(Writing 101, Day One: Unlock the Mind)
This is the first day of my Writing 101 class. We are supposed to free write 20 minutes. Since I just started this “Thinking Back” project, I decided to continue in that route.

Thinking Back – the girl who claimed to be my husband’s mistress

The phone rang while I was in kitchen washing vegetables.

“Mrs. Chen?”

She sounded like a teenager. I wondered if she was a volunteer at my daughter’s school. I tensed up. “Yes?”

“Umm… I…” She paused and continued a moment later. “Your husband and I love each other very much. Now that I am pregnant, we want to be together.”

I was relieved that the call had nothing to do with my daughter. My husband is seeing this young girl? I don’t think so. “I think you got the wrong number,” I said.

“You are Mrs. Chen, aren’t you?”

This is getting weird, I thought to myself. “So, what do you want from me?” I cautiously asked.

“We… your husband and I, would like your permission to get marry.”

“You really don’t need my permission, but if it makes you feel better –you got it. Good luck,” I said, still not convinced.

She blurted out several four-letter words, which assured me that my husband had nothing to do with her. “What is this? You wanted my permission and you got it. Why are you so angry?” I asked.

She uttered more four-letter words, and said, “You are supposed to feel sad, or get mad. What kind of woman are you? You husband is seeing another woman, for crying out loud. Don’t you have any feeling?”

“I do have feeling, and I am sad. But if that makes you and him happy, it’s two against one, so I am ok with it,” I said.

She hung up the phone.

After making that initial phone call, she called several times. Each time she told me she wanted to marry my husband, and each time I told her to go ahead, but leave me alone. Once she asked where my husband was. I said, “Maybe he is on his way to see you.” She cursed at me. Our conversations always ended with her slamming the phone.

Finally one day she called when my husband was home. “Honey, it’s for you.” I happily handed over the phone. I could hear my husband saying “Who are you?” “No, I don’t know you.” “What are you doing?”

We had not heard from her after that.

I always thought I had handled the call well. I wasn’t mad at either my husband or her. I wasn’t jealous. I was calm and reasonable, even though I might have a little too much fun.

Thinking back, I realize that that girl needed help. I wish I could spend time understanding her problem and helping her. ( I was young and not brave. And I didn’t have any training or experience in dealing with that situation.)

I have been thinking of her from time to time, hoping she turned out ok.