Josephine, the Brown/Blue Eyed Girl

Evil

Josephine's eyes are one brown, one blue. It runs in her family actually; her brother has the same except in the opposite eyes. I don't know what's more rare for Chinese people: to have a set of blue eyes, or just one. I don't know any Chinese people with both eyes blue, so I guess having just one is actually more common. Go figure.

I saw Josephine on the train this morning. She was sitting in the next subway car, but I saw her thru the scratched up plexiglass. I recognized her instantly. Not by her eyes, because you can't see that stuff through scratched up plexiglass. I'll always recognize her because she has this smashed-in looking face and too-thick eyebrows. The last time I saw Josephine was about a month ago, also on the subway. The last time before that was a long time prior. I was 14 and she was 10. It was the last day of Chinese summer school and I thought I would see her again the next year as usual, but who knew... my parents didn't make me go back the following summer.

In my mind, I play out the scene where I cross the subway cars and walk up to Josephine. I say, Hi, and smile and she glances up. She wears a sullen look and it doesn't change when she sees me. I say, You're Josephine, and a glimmer flashes across her brown/blue eyes. I think it's a glimmer of fright, but I'm undeterred. I say, We went to Chinese school together, way back when. I knew your brother, Ba. Then I smile. When I smile, she cracks a smile, but it's forced. I know a forced smile when I see one. In the scene that I play out in my mind, we get to my stop and I'm relieved. I bolt out of there and wonder why I couldn't amuse even a brown/blue eyed girl with smashed-in face and too-thick eyebrows. It gets me sort of down.

In real life, we actually come to my stop. I step out, walk past the car that Josephine's in and check her eyes. Yes, one brown, one blue. It's her. She sees me, but she doesn't recognize me.