The Robot Translator (Flash Fiction Part 11)

Image by kiquebg from Pixaba

This is the 11th part of the story. The previous 10 parts are here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

Ayun is cooking while thinking of a way to broach the topic of communication with her husband Tram. She is throwing packages of pre-seasoned veggie and meat into the sizzling pan to stir fry them with as little oil as possible. The pre-seasoned packages were from a little restaurant “Nana’s Kitchen” owned by Nana and her son in the immigrant quarter of lower Manhattan, where Ayun have been getting her supply. Since the food is not cooked yet but only pre-seasoned, it is much less expensive than restaurant orders. Ayun hates cooking but she has to do it every day. Without Nana’s Kitchen, she would have to wash and cut vegetables, process meats, take care of seasoning all by herself. In a way, Nana’s Kitchen is her biggest domestic help. Tram can’t live without a home cooked meal, or haven’t tried to live without it. He is happy to see women cooking for him out of love, and has the good fortune of never living without it. Little does Tram know that Nana’s Kitchen has done most of the cooking preparation for him, and his marital felicity and gastronomical delight are largely due to Nana rather than his wife. For more than ten years, Ayun has hid Nana’s existence from Tram, who mistakenly thinks that his wife can cook well. He even boasts his wife’s cooking skills to friends and relatives.

“Why can’t I just tell Tram that I hate cooking? Why can’t I just tell him that all the delicious stir-fry dishes Tram has enjoyed come from Nana?” Ayun asks herself as she put food on the table. But of course she cannot. “Is it that I enjoy my fake reputation of being a good cook more than an honest intimation with Tram? How much do I hide from Tram and how much does he hide from me? If he knows that his food mainly comes from Nana, will he think less of me? Will he feel cheated if he knows that I haven’t put as much labor of love into our food? Am I posing myself in front of my family members? I mean I have sacrificed and worked so hard for this family, but still I am afraid that Tram and Andy will not love me if I am not a good cook or if I don’t spend a big chunk of time cooking. Why is that?”

While she thinks of these questions, she calls her husband and her son to dinner.

“Hmm, these shredded pork are delicious. What is that spice you put in? It gives such a kick.” Tram says.

“Is it chili pepper probably?” Ayun answers.

“No, it is not.”

Ayun thinks to herself, “How do I know? I didn’t season it myself. I didn’t do anything other than buying it from Nana and throwing it into a hot pan. Now I am starting to think that probably Tram already knows the existence of some kind of secret food purveyor, but he doesn’t want to point it out to me, being afraid of hurting my feelings and my good cook image. So this is just a little charade that both of us enjoy playing until… I don’t mind of playing this charade with Tram, but I feel that this kind of family dynamic really damages my relationship with my son Andy. I don’t want Andy to be like Tram or any other engineers of Asian descents in America. He has a sensitive side and he loves languages, which he hasn’t explored yet. His brain is more like mine than Tram’s. He enjoys conversations and stories and histories and debates etc. However Tram has instilled in him some engineering fervor and some pursuit of science, which is not the best for Andy. I mean Andy is going to be a depressed 2nd rate scientist when he grows up. That’s awful. I want him to chase what he wants to chase–he can be a happy 1st rate linguist or writer or translator, who probably earn half as much money as an engineer. He can also travel the world and stop being a boring person, which is the prototype of all the people around me. Boredom reigns here.”

“You are a little silent today, aren’t you?” Tram says. “What are you thinking?”

Ayun wants to say that she wants to make changes; want to be honest; want to be less of a show or parade; want to give Andy more opportunities to try what he really likes. However, she can’t bring herself to say it. Once a relationship is set in a certain mode, it is hard to change it. She has always deferred to Tram’s opinions and wishes in their relationship while suppressing her own opinions and wishes. How can she change it? How can she bring herself to say she doesn’t agree with him and doesn’t like his parenting style?

Tram is waiting for her to say something, but she is quite undecided on what to say and what to do. So she changes the topic, “you know we have an annual office dinner coming up.”

Little does Ayun know that this dinner will bring unexpected changes to her life. Much as Ayun loves to make changes, this is the not the kind she has in mind. And it almost drives her to the brink of insanity.

(To Be Continued Here)