"What a nice Sincia decoration." I said with a smile and tried to think it was normal.
"I think it is the time to stop hiding myself in my own identity and continue my normal life." My aunt said as she cast her frightened and worried gaze onto the decorations.
"I think it's a pretty good move. It's okay ai, take it slow." Although she didn't mention that she was taking this action out of anxiety, her gaze was too clear for me to calm her down. then she smiled and went to the kitchen to prepare food for me, as if to show that she was fine.
I stayed for three days at my aunt's apartment. Spending time in her apartment by helping her cook, accompanying her to knit, and occasionally taking walks together on the beach which is only a few hundred meters from my aunt's apartment building makes me miss my mother and father. Living alone in a city as comfortable as Melbourne with sufficient economy is free and enjoyable. However, the safety and comfort felt when living with people who matter to us is a pleasure that cannot be beat by anything. On my last day to stay at my aunt's apartment she asked about something that made me confused.
"Merry, I haven't asked you about this. What about your father's plan for you to continue his business?" Asked my aunt.
"Continuing papi's business?" this question made me flinch. I can't be sure how many thoughts that came up about the phrase "continue my father's business" as if they were exploding in my brain. My brain can't accept the sentence asked by my aunt. "What do you mean, ai? Maybe you have heard that I resigned from my job. But that's because I already have enough income and I will fulfill my dream of traveling around the world." I confirmed my aunt's question.
I could see my aunt's less expressive face contorted in confusion. "I can't believe that your father hasn't told you about this," she said as he opened the pizza sauce, which was still tightly sealed as if it had just come out of the factory. "He said that he had to tell me because it meant you were leaving Melbourne, and I was completely alone here. But who cares, things are different, I'm used to being alone." She continued, now with a more worried and much more frightened expression on his face but still trying to hide it.
I was confused and said "I'll ask papi later, thanks for letting me know earlier ai."
She just gave me a thin smile that didn't change her flat face much.
My aunt decided to move to Adelaide and live alone while I decided to marry and move in with my ex-husband; Dave who is an Australian citizen of Chinese descent, at the age of twenty-five. My marriage to Dave didn't last long. We divorced after two years of marriage. I got an apartment to live in, while my aunt still wants to live alone in Adelaide.
The main problem if what my aunt said was true is; I don't understand how my father could ask me to continue his business. His business is in Indonesia, he has exiled his daughter from Indonesia for twenty-four years. How could he suddenly ask someone he seemed to have protected so much from a threat for years to approach the threat itself. This sounds like walking into a tiger's den to me.
