To My Dearest Roseanne- Chapter 29
It took Roseanne a good 15 minutes of explanation to clarify the whole affair to Emily, yet she wasn't sure if the friend really understood what was going on. She just stood around, nodding her head, as if she were at a company meeting. When Roseanne finished, her friend asked if she could come up to them and take a better look.
After carefully examining their hoodies, and pinching around their faces, as if they were made from Play-Doh, Emily took a step back. She began comparing Cho and Roseanne, trying to find differences, but she couldn't.
"You're the same picture! Like in the meme!" she exclaimed with joy, which blossomed into an uncontrollable belly laugh.
"Is she okay?" Cho asked.
"It's normal for her. She always behaves like a kid in a candy store when she's excited."
Cho thought that Roseanne's remark couldn't be more accurate. Emily's neverending spring of laughter carried an irresistible flair of cheerfulness and innocence. It was more typical of a 7-year-old rather than a 17-year-old.
"I'm a queen and you are my clowns!" Emily announced out of the blue, jumping on a bed and pointing with pride at the girls. "Amuse me!"
"Oh God..." Roseanne muttered.
However, Cho succumbed to the contagious joy of a friend and joined the bed racket.
"Where's thy sceptre, your Highness?" Cho asked.
"I dunno. It must be with my loyal companion, the Ninja of the Kawasaki House!"
"It's more likely stuck up her ass, Cho."
"Don't be a killjoy, Rosie. Play some music," said Emily.
"Like what?"
"Like Kanye West, baby!"
"I ain't playing gangster music in my house!"
"I've got something!"
Cho jumped off the bed and searched through the music library on her phone. Eventually, she hooked up the device to the audio jack and music began flowing from the speakers.
"It's no Kanye, but it has a good beat," Emily commented.
"What the hell is this, Cho?" Roseanne asked.
"I Know by Seo Taiji and Boys."
"Am I the only one around here who has a normal taste in music?"
"Your music is not normal, just old-fashioned like tea biscuits," Emily said.
Roseanne just stood leaning against the wall with her arms crossed while Cho and Emily bounced together to the rhythm of a 90s K-POP song. Even Enzo swirled around their legs, filled with curiosity and excitement at the sight of their dance.
"You're such a life of the party that I need a pocket version of you!"
"And I need a pocket version of you, easy rider!"
The girls kept stirring around faster and faster until Emily hit a plant on a shelf, the pot of which shattered to millions of pieces.
"Look at what you did, Emily."
"Calm down, Rosie. I'll pay you back."
"Of course, you will, with interest!"
"Let's grab some pizza. I'm starving."
***
The trio cleaned the remains of a pot. As Roseanne was sweeping the dirt on the dustpan, she found a card advertising a bookstore: 'Madame Yoshida's Literary Emporium' with an address in Seoul. The girl figured out the card must have slipped out of Cho's pocket when she was dancing like a wild elephant. Roseanne wanted to give the card immediately back to Cho, but Emily grabbed her forcefully by the neck and, before she knew it, the trio left the apartment in search of a pizzeria.
"I know a good place in Zielone Arkady," Emily suggested.
"It's too far and I'm lazy today. I'll find us something local," Roseanne said.
Soon after, the girls were seated in a pizzeria that was adjacent to a small motel. In fact, the building was a renovated semi-detached house with the first floor adapted to accommodate tourists and the ground floor modified to fit a kitchen and dining area. The walls were decorated with various seafaring items, such as nets, anchors, and hooks. The flat TV screen proudly occupied the central space above the counter.
"What is this place?" Emily looked around. "Bydgoszcz is not by the seaside."
"Who cares? They are nearby and they are open," Roseanne said, resting her head on an elbow.
The waiter showed up out of nowhere, lazily collected the orders while yawning profusely, and disappeared completely behind the counter.
"Oh, it's Godzilla on TV!" Cho noticed the famous monster stomping around Tokyo.
"You like Godzilla?" Emily asked.
"It's the best thing since sliced bread!"
"Wrong, Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift is the best thing since sliced bread!"
"Girl, you have family issues or what?"
A heated argument erupted between Emily and Cho. The two began spitting arguments and overbidding themselves about their favourite movies. Emily loved the vibe of Japan and the thrill of drifting Skyline R34 through the famous Shibuya Crossing, whereas Cho was a die-hard fan of monster rumble. From Godzilla Raids Again to Godzilla Minus One, she loved all the sequels, remakes, and reimaginings of the iconic monster that rumbled its way to cinemas 70 years ago.
