Yumi entered her bedroom and shut the door. She could still hear her mom crying.
Mama please stop crying
I can't stand the sound
Your pain is painful
And it's staring me down
I hear glasses breakingAs I sit up in my bed
I told dad you didn't mean
Those nasty things you said
Yumi got into her bed and tried to ignore everything. She sat up when she heard a glass break, but tried to get to sleep. The next morning she talked to her dad and told him that her mother didn't mean anything she said, that she was just angry.
You fight about money
Bout me and my brother
This I come home to
This is my shelter
Yumi got home from school that afternoon with Hiroki and heard their parents fighting about money for one of Hiroki's field trips.
It ain't easy
Growing up in world war three
Never knowing what love could be
I don't want it to destroy me
Like it did my family
Yumi decided that she would never, ever get married so that she wouldn't have to deal with all of this.
Can we work it out?
Can we be a family?
I promise I'll be better
Mommy, I'll do anything
Yumi talked to her mom after the fight and begged her to get along with Yumi's father. She just wanted to fix this. She said she'd never be bad again if they wouldn't fight any more.
Can we work it out?
Can we be a family?
I promise I'll be better
Daddy, please don't leave.
When Yumi finished speaking to her mother she saw her father heading for the door. She grabbed his arm and begged him not to go. She asked him to get along with her mom, but he said that it was impossible.
Daddy, please stop yelling
I can't stand the sound
Make mama stop crying
Cuz I need you around
Yumi woke up the next morning to hear her dad yelling and her mom crying. She ran downstairs and separated them, telling her dad to stop shouting and her mom to calm down because everything would be ok.
My mama she loves you
No matter what she says, it's true
I know that she hurt you
But remember, I love you too
Later, when she and her dad were in the car, she spoke to him about her mom and how she really felt. When he said he wanted a divorce, Yumi told him to stay at home, if not for her mom then for her.
I ran away today
Ran from the noise, ran away
Don't want to go back to that place
But don't have no choice no way
Yumi and Hiroki decide to run away later, so they packed their bags and left. But soon they got hungry and tired, and there was nowhere else to go, so they went back home and got ready for another fight.
In our family portrait
We look pretty happy
Let's play pretend
Act like it comes naturally
Yumi glanced at the picture of the family on the wall. If only they could be as happy as they were when that picture was taken. She went upstairs and went to bed. When she woke up, her dad was gone. He'd moved out while she was asleep. She called his cell phone and when he picked up, she told him:
"I don't wanna have to split the holidays
I don't want two addresses
I don't want a stepbrother anyway
And I don't want my mom to have to change her last name!"
Yumi's father didn't say anything, so Yumi hung up the phone and went up to her room. Next to her bed was another family picture.
In our family portrait
We look pretty happy
Let's play pretend
And act like it comes naturally
In our family portrait
We look pretty happy
We look pretty normal
Let's go back to that
Yumi stuffed the picture under her bed so that she wouldn't have to look at it any more. She sat down and wondered if her dad would come back. She hoped she could fix this.
Daddy don't leave
Daddy don't leave
Turn around please
Daddy don't leave
Don't leave us here alone
Later, Yumi went back downstairs and decided to send a letter to her dad to bring him back. It said:
"Mom will be nicer
I'll be so much better
I'll tell my brother
I won't spill the milk at dinner
I'll be so much better
I'll do everything right
I'll be your little girl forever
I'll go to sleep at night"
The last thing Yumi expected was for her dad to answer, but two days later he sent her a letter. All it said was, "I'll give it one more try." He came back home the next day.