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Lily picks up her phone and clicks a few buttons before holding it up to her face. Her hand shakes, and she uses the other to fidget with her hair, placing it the way she deems more presentable.
The video call rings twice before the connected tone sounds.
Lily’s timid when she says, “Hi, Mom.”
“Lily?!Lily!” Lily’s mom bursts into tears, then speaks so fast in Mandarin that Lily can’t get a word in. In English, she yells, “Shen! Shen! Lily’s on the phone! It’s Lily!”
“I’m all right, Mama. I’m okay. I’ve been okay this entire time,” Lily says, her hand still shaking.
Lily’s mom continues wailing. I’ve never had much interaction with her, only Officer Liu—Shen, apparently—but even so, the sound is gut-wrenching.
“Where are you, Lily? Tell us, and your father and I will come get you right away!Shen!”
There’s a heavy thumping on the other side, then the voice I know so well booms over the phone. “Lily?!Where are you? Are you all right? We’ve been so worried about you!”
“I’mfine, Bàba, I’m fine. Nothing was ever wrong.”
“What do you mean? Tell me where you are,” Officer Liu demands.
“I—I can’t. I’m not ready yet.”
“What do you mean?” Lily’s mom asks, her voice shaking. “Of course, you can come home. You belong with us, Lily. We’ve missed you so much.”
Officer Liu takes over again. “Is something wrong? Is someone monitoring this call?” He switches to Mandarin, probably giving her instructions in case she’s being held hostage and this is a ransom call.
“No, I’m not—everything isfine!” Lily interrupts.
“No one is here! I’m making this call of my own free will.”
“Then why can’t you tell us where you are? Where have you been this whole time?” he demands.
Lily’s hands have stopped shaking, and she seems more confident now that the initial shock is over, but she still hesitates before she says, “I ran away. A friend took me in, and I’ve been staying with them this whole time.”
“You . . . youran away?” Officer Liu repeats completely bewildered. “No. That’s not like you. Someoneisthere. My Lily wouldn’trun away. Are you reading from a script? Is someone telling you what to say. Lily, you—”
“Bàba,stop!I’m telling you the truth. I was sick of you and Mama controlling every aspect of my life! I hate modeling! I hate dress fittings and auditions and posing and always being conscious of how I look. I hate having a 9:00 p.m. curfew except for study groups. I hate having so many expectations and always having to be theperfect daughter. So I went to a party, yes, apartywithalcohol, and decided not to come home. And I’m sorry for hurting you and Mama, and maybe I could’ve handled this whole thing better, but I can’t take it back.
I’ve never felt so free as I have since I left. I just couldn’t live with the pressure anymore.”
Lily’s breathing hard, and the other end of the phone is so quiet I would think they hung up if not for Lily’s mom’s quiet sniffles.
“Let me get this straight,” Officer Liu starts. “You’ve beenfinethis whole time, just sitting at a friend’s house, partying and living it up while we’ve been worried sick?!
And you’re calling usnow, after letting your mother and I think you weredead?! Do you even understand what you’ve put us through? How much trouble you’ve caused?
Lily, there’s an ongoing investigation into your disappearance! Do you even know how many rules I broke to learn any information I could? I abused all my power to find answers!”
Lily flinches with every statement, shrinking into herself more and more. She blindly reaches out for me without looking away from the screen, and I grab her hand, giving it a squeeze. Officer Liu isn’t wrong, and hearing that he’s aware of the way he abused his power fills me with a weird sense of righteousness and closure.
“I’m sorry, Bàba, I really am. I never wanted to hurt you or Mama, I just wanted some time to figure myself out. I was too scared to face you both, and I still am. I don’t think I’m ready to come home. But I want you both to know I’m safe, and that I love you.”
“Lily! Wait, Lily!” It sounds like there’s fumbling for the phone on the other end, and short, muffled arguing before Lily’s mom’s voice is clear. “I don’t care that you ran away. I don’t care about any of that. You aren’t in trouble, just come home, please.”
“Yes, sheisin trouble!” Officer Liu’s voice bellows in the background.
“Shen! Stop it!”Lily’s mom scolds him, her voice turning gentle as she says, “Don’t listen to your father, Lily.
Just come home, please, and we can work it out together, okay?”
