Into a metal bowl of water, the mother is peeling cloves
of garlic while watching the video of her father’s
funeral. Women are placing coins over his eyes, rice in
his mouth, his body facing the sun. She pauses on this
last frame. Rewinds a bit. Plays.

She revises her fairy tale. “There was one more sibling.
Your grandfather had a mistress, a Japanese woman.
They had a baby together. A girl. She died early though.”

(The eights turn into nines.)