Eat a Bowl of Tea
（Excerpts）
I
In the quiet of the early morning, the buzzer sounded sharp and sudden, cutting the silence like the shrill notes of ten thousand cicadas.
But to the sleeping Ben Loy, a bridegroom who had not worn off the luster of marriage, the noise sounded faint and distant.Buzz … buzz …buzz.The buzzing flooded the bedroom like subdued sunlight, tugging at the eyes of the sleeper, enticing him to awake.Still on the fringe of slumber, resisting the powerful influence of reality, he clutched at sleep.By now the repeated sounding of the buzzer had invaded his dreams and saturated them with wakefulness, degree by degree.Finally, like a tired man trying to arise from a swamp, he opened his sleepy eyes and stared at the cream-colored wall.
Next to him, still wrapped in sleep was Mei Oi, his bride of two months.His eyes fell longingly upon her soft, smooth face.He smiled.He would not disturb her.So full of innocence and the purity of youth.
He had mistaken the door bell for the alarm clock， calling him for work.Before his marriage to Mei Oi， it had been his habit to be awakened by a Baby Ben[1] every morning， except on his day off.He would set the alarm for 10：30 in the morning， get up leisurely and， in a matter of minutes，would be in the restaurant where he worked and ready for another day.The hardest part had been the getting up.He had come to detest the alarm clock that was always ticking on the night table next to his bed.Yet， every night before going to bed， he would faithfully and carefully make sure that the alarm lever was pulled out.
Now everything had changed.He was a married man.Marriage opened a new vista of life for him.The apartment had become a home, his and Mei Oi’s.Not just a place to hang his hat.
The apartment, on the fringe of Chinatown, was slumlike.It had hot and cold running water; but there was no central heating and the toilet was outside in the hallway.Ben Loy was not complaining; he was accustomed to it.He had lived here on and off for seven years, since 1942, when his friend Chin Yuen had invited him to share the apartment.
Wang Ben Loy and Mei Oi had been married in China two months ago; but they had been in New York for only a week.Upon Ben Loy’s return to New York with his bride, Chin Yuen had given up the apartment to the newlyweds.He had explained that, since he was a bachelor, he could find himself a bed anywhere.Ben Loy’s father had offered to find living quarters for them; but, in view of Chin Yuen’s generous overture, Ben Loy happily moved into the apartment with his bride.
The neighborhood was not a fancy one.Catherine Street was like many other streets in the lower East Side, which, instead of flying the flag of excellence, flew the multi-colored washes of its inhabitants.The fire escapes protruding from the front of buildings boasted only of mops and brooms dangling precariously on their rails.Garbage cans were left helter-skelter on the sidewalks, as if a gale had just swished through the middle of Catherine Street.
But it was a place to live.It was home to Ben Loy and Mei Oi.
The spring mattress felt good against his back, after many weeks of bed boards in his native village of Sun Lung Lay.Ben Loy turned slowly in bed, away from his wife.He yawned and rubbed his eyes, hating to get even his hands out of the blankets.Turning again, he threw a fond glance at his bride.The snow-whiteness of her face, even when criss-crossed with strands of long black hair, made Ben Loy want to nudge a little closer and kiss her.Her full lips, rosy even without make-up, looked inviting to the bridegroom.But he was afraid he would awaken her.
From his bed, he glimpsed the outside world through the slots formed by the pink-colored blinds.Sunshine flickered through, but it didn’t look like ten o’clock to Ben Loy.It was more like the crack of dawn.He tossed again, turning lazily to look at the alarm clock.Ten minutes to seven!What the ...But who said it was ten o’clock?
The buzzer sounded again.This time unmistakably, distinctively.From the kitchen.It buzzed three times and stopped.
Goddamsonovabitch! Ben Loy angrily pulled the cover over his head in a futile effort to escape the noise.His wife stirred.Turning to her husband, Mei Oi said sleepily, “Somebody’s at the door.”
“Never mind that.” Ben Loy stuck his head up from under the blanket.“Sleep some more.”
Husband and wife stirred and tugged at the blankets, trying to make themselves more comfortable.
Buzz … buzz … buzz.
“Goddamsonovabitch!”
Mei Oi didn’t understand a syllable of it.The covers flew off Ben Loy,exposing his black and white striped pajamas.His black hair was like the feathers of a rooster after a fierce battle.He compressed his lips hard.He sat up in bed.
“What did you say, Loy Gaw?” his wife asked sleepily.
“Nothing, oh, nothing.” Ben Loy gripped the corner of the blanket and, with one quick sweep of the hand, flipped the cover back on himself again.
“Don’t pay any attention to him,” he said irritably.“He will go away.”
“Who could it be, ringing door bells so early in the morning?” asked Mei Oi.“Must be a crazy man who has no consideration for others.” She squirmed closer to her husband.
“Yeah, he must be crazy.”
Buzz … buzz … buzz …
“Let me go and see who it is,” said Mei Oi, half getting up.
“No, don’t go.Leave him alone and he will go away.”
Silence gripped the second floor apartment for a moment.You could hear the tiny Baby Ben ticking away on the night table.The sunlight pressed through the pink blinds, flooding the room with a pale brilliance.
Ben Loy turned abruptly to his wife and pulled her toward him.His arms held her like a vise and his legs entwined with hers.
“Never mind the door bell,” he said, kissing his wife full on the lips.Again and again he pressed his lips to hers, each time more fervently than the last.He closed his eyes.It was wonderful, just having and holding Mei Oi in his arms.It gave him a sense of possession, of owning.A husband and wife relationship.It gave him a feeling of dignity.Mei Oi was his wife.
Not like those streetwalkers.Filthy, diseased whores!
Then his pleasure in his new wife gave way to the chill of frustration.His passionate kisses became mere mechanical gestures, the pressing of lips together.In a feeble attempt to hide his disappointment, he mumbled to Mei Oi, “I am tired … so sleepy.”
Ben Loy loosened his grip on his wife’s shoulder and stroked her cheeks tenderly, then her hair.He was spent, embarrassed and hurt.
He hoped the buzzer would not shrill again.The sounding of the buzzer brought back memories to him, memories he would like to forget now.His foolish, impetuous, stupid past.His senseless and reckless youth ....When the buzzer did not sound again, he was relieved to know that the visitor had surely gone from the door by now.It was a long time till ten o’clock.He would get a few more hours of sleep.
But hardly had he turned away from his wife when the buzzer broke the calm like a spark of lightning.Buzz ...buzz ...buzz.Then there were three light taps on the door.
Ben Loy realized now that he would never get rid of the bell ringer by staying in bed.His arm made an arc and the covers flew off.He leaped out of bed, turned and smiled at his bewildered bride and then gently pulled the blanket back over her.“I’ll be right back,” he said.
As soon as her husband was out of the room, Mei Oi sniffled several times and dabbed at her eyes with her red pajama sleeves.Ben Loy does not love me any more, she sobbed, almost inaudibly.She had been most happy, happy with an ecstatic quality that was beyond expectation or belief.She had had no idea that married love was such a wonderful thing.But this picture of happiness suddenly faded when her bridegroom strangely abstained from any more love-making.At first she had thought Ben Loy was just tired and that he would resume his ardent courtship in a few days.Now it was almost three weeks since he had last charged her body with that wonderful feeling.
Ben Loy walked briskly through the long hall to the door.He unlocked the door and yanked it open.The morning light showed the silhouette of a young woman.
