Excerpt: Northwest Passages

Angel collected her belongings and they set out in her car a 1997 geo metro small compact. The drive out to the edge of town past the elementary school and the trailer park, toard 165 to the small diner. As they parked, Dae Ho could see his daughter insdie running happily from one end of the diner to the other with her friend close behind trying to thow a dish rag on her head. The customers were quite enetertained.
“Oh I comes with a dinner theatre.” Angel said as they got out.
“every night.” Dae ho answered and they went inside.
As the door chimed. Etain turned and ran for her father. Etain ran for Dae Ho (Korean) Appa!” and she grabbed hold of him as he lifted her in the air and snuggled.
Angel was taken back. “You have a daughter?” she asked
“yes I do.” Dae Ho answered and showed her to booth. Etani went back ‘to work’ as the two talk over grilled cheese sandwiches that the girls made.
That evening Angel told Dae Ho her story. She ws born in town and then her father and mother divorced and he took her away to seattle. She grew up there time to time coming back to town to visit her mother, but never for more than a few days. They years passed on and she spent less time in town. She went off to college and got a bachelors and then masters in psychology. Her specialty was community. The psychology of community. She had received word that her other had suffered a heart attack and passed away. Her mother left everything to her. The store and apartment were in such a state because her mother had spent every penny paying off the property to own it outright and to leave it to her daughter.
“She never really believed she had been a good mother.”
“Angel wiped a tear and looked out the diner windpow. Etain stepped up and offered her another glass of Soda. Dae-Ho motioned for her to rejoin her friend she walked off while keeping an eye on the woman with the small face and soft eyes.
Abgek continued.
“I want to restore the store and apartment for my mother. I even have a plaque being made to put on the building in her honor.
“she meant a lot to this community.” Dae ho offered her
angel turned to him
“really?”
“yes. She offerd GED program out of the store for free, tutored and ran study groups for anyone interested. If you didn’t know how to read she could teach you. She taught my father to read and write English.” He smiled and then finished his sandwich. Angel sat back and thought about what he had said.
“well then I guess we were meant to do this.” She smiled and so did he.
Around ten ocloclk they had made arrangements and shook on the deal Etain and Dae – Ho would stay in the aprtment and Angel would bunk in the office and Dae – Ho and Angel would clean out and the scrap the store down to see what it offered. From there Angel would use her inheritance from her mother’s life insurance and her grandmother’s estate (on her father’s side) the pay for the repairs and redeisng. It wasn’t a fortune,but with some creative ideas they could really make something out of it. Pieces of rela estate were being bought up along down town by the newest influx of resident froms eattle that were looking \for a commuter center to call home. The town was a 1 hour drive to seattle. Not bad nowadays.

The next day Dae –Ho took the girls to school and then took Rebecca’s car to the bookstore to begin the clean up. He had called a friend who ran the dumpster service for the municipal and he gave him a dumpster for free. Repaying Dae Ho for doing work on his house after it had caught fire . A bad effect of drinking and setting fireworks off on the forth of July. Dae ho showed up as the dumpster was being placed in the back parking lot. He put on a t shirt, jeans and boots and a baseball hat and goggle and gloves. He went inside and Angel was there getting more books off shelves.
“Be careful.” He said with an optimism he hadn’t felt in a while. She smiled and nodded.
“I know I know.”
Together they spent the morning merticuouly moving everything into the dumptser from the back room that was divded into an area of an office and washroom and a storage area with shelves. After they cleaned out the storage area and office, they got to work scrubbing the walls, floors and breaking open the two small windows that had been painted over. The windows would be first on dae ho repair list to air out the back area. After the cleaning it was lunch time and Dae Ho set out to give Rebecca back to the diner and thehn returned to continue getting all th savaagble supplies and furniture into the storage area. He then iled up any wood or other matierial he though he could repurpose. After closing time Mr Robinson came over and “managed” the operation from a rocking chair in the corner. He too had suffere a heart attack and was not allowed by mrs robinson at any cost.
They spent the evening moving in a cot into the office and setting up some tray tables for angel’s belongings. Then they went up sstair and assessed how to get it into a livabhle situation . The next day would be cleaning the upstairs out. Dae Ho elft angel and Mr Robinson in deep discussion about bookcases and went to get Etain from an afterschool special program that feature a sleep in and movie. He was going to be an adult volunteer. He arrived, hugged his daughter and then reported to duty rolling out sleeping bags in the suditorium and then manning the popcorn area. Several popcorn fights broke out during the veneing. Most started by thr man behind the counter. He for one night chose to foget his problems and enjoyed the care free atmosphere of the gym. For most of the night it was idalic,but then sitting on the floor with his arms behind himand his daughter cuddled in his lap sleeping his smiled left his face and his eyes narrowed as he watched Russell walk by the open gym door in the lighted hallway outside the gym. Russell stopped long enough to look at him and then continued on.