Serial: Down the River – Chapter Thirty-Four

I’m finally revisiting the characters from The River City Chronicles nine years after their original timeline. I’ll be running the series weekly here on my blog, and then will release it in book form at the end of the run. Hope you enjoy catching up with all your faves and all their new secrets!

Today, Ainsley makes a report, and then runs into an unexpected someone at her dorm…

< Read Chapter 33 | Read Chapter 35 >

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Chapter Thirty-Four
The Aftermath

“Are you sure about this?” Marissa held Ainsley’s hand outside the police station on Richards Boulevard, cars whizzing past behind them.

“You’re the one who said I should do this.” Ainsley shivered, even though it wasn’t cold out. The late morning sun beat down on her back. Part of her wanted to run back to the car, to crawl under a rock and stay there for a week. Or a month. Why did I go with him?

“And I stand by that.” Marissa’s warm brown eyes met hers, her lips tightening. “If you don’t report him, he’ll do this again, with someone else. You know that.” She sighed and looked up at the bright blue sky. “But I don’t want you to do it if you’re not sure.”

Ainsley closed her eyes. She was right. Of course, she’s right. How many times had she seen something like this on TV and not understood why the woman didn’t just run to the police to tell her story? But now, it was real. It was happening to her. “He didn’t really hurt me…”

“But he might have, if you hadn’t protected yourself.” Marissa’s brow furrowed and her eyes narrowed. “Besides, that’s bullshit.”

Ainsley stared at her.

“He did hurt you. You’re in emotional turmoil, about your art, about Jun Seo, even about your parents and what they would think. Injuries don’t always show on the surface.”

“Got any change to spare?” An old woman, maybe forty, maybe sixty—her skin was so sun-dried and wrinkled it was hard to tell—stared at her expectantly, her dirty, gnarled hands wrapped tightly around a red shopping cart’s handle. The cart was filled with plastic bags, stuffed full with bits of soiled cloth in a hundred colors sticking out at odd angles. A single gold ring adorned the woman’s ring finger on her left hand, and she wore a sari and matching headdress, both a bright turquoise with gold stitching, though its jaunty effect was diminished by smudges of dirt here and there. It was apparent she hadn’t bathed in weeks.

Still, she held herself with a certain dignity.

Marissa reached for her wallet and pulled out a twenty. “Here you go.”

The woman took the bill and stuffed it into a hidden pocket, then reached for Marissa’s hand with both of hers, her clay-colored skin, smudged with dirt, contrasting with Marissa’s white hands. “Bless, you, child.”

Then she turned away and pushed her cart away down the street, whistling softly.

“Aren’t you afraid she’ll buy drugs with that?” She covered her mouth with her hand, shocked she had said it aloud.

Marissa’s eyes narrowed again. “I didn’t when I was on the streets.”

Ainsley’s face went cold. “You… I didn’t… you never told me.” How much did she really know about Marissa? “When?”

“When I was in high school. My parents kicked me out for kissing a girl.” She pulled her dark hair back behind one ear and sighed. “I don’t talk about it much. It was a rough time. Matteo and Dave basically adopted me, and I’ve been a part of their extended family ever since.”

“So Carmelina isn’t really your grandmother?”

Marissa laughed, and some of the warmth returned to her eyes. “Oh no, she really is. But that’s a story for another day.” She glanced at the police station doors. “You ready?”

Ainsley bit her lip. “Yeah. Sure. Let’s go.” Yes, her parents might be disappointed, and she was probably going to lose the internship with Jun Seo. But if Marissa could be strong enough to do what she’d done, living alone on the street, Ainsley could manage this. She’d tell the cops her story, and let things fall out wherever they might.

Time to fuck around and find out.

#

Ainsley trudged up the steps to her dorm building—one of the new ones along the river that sought to “reconnect the campus with its riparian environment.” Whatever that meant. The river was running low—probably saving water up in Lake Folsom for the fall. California was always one bad winter away from extreme drought.

The interrogation had been grueling— she felt like she was the perp, not Jake. And the way that cop—A, Smith—had looked at her the whole time… she shuddered.

The dorm building was dead. It was Friday afternoon, and most of the other students were probably in class or already headed off campus for the weekend. For all its new student housing, Sac State was still a commuter campus at heart.