“Let me in, you sleepy head,” she said impatiently.“Where have you been all these weeks?” She was about to step inside when Ben Loy raised his hand.
“I can’t let you come in,” he shook his head.
“Aw, come on, honey,” she pleaded.“Just this once.” The girl began pushing her way in.
“You can’t come in here!” Ben Loy raised his voice.“I have my wife here.”
“Ha ha, I don’t believe it.”
“What’s the matter with you? I said I have my wife here!” Ben Loy excitedly pointed in the direction of the bedroom.“There, in that room.My wife!”
“This I’ll have to see,” she laughed.“You married? Ha, ha, ha ...Listen, honey … will you … just this once, huh?”
“No！” Ben Loy almost shouted.The veins on his temples bulged and his face reddened like Quon Gung’s.[2] “I told you I have my wife with me，” he continued more calmly.“What do you want me to do？ Kick my wife out of bed and put you there？”
“Do me a favor.I need the money.Let me in ...just this once and I’ll never bother you again.”
At this moment Ben Loy’s eyes fell on the clothes line strung along the wall in the hallway and now, for the first time, he noticed his wife’s panties hanging there.“Here,” he said quickly.“Look at these.They belong to my wife!”
The girl stopped short and began backing away slowly.She was a brunette, in her early twenties, whom Ben Loy remembered as one of the girls who had come to his room in his bachelor days.She stared once again at the clothes line.Then she fled down the stairs.
Ben Loy closed the door behind her.A sense of deliverance accompanied him as he tiptoed back to the bedroom.
“Who was that?” Mei Oi asked cheerfully, having recovered from her private eye-drying.“Why did you talk so long?”
“Oh, a crazy man.”
“A man? I thought it sounded like a woman.”
“No, it was a man.He might have sounded like a woman.”
“He must be crazy,” said Mei Oi.“Waking people up so early in the morning.What did he want?”
“Oh ...he ...he wants to sell me some insurance.” Ben Loy climbed back into bed, greatly relieved.
But the encounter made him uneasy.It brought back memories he wanted to forget.It was like the opening of an old wound.Even staying in this apartment seemed an affront to the purity of Mei Oi.
II
One Saturday several months before the wedding, the day had broken humid and muggy.Heavy rain had splashed the sidewalks of New York intermittently during the night.The month of May had just ended.Chong Loo, the rent collector, hobbled down the flight of stairs to the Money Come club house in the basement at 87 Mott Street in New York’s Chinatown.
“No money!” Wang Wah Gay, the proprietor, greeted the agent as he came through the door.“Wow your mother.No money today.You come back.”
“All right, uncle, all right,” said Chong Loo.“I’ll be back on the fifteenth.” He started to leave.Then he stopped abruptly, with one hand on the door knob.When he turned his head, he gave the impression of having a stiff neck; his whole body swung with it.“Did you see the pugilist master at the Sun Young Theater last night?” he grinned, showing his new set of teeth.The last time he had come around he had not a single tooth.
“Wow your mother,” said Ah Song, a hanger-on at the club house.“Go sell your ass.”
“Did you hear about the fight last night between a Lao Lim and a Lao Ying in front of the Lotus Tea Shop? This Lao Lim accused Lao Ying of taking his wife out.”
“Wow your mother.Why don’t you go and die?” said Ah Song,looking up from his newspaper, the Chinese COMPASS, at the mah-jong table.
“Later on the police came and separated the two men,” Chong Loo continued.“Heh heh.Women nowadays are not to be trusted.”
If the rent collector weren’t so old, people might mistake him for a student, with his ever-present brief case.His head was big at the top and tapered off almost to a point at the chin.He had no hair on the dome, but sparsely-scattered long black hair mixed with grey on the circumference.
“Remember a year ago some Lao Tsuey ran down to South Carolina with Lao Ning’s wife? She’s the niece of the president of the Bank of Kwai Chow,” Chong Loo persisted.“Have you heard the latest about ...?”
“Wow your mother,” said Ah Song, this time a little louder than before.
Across from Ah Song, sitting on the couch, the proprietor, Wang Wah Gay, smiled his agreement.“You many-mouthed bird, go sell your ass.”
“Heh heh.See you on the fifteenth, Mr.Wang.”
His stooped shoulders and large head and brief case disappeared out the door and he began mounting the steep steps that led to the sidewalk.Wah Gay, from his half-reclining position on the sofa, could follow his exit until the rent collector’s unpressed pants gradually ascended out of sight.
“Wow his mother,” exclaimed Wah Gay, stretching himself.“He never fails to show up on the first of the month.You don’t have to look at the calendar.When he arrives, you know it’s the first.” He crossed his legs and flicked the ash from his cigar on the tray.
“Chong Loo is all right,” said Ah Song.He turned another page of the Chinese COMPASS.The circle of light from the overhanging lamp played on the newspaper.“Wow your mother.That’s his job.It’s his responsibility to show up on the first of every month to collect rent.Maybe he is a many-mouthed bird but he works for a living.”
Ah Song let the newspaper drop flat on the table.Usually he read with glasses, but today he had been looking at the big letters in the advertisements.“Wow your mother, Wah Gay, do you think he’s like you,never worked in your life?”
They both chuckled.“You dead boy,” said Wah Gay.“You’re still young yet.Why don’t you go to work?”
“Who, me? I’ve worked more than you ever hope to work, you sonavabitch.” Ah Song was a youthful-looking man in his mid-forties,with just a touch of grey at the temples.His neatly combed black hair had the effect of a crew-cut.A white handkerchief always adorned his breast pocket.Even on the hottest days he would never roll up his shirt sleeves or be caught without a necktie.
“When did you ever work?” replied Wah Gay.“I’ve known you for almost twenty years.” He pointed a finger at Ah Song.“You sonavabitch, if you ever worked at all, you must have worked when you were a mere boy.Ever since I’ve known you, you haven’t done a single day’s work.”
“Shut up your mouth.Do I have to tell you when I go to work?”
The basement club house was cool.Compared to the heat and humidity of the street, it was a refreshing paradise.The sudden intensity of the early summer heat had caught everyone unprepared.A few days before,it had been so damp and chilly and windy that Wah Gay had to turn on the gas heater.
The door creaked open.
“Nice and cool here,” said the newcomer.He turned and made sure the door closed tight.“Thought you went to the race track,” said Wah Gay.
“I overslept,” replied the man.“Might just as well.On a day like this.” He looked around the room.“Where is everybody? Still early, huh?”He walked over to an easy chair in the corner and sat down.He took out a cigar and lit it.“You know, on a day like this, I think this is the best place in the city.Nice and cool, with natural air conditioning.”
Lee Gong was slight of build， with silvery black hair.He continued puffing on the Admiration which had been given him at a banquet the night before.He and Wah Gay had come over to America from China on the President Madison together and had shared the confined quarters of Ellis Island[3] as two teen-age immigrants many springs ago.
In his early days in the United States, Lee Gong worked in various laundries in New York.Later he, himself, owned one in the Bronx.In 1928,he went back to China.He remained there only long enough to marry.Then he returned to the Golden Mountain, leaving his wife in China.He received the news of the birth of his daughter, Mei Oi, several months after he had returned to the United States.
Some ten years later, he sold his laundry.With the proceeds from the sale of the laundry plus his small savings, he had planned to spend the late evening of his life in the rural quiet of Sunwei.The Sino-Japanese War had prevented him from realizing this long-cherished goal.The unsettled conditions of subsequent years in the Far East, which saw Mao Tse-tung grab control of the Central Government of China from Chiang Kaishek,had weighed heavily in his decision not to return to Sunwei.While there were intermittent periods of peaceful travel in China for those who wanted it, Lee Gong could not bring himself to see anything permanently stable for a retired Gimshunhock in China.So reluctantly he remained in New York.
