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Rylee stares at Jee-Yun in shock.
“I can’t believe you’re doing your report on your mom. I mean, your dad is the one that’s a fire captain, why not do it on him?”
Jee-Yun shrugs. “We have to do the report on a person who inspires us, not people that inspire us. So I picked my mom.”
“Well I still say your dad is cooler,” Rylee says.
Jee-Yun glares at Rylee. Rylee may be right that her dad is cool. But so is her mom.
“My dad may be a fire captain but my mom runs dispatch. That’s cool, in a way it’s cooler as dispatch gets to tell the firefighters and police what to do.”
“So your mom gets to boss around your dad?” Rylee questions.
Jee-Yun smiles. “Yup!”
Rylee acquiesces. “I guess if she bosses him around then that does make her cooler.”
“Exactly,” Jee-Yun says triumphantly. “So, can we stop arguing and get on with doing our reports? Who are you doing yours on?”
“Teddy,” Rylee immediately answers.
Jee-Yun nods in appreciation. “That’s a good idea.”
Teddy is Rylee’s older brother. He is training to be a pilot which Jee and Rylee both think is super cool. After lots of begging he has already promised that he will take them both in a plane once he has his license.
Soon Jee-Yun and Rylee both have several tabs open, as they work on their reports. Both of them have spent hours at each other’s house meaning Jee knows Teddy well and Rylee has had lots of interactions with Jee’s mom, meaning they are able to help each other come up with ideas for their reports.
Eventually Rylee is the one that gets sick of working first. She jumps up and launches a pillow at Jee-Yun. It gets Jee-Yun right in the face.
“Hey!” Jee-Yun exclaims, before jumping up and hitting Rylee with the pillow.
Soon they are tumbling around on the ground, jumping on each other and desperately trying to get in as many hits in as possible. They only stop when the door opens and Teddy enters.
“What are the two of you doing?” He asks.
Rylee turns to look at Teddy and Jee uses that chance to hit Rylee again with the pillow though she feels a bit bad when she knocks Rylee over.
Teddy smirks. “Should have known. Have you two ever hung out without having a pillow fight?” He asks.
“Hey!” Rylee protests. “That’s not fair, we don’t always have pillow fights.”
“Sure,” Teddy says, his voice full of sarcasm.
Jee-Yun rolls her eyes. “It’s not like you mind. You normally join in.”
Teddy shrugs. “That’s fair. Anyway, aren’t you doing homework? What’s the project? Is it boring or interesting?”
“We’re doing reports on a person who inspires us. But we’ve run out of ideas,” Rylee says.
“Well who are you doing the reports on? Would googling them get you any more information?” Teddy asks.
Jee-Yun lights up. She hadn’t thought of that. She deflates just as quickly. Google only gets results for famous people, her mom isn’t famous. Though she knows she’ll still google anyway.
“I’m doing my report on my mom,” Jee-Yun says.
Teddy nods. “Classic. Lots of people chose their moms.”
Jee-Yun glares at him. “Are you saying my choice is boring?”
Teddy shakes his head. “No! It’s a popular choice for a reason, moms are inspiring.”
Rylee rolls her eyes. “Really Teddy? Mom’s not in earshot.”
“You never know, she could be,” Teddy says with a smile. “Anyway Ry, you never said who you’re doing your report on. Are you doing it on mom?”
Rylee goes red and looks down. “I’m doing it on you,” she mumbles.
Teddy stills in clear surprise. “Wow,” he whispers, a clear range of emotions crashing over him. He then shakes his head and grins at them. “Then how did you run out of ideas? I’m amazing, thinking of awesome and inspiring things about me should be easy.”
And then with that Teddy turns around and walks out of the room.
Jee-Yun turns to Rylee. “So, should we get back to work?”
Rylee groans. “I’m bored. I know heaps about Teddy but writing it down is boring.”
“Then let's google them, rather than writing. Though we aren’t going to get anything,” Jee says.
Rylee nods. “Yeah, they’re both pretty boring.”
“I heard that!” Teddy yells from the other room. Rylee and Jee-Yun both ignore him.
“Who do you reckon will have the most results?” Rylee asks.