"You know what? There should be a crossover done in Marvel style. Something like Godzilla x Fast and Furious: Dawn of Autozord where Dominic Toretto and the gang connect their vehicles and form a mecha that would fight Godzilla." Roseanne outlined her idea.
Cho couldn't help but burst into joyous laughter.
"Shut up and take my money!"
"I couldn't care less about Godzilla, to be honest. I haven't seen any movie with the giant lizard," said Emily.
"Damn, we need to change that. I will take you to a new Goji flick when it comes out!" Cho suggested.
"I'll come only if you see the new Fast and Furious outing with me."
"That's a promise!"
"Shake on it?"
"High-five on it!"
The slap of their hands was so loud that it made Roseanne jump on her seat. As soon as the pizzas were served, the girls engrossed themselves in a variety of topics, the predominant one being the uncanny circumstances of Cho's arrival. Emily listened attentively while devouring her Margherita, but Roseanne didn't think her friend understood much. To Emily, Cho seemed like a cute novelty straight out of a Disney animation. Soon after, Roseanne switched the topic to school. She raised her index finger in front of Emily who was gulping down the pulp of dough and cheese with Pepsi.
"Nobody at school must ever know that Cho isn't me," Roseanne ordered.
"But... Natasha and Isa," Emily maffled through pizza crumbs and droplets of Pepsi.
"No buts! I mean nobody. We need to hang on for one more week like this. Is that clear?"
Emily processed what was told to her and nodded after a while.
"Good, I depend on you, cadet Champignon."
Her friend saluted over the large plate.
Even though the girls were the most numerous group in the pizzeria, they were not by any means its only customers. A few tables away from them, there was a young woman sitting alone. She already consumed her dish and was currently watching something on her tablet.
Roseanne, Emily, and Cho were completely unaware of her existence, until she stood up, but didn't move away from her table. She just stood there, frozen, eyes peeled to the floor, her hands folded. Much to the girl's surprise, the woman's mouth started moving with the speed of a machine gun, spitting out silent strings of sentences with fervent passion. Cho initially thought that the woman was just thankful for the meal, she used to see that among Korean Christians. However, the prayer extended beyond simple gratitude. It kept going and going. Seconds accumulated into minutes. Even the staff got curious but did nothing as the woman wasn't disturbing the peace.
With the corner of her eye, Cho noticed that Roseanne reached her phone and lifted it to take a picture.
"Don't do it," she said to her alternate self, covering the camera with her hand, and lowering the device down.
Roseanne had a puzzled expression on her face.
"It's weird, Cho. That's why I want a snapshot."
"What good will it do to you? What's going to come of it? Some cheap laughs at school? A couple of likes on Instagram? It's not worth it. Sometimes it's best to keep your camera away even if something's weird... or beautiful, or hideous."
The woman kept praying and praying. Roseanne gave her one more look until she hid the phone in a pocket and resumed eating. A good quarter of an hour must have passed until the woman finally stopped, sat, and resumed watching the contents of her tablet. The girls were once again so preoccupied with their company that they did not even notice when the woman left the place.
They were finally alone. Even though it was already dark outside, the spirit of the spontaneous get-together was so joyous, so comfy, especially for Cho that none of them dared to leave the table. They browsed through the broadcast of Godzilla on TV, commenting jokingly on the level of Aaron Taylor-Johnson's hotness, the presence of Scarlet Witch in the film, and the idiocy of aiming a pistol at a giant monster. When the end credits rolled in, Roseanne jumped on her seat at the sight of a channel prompt.
"Wait, wait! Gremlins 2 is up next!"
"Gremlins?" Emily asked.
"Watch it, watch it! I love this movie."
Cho and Emily did as they were told and sat through a subsequent feature. As the film was playing, Emily nibbed at the cold crust that remained after the pizza, Roseanne laughed like a maniac at the film's most insane moments, whereas Cho remained silent, looking in utter confusion at the frantic visual potion of intertextuality, critique of consumerism, and comedy.
When the end credits for Gremlins 2 started, accompanied by the wacky yet eerily exhilarating theme composed by Jerry Goldsmith, Roseanne turned to her companions, her eyes wet from repetitive laughter.
"Don't you love this wonderful craziness?" she asked.
"Girl, don't ask me. I'd rather watch Gone in 60 Seconds or Taxi." Emily said.
"Cho?"
"Well, it's definitely something. Most of the time, I didn't know if I should laugh or be afraid."
"I know, right?!"