“Ah Song, my boy,” said Lee Gong from his easy chair.“You have good results lately?”
“What good results? I haven’t been to the tracks for a whole week.No luck and no money.”
“Ah Song is a smart boy,” said Wah Gay.“He wouldn’t go to the races unless he’s lucky, heh heh.”
“You go to hell.” Ah Song folded his paper, got up and stretched his arms.He yawned.Yawning was a habit with him, almost as natural as breathing.“It’s so hot you don’t want to move.”
“You just moved, you sonovabitch,” said Wah Gay.
Ah Song ignored the remark and started toward the door.
“Where are you going to die?” Wah Gay called after him.“Be smart.Go get someone down here and start a little game.Where can you go in this hot weather?”
“To the race tracks!” Ah Song slammed the door behind him.
Lee Gong went over to the mah-jong table and sat in the chair that Ah Song had just vacated.He picked up the paper.“That sonovabitch Ah Song eats good, dresses good, and he never works!”
“He’s got what you’d call Life of the Peach Blossoms,” chuckled Wah Gay.“The women like him.He’s a beautiful boy.”
“Maybe he was born under the right stars.”
“Three years ago he went to Canada and I’ve heard he married a rich widow from Vancouver and she bought him a car and gave him money.”
“What has happened to the widow now?” Lee Gong asked, surprised that Ah Song was ever married.As far as he knew, Ah Song was living the life of a bachelor in New York.
“Nobody knows,” the club house proprietor shook his head.“You know Ah Song’s type.He never tells you anything.I heard he had some trouble with the police out in Portland when they caught him without proper registration for his car two years ago.”
“I’ve never heard of that，” said Lee Gong.“But you don’t have to go back that far.Just a year ago he was mixed up with that Lao Woo’s wife.Someone saw him and Woo’s wife together around Times Square[4] on a Saturday night.Soon the news got back to the husband， who took the matter up with the elders of the Woo Association.The chairman of the Woo Association sent a representative to see Ah Song ...”
“What happened?”
“Ah Song was squeezed for $1,000.”
“Did he pay?”
“Of course.”
The afternoon was unusually quiet at the club house, and the two friends found this light talk helped pass the time away.
“This generation of girls is not what it used to be，” lamented Wah Gay.“In nine cases out of ten， if the girl were good and honest， no trouble would come to her.” Wah Gay got up and started pacing the floor.“You look at this generation of jook sing boys and jook sing girls[5].They have no respect for elder people.H’mn， they would call you by name.They would call you Lao Lee even though you are almost twice as old as their old man.”
“Regardless what anybody might say,” put in Lee Gong.The words seemed to flow out of his mouth effortlessly.“Girls born in China are better.They are courteous and modest.Not like these jook sings born in New York.They can tell good from bad.” He paused.The newspaper remained unread on the table.“Summer is coming.You’ll see them running out on the streets almost naked.You could almost see their underpants.”
They both chuckled.
The afternoon moved slowly.Even the sidewalk outside was deserted on this hot, sticky day.The perennial voices of children playing, the roar of their roller-skates against the pavement, were missing.An occasional rumble of passing trucks could be heard in the quiet retreat of the Money Come club house.
“A very deteriorating influence,” continued Lee Gong dryly.“This Western civilization.” He picked up the Chinese COMPASS again and tried to read it.The only illumination in the room was the circle of light that now played directly on the newspaper.“Nowadays girls go out and get a big belly before they get married.”
“Heh, heh,” laughed Wah Gay.“What more do you want? One gets a grandchild with a brand new daughter-in-law at the same time.”
The door swung open.
Chong Loo, the rent collector, had returned.This time he was without his brief case.Wah Gay had started walking back to the anteroom when he saw Chong Loo enter, and now he came out with an aluminum pot in one hand and a dollar bill in the other.
“Here,” he said to Chong Loo, “go and get a few cents’ worth of coffee.”
Chong Loo, beaming, left with the pot and the dollar.In the meantime,Ah Song returned with two companions.
“You have lucky footsteps today,” greeted Wah Gay.“I thought you said you were going to the race tracks?”
“I did,” replied Ah Song.“I came back already.”
“You big gun.”
From the back room, the club house owner brought out six cups and placed them on the square mah-jong table, which was now covered with old Chinese newspapers serving as a table cloth.He rubbed his palms and bent his head forward a little.“You are lucky.You just walked in and we’re going to serve you coffee!”
The two men who had just come in with Ah Song were Tuck King, a second cook on his day off, and his roommate, who, because of his generous proportions, was nicknamed Fat Man; but was politely referred to as the Kitchen Master in his presence.
“We were still sleeping when this sonovabitch Ah Song pounded on the door and woke us up,” the Kitchen Master said.He removed his Panama hat and put it on a hook on the wall.His right hand automatically went up and smoothed his snow-white hair.
“That’s why we came down … for coffee,” Tuck King laughed.“Share the wealth.”
The basement had a refreshing coolness.Not damp.Not muggy.None of the moldy smell of the unused cellar.After coffee, Ah Song spoke out, “Fifty dollars.”
Lee Gong poured the mah-jongs on the table, some of them face up,others face down.
“Fifty dollars,” echoed Tuck King, sitting down.
“Okay.Fifty.”
Leaving the coffee cups unwashed in the sink, Wah Gay joined the others at the mah-jong table.When he walked, he took big steps and his whole body seemed to swing with them.From the sink to the mah-jong table it took him but three steps.In his place on the table were strips of ivory chips which had been divided equally by the others.The mah-jongs now all faced down.Wah Gay added his outstretched hands to the pairs that were already busily shuffling the tiny ivory tiles around.The old army blanket muffled the noise of the blocks clucking against one another.Quickly, deftly, hands moved, setting up the mah-jongs.
Lee Gong picked a pair of pea-sized dice from among the chips and rattled them in his palm.The dice bounced off the mah-jongs and onto the table, where the adhesive characteristics of the blanket acted as a dragging agent and the dice rolled reluctantly to a stop.
“Six.”
Ah Song picked up the dice and threw them against the mah-jongs.“Ten.”
Next came Fat Man.He watched the dice roll lazily to a two and a one.“Wow your mother!”
The dice rattled once more, this time in the fat palm of Wah Gay.The cubes danced, smacked against each other, and bounced off the stacked-up tiles.
“Eight.”
“Ten has it.”
Ah Song hit the dice again.“Twelve.”
His right hand reached for the mah-jongs in front of him, counting to himself … two … four … six … eight … ten… twelve …
The mah-jongs thudded quietly against the blanketed table, all face up,in multi-colors of red, green, and blue.Someone let out a thirty thousand.
“Poeng powng!”
“So soon?”
“Wow your mother!”
VII
Ben Loy and Chin Yuen roomed together in a small apartment just across the street from the restaurant, one of two maintained by the China Pagoda for its employees.The living facilities served as an inducement for workers to come to Stanton; for experience had shown that cooks and waiters were reluctant to take jobs in small towns.
One night in the winter of 1942, shortly after eighteen-year-old Ben Loy had started working there, the restaurant closed early because of the blizzard-like weather.Snow had been falling since mid-morning and no one had come into the restaurant since.The cooks and waiters sat around and chatted idly until it became apparent that the weather was not going to let up.Then manager Wing Sim sent them home for the night.