Jee-Yun frowns for a moment as she thinks. “Teddy,” she eventually answers.
Rylee nods in agreement. “Yeah, you’re probably right. We’ll google him first.”
The two of them huddle around the computer, Rylee sitting down and Jee-Yun standing behind her, hanging off Rylee's chair.
Rylee types Teddy’s name into the computer and then presses enter. Her and Jee both lean in, eager to see what the results are.
They both lean back and slump in boredom pretty quickly. The results are nothing exciting. Just a list of names from his old high school, listing the honor rolls students. They also find his instagram page which they have already seen even though neither of their parents let them on instagram. But they’ve seen Teddy’s instagram page on his phone and found it pretty boring, just photos of him and his friends.
“Well, that was as boring as I thought it would be,” Rylee says, sounding disappointed. “I guess your mom is next.” She frowns. “Do I type her married name or her maiden name?”
Jee-Yun shrugs. “She married my dad ages ago. What would there even be before that?” She sighs. “I guess I want as much information as possible. So google her current name first and then her maiden name afterwards.”
Rylee nods. “Got it.” Rylee types Maddie Han into google and Jee-Yun watches Rylee’s finger get closer to the enter button, though she isn’t holding her breath. Her mom is boring, there aren’t going to be any results.
As soon as Rylee hits enter her screen is immediately filled with links to news articles about a kidnapping. Jee-Yun feels her blood go cold.
Rylee looks at Jee-Yun, looking just as confused and alarmed as Jee-Yun feels. Jee-Yun doesn’t know what to say so Rylee clicks on the first article, an article titled 9-1-1 dispatcher survives being abducted by a serial killer and having her throat slashed.
The room is filled with a heavy silence as Rylee slowly scrolls through the article. Neither of them speak but it is clear that both of them are reading it.
Jee feels sick as she reads it.
9-1-1 dispatcher Maddie Han’s husband Howard came home from a work event to find his wife missing and their daughter alone in her room.
Jee-Yun swallows. Daughter? That is her. That means this happened in her lifetime. So why doesn’t she remember it? She feels shaky as she forces herself to continue reading.
Understandably concerned, Howard called the cops and a missing person’s detective Amber Braeburn was assigned to the case. Unknown to everyone Braeburn was actually the one who had taken Maddie. They had no leads and were starting to think they wouldn’t find her but then Maddie and Howard’s daughter told Howard that she heard a voice when her mom went missing so Howard went to Braeburn's house to see if Braeburn could use that to find Maddie. But at the house he found that Braeburn was the one who had taken Maddie and had slashed her throat. Howard called 9-1-1 and an ambulance arrived just in time. They weren’t sure if Maddie would make it but she survived, along with the baby she was pregnant with.
Jee-Yun trembles and her legs give out on her. She sinks to the ground and starts to cry. Rylee is quick to get out of the chair and soon she is at Jee-Yun’s side as she gives her a hug.
“My mom was almost killed. Someone tried to kill my mom,” Jee-Yun says, feeling full of disbelief, confusion and fear. “I could have lost my mom. And Nash,” she sobs.
The door opens again. Rylee looks up to see that Teddy has entered again. Jee-Yun doesn’t look up.
“What’s wrong?” Teddy asks.
Rylee points at the computer. “We googled the people for our reports. Like you suggested.”
Teddy makes his way to the computer and reads the article, getting stiller the further through it he reads. Once he has read it he swallows and turns to them.
“I’m taking it you didn’t know about this?” He asks.
Jee-Yun shakes her head. “But I should. I mean, I was mentioned in the article, why don’t I remember when mom was missing? Why have I never questioned the scar on her neck?”
“You were young, we don’t remember much from that age,” Teddy says.
“And haven’t you said in the past that your mom has heaps of scars?” Rylee asks. “Meaning why would you question the scar on her neck when it is one of many.”
Jee-Yun frowns. She gets up, wiping the tears from her face. “Let’s google her maiden name, I want to see what else I can find.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Teddy asks, sounding worried.
“Well clearly there’s lots about her I don’t know. I mean, I don’t know how she got any of her scars,” Jee-Yun says.
“Well I’m sure there’s a reason why you don’t know,” Teddy says.
