Unu Shim gasped along with everyone else milling about who’d witnessed this. Then he realized it was Ella standing next to the woman who’d just hit the tall white guy so hard that blood trickled toward his lips.
11 COVENANT
I DESERVED THAT,” Jay said, tasting the blood on his upper lip. In his entire life, he had never once been hit; somehow, he’d managed to avoid having a fistfight even as he attended an all-boys’ school, and at home, he had wisely refused to tangle with his older brother, Ethan, who had an unforgettable temper. Casey had clocked him. Even as Jay swept blood from the patch of skin beneath his nose, he couldn’t believe it.
Feeling somewhat responsible, Ted moved closer to Casey, ready to pull her back in case she started swinging—nevertheless, he was amused by the possibility. Unu Shim had by this point managed to break through the crowd to get to his cousin Ella, who was herself so visibly stunned by this that she couldn’t speak.
“Ella? Are you okay?” Unu asked. They hadn’t seen each other since his wedding in Seoul three years before.
“Unu. . .” Ella stared at him in disbelief. “Hi. I’m so glad to see you.”
Unu folded his arm around Ella’s shoulders and patted her back gently, the way his father greeted people.
Ella rested her fingers lightly on Unu’s forearm, then reflexively she thought to grab a Kleenex from her makeup bag and she offered it to Jay.
Casey watched this interaction as if she were seeing it on TV. What was Ella doing handing Jay tissues? Then Jay took the tissue from Ella, mumbling a shy “Thank you.” He stopped up his nose with it. Casey put her hands behind her back, suddenly appreciating what she had done. She was the one who’d made Jay bleed. It was as if her hand had been angry for her, formed a fist, and couldn’t resist the act. Casey had never intended to hit him.
She looked upward at the cloudless sky. It was a perfect August morning without a trace of humidity; it could have been a clear day in May. In her life, she’d never struck another person, and she didn’t think she’d ever do so again. Having been hit herself, she knew what that felt like: You felt dumb, ugly, and unlovable. Now that she’d hit Jay, she saw that she had diminished him. And herself. He had gotten bigger than life to her, and she’d had to punish him. Her body was shaky with feeling. The people leaving the church kept looking her way.
“Casey, can’t I talk to you?” Jay asked. The woman who’d given him the tissue tapped her chin, telling him to lean his head back. She must have been Ted’s fiancée, Ella.
Ted interjected, “Hey, man,” and Jay nodded, smiling weakly. Ted Kim was in charge of his most recent deal and had a say in his bonus.
Casey ignored this. She looked at Jay. “I want my things.” Each morning when she dressed at Ella’s, she remembered something else at his apartment—a tube of expensive mascara, hosiery, her favorite lace brassieres, even drugstore-brand deodorant—items she couldn’t afford to replace.
“You have things that are mine. I need them back.” Casey started to cry.
Ella’s eyes stung, and she could not look away.
Unu felt hot in the noon sun. The guy standing beside Ella, who was probably Ted, wore a black polo shirt and chinos. Certain no one cared now, Unu unwound his grape-colored print necktie, folded it, and socked it into his jacket pocket. Then he removed his suit jacket.
“Ella, you okay?” Unu asked. Ella nodded. “Maybe brunch is not such a good idea. Do you want me to call you later?”
“No, no, don’t go.” Ella grabbed his arm. “I am so sorry. This. . . this is Ted,” she said, her head turning left to right as though she were watching a tennis match. Ted shook Unu’s hand.
Ella didn’t know if and how she should introduce Casey to Unu. Casey couldn’t seem to stop sobbing. Ella felt livid. Ted had made this happen. She moved closer to Casey, drew her arm around her friend’s torso like a protective wing. “Are you all right? Should we ask Jay to go?”
Jay looked at Ella, more surprised that the woman knew his name than at her suggestion that he should leave.
Casey sniffled and leveled her gaze at Jay. They stood a few paces from each other. “You disappointed me,” she said calmly.
Jay exhaled, unable to respond. He reached over to take her hand.
“Don’t touch me, you son of a bitch.” As she said this, Casey realized that Mary Ellen had told him how to find her. “You prick.”
Casey’s harsh words were thrown like quiet punches, and Ella found herself wincing.