Chin Yuen and Ben Loy went to the apartment, happy at the thought that they had a couple of extra hours to themselves.This was the first time their work schedule had permitted the roommates any leisure time together.
Chin Yuen asked the younger man, “Little brother, do you go in for a little recreation from time to time?” Before Ben Loy had a chance to answer, he added, “I mean such as girls.”
“Girls? Where? In this town?” asked Ben Loy, incredulously.He was sitting on the edge of his bed.He proceeded to take off his snow-dampened shoes and socks.He had known Chin Yuen for only two weeks.
“No, no, stupid boy,” said Chin Yuen.“Not in this town.” Chin Yuen looked like a pocket edition of a fat man with big round eyes.“In New York.”
“I have no girl friend anywhere,” said Ben Loy, smiling, somewhat taken aback by the conversation.He walked over to the window and looked out.He had never beheld so much snow before.White flakes floated down upon the street, upon the roofs, upon the city, upon the whole landscape, like white-grained rice husks flying from the milling closet.Only this was on a grander scale.All white.Everything was white.The whole world was white.
“Look,” he said when he heard Chin Yuen coming toward the window.He pointed to the fast falling snow, which had a musical and rhythmic quality as it glided through the air.
“It’s snowing.” Chin Yuen quickly turned away from the window.“Haven’t you seen it snow before? What is there to see?”
The room was sparsely furnished.No sofa.No chair.When they sat,they sat on the bed.It was not necessary for the boss to furnish these rooms with any degree of luxury.It was a place to sleep, a dormitory.It was unusual for roommates to meet and talk in their room; their hours of work prevented it.
Chin Yuen had just come out of the bathroom and started to get dressed again when Ben Loy asked, “You going some place?” He had presumed his roommate was getting ready for bed.
“Yes.New York.Want to come along? It’s going to be a dead night in Stanton.” Chin Yuen’s mouth twisted into a knowing smile.“You’re only young once.Enjoy yourself while you can.”
Ben Loy thought for a moment.If he had been working as usual, the hours would have passed quickly.But this way, alone in his room, he would have only the four walls to talk to.If he went with Chin Yuen, no one would find out he had been in New York.
“Don’t mention this to Wing Sim,” said Ben Loy as he hurriedly changed, excited at the thought of going to New York at this hour.
“Don’t be afraid, you dead boy,” said Chin Yuen.“Nobody is going to tell your old man.”
In less than an hour, with Chin Yuen in charge, the two roommates arrived in New York.From Grand Central, they hailed a taxi to take them to the Hotel Lansing on Fiftieth Street.A small marquee extended over the entrance of the hotel.
As the two walked in, an elderly man with glasses was bending over the desk.He looked up, greeted the strangers and proceeded to register them for the night.“Room 709,” he announced to the bell boy, who had come up to the desk.Ben Loy and Chin Yuen followed the bell boy to the elevator and rode up to the seventh floor, where he opened the door to 709.Ben Loy and Chin Yuen looked about the room.One double bed and cream-colored walls.One wash basin in the corner near the window, but no toilet or bathroom.One small dresser.The bell boy went to the window and pulled the shade down.As he turned to leave, Chin Yuen walked over to him and said almost inaudibly, “You have a nice girl?”
The man, who was about fifty years old, in a blue and yellow uniform,knitted his brows, and there was a pained expression on his countenance.He looked sympathetic.Slowly he shook his head.“My friends, on a night like this, I don’t know.” His hand was on the door knob.He shrugged his shoulders.“They don’t come around on a night like this.”
Chin Yuen followed the man to the door.Ben Loy was pushing the mattress down with his hands, testing its springiness.
“You try, my friend,” implored Chin Yuen, pushing a dollar bill into his palm.“Young one, huh? Nice girl.”
The minutes ticked by slowly.The expected knock on the door did not come.Outside the snow continued to fall.The hotel room suddenly became a self-imposed prison instead of a one-night paradise.What could they do but wait? The watch stood still.
“If I had known it was going to be like this,” mumbled the disappointed Ben Loy, “I would have stayed in Stanton.”
“How should I know it was going to be like this?” said Chin Yuen,feeling a little guilty at having dragged his roommate to New York for nothing.“Maybe some girl will come up.It was never like this before.”
Midnight came and went.They stared at the four walls.Should they wait some more or try to get some sleep? In their state of frustration, sleep would not come easy.If they had only stayed in Stanton! They were like two foolish people entrapped on a bed of cactus, squirming to make themselves more comfortable.There was no heart for talk.What a strange situation! Two men waiting.A double bed.A wash basin.Outside the whole world was blanketed in snow.The whole world stood still.Waiting.Just waiting.
Finally, after what seemed like ten thousand banquets, there came a soft knock on the door.Chin Yuen jumped up.He rushed to the door.
“Do you want to see me?” A middle-aged redhead with a hard smile stood in the doorway.
“Come in.Come in,” invited Chin Yuen.Her perfume tickled his nostrils, “Only one?”
“How many do you want?” the woman giggled.She stepped into the room.“Any bathroom?”
“No,” replied Chin Yuen.“Outside in the hall.”
She walked to the dresser and took off her black coat, which had a fur collar around it, folded it in half and laid it across the top of the bureau.
“Well, I certainly can’t take care of the two of you at the same time,”she laughed; and her hands went up and touched her hair.She was wearing a thin white sweater over a green dress.She began wiggling out of her sweater.“One of you will have to go outside,” she said coyly.
“How much?” asked Chin Yuen, sales resistance lowered from watching the sweater come off.
“Ten dollars.”
“Too much money.Too much money.”
“Are you kidding?”
“Five dollars.”
Her lower lip pushed out and up so that it encompassed the upper lip.Her right hand flew out and reached for her sweater.All this time Ben Loy was debating whether he should go out and lock himself in the bathroom or let Chin Yuen go out first.
“Okay, ten dollars,” said Chin Yuen.“Okay, I was only kidding.”
The redhead smiled and put down the sweater again.“Now which one of you is going out?” Her eyes flashed from one customer to the other,indifferent to which one to take on first.
Neither answered her.The silence was embarrassing and awkward to the men, but not to the woman.She proceeded to take off her dress,revealing her white nylon slip.Momentarily the men’s attention focussed on her disrobing.
Finally Chin Yuen spoke up, “Ben Loy, why don’t you go outside first?Maybe there’ll be another girl along soon.”
The girl pulled her slip up and over her head.She stood in her panties and brassiere.Silently Ben Loy walked out, taking with him a vivid image of the almost naked woman.Chin Yuen kept his eyes on the woman standing beside the bed.He saw her bend forward slightly.The panties slid off her white, well-formed thighs.The flesh-seller had neglected to take off her brassiere and Chin Yuen helped her remove it.Chin Yuen started to unbutton his shirt with hands that shook with nervous energy.In a moment he was completely naked and he hurried to possess her.
Ben Loy waited in the bathroom in a turmoil of excitement and apprehension.
Fifteen minutes later a subdued and weary Chin Yuen stumbled out of the room to call Ben Loy.
“Where’s the other girl?” demanded Ben Loy.“Did she come?”
“No, I guess there ain’t going to be any other girl,” said Chin Yuen.“Go ahead back into the room.She’s waiting for you.”
Ben Loy went into the room, his blood tingling and exploding inside him.The sight of the naked woman made him forget his embarrassment.He quickly shed his clothes and got into the bed.
