Free The Queen of Tears by Chris Mckinney

“So, what’d you think?”
    Donny sighed again. “It was O.K..”
    She lit a cigarette and laughed. “We got ourselves a weird extended family.”
    “Yup.”
    “You know your mother hates me.”
    “Yeah, and Kaipo hates Kenny. Kenny hates Kaipo. Brandon hates me. Darian loves Kaipo. Won Ju loves everybody, except for maybe her husband, and I hate...”
    Crystal turned to Donny. “And you hate?”
    “No one.”
    She took a long drag from the cigarette. “You hate her, don’t you?”
    “What the hell are you talking about? She’s giving us the money.”
    “I thought she was loaning it?”
    “Don’t talk stupid.”
    “So you don’t hate her?”
    “I thought I talked to you about this before. I don’t hate her. I just hate the way she raised me and Won Ju.”
    Crystal threw the cigarette out the window. “Won Ju doesn’t seem to have a problem.”
    Donny sighed. “Don’t let her fool you. If she wants to she can keep a straight face about anything.”
    “And what about Darian?”
    “She grew up different. Her American father saw to that. Besides, my mother wasn’t working when she was growing up. She never lacked the attention.”
    Crystal laughed and put her arms around Donny. “Poor little Donny. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.”
    Normally this would have infuriated him. But he was too tired. He felt like puking, but he was even too tired to do that. He simply leaned against Crystal and let her tease his hair. When the limo pulled to the apartment building and Crystal pulled Donny out, he laughed. She’ll take care of me. One of these days, I’ve got to learn to take care of myself.
    -2-
    In the elevator, Won Ju heard her son ask a wincing question, the kind that everybody asks themselves, and despite much speculation, can never find an answer for, partially because it is a genuine mystery, but mostly because they’re afraid of it. “Why did Crystal marry Donny?”
    He might as well have asked, “Why can human beings be so cruel?” Kenny laughed, sounding proud that his son asked the question. “They love each other,” Won Ju said. “And remember, it’s Aunty Crystal and Uncle Donny.” She knew she gave him a Santa Claus or Easter Bunny answer.
    The elevator doors opened. “He isn’t my uncle,” Brandon said as he stepped out first.
    Won Ju looked at Kenny. He shrugged then pointed at her. “Don’t start. I have my own gripe with you.”
    Won Ju followed her son into the hallway. “What are you talking about, he’s not your uncle?”
    Brandon stopped and turned around. She suddenly became aware of how much taller he was than she. He was fifteen and already about five-ten. But it was weird with children. She still felt like she was looking down at him. “Dad told me how he used to steal Grandma’s jewelry and pawn it.”
    She was surprised her husband had told their son this, but she was even more surprised that her son cared. He never seemed to take a genuine interest in his grandmother, despite the obsessed interest Soong had in him. “You don’t know how Donny was brought up. You know nothing about him. And remember, he is my brother, he is your uncle.”
    Brandon turned around, pulled out his keys, and opened the door. He took off his shoes and walked to the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator door. “But he’s a loser,” Brandon said.
    After taking off her shoes, Won Ju looked back at her husband. He smiled. She closed the refrigerator door and put her hands on his shoulders. She was about five-three, so it was a high reach. “I’ll say this once,” she said. “He’s your uncle and that’s that.”
    Brandon pushed her hands away. He walked away, biting into an apple he grabbed from the fridge. “Yeah, yeah,” he said as he made it towards his bedroom. The door shut.
    Won Ju turned around to look at her husband. He was sitting at their glass dining-room table with the newspaper lying in front of him. “How could you tell him that?” she asked.
    “Well