The broken dinner

Tina walks in on her family, already eating dinner. “Tina, put down your bag and get here!” shouted by her mom, her mouth half-full with rice. A short, thin woman with a slightly big belly. She is scarfing down the cold rice and Sinigang because it was prepared earlier that day.

Tina slowly inches toward the dimly lit work desk that was repurposed to be a dining table. “Why did you arrive only now?” asked Tina’s mom. Scared, Tina replied, “I was swamped with schoolwork but somehow I am slowly the piles of textbooks to do." "Tina, that's the real world for you. You have to understand that in the real world, work will never be done until you're done."

Tina pauses then slowly looks at her mom down to her empty plate. "Mom, why are we having cold Sinigang for dinner?". "It's because we have no money to buy an actual meal." her mother angrily replied. "Can't you be contented with what you have? It's all we have." She added. “I am sure dad would’ve done better. We could have gone around the world on our dining table.”

Tina’s mom pauses, slams down her utensils and hands on the table and shouts “If you miss him so much why don’t you go live with him!” Tina shouts back and says “I would have if I could. I miss the time when we were all a happy family.”

“Why can’t we just be a normal happy family like what we see on TV?”

Tina’s mom laughs and replies. ”That is why it’s on TV. It’s Fake. Fictional. Not real. I wish I could live in a giant mansion with a different kind of sports car for each of the days of the week including weekends but that’s just how the world works! We barely have enough to scrape by and you want me to have a special dinner just for you. Then you will go on a ‘woe is me’ rant online. Go ahead, tell your friends how terrible of a life we are living.”

Tina slams down her utensils and is preparing to leave the table. “Where do you think you are going Tina?” she asks. Tina pauses and then standing up tells her mom. “I saw dad a while ago. He saw me through the window of a coffee shop.” Her mom, astonished, calms down a bit and then asks in a monotone voice but slowly increasing in anger “So what did he tell you? What did he do? Did he ask you to join one of those pyramid schemes that promise to make you rich if you somehow invite more people to join into the pyramid scheme?”

“No, nothing of that sort Mom! He would just like to give something to you and me. An early Christmas present as he said.”

“Why would I need a present from him? He has been nothing but a vane on me ever since I first met him. I dealt with him and his stupidity for fourteen years. Fourteen long agonizing and hate-filled years.” Her mom angrily retorted.

Tina immediately stood up, got her bag and was preparing to hand it to her mom.

“Don’t give that to me!” Her mom sharply said.

Tina opened the bag and pulled out a note and she read it out loud. “I know nothing will ever make up for the failure I have been. I only wanted what was the best for our future and I got carried away. I became distant cold and calculated and I forgot about your needs, the needs of Tina. Our needs. I know you’re angry at me. I know you hate my guts and just wish that you and Tina are both doing well. I’ve decided to turn a new leaf, I plan to be a changed man. A changed me for you, for Tina and for myself. I don’t want to become the butt of jokes or the source of shame. I love you. I still do. I always will love you and everything I do will be for you. Even if you do not accept me back into our house, I want to let you know how much I love you and how much I am willing to sacrifice it all for you and for Tina.”

“I heard it all before, and I done waiting.” Her mom interjected.

Tina continued. “PS. I know you are sick and tired of hearing me promise and promise without me fulfilling it, and I have no way to show or to prove that this one is different other than my words and this gift. It took some time for me to get through the shards.”

Tina put down the note on the table and pulled out a plate placed back together with gold. It was a Kintsugi.

“Dad told me that this was his favorite plate. You broke this during your last fight.” Tina said.

“Yeah, I remember throwing a plate at him and it barely scraped him.” Her Mom replied.

Tina then said “Dad as well told me that this is called a Kintsugi. It is the art of fixing broken ceramics with gold and putting them back together…” “Yeah, it means to embrace one’s flaws and also asks us to understand that the piece is more beautiful for having been broken” her mom then interjected.

Tina’s mom started to tear up a bit.

“Mom, why are you crying?” Tina asked.

“It’s because of your lovable idiot of a dad.” Her mom replied. “I just wish that he is alright. Where is your dad right now?”

Tina immediately whips out her phone and searches for her dad’s phone number.

“Mom, I believe you’ll need this.” She turned her phone around and presented to her mom her phone with her dad’s number.

Tina’s mom smiles a bit then immediately gets up goes to her room and gets her phone.

Tina’s mom goes back and smiles again at Tina. “I am so glad that you met your dad today.”