Marissa had to go back to work—well, working at home, but she’d graciously allowed Ainsley to stay for as long as she wanted. But she could only handle so many Squid Games in a row. Eventually she’d given Marissa a peck on the cheek, checked the bus schedule, and had taken the 23 line down to Fulton to the 26—an hour and a half to go about seven and a half miles.

She reached her own hallway and stopped in her tracks. Someone was slouched down in front of her doorway, staring at a cell phone screen. A very recognizable someone. She stared at them for a moment, not believing her own eyes. “Jun Seo?”

They looked up, their eyes sad and red, looking ten years older without their usual make-up. “Hello, Ainsley.” They got up awkwardly, stretching their long limbs. They were wearing a long black trenchcoat, now rumpled and wrinkled. They must be hot..

“What… what are you doing here?” She looked around, shivering at the thought that Jun Seo’s manager might be with them.

“I fired him.”

“But… why?” She couldn’t quite process what they were saying. The whole situation felt surreal. Jun Seo in my dorm.

Their eyes were downcast, their shoulders slumped. “You know why. I… came to apologize.” They held out their hands in entreaty.

Her mind ran over the night before. How could they know? There wasn’t anyone else in the room when it happened… “We were alone…”

They looked back up at her, their normally dark-brown eyes shockingly purple, their hair spiky, as if they hadn’t showered since last night. They looked almost exactly a disheveled anime character. “When I saw you run out, I asked him what had happened. He told me he’d offered you the internship, but you had… flaked out, I think he said? But something wasn’t right. That’s not like you. I’ve known since the moment I met you that you were intense, focused, driven. You wouldn’t just flake out.”

She felt the heat rising from her cheeks. This can’t be happening. The world had turned upside down. She grabbed the wall to steady herself against the universe’s sudden shift. “But… we were alone…” You said that already, you idiot.

Their eyebrow raised, a ghost of a smile crossing their lips. “Ah, but Mr. O’Malley has a web cam in his office.”

“Oh shit.” She covered her mouth, her eyes going wide. This close to them, she could smell the wool of their coat, heavy and thick.

Jun Seo laughed, though there was little mirth in it. “Yes. Oh shit. I asked Kelton to tell me more about Jake. I’d heard… whispers. But nothing definite. And he was supposed to be the best. Then I mentioned that he’d been meeting with you in Kelton’s office and… he leaves it on all the time. Just in case.”

“And you saw.” Now her face was on fire. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have reacted like that.”

Their expression turned grim, their lips flattening into a thin line. “You did exactly the right thing. No man should treat a woman… or anyone… like that.”

She blinked. All her life, her mother had taught her to be yielding, to go with the flow. A lesson learned from a hard life in Korea, before coming to the States.

She’d always done what her parents asked of her. What anyone in authority had asked. But now… “I’d like to work with you. If the offer is still open.” It came out in a rush, and for the second time that day, she covered her mouth.

What are you doing? It would mean leaving school, at least for a while. Her parents would be furious. And yet… she wanted this like nothing she ever had.

“Oh you do?” That raised eyebrow again.

“You’d be lucky to have me.” That brashness asserted itself, coming from a place deep inside of her.

Jun Seo Jang stared at her for a moment. Then they laughed, heartily, crossing their arms as if trying to hold it in.

“What?” The blush returned, and with it, her anger. “Why are you laughing at me?”

Their laughter subsided, but their smile this time was genuine. “You are a refreshing change. Most people I meet treat me like a celebrity—”

She snorted. “Well, you are.”

“But not you. And yes, I agree.” They nodded sharply. “I’d be lucky to have you. Could you start next week?”

Now it was her turn to stare at them. “I…” She’d have to tell her mother and father. It would mean a radical life change. Leaving college—for now—jumping into the unknown. Abandoning her parents’ dreams for her. There would be shouting and tears and— “Yes.” This time she didn’t cover her mouth.

They reached out a hand. “Welcome aboard, Ainsley Kim.”

She shook it, while her insides turned to blades of ice. What in the hell did I just do?

< Read Chapter 33 | Read Chapter 35 >

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Like what you read? if you haven’t tried it yet, check out book one, The River City Chronicles, here.