Afterlife by John Tavares

Dad, 

Why is there a picture of you having sex with a woman less than half your age on AltAdultX?

Did you ever think how your daughter would feel if she was scrolling through social media, and she came across a photo of her father having sex with a woman younger than her? 

Did you ever think how she would feel?

KYL

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Karen,

I’m not exactly certain what you’ve been doing browsing through a website like AltAdultX, especially since you were vice-president of Young Christian Conservatives on Campus. You even led a crusade against all forms of adult pornography. I ended up having to bail you out of jail after you threw a bucket of pink paint at the storefront of an adult bookstore, personally threatened the owner, and picketed and demonstrated very loudly outside and inside the store in violation of a court order and restraining order. I still do not know how you managed to escape a punitive lawsuit, further criminal charges, or how those charges were ever dropped. I believe my personal and heartfelt apology to the store owners and my offer of hefty financial compensation for the damage to their building and business helped. I accepted those expenses and paid them in full. That is beside the point, though, and I am losing my train of thought here, after hearing from you out of the blue. Still, I must admit it is heartening to hear from you.

Love, Henry 

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Dad,  

My own personal views on pornography have evolved, but I think you have missed the point. Did you ever think of their effect upon your family? This isn’t like the embarrassment caused when you were caught on TV cameras joining the parade at Caribana, playing with the masquerades in bikinis, glitter, and sequins, dancing, doing the bump and grind.

KYL

---------

Karen,

My family – or what is left of my family – consists of two people, you, who have asked me not to contact you because you said, it messes with your mental health, and your mother, from whom I am separated and who has no desire at the current time to formalize a divorce, for complicated legal and financial reasons, so I am not certain exactly to which family you’re referring.

Love, Henry

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Dad, 

I do not know what you are talking about. You do have a family. But you missed the point, and I do have a point, or at least I did think I had a point. Why are you posting pictures of you having sex with a woman younger than me on AltAdultX? This isn’t the same as you doing the bump and grind with a masquerade at Caribana.

KYL

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Karen, 

I did not post pictures of me on AltAdultX. I have an account on AltAdultX, but I made that account after your mother and I separated and divorce talks and proceedings were initiated. I also switched the settings on that social media account to private. I needed an outlet, simply, an adult outlet. Moreover, I have no photographs posted on that account, no narcistic selfies so beloved of your hip ultra-moderns, your generation, no dick pictures—just a blank black square profile photo. 

Karen, I find this discussion bordering on the incestuous and thereby disturbing.

Please try to think of more positive and upbeat things you can tell me about. You are living in sunny southern California, in your mid-thirties, studying filmmaking. Can’t you tell me about your productions at film school?

Love, Henry

---------

Dad, 

No, I cannot because the profs are pricks. 

So, did you not post the pictures to AltAdultX?

If you really want to know how I made my discovery it was because a few friends, in filmmaking, and I decided to do a documentary film on kinksters and swingers.

AltAdultX became an obvious and easy source. 

The picture I am certain is of you. It shows an old guy, fit, tan, looking like you, having sex with a woman who looks like she’s in her mid-twenties.

KYL

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Karen, 

You keep harping about incriminating pictures on AltAdultX. Get over what some dirty old man is doing with a younger woman. It must be consensual, or it would not be posted on AltAdultX.

Love, Henry

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Dad,  

You obviously do not know or understand some of these social media websites, which become dark cesspools of oversharing and deep secrets and dirty laundry revealed to a voyeuristic public.

But I am not worried so much about you, as I am about your partner, my mother. 

Did you ever think about the effect on her?

KYL

---------

Karen,

I do not know why you keep bringing up your mother in the conversation on this chain of events especially since you practically accused your own mother of molesting you. Please move on with your life. Be the next Steven Spielberg or a Canadian film director who rocks that nasty place Hollywood. Move on with your life.

Love, Henry 

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Dad,

You asshole, and you are an asshole—Dad, I did not accuse my mother of molesting me. 

