Just Like Other Daughters Read Online Free PDF Page A

three classes a semester. Honestly, I think I was also looking for a break. Just a little time for myself. And I wanted to feel normal. I wanted my daughter to be normal.
    It was a Tuesday morning. It was June. I was gone two hours and three minutes. I didn’t even let my stylist blow-dry my hair. After an hour, I just wanted to get home. I just wanted to know that she was safe.
    I saw the fire trucks when I turned down our street. There was no mistake. They were in front of my house. And in my driveway. But my house wasn’t engulfed in flames. I couldn’t see any smoke.
    But I could smell it.
    I parked my car in the middle of the road. A fireman tried to stop me as I ran across my lawn, but I shoved him aside. I just kept calling Chloe’s name. I’ll admit it. I was frantic. Chloe’s all I have. She’s all I have , I kept thinking.
    I found her on the neighbors’ lawn. The Watsons, next door. Both Al and Beth were at work, their two children at a summer play program. Chloe seemed unhurt, but I could tell she’d been crying. Hard. Her eyes were red, her nose was running, and she was taking in great gulps of air. I pulled her into my arms. When I held her, I could smell her familiar scent, tinged with smoke. I’ve heard that a woman can pick out her own baby, blindfolded, going only by smell. I believe it.
    Huan was with Chloe. “What happened?” I asked, not giving either of them time to answer. “Tell me what happened. You’re not hurt, are you, Chloe?” I looked to Huan. “No one’s hurt?”
    Huan was fifteen or sixteen at the time. He looked scared. He had been home that morning because school was out and he hadn’t started his enrichment class yet. I’d checked with Jin the night before. Just in case she has a question , I’d said. Huan has always been good to Chloe. Very understanding. And kind.
    “Huan, what happened?” I said, finally calming down. A little.
    “I’m really sorry,” he said. “I didn’t know what to do. I heard Chloe screaming so I went next door. She was under the kitchen table. The microwave was on fire. There were flames shooting up the cabinets.”
    “The microwave caught fire? That doesn’t make sense.” I was talking fast, not sure exactly what I was saying. “We had the whole place rewired. There was faulty wiring?”
    “No. No, I don’t think so.” It was obvious he was upset, but he was playing it cool. He was a teenager; cool was important. “It wasn’t the wiring. At least I don’t think so.” He looked at Chloe.
    She was hanging on to me for dear life, her face buried in my breasts. She was making a wet spot on my T-shirt with her mouth.
    I waited for Huan to go on. That was the day I noticed the tattoo behind his ear. His hair was longish at the time, but when he pushed his hair back out of his face, I saw it. It was some kind of Asian symbol. There would be a huge blowup when Jin saw it, but at that moment, Huan’s tattoo seemed insignificant.
    “She was trying to cook something in the microwave. I think she cooked it too long.”
    I put my hands on Chloe’s shoulders and pushed her back a little so I could look her in the eyes. “You tried to cook?” I asked.
    “I didn’t cook. Didn’t use the stove,” she blubbered. “You said no stove. No stove.”
    “You weren’t supposed to cook anything. Not in the stove or the microwave. I left you apples and peanut butter for a snack. You weren’t supposed to cook,” I said again. And if you started a fire , I thought, you were supposed to call 911. You weren’t supposed to crawl under the table and hide.
    We’d practiced dialing 911. I’d disconnected the phone and we’d practiced over and over again. How to push the buttons, what the 911 operator would say, what Chloe was supposed to say.
    “Chloe, what were you trying to cook?”
    Her lower lip trembled. She didn’t answer.
    “Chloe?”
    About that time a firefighter, in full regalia, walked over to us.
    “This your house, ma’am?” He