1.14 But he's still my Dad.

"Not going to happen," I tell Boi, my mother's younger brother. He's knocking loudly on my old bedroom door, and it's not helping my mood. After visiting Dad, I couldn't bring myself to face David, so I escaped from him. It was easy. He was preoccupied with helping someone, as usual. I immediately headed to our old apartment, which Boi now occupies after Mom and I moved in with Arnold.

"Dina. I swear to God I will break down this door. I need to change. That's not your room anymore, remember? " Boi says from the other side of the door, his voice faint. I slowly drag myself out of bed. Maybe it's time to give Boi a break. I've been sulking the whole afternoon.

I open the door an inch, peering at my uncle, "You look like hell." he observes. I ignore him and open the door wider, gesturing for him to come inside. I try to step out to give him space. But I am reminded of my dilemma again, so I end up flopping back down on the bed.

"Dina Marie. I said I need to change." Boi looks down at me reproachfully. He has a towel wrapped around his lower body and another around his head. His dark skin glistens with oil that smells suspiciously like lavender.

"Just change. I'm not looking." I tell him, burying myself deeper into the comforter.

He is silent for a moment. I can tell he's worried about me. I probably should have gone home and spared him all this, but my Mom would know something was wrong just by looking at my face. She would want to know what happened—speaking of Mom, "You didn't tell her I'm here, right?" I ask Boi.

He sighs in response, and the corner of the bed creaks as it receives his weight. "Of course not. But this is starting to look serious, so I'm afraid I'm gonna have to. You remember the deal, right?"

Boi is referring to our promise to each other. He and Mom are ten years apart, so they're not that close. And like me, Boi constantly finds himself in deep waters, too. So we swore to keep each other's secret. As long as they're not huge ones. This thing about David's parents is more than huge. If Mom finds out, David and the authorities would know right away, and I can't have that.

"Shit," Boi murmurs as he sees my expression. My face must have displayed my thoughts.

"Yes, it's something major," I tell him mournfully. "I'll tell you everything. But you have to promise me not to tell Mama. Please? Just this once. I will owe you."

Boi studies me for a moment before finally relenting, "Jeez. Okay, Dina. But can you get out and let me change first?"

___________________________

"So..you like him?" Boi responds after I finish telling him my biggest secret to date. We are now sitting at the kitchen table, him already fully dressed in flair and me still feeling like a bag of heavy bones.

"How did you get that from what I said?" I ask him, exasperated.

"Simple. The Dina I know wouldn't care one bit about this. No offense, but your Dad has offed more people than I can count with two hands. You neither felt guilty nor worried about their families. Why start now?" he tells me.

I open my mouth to retort, but nothing came. It's true. I've known about the nature of my Dad's work since I was 10, but the first time I ever really thought about it was during his trial. I felt the guilt of being related to him, looking at how devastated the families of his victims were. But that was that. It didn't take me long to shed that guilt off of me. I'm just as terrible as my Dad.

"Sorry," Boi says, clearing his throat. He seems to regret what he just said. But he shouldn't. He's only telling the truth.

"All I ever wanted was to make him proud. I wanted to be as cool as he was. I didn't know what to do when I found out that ---" the words come rushing out of me and I truly feel like I'm going to break down. Damn it. This is so uncool.

Boi quickly puts down the mug he is holding and leans towards me, squeezing my shoulder. "Of course, darling. You were a child. You didn't know black from white. He's the one to blame, okay?"

I nod, swallowing. "But he's still my Dad," I say, just like I always do, though it doesn't have the same conviction as before.

Boi must have noticed it too as he takes my hand with a serious expression on his face. "Now, this David. I see how he's different. It's because you've hung out with him and you genuinely felt like he can be a friend."

"No, it was just that one time. I hate him most of the time. He's always pulling my leg." I deny.

Boi smiles at me gently, "If you say so, dear." he humors me.

There's a knock on the door.

"That must be the little ladies," Boi says, referring to the girls that he teaches dance lessons to on the weekend. He lets go of my hand and rises gracefully from his chair. I stare at the mug on the table, willing the last of my tears to go away.

"Oh!" Jon exclaims excitedly. I look up and my eyes widen in surprise. David Choi is at the door. Perplexed, he blinked at Boi's crazy outfit before his eyes met mine.

"Dina. I found you." David says, his relief palpable.

"Of course, you did. Good hunting." Boi chatters, his voice saccharine. I narrow my eyes at him. He mouths 'beautiful' at me, inconspicuously pointing at David. I roll my eyes at him. "Come in, dear. David, right? We were just talking about you. Je m'appelle Boi. Dina's uncle."

David raises his eyebrows, "Why...were you talking about me?" he asks as he shakes Boi's outstretched palms.

"Um..." Boi hesitates as my eyes bore a hole through the back of his head.

"Oh, were you talking about how rude Dina was to me?" David says before turning his attention to me, "Disappearing like that after I graciously drove you to prison. Now, that is heartless. Even for you."

"Shut up," I snap. I study him. He doesn't look as affected by it as he claims to, though, which somehow makes me angrier. He can at least act mad at me. Maybe then I'd feel less guilty. "What are you even doing here?" I ask him.

"I got worried," he says, taking a step closer to me. Instinctively, I take one step back and his eyes get drawn to my sudden movement. "Why'd you run away like that? Did your Dad upset you or something?"

I blink at him, uneasy at the sudden gentleness in his voice. I'm frozen in my spot as he holds my gaze. Boi, sensing the awkwardness in the room, clears his throat, "Well, I wish I could offer you a drink, David. But I have students coming over in about a minute, so... why don't you take Dina home, huh? I'm assuming that's why you're here?"

I look at Boi, betrayed. "What? No--"

"Yes, of course. Sorry for imposing. I'll make sure she gets home safe." David replies, still not taking his eyes off me.

"No. I'm not coming with you." I tell him firmly. "How did you even find me here?"

"It was easy. I did a little investigating," he answers.

My heart pounds in my chest, "Wh-What do you mean?"

"Your Mom, of course. We were chatting about apartment rates before. She happened to mention where you guys used to live." David peers at me, confused at the sudden apprehension in my tone.

"Oh." I utter, clearing my throat. "Fine. You can take me home." I tell him. I have a feeling that if I ran away now, he's just going to find me again.