Angel in the Full Moon by Don Easton Read Free Book Online Page B

mouth.
    â€œYou can watch it in here if you want to be alone. I’ll show you another television that you can watch if you do not wish to be alone. It is much bigger, but first, I want to finish showing you around up here.”
    Hang opened the closet door and saw that the closet had more space than the area that both she and Linh had when they slept at home.
    Pops opened another door beside her bedroom. “This is your bathroom,” he said. “If there is anything you are missingor anything you need, please just ask me.”
    â€œMister Pops, this is ... for me, too?”
    He grinned and said, “Mister? No, no, no. Just call me Pops. Yes, this bathroom is for you until your sister comes. Then you’ll have to share the bathroom with her. Of course,” he said, opening the door to another bedroom, “she’ll have own her room.”
    â€œI’ll go now,” interrupted Dúc. He handed Pops a cellphone and said, “For later.”
    Pops had Hang wait in the kitchen while he went to the garage with Dúc. As soon as Dúc was gone, Pops returned and said, “Come, follow me. I’ll show you a real TV set.”
    Hang was in a daze as Pops led her to the basement, where they entered a large room with wooden panelling on the walls and thick wall-to-wall carpet. There was a leather sofa, two upholstered chairs, and a coffee table in the room.
    â€œHelp yourself whenever you want,” said Pops, gesturing to a bowl full of candy on the table.
    Hang gawked at the wall opposite the sofa. Hanging on the wall was the largest television set she had ever seen.
    â€œAnd this room over here is just another bathroom,” said Pops, gesturing to another door. “The room beside it just has my weights for working out.”
    Hang started to cry. She tried to stop, but she couldn’t help herself.
    â€œWhat is wrong?” asked Pops.
    Hang flung her arms around him and said, “Nothing. It is so much just for me. My tears are happy tears.”
    Pops hugged her back and said, “Why don’t you go back upstairs and freshen up? Take a hot bath or a shower. There are clean towels in the bathroom for you. It is also lunchtime. While you’re doing that, I’ll order some pizza.”
    Pops stared at Hang for a moment and said, “If you likepizza? Otherwise I can order something else?”
    â€œI like pizza,” said Hang, using her hands to wipe her tears. Later, while gorging herself on pizza, Hang turned to Pops and nervously said, “My father has a phone. He asked that I call him.”
    â€œI think you should. He must be worried.”
    â€œI have not talked to him for six months—no, weeks,” replied Hang. “I worry about my sister and grandmother, too.”
    Pops checked his watch and said, “With the time difference, it is now about four in the morning there. Maybe a little early for a call. Let’s wait a few hours.”
    Hang nodded in agreement.
    Pops spied Hang’s extra thumb and gently reached out and touched it. “I was told about this. Does it cause you pain?”
    Hang quickly withdrew her hand from the table and placed it on her lap.
    â€œPlease, I did not mean to embarrass you,” said Pops. “I just wondered if it caused you any pain.”
    â€œIt does not hurt” replied Hang, matter-of-factly. “Only in my head it hurts. Not real pain.”
    Pops smiled knowingly and said, “If you like, in time, I will have a surgeon remove it for you. But that will be your decision. It does not bother me at all.”
    Hang smiled and brought her hand back into view. “I think I would like that. To be the same as other children. My sister does not have this problem. She is perfect.”
    â€œYour sister ... I understand the next ship leaves in three days. Do you think she will like it here? I bet you miss her?”
    â€œYes, very much,” she admitted.
    â€œI hope you