The next morning Ben Loy and Chin Yuen woke up at about ten,hurriedly washed and managed to get back to Stanton in time for the lunch hour rush.
The following week on his day off Ben Loy entrained for New York.He had been looking forward to this day.His pleasurable experience at the hotel had allayed all his anxious qualms.Now when he got to the Hotel Lansing, he tried to find the same bell boy who had taken care of him and Chin Yuen.But that elderly man was nowhere to be seen.In his place was a much younger man.Ben Loy followed him to his room on the seventh floor, just as he and Chin Yuen had done the previous week.As the ball boy turned to leave, Ben Loy managed to force out of his mouth, “You have girl? Nice girl?”
“Oh, you want a girl?” the bell boy’s face lit up.
“Yeah, girl.Nice girl.”
In less than half an hour a young blonde knocked on the door and inquired, “Do you want to see me?”
Ben Loy happily let her in.
His subsequent trips to the hotel were made more pleasurable by the knowledge gained through experience.He stopped looking for the same bell boy.Any one would do.When he was in the mood for it, he even had a second girl come in.In time he came to learn some of the girls’ names.He would drop in and ask for his favorite by name.
On these trips he never showed himself in Chinatown, not even appearing at his Company Room.He made the Hotel Lansing his New York headquarters until several months later, when Chin Yuen asked him to share an apartment on Catherine Street.When the women came to the apartment to see Chin Yuen, sometimes they would find Ben Loy there instead.This arrangement suited Ben Loy.He no longer had to go out to look for women.They would come to him.
XIV
Wah Gay went ahead with plans for a marriage banquet.He had considered not having the party at all, but he dismissed the idea quickly.After all, Ben Loy was his only son.During the father’s many-times-ten-years in New York, he had been invited to all kinds of celebrations: Weddings, hair-cut parties, departures for China, new arrivals from China.During the days when two Chinese opera companies played to standing room only, he was frequently invited to sit down and dine with the stage celebrities after the show.Now, with the return of Ben Loy and his bride, it was only fitting that the brand-new father-in-law invite his friends and cousins to celebrate the auspicious occasion.The banquet at the village did not count, according to Wah Gay.This was New York,where another set of friends and cousins waited expectantly.
This probably would be only the beginning, for what would be more proper and natural than to celebrate the birth of a grandchild in another year or so? Wah Gay beamed when he thought of a yet-to-be-born grandchild.He would become a grandpa.Just thinking about it made him happy.
With two hundred and fifty invitation cards in raised gold letters already sent out, Wah Gay once more settled down to relax at his favorite pastime and occupation.Normally in-laws among the Chinese would shy away from the gaming tables when the other was present, in order to avoid any possible embarrassment.But as far as Wah Gay and Lee Gong were concerned, the marriage of their offspring placed no such restriction on their social activities.The two continued to play mah-jong just like old times.
There was， however， one added chore for Wah Gay.A steady stream of invited guests would come in to congratulate him， each bearing a red envelope containing money.To the bearer of each envelope， Wah Gay would say， “Heh heh， there’s no need for this， old friend.” He would hand each a red printed thank-you card[6] and a cigar.He kept the thank-you cards handy， right next to the mah-jongs.When he had received fifteen to twenty of these money-bearing envelopes， he would tie them with a rubber band to keep them more orderly.Soon his desk in the back room began to bulge with these envelopes and their contents.Wah Gay himself would not open them.He would turn them over to his son and daughter-in-law after the banquet.
The day of the banquet broke clear and sunny but, toward the latter part of the afternoon, the sun began to fade and patches of clouds floated eastward.An hour before banquet time, a slight drizzle began to descend upon Chinatown.The neon lights on Mott Street came on earlier than usual.The streets and sidewalks soon were wet.A semi-darkness commenced creeping upon this city within a city.
Automobiles and taxis stopped and crawled.Started and stopped.People darted in and out of traffic.Umbrellas bobbed up and down.Neon lights flickered in the distance.The wetness of the asphalt pavement reflected the lit-up pagoda roof of the Grand China Restaurant.
There had been no mah-jong playing for Wah Gay this afternoon.He and Lee Gong had been sitting idly in the basement club house until 5:30,when they trotted over to a cigar store on Chatham Square to pick up cigarettes and cigars for the banquet.Wah Gay found out, when he called to check, that the liquor had been delivered to the restaurant by Wing Lee Wei Company.
When the two fathers arrived at the restaurant， Ah Song， the club house hanger-on， and Chong Loo， the rent collector， were already there.Wah Gay had asked them to help out at the banquet.Chong Loo tore a small opening in each package of cigarettes and placed one to a table.Ah Song instructed the waiters to open a bottle of Haig and Haig[7] and a bottle of Johnnie Walker[8] for each table.Outside in the vestibule， the flowers which the florist had delivered a few minutes earlier awaited attention.Ah Song asked one of the waiters for a flower vase with which to decorate the head table.
Dinner at six, show up at seven.That’s a prevailing Chinese custom.Although the invitation card said six o’clock, in all probability the dinner would not start until sometime after seven.Ben Loy and his bride did not arrive until a few minutes after six.Mei Oi’s face was flushed slightly from the brisk walk to the restaurant.Her red satin Chinese gown fitted her snugly.
The moment the couple entered the restaurant.Ah Song appeared at the doorway with roses for Mei Oi.He proceeded to pin the flowers on Mei Oi’s gown, while the bridegroom stood by awkwardly.From where they sat watching, the respective fathers-in-law were open-mouthed at the scene.The bride’s face reddened noticeably.
Wah Gay, his face flushed, and mindful of Ah Song’s reputation with women, was angry at himself for having asked Ah Song to help out.Ordinarily the incident itself would have been nothing scandalous; but Ah Song was famous for this sort of thing.
Wah Gay leaned over to Lee Gong and whispered, “That sonovabitch Ah Song is no damned good.” They hoped that not too many of the guests had seen the episode.It had occurred in the vestibule, screened off from the rest of the dining room by a partition.
Ben Loy quickly steered his bride toward the head table， where no guests had been seated yet.Wah Gay now stood by the entrance，welcoming the arriving guests， while Lee Gong was sitting nearby， content to let his old friend play the host.Wang Chuck Ting， also sitting nearby，had been asked by Wah Gay to be master of ceremonies.Now， as Ben Loy and Mei Oi approached the head table， the president of the Wang Association[9] got up and nodded to them.He shook hands with Ben Loy and bowed slightly to the bride.The seating of the bridal couple created a babble among the guests as they whispered comments on the bride’s beauty.
After having seated Mei Oi at the head table, Ben Loy joined his father at the reception line.Children were running helter-skelter in all directions.Waiters were bringing ice cubes and ginger ale for the tables.The manager came out of his cashier’s cage and walked over to the microphone, which was at the left of the head table, and tested it by counting into it.
The guests continued to stream in, reaching a crescendo at about six-thirty, and then began to taper off.Smoke filled the dining room rapidly.
The drizzle, light as it was, had brought out an assortment of umbrellas and these were evident everywhere throughout the large dining room.As the room became more fully filled, the waiters had to twist and turn to make their way through the zig-zagged pattern of round tables,which were much too close together.Shortly after six-forty-five, the stream of arriving guests had dwindled to a trickle.Those who had arrived early were getting restless.There was much turning of heads and frequent consultation with their watches.The late arrivals were expecting the commencement of speeches momentarily.Wah Gay, now seated at the head table, looked in the direction of the doorway to see if anyone else was coming in.Then he consulted his watch.Five minutes past seven.He leaned over and whispered into Wang Chuck Ting’s ear.