KYL

---------

Beloved Karen,

Ok, ok, I am sorry. I misspoke. But I remember you constantly used the term abuse. Your words at that time left a bad impression on me, especially since your mother invested so much of her time and energy into trying to make certain you became a more perfect version of her. Around that time that I decided to put even more distance between myself, you, and her. I believed that anything I did to try to help was only bound to hurt you somewhat or inadvertently make you miserable. For that reason, I removed myself from the picture and took the nearest exit.

You are not short of money, are you? That is not the reason you decided to message me, is it? Just say the word, and I’ll make certain the suit sends whatever cash you need, if it is for textbooks and tuition, rent and groceries. 

Love, Henry

---------

Dad, 

If I needed money for anything, it would be for cameras and equipment, production crew and actors’ wages, and set rentals. But I am good for money at the current time. The lawyer or financial advisor sends me money from the trust fund whenever I need it.

I am starting to question how well you know mom. Have you ever noticed how jealous she can become? Have you ever noticed how crazy, angry, and out of control jealousy makes her? I know Mom, and I know she knows, and I know she had an account on AltAdultX. If she saw you having sex with another woman, especially a woman younger than me, she would go insane with jealousy, even though you are, as you say, separated. The fact you do not seem concerned about these pictures’ effects on mother also leaves me concerned.

KYL

---------

Karen, 

Now you are talking about pictures, as opposed to a picture. Please send me a link or links, and I will see if I can log into my very vanilla AltAdultX account or create a new account to have a look see. 

Love, Henry

---------

Dad, 

Ok, I have sent you the links. Now you tell me the pictures at the end of these links are not of you.

KYL

---------

Karen,

These pictures could be of any man. You can’t even see the man’s full face because the image is cut off above his mouth. 

Love, Henry 

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Dad,

I recognize your chin, your mouth, and your facial hair growth in the pictures that show half of your face, and I recognize the body and figure. 

---------

Karen,

That man looks like a bodybuilder, like a man who lifts weights and goes to the gym everyday. He is also too light-skinned to be me.

Love, Henry

---------

Dad,

You tan during the summer and become very dark, exactly like the man in the picture, except you lose your tan during the winter. I’m guessing you started to trim your body hair, like that man in the pictures, and you did go to the gym everyday like you say, at least until you separated from mom.

KYL

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Karen,

Why are you trying to turn this into a detective story? So, what if this picture shows me, when I was invited to my friend’s party at his estate in cottage country? I am not saying that it is me, but what if it is me? Why should it matter?

Love, Henry

---------

Dad,

Because that picture shows you nude with your blank in the mouth of a female about a third your age. And the other picture also shows you behind her, presumably having intercourse.

KYL

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Karen,

I’ve enlarged and scrutinized the photos closely and carefully and I believe this is a case of mistaken identity. If you look closely, you will see that this man has a Semper Fi tattoo on the biceps of his right arm. He might be a soldier veteran or marine wannabe. As you know I’ve always been opposed to tattoos for health reasons. You must remember the number of times I encouraged and advised you to never obtain a tattoo.

Love, Henry 

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Dad, 

You can’t mislead me. I’ve enlarged and examined the photos closely with photo editing software and I can see none of the tattoos to which you allude. In fact, the more I look at these pictures the more I believe they are definitely of you.

KYL

---------

Karen,

If that picture is of me, and I am not saying it is me, the woman in the picture, and, I must emphasize, she is a woman, the woman is in her mid-thirties, your age, a sports physician, single, exceptional, and enthusiastic to be sharing her warm and friendly personality and body with a member of the opposite sex. And I must emphasize, if it is of me, she is a professional, a respected physician for professional sports figures, with a reputation to protect. I’m retired now and, frankly, I don’t give a damn.

Love, Henry

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Dad,

I am concerned about mom. And you should be, too.

KYL

---------

Dad, 

Why haven’t you answered my texts and emails? Stop stonewalling me.