"This is your favourite movie?"
"Exactly."
"So... am I a Gremlin?"
"Say what?"
"In the movie, Gremlins were born out of this cute plushie. Since I am an alternate version of you, this makes me a Gremlin, yes?"
"Girl..." Roseanne hung her head. "It's just a movie that I like for childhood nostalgia's sake. You were not born out of me, so you're no Gremlin. In fact, we are the alternatives of each other, we are both mogwai."
"Yes," Cho said almost indistinctly. "I suppose you're right."
The girls would continue their sojourn in the pizzeria if the staff didn't announce at 10 pm that it's closing time. They went out on a street that was now empty and luminated with the sterile glow of LED street lights. A thick fog covered the sky, buildings, and the horizon line. Because of this optical trick, Cho thought that they were not outside, but in some sort of a warehouse. As they were walking, she started singing:
So many days you passed me by
You saw the tears standin' in my eye
You wouldn't stop to make me feel better
By leavin' me a card or a letter
"What is this, Cho?" Rosanne asked.
"Please Mr. Postman, it's the first song in English I have ever learnt."
"Hey, Rosie, you sing us something!" Emily suggested. "Remember how we sang in the first grade?"
"Oh, I'm not going to sing any TikTok crap."
"Come on! Cho dared. Sing some."
"Well, my music taste is all over the place as you know, but I can grace with something, though it's a song for male vocals."
She cleared her throat and started:
My heart is crying, crying
Lonely teardrops
My pillow's never dry of lonely teardrops
Come home, come home
Just say you will, say you will
(Say you will) say you will (say you will)
Hey, hey (say you will)
My heart is crying, crying
"It's very beautiful, and I really liked your sharp interpretation of it." Cho gave a compliment. "What's it called?"
"Lonely Teardrops by Jackie Wilson, though I like the cover version by Michael McDonald more."
"Jeez, you're really quite an expert, Rosie!" Emily whistled.
"Now it's your turn."
"No! Thank you very much."
"Come on! All of us sang, so you do too."
Emily rolled her eyes and provided her sample with a hint of suppressed laugh:
Been spendin' most their lives
Livin' in a gangsta's paradise
Been spendin' most their lives
Livin' in a gangsta's paradise
"STOP THAT! Stop it or I'll muffle your mouth with chewing gum!" Roseanne shouted as Cho and Emily burst into laughter.
"No amount of chewing gum is scary for me! I chew gum all the time at school!"
Finally, the girls reached their home and Emily bid them farewell.
"I need to get a move on. My mom will beat my ass for being so late," she said while mounting her bike and hastily putting on a helmet.
"She can always call me, and I'll straighten it up," Roseanne said.
"I'm sure you will."
Emily waved them goodbye and drove off into the mist. Her silhouette underlit by the green glow of Kawasaki Ninja disappeared in the white cloud, as if she were a modern-day reincarnation of Kaneda on his cyberpunk bike.
***
As soon as Roseanne and Cho crossed their doorstep, both of them collapsed on a bed from exhaustion. It was so late that even Enzo didn't bother to approach them.
"It was an unexpectedly beautiful evening," Cho remarked.
"I couldn't agree more." Roseanne stared at the ceiling. "Do you feel better than in the afternoon?"
"Oh, Emily's surprise visit definitely gave me the second wind!"
"I'm glad you had fun, but we need to rest. I need to be at the hospital tomorrow, and you have to get through Friday at school."
"I'll manage, but..." Cho turned her head between the pillows and looked at Roseanne. "My sister, could you sing that song once more for me?"
Roseanne puffed like a tired donkey.
"I can play a CD for you."
"No, please, just for a little while. I want to hear those words again." She raised her hand to the ceiling. "Transmitted to air by your voice."
Having quickly considered the request, Roseanne kissed Cho on the forehead.
"Okay, but it's gonna be short, and then we go to sleep."
"Deal!"
Roseanne sang softly, but not at the top of her lungs. Although the song wasn't a lullaby, she tried to turn it into such:
Just give me another chance for our romance
Come on and tell me that one day you'll return
'Cause, every day that you've been gone away
You know my heart does nothing but burn, crying
Lonely teardrops
My pillow's never dry of lonely teardrops
Come home, come home
Just say you will, say you will
(Say you will) say you will, (say you will)
Hey, hey (say you will)
Say it right now, baby
(Say you will) come on, come on
(Say you will) say that you
Say it right now, baby
(Say you will) come on, come on
(Say you will) hey come on
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