The President of the Wang Association, a man in his seventies, who would look quite at home with a vest pocket watch and a gold chain dangling across his slightly bulging stomach, slowly got up and walked over to the microphone.“Uncles, brothers, aunts, sisters, and honored guests, little brother appreciates the privilege tonight to welcome you all on behalf of our host, Mr.Cousin Wah Gay.He has set these inadequate tables for you as a token of thanks and appreciation for your generous gifts.Although his beloved son, Mr.Cousin Ben Loy, and Mr.Lee Gong’s daughter, Miss Lee Mei Oi, have been married in the old country, Mr.Cousin Wah Gay is not one to forget his friends and cousins and relatives in New York.On the occasion of the marriage of his son Ben Loy to Miss Lee, he wants to share this happiness with you all ....Now I would like to introduce to you the President of the Wang Association, Mr.Cousin Fook Ming, to say a few words ...”
The guests stirred in their seats and applauded politely.Some craned their necks to see who was going to talk.Many were indifferent.A man almost directly opposite the banquet chairman got up and walked over to the microphone.He was a pale, thin, bespectacled man in his late fifties.Actually he was a Vice-President of the Wang Association, but, in keeping with custom, he was introduced as President.“First of all,” he began, “I want to introduce to you our host, Mr.Cousin Wah Gay.”
Wang Wah Gay got up and beamingly acknowledged the applause.
“Mr.Lee Gong, father of the lovely bride.”
Lee Gong got up and bowed to the upturned, smiling faces.
“The bride and bridegroom, Mr.and Mrs.Ben Loy.”
The newlyweds rose and waved to the guests.The applause was by far the loudest.
“And now I would like to introduce some officers of the Wang Association ...Mr.Cousin Ping Wah， Treasurer of the Association ...Mr.Cousin Won Duck， Chinese Language Secretary … Mr.Cousin Kuen Jay，English Language Secretary ...Mr.Eng Ho Soon， President of Ping On Tong[10] ...”
The obliging audience applauded everybody who rated an introduction.Many consulted their watches for the second and third time.Children drained dry their glasses of water.Here and there a mother cautioned her restless youngster to keep quiet.
Wang Chuck Ting next introduced Wang Doo Ott, Second Vice-President of the Wang Association, but he, too, was introduced as the president of the Association.“On behalf of Mr.Cousin Wah Gay,” began Vice-President Doo Ott, “the bride and bridegroom, I want to thank you all for the many gifts, for the monies, thank you for your time.By your presence here tonight, you have given our host a big face ...Please drink heartily.”
Wang Chuck Ting again got up.“I invite you to drink many drinks and to use your chop sticks generously.We all hope that by this time next year, we will once again lift up our glasses and drink many drinks.”
Another round of applause broke out among the guests.At the head table, Ben Loy gazed at the carnation in his lapel, while Mei Oi opened her pocketbook and took a quick glance at the tiny mirror.Ben Loy eyed her longingly.He was very proud of her tonight.He thought she looked very lovely in her red gown.
Someone at the table said, “Next year we will drink to the first baby.”
Embarrassed, Mei Oi lowered her eyes and focused them on the chop sticks in front of her.
Wang Chuck Ting continued, “Today is an excellent day for a holiday.The rain and wind will bring good fortune and good luck to the newlyweds.”
When the toastmaster finally sat down he turned to Ben Loy.“Little brother, how did you come to pick such a lovely bride?”
Ben Loy mumbled that the bride had been already picked out for him by his father.To this Wang Chuck Ting chuckled.“I wish my father had been so good at picking himself a daughter-in-law!” Laughter broke out at the table.Hardly had the laughter died down, when Chuck Ting opened his mouth again.“Heh heh, next year around this time, we’ll drink again.We’ll dink to their first-born.”
A shy smile appeared on Mei Oi’s face, now fully flushed.Ben Loy tried to suppress a grin.
A few late comers straggled in and, after looking around, found seats without too much inconvenience to the rest of the guests.The pandemonium of the crowd blended with the clinking of ice cubes being gingerly dropped into glasses.Wah Gay cheerfully picked up one of the bottles and started pouring for his distinguished guests.He even poured one for his new daughter-in-law, who feebly protested that she did not drink.Right away a chorus of protests arose from the other guests.
“If you never drank before in your life,” said Wang Chuck Ting,“tonight you must drink, for tonight is a big holiday.”
The crimson of Mei Oi’s face deepened.From a nearby table,unnoticed by Mei Oi, Ah Song stole repeated glances in her direction.
By the time the waiters brought out the little dishes, the guests were famished.They attacked the food with enthusiasm.Soon the sweet and pungent spareribs, the one-thousand-year eggs, the spiced gizzards, and shrimp chips were gone.Next the waiters brought out a large bowl of soup for each table.Ben Loy gazed at the thick shark-fin soup sprinkled with powdery Virginia ham.After a moment’s hesitation, he picked up the small ladle in front of him and began serving the guests.
“Let’s not stand on ceremony,” Chuck Ting protested.He reached over and picked up Wah Gay’s bowl.“Here, fill up your father’s first.”
“Don’t forget the bride,” someone said.Ben Loy sheepishly picked up Mei Oi’s bowl.
“I just want a little,” she said.
Chuck Ting raised his glass.“Let’s drink to the bride and bridegroom.”
The soup was followed by Wor Shew Up, Bird’s Nest Chicken,Lobster Egg Roll, Mushrooms, Squabs ...all in rapid succession amidst clinking glasses.The guests toasted many drinks.And gradually stomachs were moving closer toward the edge of the table.Wah Gay cupped his hand to his mouth and whispered to Lee Gong, “Let’s go.”
Each took with him a cup and a bottle.They stopped at their own table.“A drink of many thanks to you,” said Wah Gay and Lee Gong,raising their cups.“Good fortune all year round!”
“Good fortune all year round!” the guests rose with their glasses in response.The two hosts moved on quickly to the next table, then the next,until they had gone around to every table, thanking the guests, pouring drinks for them.Many of the guests jovially predicted that they would drink again next year at the haircut party of the first grandchild.Wah Gay and Lee Gong laughed happily at these predictions.
As soon as they returned to their own table, Wah Gay signaled to Ben Loy and his cousin, Wing Sim, who had come from Connecticut for the festivity and was sitting at the next table with his wife, Eng Shee.It was time for Ben Loy and Wing Sim to make the rounds.After a hasty huddle to decide what brand of whiskey to take along, they started off with a first stop at the head table, with Wing Sim pouring the drinks and Ben Loy doing the toasting.Earlier Wing Sim had suggested that he carry two bottles, one to be filled with tea for Ben Loy.But the bridegroom shrugged this precautionary measure off, saying that he would not get drunk.
Ah Song got up and glanced in the direction of Ben Loy.He walked over and was about to join the two cousins when Chuck Ting intervened.“Ah Song, there’s no need for you to accompany them.They’ll manage by themselves.”
Ah Song retreated to his own table, but not without another furtive glance at Mei Oi.
Chong Loo joined the bridegroom and Wing Sim with a tray full of chopped betel nuts and now offered these to the guests.The married adults at each table took a piece of the chopped nuts wrapped in red paper and left a tiny envelope of money on the tray.Before moving on to the next table, Chong Loo scooped up the red envelopes and stuffed them into the brown paper bag carried for this purpose, and replenished the tray with the chopped nuts.
