Arms Hotel, Friday Evening

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So, when Kathy's dad had called to inform her the family was coming out for Parent's Weekend this year, he'd put her in charge of getting them a room at the hotel. And Kathy, knowing how particular her dad could be about things, had put in a lot of thought about where they should stay and what kind of room it would be best to get them. At first, she'd considered a hotel in Baltimore proper, just to keep them away from anything crazy the island could devise over the weekend. She'd only reluctantly given that idea up when she realized that there was no way they'd be able to get a cab past the Causeway and her parents would not appreciate having to climb all those stairs just to see an on-island hotel they could have stayed in.

Then she thought about getting them a junior suite or something, just to make sure they'd be comfortable, but she knew that her mom would freak out about the price tag. The rooms weren't that expensive, but after three plane tickets, Kathy was just going to err on the side of economical. It seemed smarter. She didn't want her family thinking she didn't appreciate how much it must have cost to fly out here or that she had become careless and extravagant. The cabins had seemed really cute and would be good for privacy, but she didn't want to take one away some someone who needed it. Or have her parents run into the type of people who'd need one. Such a meeting wouldn't end well for anyone.

Instead, she'd finally settled on a basic room, but with a king-size bed instead of two doubles. Sarah could bunk with her in her dorm--which would give them time to catch up by themselves--and they could have a nice hotel room to themselves. Maybe they'd see it as a mini-vacation and her dad would stop grumbling about the expense of flying out here.

"Here's the room," she chirped, opening the door for them. "Oooh, you have a nice view through the window! I'm glad they were able to take care of that." She gave her parents a hesitant smile, it all looked good to her. The room was clean and spacious and the view really was nice. "The bed looks comfortable. I bet you'll sleep really well on it."

[Open, if anyone would have a reason to stop by? Also, tw for emotional manipulation in Kathy's thread with her parents.]

Comments

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"Oh, you're not feeling appreciated, are you?" Mr. Li asked, his eyebrow raised. "We send you out here, to a good school, pay for everything you need, but because you want to run off to a party, suddenly you have to make snide comments about your mother and not I appreciating what you do for us."

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"What? No, Dad, that's not what I was saying at all!" She hated when this happened, when she said one thing, but then he took it another and she spent more time trying to justify and explain rather than address whatever had been wrong in the first place. "I honestly meant that I thought you and Mom would like some time by yourselves! That's all! I wasn't trying to make some kind of dig at you!"

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"Now, Kathy, you need to calm down," Mrs. Li said, looking anxiously at her husband. "Your father is already upset with you. You know histrionics only upset him further."

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Sarah, in fine acting tradition, grabbed her phone and exited stage left, into the bathroom. She mouthed 'Sorry' to Kathy on her way; she felt bad for abandoning her sister, but there was absolutely nothing she could do to help.

Kathy was good at calming him down anyway, better than Sarah herself was. She'd had a lot longer to figure out the best techniques.

Ugh, she typed on an anonymous message board. Here only a few hours and he's already throwing a tantrum. Bet sis wasn't thinking of this last time she told me she was homesick.

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Kathy took a few deep breaths, making sure to speak calmly and slowly. She didn't think she was being hysterical, but protesting that would only make things worse. And, who knew? Maybe she had been. It had been so long since anyone had policed her tone, she could have easily slipped into something more strident than she'd intended. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to speak out of turn," she said, contrite. "I just wanted to assure you that I didn't mean to imply anything of the sort. I really appreciate you all coming out here and visiting me. I just thought that it would be nice for you two to some time to yourself. Like a vacation. It's been forever since you took one, since you both have to work so hard to take care of us."

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"I accept your apology, Katherine," Mr. Li said, ever-magnanimous. "Please try to control your emotions better next time so another one won't be necessary."

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"I'll try, Dad," Kathy mumbled, looking at her feet. "So, is it okay then? If Sarah and I sleep in my dorm? I think she'll enjoy the experience..."

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"Well," Mrs. Li said, looking up at her husband. "It's your father's decision, of course, but I think--"

"Absolutely not."

"--I think it would be a bad idea."

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"But Mom..."

Kathy gave that up almost immediately. When her dad spoke, they stood united.

"Dad, please? I haven't seen Sarah in forever, and I'd like to catch up with her."

She was pushing her luck, she knew, but she'd really missed her little sister and wanted to introduce her to all of her friend, out from under the watchful eyes of their parents.

"And you and Mom could have a nice--"

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"Enough!" Mr. Li snapped and Kathy instantly went quiet. "I won't hear another word about it! You and your sister will sleep here, in our hotel room, and that's final! Sarah isn't even in high school yet, she won't be spending time around high school students doing who knows what! And you will be here, spending time with your mother and me, like the dutiful daughter I wish you were!"

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Kathy flinched. Two years ago, it would even have been enough to get her to shut up and just accede to her father's will. But two years of independence on Fandom compelled her to try once more.

"You'll be asleep! We can hardly have family together times when we're all sleeping!"

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

In response, her father just turned away from her. He Wasn't Speaking to Kathy. Not while she was being so unreasonable.

"Katherine, look what you did," her mother accused. "I'm ashamed. We've come so far and spent so much money, just so you could backtalk us? Disrespect us? Is this what you're learning at your new school? From these so-called friends?"

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"Dad..." He deliberately turned away from Kathy, stubbornly looking out the window, pretending his eldest didn't exist.

