XENITH

Goodnight Mei
by Suejin Suh

I.

Mei glues googley eyeballs to
pompoms for her kids at school. Monsters, she says
as she holds up a green, seeing pompom.
Monsters for the monsters, she laughs. She tells
me about how she used to be a hardcore
Christian; she gave up on religion after witnessing
her first public kiss—a young couple on the street in Cardiff.

Two years ago, she married Lou,
a thirty-something, philosophy student
who studies On the Genealogy of Morality
nude on the living room floor. She wants to share
dinners and exchange conversation; he’s got band
practice, a hockey game, drinks with old,
new, and soon-to-be friends.

Without Lou, Tong Zhou would be dull. Monday morning,
his colleagues slump at their desks, eyes half-
open in front of their computer screens.
Lou, already coffeed up, sings “Heart of Gold”
to himself. Before class, he picks up
his books and as he passes a mini-skirted
office assistant, he pretends not to notice her
flirting with him.

II.

Mei wouldn’t think to leave Lou
alone with an attractive blonde who needed
help with her motorcycle. Mei collects
Lou’s paychecks and gives him a monthly allowance.
When Lou runs out of money, he tutors the undergrads for cash.

Mei’s mother warned—those born
in the Year of the Snake and the Year of the Pig
would be destined to fight. And they admit that they have
fought for over five years— broken up
seven times.

III.

Mei looks at me, squeezes my forearm firmly,
Does he still love me? She doesn’t wait
for a response. How could he? He’s hardly ever here.
Still, she wants a baby next year.

Mei yawns, stretches her arms to the ceiling
and then she smiles sleepily. It is time for me
to leave. When Mei closes her eyes tonight, she’ll go back—
back to when Lou wore a ponytail, when there were first nervous
phone calls and when they had dates at teahouses.
She will climb onto his lap and her smooth lips will tingle
with the electric startle of their first kiss.

***

Suejin Suh is orginally from Long Island, New York. She studied English Literature and Creative Writing at New York University. Her works have been recently published in such literary magzines as Lungfull, Shampoo, and The Battered Suitcase. She is currently working as a teacher in Seoul,South Korea.

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