While all this was going on the waiters continued to bring out additional dishes: Abalone, Chicken Guy Que, and many others.
Mrs.Wing Sim, who was not many years older than the bride, now accompanied Mei Oi for the tea ceremony.On a little round service tray,the older woman carried ten cups filled with tea, first to the head table.Mei Oi stood next to her, holding her folded fan up to her chin.
“Drink tea, sirs,” announced Mrs.Wing Sim, extending the tray to the center of the table.The guests rose, each picking up a cup of tea and sipping it.The cups were then put back on the tray.Most of them were still nearly full.Little red envelopes began dropping onto the tray beside the cups.Ben Loy’s aunt, Mrs.Wang Wah Lim, was ready with a brown paper bag to receive the red envelopes.She had flown in from Chicago especially for the party.
As soon as the cups were refilled, the hostesses moved on to the next table.At each stop, the same refrain greeted them: “Heh heh, next year we will drink again.” And Mei Oi would raise her fan a little higher.
When the tea ceremony was over, Ah Song walked briskly to a waiter’s stand in the back and brought back several boxes of cigars.He proceeded to pass out the cigars to the men at each table.
By the time the guests were ready to leave, it was close to nine o’clock.Ah Song was holding the door open.Wah Gay, Lee Gong, and Ben Loy stood by and smilingly nodded to the departing guests.
“Thank you many times, great uncle.”
“Thank you.”
“Thank you, Mr.Wang.”
“Thank you, Mr.Lee.”
“Today you have given me a big face.”
“You have a kind heart.”
“Thank you for the big face.”
XXXII
The president of the Wang Association glanced at his watch and it was only a quarter to one.He would wait until one o’clock and then call Wah Gay.His cousin was not one to get up early, Wang Chuck Ting thought to himself.
His mind flashed back to the day of the Grand Opening of the Wang Association Building in 1934.The chair and desk set where he now sat was a gift from the Ping On Tong on that auspicious occasion.Back in the thirties he had been president of Ping On Tong, and during those years he had appointed Wah Gay a member of the deliberating committee.Now after so many active years in Tong politics, he enjoyed the status of an elder statesman.No longer a candidate for any Tong office, he was a friend of everybody.He had a reputation for fair dealing and everybody respected him for this.His China Pagoda in Stanton served as a semi-retirement hangout for him.He was perennially elected president of the Wangs,although he himself had declared he did not want the job.
In another moment he was angry.Angry that his cousin Wah Gay should have the misfortune to be involved in a scandal.It wasn’t his cousin’s fault, of course, but the good name of the family was at stake.Not only Wah Gay’s family, but all the Wangs would lose face if some means could not be found to hush this whispering campaign that was finding its way into attentive and eager ears in the shops and rooms of Chinatown.He consulted his watch again and deftly picked up the receiver and dialed a number.
“Hello? Elder brother Wah Gay? This is Chuck Ting.”
“How are you, Chuck Ting gaw?” answered Wah Gay gleefully.“What is it now?”
“There is a small matter I’d like to talk to you about,” he said.
“Where are you now?”
“I’m at the social club.”
“Okay.I’ll come up in a few minutes.”
Wah Gay had no idea what the president wanted him for.As he walked toward the five-story Wang Association Building on Mott Street,he wondered if his cousin might want him to act as co-signer for some cousin who wanted to borrow money.Two months ago Chuck Ting had called him for just such a purpose.Why can’t he get someone else for a co-signer this time?
The Social Club was filled with smoke and people when Wah Gay opened the door to what was formerly apartments two and three.Their common wall had been torn down to convert them into a social gathering place for the Wangs and their friends in New York.He heard the clack of mah-jongs even before the door was opened.The mah-jong table was in the center of the room.Several elbow-rubbers sat watching and kibitzing.Ah Ton was preparing dinner in the tiny alcove to the right.A heavy blue apron hung loosely on his person.
“Ah Ton gaw, cooking rice so early?” asked Wah Gay when he saw Ah Ton with a dipper in his hand.
“Not early, brother.Not early,” replied Ah Ton.He was a dark and lanky man in his early sixties.
“Want to play a game?” someone invited Wah Gay.
“Come here and take my place,” enticed another.
“No, thank you,” said Wah Gay, raising his hand in mild protest.“I’m busy.I’m here to see the president.”
“He’s in there,” said someone, pointing to an inner office.
Without knocking, Wah Gay pushed open the door.He backed out quickly when he saw the president was engaged in conversation with someone else.He turned to while away the time by joining the kibitzers and putting his nose close to the mah-jong table.He lit a cigar and contributed to the smoke floating about the room.
“Wow your mother, I should have won this hand!”
“You illegitimate boy, consider yourself lucky.”
“You guys would rather talk than play.”
Smoke clouds filled the room and the aroma of cigars and cigarettes vied with the odors of Ah Ton’s cooking.
The door to the inner office opened and a man stepped out, followed by Chuck Ting.The latter motioned for Wah Gay to enter.
He indicated a chair for him.“I have a little bad news for you,” began Chuck Ting painfully.He interlocked his fingers and twirled his thumbs.He swung on the swivel chair and came face to face with his visitor.“It concerns your daughter-in-law.”
“My daughter-in-law?” asked Wah Gay, startled.He tried not to look alarmed.“What about her?” He was more curious than shocked.
“I got my story from my boy, and he got it from his wife,” continued Chuck Ting.“He came out here and told me about it the other day.Said something about his wife hearing about it in a beauty salon on Mulberry Street last Sunday ....”
Wah Gay sat numbed and speechless.His earlier nonchalance was gone.But, as serious as the matter sounded, he was confident that there was nothing to it.What could his daughter-in-law do wrong? After all, she had been in New York only a year and a half.What could be so terribly bad about her? And Ben Loy was a good boy too … .
“I’m talking to you as a brother.As an elder brother, not as president of the Association.There’s nothing official about this … .” He paused to light a cigar and began puffing on it until it glowed.Then, as if he had committed an unpardonable sin, he hurriedly pulled another cigar out of his inside pocket and apologetically offered it to Wah Gay, who accepted it with thanks.“I hope this matter will never be taken up by the association,”continued Chuck Ting.“It would be too much of a disgrace.Maybe a little talk will smooth out this whole thing.But it has to be confidential.”
Wah Gay did not interrupt.He waited for his cousin to continue.
“Nowadays the young are not like what they used to be,” resumed Chuck Ting.“They have no respect for their elders.They are all out for a good time.They don’t know right from wrong.”
He paused to throw out a stream of smoke from his cigar.His face tensed and a pained expression appeared.The easy flow of language was no longer there.“That sonovabitch Ah Song is absolutely useless!” he roared.Only the fear that someone outside the office might hear him made him lower his voice.“He has a history of being a stinky dead snake.Everybody knows that.It has gotten out that your daughter-in-law and Ah Song are seeing each other.Now you see how this thing has gotten around.Even in Connecticut people have heard about it.You can see how far this thing has gone.”
“Ah Song?” Wah Gay refused to believe it.“Ah Song and my daughter-in-law?” He was stunned.“If someone else were to tell me this, I would not believe it.We all know he’s a rascal but I would never have thought he would do this to me.I have known him for more than twenty years.Every day he plays mah-jong in my basement ....”
“There are all sorts of people,” said Chuck Ting.“The bad will always be bad.A person like Ah Song would gouge out his father’s eyes.”
“I’m going to wrench his head off,” said Wah Gay angrily.
