A few months earlier:

William walked down the street with a small, fluffy, white West Highland terrier named Ting Ting.

He moved smoothly— shoes thumping a boring and wet paved sidewalk in a small neighborhood of North Burnaby. The white t-shirt he had on hugged his skin, contrasting with loose black track pants cinched just above his naked ankles. William’s white socks barely peaked over the edges of his white and gold Adidas shoes, while a thick 24k gold chain swung carelessly from his neck. He ran a hand through his hair, which was mostly short, with sides cropped tight to his skin and a flop of longer hair on top combed rakishly to the side.

William thrust his hands back into his pockets, leaving the leash wrap around one fist. Ting Ting stopped here and there, investigating, and sniffing in his happy and distracted way.

William frowned, thinking about his sister and tugged firmly on the leash once to get Ting Ting’s attention. He called him in mandarin to come and Ting Ting obligingly came to sit at his feet. William glanced at his phone for a moment, still frowning, recalling the conversation he had just left and the look on his sister’s face.

His sister Yen Mei was 7 years older. She was married with a husband working in China and two children, a boy and a girl.  At the time, the kids had been playing video games in the living room while Mei stood with William in the kitchen. She had been doing some washing up, sucking a breath in now and then when she turned the tap on too hot. He recalled gripping the back of a dining room chair, watching his own knuckles turn white. He had stared at them a long time before slowly drawing his eyes up to meet hers. His eyes were full of anger, his mouth set. Upstairs, their mother was packing, her face creased with repressed emotions as she went up and down between floors, collecting the last odds and ends.

“You know that Ma has to go back. Now that you are settled, Ba needs her to help. He’s getting old, William. Ma has to go back to take care of him. You’re all grown up now. You should be more understanding.” Mei said, speaking in mandarin.

“I w-won’t stay,” William stuttered, his eyes glittering with rage.

Mei sighed, but her next words were calm, cajoling.

“Ba is doing this for your own good. You’re grown up. It’s a good opportunity. It wasn’t easy for Ba to get you into that school. You can learn some more English.”

“S-Shame.” William spat the word out with as much contempt as possible.

“William!” Mei hissed, shooting her eyes up to the ceiling. “Do you want Ma to hear you? Don’t make things worse. Ba is not ashamed of you! No one is ashamed of you,” she added more gently. She held her arms out and after another flex of the jaw he relented, allowing himself to be folded up in his sister’s hug. 

They had stood in silence until Ting Ting came in, sniffing and huffing. 

Mei sighed, letting William go rather abruptly. “He has to go out. Why don’t you take him for a walk, Mmn? You still have Jie Jie (older sister). If you really don’t want to stay, then I’ll try to talk to Ba, ok?”

Sullen, William pushed off from the counter and snatched the dog leash from a hook, snapping it to Ting Ting’s collar. He brushed past his mother who had come to stand silently just inside the doorway of the kitchen.

Mei leaned against the counter, folding her arms and gave her mother a measured look. She scuffed a slipper on the tiled floor.

“Your father has made up his mind. Even you know it’s better,” said her mother.

“For whom?” Mei asked, her voice like a whip. Her eyes glittered narrowed at her mother.

“It’s better for everyone.” her mother said, looking away, and she would say nothing more.

Initially, there had been no intentions for it to be a long trip. William only intended to stay in Vancouver for three weeks. When Ma said they were visiting Mei and asked him along, he had easily agreed. He hadn’t seen his sister since lunar New Year when she had come home with her boy and girl and it was now the summer. 

William recalled the new year quite clearly. Everyone had been waiting for his brother-in law and father to get home. Mei’s husband worked for her father’s company and would eventually take it over from him. They’d been home late that night, still wearing their ties and shirts, office jackets folded neatly over one arm, an older and younger version of each other. Ba had looked tired, but happy.

William’s mother had scolded him a little for being late, and in response his father had made some smart-alecky retort eliciting uproarious laughter. He observed that his wife scolding him on New Year’s eve of all nights would mean that he’d likely get a scolding every single night for the rest of the year. 

William’s brother-in-law had swept up his children in his arms and teased them about getting fat instead of tall. His niece had cried and that had led to more laughing and good-natured teasing. Will had stood slightly apart, watching with a crooked smile. His sister stole glances at him over the heads of the children and he pretended not to notice, refusing to meet her eyes.

"Brother-in-law." William said, greeting his brother-in-law formally. Han had paused, letting the smile that he had been gracing his children, freeze only for the slightest moment, and then nodded his head in return. His gaze hovered only briefly on William before settling comfortably and warmly on Mei much to her embarrassment.  

If possible, William didn’t talk. Everyone knew he preferred his silence and he tried to stay out of the way. He had not fit in at any school, hadn’t made any close friends as they were all put off by his stilted reluctant words, his stutter. Whatever they felt about him wasn’t openly expressed as his family was wealthy and his father was well known in the local business scene. It hadn’t bothered him that much, all the whispering behind hands, the pointed but covert looks. He didn’t actually care. His grades were acceptable, his teachers were mostly kind, and his parents left him alone when he was at home.

But he knew that his father was disappointed with him, that he was ashamed. A disabled son was an endless source of humiliation. His father didn't understand him, and he didn't try to make it so that he could.

William liked his world. He liked everything in it, except for people, but he absolutely loved his music. He could spend hours, shut up tight in the cocoon of over-sized headphones, with the newest American pop song thundering into his brain. His mother considered some of the music videos particularly offensive and vulgar, and he took deliberate pleasure in watching them on his laptop just to annoy her.

William also loved his music teacher, Mrs. Wang. He’d been devastated when she had moved to Vancouver with her family so that her daughter could go to university and was looking forward to seeing her again. It was one of the reasons he’d agreed to visit Mei. Mrs. Wang had written him an email only weeks before and had insisted that he keep in touch. Luckily, he would be starting lessons again very soon.

From a very young age, he only needed to see or hear a piece played once and he could play it back on the piano perfectly. Mrs. Wang had said to his parents many, many times, that he was extremely talented. Since he was good at nothing else, he had always been pleased with this.

William's attention snapped out of his thoughts and back to Ting Ting who had tangled his feet up in the leash. He must have been strolling the dog aimlessly around, block after block. Ting Ting was whining and tugging, ears cocked. As William passed by the corner house, he heard a piano. The player was an unskilled amateur, but the raw emotion of the playing caught his attention. He slowed and then stopped, listening to it, and then jerked as the keys crashed suddenly like someone had tried to slam the lid shut on the player's fingers. He heard a man shouting and the angry answer of a woman. Troubled, he backed up, his head tilted to the side as he turned.

Ting Ting whined once more and he finally turned away, walking one more time past the house with the unknown player. The piano was playing softly again, slow and hesitant, and the sound made him sad. Frowning thoughtfully, he made his way back to his sister’s house and the problem that was still waiting for him there.