"Headphones?" 935 asked as he held a headphone box in his hand and stared at Lily.
Lily smiled and said "I saw you looking at them in the store lots of times so why not?"
935 smiled "Thank you" he said and opened the box "Black"
"Just like you like it right?" she quipped and he nodded with a curt smile.
He opened the other presents, from skateboards to video games and lastly...
"A Kbar?" 935 asked with it in his hand. Lily stopped the video and took a picture of him holding the knife.
"How'd you know it?" Lily asked and sat on the floor beside him.
"Saw it on tv" 935 replied as he clung onto it. "How'd you know i wanted it?" he asked.
Lily smiled and cupped his cheek "You kept going back to touch it, that's how" she said with a smirk. "What got you so interested in it, you had this look when you touched it for the first time" Lily said as she remembered when she saw him.
***
Lily had been looking for him one day and went up the attic only to see him there, holding the Kbar in his hand. He had this look of delight and happiness in his eyes. Although he didn't take it he'd go back to the attic to look at it or touch it
***
935 held the leather handle "A 7-inch straight-edged blade made of high carbon steel" 935 said as he pulled the blade out of the sheathe "A stacked leather handle for perfect grip too" 935's eyes lit up as he looked at the blade.
His eyes caught sight of an inscription on the blade "Kai Seong" he read out and looked at Lily, "This person is..."
"My late husband" Lily said with a stern face, she tried to hold her tears back as she looked a the inscription on the knife.
935 looked at the blade, "You gave me his name" he said and looked at her "Why?" he asked ignoring the pain in her eyes.
Lily smiled and looked at him, she cupped his cheeks then pulled him in for a hug "Cause i miss him" she said in a hushed tone, "i wanted... i needed something to help me cope with in his absence"
935 remained silent before he said "Where is he?" 935 asked, looking at her from the corner of his eyes.
Lily sighed and said "Dead", 935 wrapped his arms around her.
"So i'm your solace then?"
"No..." Lily replied and shook her head "You..." she pulled away from him and looked him in the eye "are my son" she said boldly. A smile spread across her lips as she looked at him "You got his name so you can be his son too, he would have loved you so much too... He always wanted a son, something i..." Lily paused and swallowed hard "I couldn't give him" she added and looked away, tears rolled down from her eyes.
935 could see she didn't want him to see her cry, with the knife in his right he reached for her face with his left. He made her face him and wiped her tears. The next thing 935 did caught Lily by surprise.
935 kissed Lily on the forehead, Lily's eyes widened in shock, not once had he ever displayed any such thing, most times she thought he lacked emotions, but what he just did took her by surprise.
"Now we have each other right?" 935 asked looking her straight in the eye.
Lily smiled and nodded, "Yeah, yeah we do" she replied joyfully.
Lily brought out a dog tag from her pocket and put it around 935's neck "He'd want you to have this" Lily said as she looked at the dog tag.
935 nodded as he looked at the dog tag "Can i see him?" he asked.
Lily brought down a photo album from the attic and showed him photos of her and Kai, her husband, from their wedding photos to pictures of trips they went on together, camping photos, photos of them in a house, picnics etc.
Lily's husband had the same dark skin tone as 935, he was tall he looked strong and confident especially in his Marine uniform. His locs where well maintained and packed up. He had a chiseled jawline with dark eyes. He looked handsome and refined
"Who's she?" 935 asked, he pointed at a picture of Lily and Kai holding a little girl in their arms.
Lily looked at the picture and smiled sheepishly, "My daughter, and your sister" she replied and looked at him.
"You have a daughter?" 935 asked and Lily nodded in response "Where is she?"
Lily closed the album and stared at the living room table "She's safe..." Lily responded in a daze.
935 frowned and asked "Safe is not a place, where is she?" he looked at Lily and paused "Is... she dead too?" he asked in a low tone.
"No..." Lily said with a sigh "She might as well be in the condition she's in" Lily added as she stood up and headed to the kitchen, 935 watched her as she brought a bottle out one of the kitchen cabinets and carried a cup with her. She walked back to him and sat down, 935 watched her opened the bottle and pour a cup for her self, he squeezed his face slight at the smell that emanated from the cup.
The content smelt like spirit, it invaded his nose. Lily filled the cup and drank the content till she finished the cup.
"We can talk about this another time if you'd like" 935 suggested and kept the Kbar to his side.
Lily shook her head "You'd find out eventually, so why not tell you know" she said and poured more into the cup.
"What condition is she in then?" 935 asked.
"When we got the news of her father's death," Lily said and picked up the cup, she stared at the glass with pursed lips, "She just... dropped" Lily said and took a sip from the cup, her eyes began to water and her breathe was shaky "I... I rushed her to the hospital, when the doctors finished examining her they told me..." Lily sniffed "They told me that my little 6 year old girl went into shock, and she... she entered a vegetative state due to the shock. They said they were not sure when she was gonna wake up." Lily looked at him and added "Or if she was gonna wake up"
Lily emptied the cup and began to drink from the bottle. 935 listened as Lily told him how she broke down in the hospital, she went completely mad as she grieved for not only her late husband but her daughter as well. Lily left a day after her husband's burial.
"It all happened too fast" Lily said as she chugged down the contents if the bottle "I'm sorry" she heard 935 say in a hushed tone.
Lily shook her head "What are you sorry about?" she asked "You weren't even there... When i lost everything in the a day." she added.
"When did he die?" 935 asked and held her hand.
"A few months ago, after that I came here... to forget, that's when i met you," she said as she looked at his hand in hers, "With your injuries i wondered how you survived, you are just like him, a survivor," Lily looked at the bottle of alcohol in her hand "it's a shame he didn't survive whatever killed him" she muttered to herself.
935 and Lily spent the rest of Christmas night with Lily telling tales of her husband and daughter, in her drunken state 935 saw her cry and laugh. He never knew that a woman who smile a lot and seemed to always be filled with joy held so much sadness and pain within.
Lily slept off on the floor, 935 brought a blanket from her room and covered her with it. He heard her mutter Kai's name as he headed back to her room. He looked back at her and held on to the dog tag.
He never thought he'd feel bad for anybody after what he had been through, but he knew he felt bad for her. Quietly he entered his room and went to bed.