Page 49 of Damian & Jun: Episodes 5-8
Well, here went nothing.
“Someone tried to make me do something I didn’t want to do.”
Dana’s face creased up. She lifted her finger, giving him lots of time to say no, and touched the edge of one bruise on his cheek. “Did you do it after they hit you?”
“No.”
“What did you do?”
“I fought them.”
Dana breathed out slowly. “You’re like Alice.”
Jun looked over his shoulder toward Collin’s sister. She had her head down over a cell phone, sitting shoulder to shoulder with Jaewoong. “Really?”
“She shot the man who tried to take us away.”
“She’s brave.”
Dana nodded. “I don’t know if I’m that brave.”
“It’s easier to be brave than to be scared.”
“Why?”
“People who want to hurt you will always hurt you, over and over again. They say they’ll do something big and terrible if you fight, but even if you don’t fight, they’ll keep taking, bit by bit, until you don’t have anything to fight back with. Once someone proves who they are, you have to take the risk.”
“What risk?”
“Whatever they’re threatening you with.”
“Like getting shot?”
“Like getting shot.”
Dana was quiet for a long moment. She kicked her legs. Maribel came over and sat near her. She ran her fingers through the dog’s fur. “Did you wait?”
“Too long.”
“And the bad thing, did they do it?”
“They tried.”
“And you fought them, like Alice.”
“I fought them. What’s the worst they could do?”
“They could kill you, like they killed Mama.”
Jun’s blood ran cold. Mama, Ni zai nar? (Mama, where are you?)
Dana wrapped herself tighter around her dog.
Jun reached out, showing his hand. “I lost my mother a long time ago.”
“Did someone kill her, too?”
“I don’t know.”
