Page 135 of Nash Falls
“There is no mirror here. Have I changed much?”
“Not your spirit. That has not changed. I see it in your eyes. I hear it in your voice. The rest, it does not matter.”
Masuyo lifted a shackled hand, and Victoria drew closer so that her mother could touch her face.
“You are very lovely, my child.”
“I take after you. I have my mother’s spirit and her spine.”
This answer seemed to both delight and sadden Masuyo.
“In the crash of a plane, the damage must be severe.” She drew back her daughter’s sleeve and saw the warped skin there. “All of you?”
“No, only some. But… enough.”
“You have survived the fires of hell, my child. This is your reminder.”
Steers nodded. “That is how I view it.”
Masuyo tugged the sleeve back down. “You know that they are almost certain I will die here.”
“Almostandcertainare not the same,” replied Steers.
“I have waited years to be able to hear you say that, my beautiful child.”
Steers gripped the hand and pressed it against her chest, over her heart. “I keep you here always, Mama. Always.”
Masuyo then pressed her daughter’s hand against her chest. “And you here, xia gong zhu.”
Steers drew back and bowed her head.
“Your business goes well?” asked Masuyo, though in a way that demonstrated that she already knew the answer.
“I only enjoy the fruit of your labors.”
“You have done well, Victoria. You have exceeded all our dreams.”
“But the price is heavy.”
“The price is always heavy, until one decides to stop paying it.”
“And this is possible?”
“It is inevitable,” said her mother.
“Your speech surprises and also encourages me.”
“The place where one is born does not dictate all outcomes. One grows and changes, or one’s life is empty and of no value. You do not have such a life. I do not have such a life.”
“Plans need to be made.”
“Follow the heart, Victoria, and it will set you, and me, free.”
“You are wise.”
“I am old. If I am not wise, then it is my fault.”
“I will see you again, Mama.”