Jee-Yun shakes her head. “Well I want to find out.”
She gets on the chair and ignores when both Teddy and Rylee try to stop her. She clicks the back arrow from the article and it goes back to the google search results. Jee-Yun has a scroll and quickly sees that all the articles are about her mom being taken by Amber. There are a lot of articles about it and Jee-Yun shivers.
She then clicks on the search bar and backspaces her mom’s surname. She types again and for a second before she presses enter she just stares at the name typed in the search bar. Maddie Buckley.
She takes a breath, before ignoring Teddy saying something about her mom’s right to privacy. Jee-Yun moves her finger down and hits the enter button.
A few articles come up about a random athlete with that name but Jee-Yun doesn’t even notice them. Her focus is instantly pulled to an article titled 9-1-1 dispatcher survives kidnapping.
She assumes it is about Amber but then she looks at the date on the article. 2019. She frowns. That’s before she was born. And Amber happened after she was born. But surely her mom can’t have been kidnapped twice?
Ignoring Rylee and Teddy now both standing behind her, both of them also looking at the screen, Jee-Yun clicks onto the article.
The top of the article has a photo of her mom. It is a normal enough photo, just a headshot. But it makes Jee-Yun on edge as it confirms that this article is definitely about her mom and not some other person who happens to just have the same name as her mom.
Jee-Yun swallows before she starts reading the article.
Three days ago 9-1-1 dispatcher Maddie Buckley Kendall was taken from her home by her abusive estranged husband Doug Kendall who she left six months ago.
Jee-Yun frowns. “Mom was married before dad? I thought dad was the only person she has ever married.”
“Just read the whole thing and we can react and discuss after we have both finished it,” says Rylee who is a faster reader and appears to have already fully read it. Jee-Yun manages a nod and turns her attention back to the article.
Authorities were called after her brother Evan Buckley showed up on scene and found Maddie’s date Howard Han lying on the ground bleeding out after having been stabbed several times.
Jee-Yun gasps in pure horror. “Dad was stabbed?!” She gulps. “That’s how he got the scars on his stomach. Whenever I ask he just says that someone hurt him but doesn’t say any more.”
She is filled with fear and horror and even though she knows it must have ended alright considering her parents are both still alive, she is filled with a desperate urge and need to know what happened next so she keeps reading.
Police then worked to find Maddie before it was too late. Dispatch received a tip about a phone Doug Kendall had been using so police followed that up and found a gas station that they had been to. At the gas station they found the body of the cashier there and based on security footage were able to deduce that Doug killed the cashier when he tried to help Maddie.
“He killed someone,” Jee-Yun whispers, horror filling her. She begins to shake. Rylee moves closer to her and wraps her arms around her.
“Are you sure you want to continue reading?” Teddy asks, sounding very worried. Jee-Yun can tell by the look on his face that he has read the whole article and that somehow it gets worse than the person who had taken her mom killing someone.
Jee-Yun isn’t sure but she needs to know what is causing that look on Teddy’s face so she nods and continues reading.
At the gas station police found a piece of paper for a rental car agreement that had the word ‘help’ written on it in Maddie’s handwriting. Police then used that lead to track Maddie and Doug to Big Bear. When they found them Maddie was badly injured and Doug was dead, Maddie having killed him in self defense.
Maddie and Howard are now both in hospital and both of them are going to be alright.
Jee-Yun doesn’t know what to think. “Mom killed someone,” she eventually whispers in shock.
“In self defense,” Teddy says, straight away leaping to her defence.
There is silence as all of them sit there, none of them knowing how to process what they have just learnt.
And then they hear Teddy and Rylee’s mom. “Jee-Yun, your mom is here to pick you up.”
Jee-Yun goes pale and starts shaking. All of them freeze and it is clear none of them know what to do, even Teddy who normally always knows what to do.
Jee-Yun knows she should close the computer or at least the tab that is open but she is too frozen to manage to do so.
They hear footsteps getting closer and then both their moms are in the room. Both of them instantly clock the fact that all three of them are upset and disturbed.
“Jee-Yun, what’s wrong?” Her mom asks.