KYL

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Beloved Karen,

Sit down and have a drink or take a tranquilizer before you read this. I want to emphasize: Sit down and take a tranquilizer before you read this dramatic news. 

Your mother has taken her own life.

She said that she was tired of her pain and long and drawn-out struggles with her own mental health. She said she felt guilty for all the turmoil and anguish those troubles may have caused, but I tried to reassure her this was not the case and tried to remind her of all the good times together. Still, she simply decided to end her own existence.

Love, Henry

---------

Dad,

Why didn’t you call me already? Why didn’t you email me earlier? Why didn’t you tell me sooner? 

---------

Beloved Karen,

I could ask the same question of you when you moved, when you dropped out of high school, when you married, when you divorced, when you put your child up for adoption.

This is all water under the bridge, Karen, but during your last tantrum you told me even if Mom dies you did not want to hear from me, so I simply do not understand where your sudden family values are coming from.

Your mother died in an assisted suicide after she abandoned hope for her life. 

I refused to have any part of the ceremony because I was born and raised a Catholic, and I will probably die a Catholic, even though on some days recently I feel like an agnostic or an atheist. 

Your mother produced an event worthy of one of your documentary films, with her friends singing, dancing, banging the tambourine, strumming ukuleles, contributing their favorite memories of your mother, and offering prayers in their various faiths and denominations.

There were prayers from the bible in recognition of her Catholic grade school religion. There were evangelical prayers from when she became a missionary in high school. There were prayers from when she converted to Judaism in Israel. There were even Hindu and Buddhist prayers from her brief dalliances and immersions in those religions, when she volunteered for humanitarian agencies in Vietnam, Nepal, and India. Friends from other faiths and religions also contributed their own tributes. 

So please do not take it personally when I tell you your mother has passed away. She wanted you to learn about this event in the New Year. She did not want her passing to be a sad event, or tragic news, but a celebration of life. She asked her closest friend and your former close friend’s mother to tell you in the New Year—and I’m not certain of the precise reasons she wished for this, but you can probably learn of this from whomever you call or email.

Her estate was left to her son from her first marriage—to the Jewish fellow who became an eye surgeon. I am confident you understand those reasons better than me, but the trust fund and those arrangements remain the same, so you should have few financial concerns. 

Please let me know if there is anything, and I mean anything I can do for you. Remember this is the way she wanted it.

Love, Henry 

---------

Dad,

My own mother dies, and you do not even tell me. WTF. 

And I wouldn’t be surprised if she decided to take her own life after she saw the pictures of you with that prostitute or whoever she is. The picture, after all, was posted several months ago, so she may indeed have seen it. I am guessing she did. You just do not know how insane jealousy can make Mom. Mom’s closest friend told me she was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder by two different psychiatrists but like anyone with BPSD she denied it. 

You drove her to the brink, Dad, you did this.

Goodbye forever. I never want to see you again.

KYL

In memoriam, Karen Yang-Li, Daily Bruin 

Karen Yang-Li, a vibrant and talented graduate student at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television, lived a life filled with creativity, passion, and boundless curiosity. At just thirty-six, she had already left an indelible mark at her new home at UCLA, playfully referring to herself as a "professional student" while inspiring everyone around her.

Karen’s love for storytelling shone brightly through her remarkable achievements. She published a heartfelt volume of poetry, a captivating novella in verse, and two compelling screenplays—one of which is soon to come to life on screen, produced by an independent film company. Her talent extended to documentary filmmaking, where her three student video projects, Affluenza, Overshare, and First World Problems, captivated audiences and went viral on YouTube, sparking meaningful conversations around the globe.

Beyond her academic and creative endeavors, Karen found joy in the simple and beautiful moments of life. She shared a special bond with her beloved Schnauzer, Phoenix, and cherished her eclectic collection of books, DVDs, and vinyl records, which will now enrich the shelves of the UCLA library system for others to enjoy.

