Happy Ending's
Chapter 17: Casey's Plan

"Father, give me more, please."

"No, Boy. That's enough for today."

"No, Papa. I want more. I want more!"

Clouds began to pretend to be crying and roll over on the kitchen floor. And when I saw him he ran towards me, "Mama. Look at Papa," pointing at James enjoying his breakfast. "Papa didn't give me chocolate today."

"really?" I asked while bending my body and pinching her nose because of anxiety.

"mmmmmmmmm. That's not fair, Mama!" Cloud started to be good at protesting the policies we implemented in educating him. 

"All right then. Mama's gonna count how many chocolates are left in the kitchen drawer." I pretended to walk into the kitchen while James saw us trying to hold back his laughter.

"It looks like Bunny ate a chocolate ration today. I'll be patient waiting for tomorrow" Awan took my hand to get away from the kitchen. James and I laughed at the same time. Ever since my little prince had a toothache from eating a lot of chocolate, James and I had only given one chocolate ration for one day. 

"Come on, Boy! Do you want extra chocolate today?" The clouds were suddenly on James' shoulders. "Yes, Papa!" Clouds of excitement welcomed his papa's offer. "Let's clean up Bunny's house. And I will give you more chocolate!" James then runs towards Bunny's cage located in the backyard. The laughter of the clouds sounded so carefree and loud from inside the house. James enjoyed his role as a parent. 

I met the man of Indonesian-Italian descent five years ago while in Singapore. Two days after Antonius left the hotel, I headed to China Town and looked for cheaper lodging there.

At that time, I thought Antonius would come back to pick me up. But what I expected didn't happen. He left his credit card at the reception. And when I checked out I left that credit card there. I don't have a lot of money but what about my pride if I use money from a guy who dumped me? 

At lunch, I accidentally met James who was taking photos in the China Town area. "Indonesia?" He asked me who was eating a bowl of siamese noodles that felt quite foreign on the tongue. White vermicelli, boiled shrimp, fried tofu, eggs, and doused in brownish-colored broth that tastes sour.

"Yes." Yeah." I answered without hesitation. From my face it looks very Indonesian. So, there's no way anyone would have thought

"Jameses. My mother is from Italy. My father was Indonesian. Papua," he said as he extended his tattooed hand. It's appropriate that his skin looks a little dark despite his bare face. 

"Kyla." I welcome that hand. Even though he was a stranger I somehow felt he had no evil intentions and unknowingly the story of the new life I had just experienced slid off my lips.

"What's your plan now?" James asked me. And I don't have a definite answer yet. I'm still thinking about what I'm going to do next.

"Do you want to go back to Indonesia?" I'm shaking. I don't want to go back to Indonesia. At least for now. 

"What about your parents? They must be worried about you."

"I've contacted them and I said once a month I'll send a letter to tell them how I'm doing."

James nodded his head. A sign that he understands my decision and doesn't want to comment too much. "Have you ever been to Canada? I live there. Do you want to see what autumn looks like?"

Canada? Who wouldn't want to go there? After all, I wanted to visit that country a long time ago and Canada was on my honeymoon list with Antonius. 

"No." I shook my head even when I wanted to. 

"Come on, Key. You can take your stress out there." I'm calculating how much I'm gonna have to spend in the hammer. And that's a lot. I don't have enough money.

"I don't have enough money, James." I was being honest with him. And unexpectedly, the man wearing a dark blue t-shirt with sunglasses hanging around his neck offered me a ticket and a place to live that I could not refuse. Don't I want to stay away from the person who gave me pain? 

It was this brief encounter that brought me to Quebec, Canada. And this is where my little cloud was born.