Shoulders slumping, Kathy conceded defeat. There was no way to win, especially not when her dad was like this. "I'm sorry. I was in the wrong. I never should have argued. I'm really sorry. Forgive me?" She bowed deeply and held it, counting to five to show how contrite she was. "내 사과를 받아주세요. Please accept my apology."

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

Mr. Li glanced over at Kathy as she apologized, but still said nothing.

With all the drama going on in the center of the room, Sarah eased the bathroom door open without attracting anyone's notice. But seeing her father in his familiar posture, arms crossed, foot tapping, eyes firmly locked on somewhere that was not Kathy, she rolled her eyes and closed the door again.

So not worth coming out yet. Whatever, she had a data plan.

[spin_kick_snap]

Okay, so the apology hadn't been enough. Sometimes, when they were really lucky, the apology and a little bit of butt-kissery was enough to get their dad talking again. This obviously wasn't going to be the case here.

"Dad, please don't do this. It will look weird if you spend the weekend not speaking to me. People will notice. They might talk."

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

Mrs. Li looked alarmed by that. She had a horror of being judged by other people, even oddly-dressed white people she'd never see again.

"Dear, perhaps Katherine has a point. And she has apologized. Perhaps you could overlook her insubordination, if she promises to behave for the rest of the weekend?"

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"No." To an outsider, Mr. Li could be described as sounding petulant, not that either Mrs. Li or Kathy would else call him on it.

Sarah might. But it was also entirely possible that she might not. It depended on how brave she was feeling. "I'm counting all the ways that I am a failure, to have raised such a daughter as this. One who is rude and disrespectful. One who raises her voice in umbrage to her parents who provide everything for her. One who disagrees with those who are older and wiser, as if she knows everything and we know nothing."

Nose in the air, he added, "Let them talk. They can talk about what a disgraceful child she is, to be ignored by her father."

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"Please, Dad, don't say that! You're not a failure, you're not! I'm the one at fault, please don't blame yourself. I'm really sorry, Dad."

Kathy was miserable, caught between resenting her dad for behaving like a child and feeling awful for daring to think such a thing for even a moment. Her dad was trying his best to raise her the way he thought was best and she was the most ungrateful of children to resent him for it.

But, oh did he make it easy for her to feel ungrateful sometimes.

"Let me go and fetch my stuff from my dorm," she said, knowing that he would settle for nothing but unconditional surrender. "Some pjs and clothing for tomorrow? Does that sound okay?"

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

Mr. Li still didn't acknowledge Kathy, but he nodded once to his wife.

"Yes, that would be a good idea," Mrs. Li agreed. "Toiletries and clothing for Sunday, too. Plus whatever schoolwork you need for the weekend. Surely you must have homework to do?"

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Well, he'd thawed enough to respond to her mom, even if he still wasn't addressing Kathy directly. That meant she was on the right path.

"Of course," she said. "I have some additional reading for my AP courses. And a history essay to write."

Which meant that she could bring her laptop along and maybe check Tumblr or something after her parents went to sleep.

"Umm...oh! I should also talk to the hotel staff about getting us a new room. So that we can all sleep in beds. I can fix this mistake of mine and maybe we can continue on like nothing ever happened?"

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

That, apparently, was enough for Mr. Li. "Yes," he said, nodding. "Get us a new room before you fetch your things. No reason for you girls to sleep on the floor like...barbarians."

Okay, the word he'd used was not 'barbarians,' but a slur in Korean that Kathy had been horrified to learn the meaning of when she was a child.

He patted her shoulder, instantly genial now that he was getting his way. "Good girl. Try to remember that this is how you should behave, Katherine, and we'll have no more of these unpleasant episodes this weekend."

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The shift from silent fury to smiling indulgence always unnerved Kathy, but she nodded and smiled at him. "Thank you for overlooking my poor behavior," she said, trying not to sound at all sullen. Nothing could send him back into a sulk faster than if he thought that their appreciation for his forgiveness was insincere. "I'll go talk to someone on staff immediately, okay?"

On her way out, she tapped on the bathroom door and stuck her head in. "All clear," she whispered.

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"Ew, I totally could have been peeing in here," Sarah said, wrinkling her nose at her sister. "Normal people wait to hear the okay before just opening the bathroom door."

Then, more quietly, "Thanks. You okay?"

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Kathy shrugged. "It's over, and that's what matters," she said, sotto voce. "I'm off to get our rooms changed before he gets mad again. Lay low for a bit, okay? We don't need anything to set him off again."

And louder. "Uhh, you don't get bathroom privacy after you decided that it was okay to walk in on me so you can do your makeup in the mornings. I don't want to hear it from you, brat."

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"You didn't complain when Mom did it!"

Ahh, the trials and tribulations of three women and one bathroom. Of course, as the only man, Mr. Li was able to use the bathroom whenever he wanted in complete privacy.

"And, Kathy? Thanks. For trying, I mean. Sleeping in your dorm sounded super-fun. Maybe we can make it work next year or something?"

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"Of course not! It's mom! She had to put makeup on to go to work! You were just too impatient to wait for your turn!"

She returned Sarah's smile. "Maybe. You'll be in high school next year, so maybe Dad'll ease up. Who knows?"

Neither of them believed it, but it was nice to think all the same.

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"Katherine, you're not dawdling, are you?" Mr. Li's voice held a note of warning in it.

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"No, Dad!" Kathy said, giving her sister the V-sign and closing the bathroom door. "I'm just on my way downstairs now. I'll get this all squared in a jiffy!"

So long as the hotel manager was understanding.

Please, she thought fervently as she headed to the elevators to the lobby. Be understanding...