Karen’s spirit found solace and inspiration at El Matador State Beach, her cherished sanctuary. There, she spent many blissful afternoons and evenings hiking, practicing yoga, meditating, reading, and embracing the ocean's ambience. True to her wishes, her ashes were lovingly scattered along its shores, ensuring her spirit infuses the place she adored most.

A heartfelt memorial service was held at UCLA's Magnolia Meditation Room and student chapel, where friends, colleagues, and loved ones gathered to celebrate Karen’s life, creativity, and kindness. Those who knew her will forever carry her warmth, wit, and radiant spirit in their hearts. Her sisters from her U of T sorority, where her volunteer work was indispensable, wish her a safe and happy voyage in the afterlife.

Obituary, Henry Yang-Li, Toronto Star.

A memorial service to honor the remarkable life of Henry Yang-Li will be held at Holy Cross Catholic Funeral Home, with interment to follow at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Thornhill.

Henry was a vibrant and colorful individual who brought warmth and humor to all who knew him. He devoted much of his career to financial advising and investment management, earning the trust of prominent clients in the world of professional hockey. His sharp mind and infectious spirit made him a beloved figure, both professionally and personally.

Proudly a member of the Chinese Jamaican Canadian community, Henry embraced and celebrated his unique heritage. He often shared lighthearted stories about the amusement and curiosity his biracial identity inspired among new friends and clients. Born to hardworking parents, his mother—a shopkeeper from Kingston, Jamaica—and his father—a marine mechanic from Montego Bay, Jamaica—Henry grew up witnessing their entrepreneurial determination. After moving to Toronto, Canada in the 1970s, his parents founded a thriving cleaning company in the financial district and a cherished convenience store in Little Jamaica on Eglinton Avenue West.

Henry's own story began in Kingston, Jamaica, where he attended Campion College, a Catholic institution that nurtured his pride in academic excellence. He often fondly reminisced about his time there, and later ensured his family spoke the Queen’s English with the same discipline he cherished as a student. Upon immigrating to Canada, Henry settled in Toronto's Jane-Finch neighborhood and pursued higher education at York University, where he attended business school on an international scholarship.

The early chapters of Henry’s career saw him as a financial analyst for a major Canadian bank, covering the restaurant industry. With his signature humor, he confessed that his job indulged his guilty pleasure of savoring fast food at every major chain for research. Beyond his professional pursuits, Henry brought passion and joy to Toronto's Caribbean community. A devoted participant and organizer of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival, he played mas in the Grand Parade with enthusiasm and pride. He also became a cherished figure in the culinary world as the owner of a jerk chicken restaurant on Eglinton Avenue West and a Jamaican patty food truck and restaurant on Yonge Street.

In retirement, Henry embraced life with vigor, immersing himself in international travel, amateur sports, and the physical activities he once missed in his youth. Whether biking, hiking, swimming, or hitting the gym daily, he reveled in the joys of an active lifestyle. A dedicated member of the Knights of Columbus, Henry found deep fulfillment in service to his community.

Henry’s philanthropic heart shone brightly through his unwavering support for the Canadian Mental Health Association and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. He contributed not only as a donor but also as a volunteer, demonstrating his commitment to causes close to his heart.

Henry Yang-Li will be remembered as a spirited, generous, and joyful soul who touched countless lives. For those who wish to honor his legacy, donations in his memory may be made to the Canadian Mental Health Association or the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, in lieu of flowers.

Born and raised in Sioux Lookout, Ontario, John Tavares is the son of Portuguese immigrants from Sao Miguel, Azores. Having graduated from arts and science at Humber College and journalism at Centennial College, he more recently earned a Specialized Honors BA in English Literature from York University. His short fiction has been published in a variety of print and online journals, magazines, and anthologies, in the US, Canada, and internationally. His passions include journalism, literature, economics, photography, writing, and coffee, and he enjoys hiking and cycling.

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