Jee-Yun trembles. She doesn’t manage to say anything but her eyes betray her as she looks at the computer. Her mom follows her gaze and then goes pale.
“How, how much of that did you read?” Her mom asks, her voice shakier than Jee-Yun has ever heard it.
Jee-Yun trembles, feeling tears in her eyes. “All of it,” she whispers before she bursts into tears.
Her mom is at her side in an instant, giving her a massive hug. Jee-Yun wraps her arms tightly around her mom. She doesn’t think she has ever hugged her mom this hard. The hug lasts a long time, neither of them wanting to let go but eventually they know they have to.
Her mom then looks at her. “How about we pick up some ice cream on the way home and then when we get home I will answer whatever questions you have.”
Jee-Yun gives a numb nod, not knowing what else to do. She numbly gathers her things and then waves bye to Rylee and Teddy.
The atmosphere in the car is weirder than it has ever been. When Jee-Yun looks at her mom she sees that her mom is shaking and it looks like she is trying not to cry. Which makes Jee-Yun feel bad. Teddy was right, she shouldn’t have googled her mom’s name, she should have respected her privacy. But it is too late now.
Her mom is quiet while they select their ice cream though Jee does see her mom texting someone, Jee guesses it is her dad.
They get home at the same time Uncle Buck arrives which confuses Jee-Yun. Why is he here? Her question is answered a few seconds later when Nash bounds out of the house celebrating about having a sleepover at Uncle Buck and Eddie’s.
It isn’t long before Jee and both her parents are sitting in the living room. Her parents are on the couch facing her, holding each other. Her mom looks nervous and it is clear that her dad is trying to help her.
Jee-Yun feels bad seeing how upset and worried her mom looks. Jee-Yun lowers her head. “I’m sorry for invading your privacy mom. I shouldn’t have googled your name.”
Her mom lets out a shaky breath. “It’s alright Jee. I knew you would find out eventually, we were planning on telling you, just when you were older.”
Jee-Yun trembles. “Why did he take you? Why did he hurt you?”
Her mom shakes and Jee-Yun can tell she is holding back tears. Her dad is the one who answers.
“Your mom was married to him for a long time but he hurt her so she eventually ran and ended up in LA as Uncle Buck is here. Doug believed that your mom belonged to him and he couldn’t accept the idea of her leaving him. Which is why he took her. And he hurt her because he was a bad person.”
“The, the article said he also stabbed you,” Jee-Yun whispers.
Her dad sighs before nodding. “He did. He gave me a fake name and tricked me into thinking we were friends. He wasn’t happy when I said that your mom asked me on a date. He refused to let that happen so he showed up at the date where he then stabbed me and took your mom.”
Jee-Yun starts crying. “You could have died. Both of you.”
Soon none of them are on the couches, all of them are on the floor holding each other.
“We could have,” her mom says quietly. “But we didn’t, we survived.”
“But you had to kill him in order to survive,” Jee-Yun says quietly.
Her mom stiffens before a few tears roll down her face. Jee-Yun feels guilt coursing through her.
“I’m sorry mom. I’m sorry for bringing this up and making you sad.”
Her mom shakes her head and gives Jee-Yun a big fault. “You don’t need to be sorry for that Jee. I can handle being sad. But will you be ok with what you learnt? If it’s too much for you then talk about it, feel it however you need to. But don’t keep it in just to try and stop me from being sad. Ok?”
Jee-Yun nods. She then hesitates. “I, I also saw articles about someone named Amber.”
Her mom lets out an odd sounding laugh. “I guess we’ll just get it all out today then.”
“I think getting ice cream was the right decision,” Jee-Yun says quietly. Both her parents nod in agreement.
Soon they are all eating ice cream as her parents answer all the questions she has. And Jee-Yun has a lot of questions.
That night Jee-Yun goes to bed with her parents. It has been a long time since she last slept with them, she hasn’t done it in years. But tonight she needs it. She falls asleep, holding onto her parents, relieved that they are both still here.
The following day when she works on her schoolwork she is glad she chose her mom as the person who inspires her. She has always looked up to her mom but now that is even more the case. Her mom is definitely incredible and Jee-Yun can’t wait to write about how amazing and strong her mom is.