. On the Saturday night of the party, they hired a Thai music band formed in New York to perform Thai and Western music for the dance party. To relieve her agony, Noy volunteered to sing a Thai song for the party. Her white evening gown, beautiful face, and nice voice made the party look great. Unfortunately, due to her stage fright, she forgot to sing a part of the song. The band had to jump forward to accommodate her.

The following Monday, Noy was embarrassed to show up in the school cafeteria. She left school and went back to her dormitory right away. The other students did not know how to comfort her. She had been getting lonelier for some time.

Due to her melancholy mood, she was behind in her studies. As a foreign student, her English was inferior to other students already. That made her studies even worse. One day, during her biology exam, her mind was blank. She could not answer any questions at all. She kept turning her head to the left and right of her seat. She was caught cheating outright by the professor and was expelled from the exam. She walked out of the classroom crying.

The following day, the Thai student group were stunned to find out the news That Noy jumped out of the I-house building to commit suicide. And there was news that the biology professor locked himself in his office for several hours without answering anyone’s call.