29. Amee

You should've seen how fast we swiveled our heads when we saw Wes approach us. Not that we were doing anything wrong.

Or right. It's like the feeling you get when the person you're bitching about is standing right behind you. The constant tremor of fear when you're scared of the worst. 

Anyway, we were gathered on the Naughty Corner. Where the adults and elders didn't know we were. Although they kind of did. But only those like Elder Hanh (Wes' grandmother) and Uncle Jin and Auntie Evelyn, and some of our parents. They knew, but never came here. This here, this place, this was ours.

We were de-stressing. Everyone was drained from funeral preparations and Chae, Tae and Sebby had moved to the funeral site. We were going spread the ashes over the West sea, the wind was westerly and their remains would fly along with the wind. A beautiful send off.

Still, this area we resided in was secluded within the DMZ. This was our home, for now. It was a home, not a  place we could receive other mourners. It was not somewhere that was easily defended, it was a place for living. We couldn't simply tell the other bloodlines where our home was. Although they probably knew. Like Oscar. They knew, right?

It took forever, scouting for the perfect spot. The funeral was to be held at a cliff's edge, overlooking a quiet beach. It had a little of it's own history, in earlier dynasties, the area had been situated between two of the three kingdoms of Korea. No matter how hard they fought or defended, the area was never under one kingdom's fiefdom for long. Eventually, the citizens considered it cursed and none ventured near it.

During those times, a Noble roamed this area, looking after and enjoying it's beauty as his own. He was protective of it and spent the next hundred years ensuring no kingdom could claim it. That's what we liked about it. This place never had an owner, it was never land one could buy, it wasn't land you could trespass on. This piece of land had no allegiance to anything or anyone, it just provided and existed, it was free.

Speaking of people who weren't free though, Wes told us about Oscar. And Chae kind of told us through Tae. They only told us enough for us to figure it out. It was awkward, especially for Wes, when we saw him. It seemed like Oscar had moved in and Wes had moved out.

Kim was swearing more than usual, in fact we all were. I don't know, I'm so tired. And scared. I just want to rest, finish with all the disturbing shit that comes on after another. With Chae gone, everyone was trying to avoid Elder Park who was taking advantage of her absence. He tried to keeping us busy, ordering us to do meaningless tasks, like delivering random shit they had supposedly left behind. I think he still has thoughts on ruling. I don't even know what I think, not really, nor what I feel. I feel sad, like I need to mourn for those I miss, but nobody was letting me cry. I don't know what I'm talking about.

And I'm the second eldest out of all of us. Wes was the eldest. Then Jess, Kim, Karinna and Cass. I wonder what they're thinking. Actually, thinking back on it, Oscar would be the eldest right? Does he count though?But I wonder how Jessie, Karrina and Cassie were feeling. Kim was tough, or he acted tough. But I wanted to know what they were thinking about. So that I might know, what I should be feeling. Wouldn't it be nice to be an Ashenbury, right now? The theos of minds would be so useful right now. What am I saying? Against who? I wonder if I'm making sense.