I didn’t know when Sean left, but I sat at the door for a long time that day.
I fell asleep unconsciously.
The next morning, I woke up in the porch.
The first thing I did was to open the door. There was nothing outside. Though after a night, I smelt a faint smell of wine.
It seemed that Sean really drank yesterday.
I went back to my room to call Daniell, only to find a message from Sean on my cell phone.
He said, “this time I’ll let you go. Don’t let me see you again.”
My heart ached a little when I saw the message.
I hesitated for a moment and called Daniell.
I was going to tell him yesterday Sean said he knew about it.
But the phone hadn’t been connected for a long time.
It was already afternoon when he called me.
I could tell Daniell’s voice was very tired. Daniell was a little absent-minded when I told him about it.
He was a little perfunctory to me.
I said for a while, but suddenly he asked me, “what did you just say?”
I frowned slightly and asked him, “what’s the matter?”
“Nothing. I didn’t have a good rest because I had so much to do.”
Daniell’s voice was hoarse. He didn’t seem to have a good rest.
I responded to him.
I hung up and knew that Daniell must be in trouble. But he didn’t want to burden me, so he didn’t tell me.
I got a call from a strange number that afternoon.
It belonged to Daniell’s hometown.
I hesitated and answered the phone.
As soon as I answered the phone, I heard a woman crying, “June, I only have one son, Daniell. We raised him but didn’t expect him to raise us. We just want him to come back often.”
I recognized her as Daniell’s mother.
“Auntie…”
I knew why she called, and I didn’t know what to say.
Daniell’s mother cried and said, “I know where you’re going. That place is far away. It takes more than ten hours by air. His father and I are getting worse and worse recently. If something happens to us, maybe he won’t be able to see us for the last time.”
Daniell’s mother cried even more.
In fact, I could fully understand Daniell’s mother’s mood.
I couldn’t help saying, “Auntie, we haven’t decided yet.”
“Don’t lie to me.”Daniell’s mother sobbed.”Daniell said you booked your flight and you are ready for everything. We can’t stop him!
Daniell has always been a good boy. Do you want to go abroad? You can do it if you want to. Why do you force Daniell?”
Daniell’s mother’s attitude became very bad.
She had been nagging and determined that I was the one who tricked her son into going abroad.
She begged me to let Daniell go and leave him alone.
I didn’t speak.
Finally, Daniell’s mother cried and said to me, “June, to be honest, I’ve got the pesticides ready. If you and Daniell leave, we’ll drink pesticides!”
Hearing this, I was scared and said, “Auntie, don’t be impulsive! I will persuade Daniell!”
“Really?”Daniell’s mother stopped crying.”OK, June, if you dare to take Daniell away, we’ll kill ourselves. You will blame yourself all your life!”
I frowned and promised her.
I thought Daniell’s mother was very strange today. It seemed that she was quite different from that kind mother on New Year’s Eve.
But I still called Daniell.
When I got through, I said, “Daniell, let’s not go abroad. We can go to another city.”
“What’s the matter?”
Daniell was not very happy to hear that.
I didn’t want to blame his mother directly, so I said, “I think foreign countries are very strange. I am an art student and my English is not very good. If I go abroad, I…”
“Did Sean tell you anything?”
Before I finished speaking, I was interrupted by Daniell.
There was a palpable sulk in his voice. I was a little surprised but still denied, “no, it’s nothing to do with him.”
“Then I will not change my mind unless I die.”
Daniell said firmly and hung up.
He didn’t give me a chance to explain.
I thought he was strange and terrible on the phone.
He seemed to have changed.
But I thought of Daniell’s mother and called him back.
This time Daniell didn’t answer.
I tried several times, but I couldn’t get through.
I had no choice but to text. I told him that his mother said they would commit suicide if we went abroad.
To my surprise, I got a text message from Daniell soon.
He said,”They won’t.”
Really?
I thought Daniell’s mother really bought the pesticides.
I sent a few more messages to persuade him. At first he replied to me but later he didn’t.
Three days later, Daniell came to my house and went to the airport with me.
I asked him repeatedly on the way whether he had good communication with his parents.
Daniell was vague.
I knew he didn’t say it.
Thinking of Daniell’s mother’s firm attitude, I immediately shouted to the driver in front of me, “stop!”
The driver pulled over and I said to Daniell, “if you don’t make it clear to your parents, I won’t go with you.”
Daniell had been looking out of the window, but when he heard what I said, the softness on his face was replaced by cold.
He grabbed my hand and asked, “do you regret it? Do you think I’m not as good as Sean so you don’t want to go with me?”
He grabbed me hard. I just felt my hands hurt.
The expression on his face even made me feel a little scared!
“It hurts!”I frowned and shouted.
“I’m sorry.”Daniell panicked and let go of his hand. He exhaled at my hand and asked, “does it still hurt?”
I looked at him and shook my head.
I just wanted to talk to him, but Daniell frowned and said, “don’t talk to me. I made up my mind with difficulty.”
“But…”
“You know what? I betrayed my parents for you. I went home and my parents disagreed and even threatened me with their lives. But I’m still on your side, so I’m afraid you’ll give up.”
Daniell looked at me. His eyes were full of sadness.
I knew what he said was true.
Daniell grabbed my hand and said after a moment of silence, “don’t worry about my parents. They just can’t accept it for a while. I believe they can accept it if we come back more later.”
I couldn’t refuse him at all.
But when we got to the airport and changed our boarding passes for security, my cell phone rang.
It was a landline from Daniell’s hometown.