Can't Let You Go

***LIAM***

I stop pouting and break my cold shoulder treatment. Every morning for the rest of the week, I go to Tally's for breakfast so we can start our day together, except Saturday. She's told me to come later so I follow her schedule.

"Where are we off to for an important mission?" I ask when I arrive.

"Calvert Park." She raises a stuffed backpack. "We've got to bring this with us, but parking is terrible over there unless you have a resident's permit. Do you want to try it or go by bus or taxi?"

"I haven't been on a bus here in such a long time, but it will take a while to go that far. How about I call a cab?"

"Sounds good"

"So, are you going to tell me what we're up to?"

"Not until we get there."

We exit the taxi at the southwest park entrance and walk the path to the children's zone. It's changed a lot since I was here as a kid and I say as much to Tally.

"You're thinking of the playground on the opposite corner - by the northeast entrance."

"Am I? Are you sure?"

"Very sure."

We arrive at one of the picnic table gazebos which has a sign that says "Reserved T. Cohen 12-1pm"

"Isn't it hard to get these? When did you do this?"

"It was one of the first things I did when I came back."

"Really? Why?"

"The answer to several of your questions is in this." She pats her backpack.

Tally takes a thin photo album out of the front pocket and hands it to me. The first photo is a picture of her parents, a little boy who must be Quillon and a baby who must be Tally. They are seated at a picnic table under a gazebo very much like the one we're at now. I flip through the pages as Tally takes things out of the backpack and sets them out on the table. The next image is of Quillon on the wooden play structure that's right in front of me.

"You're right! This is the same structure. So the metal one is on the other side of the park?"

"Told you. Though probably all the wood has been replaced bit by bit since it was already old and weathered when I was little. It's still the same."

Next is Quillon and toddler Tally jumping in the dancing fountains. I look over to find the water feature, it must be too cold to let it run, but I see where it is. I flip through and see more scenes of the happy family and frolicking children. When I'm finished I turn to see that Tally has laid a tablecloth and set up a makeshift altar with offering stations like she does on Seollal at home.

"We didn't celebrate Lunar New Year, so I thought I'd do this today. Quill's death day." She talks as she finishes placing the food and drink. "We used to come here a lot until Quill got too old to be patient with me playing. Because there's so many kids, paparazzi don't usually follow celebrities to this part of the park. Technically, they're not allowed to do commercial photography anywhere in the park without a permit, so the staff would chase them off. If they saw them. The bigger threat is getting their balls handed to them by the helicopter moms.

"I'm sure we're featured in some families' caches of digital photos that they never look at. If they posted anything on social media, it was usually cropped to just show Mother. She didn't mind that because even if the photo wasn't the best, it would paint her in a positive light. 'Look who I saw playing with her kids in the park' types of captions. You know?"