Page 8 of Paradox
I fling the door open— “You little fuck!”—and kick him in the chest before he can pry the axe back out.
I watch his small body skid through the grass and dirt like he weighs nothing.
For several seconds he breathes heavily, just lying where he stopped. Then, with a tenacity I’ve never seen before in anyone, he stands, brushes the front of his sweatshirt, and tells me again, "I’m not leaving.”
“What the hell did you do?”
“Will you let me stay if I tell you?”
“Oh, shut up.” I lean down, pull out the axe, and take my phone back out of my pocket. “You've got one minute to get out of here on your own.”
Without breaking eye contact, Jintae marches to the bottom step and looks up. The jet black wavy hair that curtains his forehead falls away, and his bare, pale face just stares at me. Completely silent. Like a puppy, but with strong eyes.
He’s so fucking tiny, waist height from where he’s standing, but right now he could care less. Because even in the darkness, his face is shining, like he’s stronger than I’ll ever be.
His eyes shut, and when they open again, a single tear catches the moonlight as it runs down his cheek. “My time’s up… What are you gonna do with me?”
“Put you in my truck, and drive you home myself.”
Jintae drops to his knees, hangs his head, and sobs. “I can’t go back. I… I’ve got no money left. They know where all my friends live. I just need to stay away until they calm down.”
Stepping back inside the porch, I rest the axe against the cabin door and sit on the bench above my beer. “Whatever you’ve done can’t be that stupid it’s worth risking your life for.”
“I’d have been fine. I’m not an idiot,” he sniffles.
“You’re real mouthy for someone without a clue.”
“Screw you.”
“Where’s the generator?”
“I’d have found it.”
“And getting it started?”
“I’d have figured it out.”
“There’s no internet out here.” The way his head shoots up makes me snicker. “That’s right, you bright spark. Cell service is the best you’ll get, and that’s only if there isn’t a storm.”
“You’d be surprised what people can suffer through if they’re determined enough.”
Reaching above my head, I flick the switch by the door, and the porch lights flicker on. “What about solar panels? There’s probably enough power stored in the batteries to keep these lights on for an hour, but what if they break? Can you fix the battery? Can you cut down a tree? Make a fire? You’ll need to boil water to cook that Ramen. And what about that water?” Unzipping the front of his backpack, I eye the bottles of soju. “There’s none in here. So unless you’ve got a stash in your duffle bag, you’d have been shit out of luck because the filter in there is a bitch at the best of times.”
“Fine, I’m an idiot,” he whispers. “I’ll admit to anything you want.”
“I don’t want you to admit to anything, you dense fuck! But how can you not see that you coming here was dumber than dogshit?” Without realizing it, I’m standing over him again, gripping the screen door frame, and shouting down at him. “There’s a blizzard forecast for Monday. And sure, with your noodles and the mystery cans still in the pantry from the last time I was here you could have made it till it thawed. But you’d look like a prisoner of fucking war!”
“There’s no need to yell at me.” His voice is meek as he talks down to my feet.
“And there’s no need to be so fucking stubborn.”
“So why areyouhere?”
“That’s none of your goddamn business.”
“I know the shop doesn’t close for the winter.”
“Do you want me to hit you for real this time?”