“His type you should no longer allow in your basement,” said Chuck Ting.“Don’t even let him set foot inside your threshold.”
“I wish we had some proof.Some proof that he is seeing this good-for-nothing daughter-in-law of mine!”
“Women cannot be trusted,” said Chuck Ting.“I’ve always told my boy to run his family with a firm hand.”
“And we always say that jook sing girls are no good,” sighed Wah Gay.“That’s why everybody goes back to China to get married.A village girl will make a good wife, they say.She will not run around.She can tell right from wrong.She will stay home and cook rice for you.”
After the initial outburst against Ah Song, the crimson on the president’s face had disappeared and he was now calmer.“No one can foretell everything,” he said, once more swinging on his chair.“We’ll have to keep this quiet.At least as quiet as we call.”
“I have no face to meet my friends,” said Wah Gay sadly.
“I don’t think you should say anything to Lee Gong about it yet.What has happened, has happened.As soon as I heard of this thing, I thought I would let you know first.I don’t want you to be the last one to find out.”
“You have always been a good brother,” said Wah Gay.“And I know you will always do the right thing.”
“You can go back now.” Chuck Ting got up and stretched his arms.“Keep everything quiet.”
On his way out, Wah Gay waved goodbye perfunctorily to those gathered at the table.The moment he stepped out of sight, voices began talking all at once in hushed tones.
“I’ll bet he was talking about his daughter-in-law,” whispered someone at the table.
“He always said what a fine boy his son was,” said another.
“What’s the boy got to do with it?” demanded another.“It’s the girl,the wife.”
“Yeah, it’s that good-for-nothing bitch!”
“Someone should make an example of that Ah Song or whatever his name is,” said the third man.
“We ought to hang him.”
“No, it would be better to cut his throat.”
Just then the president emerged from his office, and an unusual silence fell.He stuck his hands in his pants pockets and started to make light talk.“Who’s winning? Who is going to buy coffee?”
“Hey, Uncle Ton,” said the man who had the most chips in front of him, “go and get some coffee, will you?” He toyed with the chips and then dug into his pocket and pulled out two singles.“Here, get us some coffee and pastry.”
“Wow your mother,” said the man opposite him.“We’re going to eat soon.Why do we have to get coffee now? They say a cup of coffee spoils a bowl of rice.”
“Wow his mother.He’s jealous because someone is spending a couple of dollars.”
Without saying a word, Ah Ton came over and, hurriedly wiping clean his hands on the apron, grabbed the two dollars that were extended to him.
Over coffee the cousins continued to discuss the case of the green hat,after one of them had broken the ice by cautiously saying, “By the way,Chairman, did you hear about a recent scandal involving one of our own members?”
But Chuck Ting cautioned his cousins not to discuss the matter with outsiders, adding, “Family shame is not for the outsider.”
L
The meeting of Ping on Ton had been called for 6:30 P.M.The conferees sat at a table forty feet long in the meeting room of Tong headquarters.The Chinese-language secretary, Ging Fong, sat at a little round table by himself, near the head of the table where the president sat.President Ho Soon began by reading the letter from Wang Wah Gay that Chuck Ting had persuaded him to sign when he visited him in Newark.
Dear Mr.President:
On the night of November 9th about 10:30 0’clock I caught red-handed a fellow member of Ping On Tong, Ah Song, emerging from the apartment of my insignificant daughter-in-law.This is my misfortune.Enraged, I tried to scare Ah Song with a small pocket knife, but in the ensuing struggle with him, I accidentally cut a piece off his ear.I now charge Ah Song with breaking up my home as well as the home of my offspring, Ben Loy.Ah Song’s inhuman action has caused me great loss of face.His continued presence in the City of New York will add to this embarrassment.Other families will not be safe from a scoundrel like Ah Song.If he is permitted to stay in New York, what is to prevent him from breaking up other homes? He has the audacity to go to the police and…
Respectfully submitted,
Wang Wah Gay
Next the letter from the Wang Association was read.
Then before the members were given a chance to discuss the matter,president Ho Soon called upon elder statesman Wang Chuck Ting to add to the letter.
Wang Chuck Ting rose slowly.He was glad of the chance to say something on this matter.He would do his utmost to further the cause of his cousin Wah Gay, whom he always treated as a younger brother.He had already conferred with President Ho Soon and the other officers of the organization privately.They were all friendly and sympathetic to his cause.All that remained was the formality of actually presenting the case to the members.Wang Chuck Ting raised his voice and continued.
“…We all have sons and daughters and daughters-in-law.Do you want your daughter-in-law to be raped by such a rascal as Ah Song? It is true that this Ah Song is a member of our organization, but we all know of his stinky reputation.We need not go into any elaborate details, for we do not want to keep you here and take away precious time.If we permit Ah Song to remain in our community, would this not be a license for him to continue his exploits? Who will be the next victim? Your daughter or your wife? Are we to keep our community safe from animals like him? What sort of community do we want to live in? If a case similar to this ever happens again, people will say ‘He is a member of the Ping On Tong.He is free to do anything.He even got away with raping Wang Wah Gay’s daughter-in-law!’ The reputation of the man reflects upon our organization.We should make an example out of him so that no one will want to follow in his footsteps.Banish him from the streets of our community!”
Wang Chuck Ting had a clear, ringing voice.He looked from one end of the table to the other and he happily noted that everyone was listening to him intently.He beamed with the thought that here in this room, no one would come to the defense of Ah Song.“Ah Song was a lone wolf who operated by himself,” Chuck Ting resumed.“If anyone could say he was ever close to him, that one man was Wang Wah Gay.Did not Ah Song take advantage of Wang Wah Gay’s hospitality? Did he not visit him at the basement club-house everyday? Drink his coffee? Drink his tea? Wang Wah Gay treated him like a brother.Even better than a brother.And how did he repay him? He made love to his best friend’s daughter-in-1aw! Is this the kind of people we want in our community?” Chuck Ting’s face became flushed and he gestured vigorously with his hands, pounding his right fist into his left palm.“I ask you: Ostracize this no good scoundrel from the community! Show him that we don’t approve of what he did.I will not keep you much longer.I just want to add that this scoundrel who had dared to violate the sanctity of the home, now has the audacity to file a complaint with the police for the arrest of Wang Wah Gay.And why did he file the complaint? Because Wang Wah Gay objected to his making love to his daughter-in-law!” There was an outbreak of half-suppressed chuckles among the conferees.“What would you do? Would you like it if someone went into your home and made love to your daughter-in-law? Would you say nothing? Could you close your eyes to a thing like this? What kind of man would you be?”
He snapped his head one way and then another, looking fiercely into space.“There is only one thing we can do here tonight and I plead with you with all my heart to do it.First: Order Ah Song to withdraw the charges he has filed against Wang Wah Gay.Secondly: Ostracize him from New York for at least five years.This is for the good of the entire Chinese community.”
During the speech there had been a tense silence.No one even coughed.Immediately following the speech, before the president got up to talk, the silence continued.Soon the quietness became awkward.Then all of a sudden a simultaneous applause broke out from among the members.A broad grin adorned Chuck Ting’s flushed face and he nodded happily to a number of friends.Applause sounded good to his ears.Not that he hadn’t been used to applause in the past; for frequently at meetings and conventions he had been given standing ovations.But tonight’s meeting was different.It was a business meeting at which he pleaded a case, as an old friend and guest.The applause was overwhelming indication of support for his cause.Seldom, he rejoiced, was there ever such a burst of emotion equal to the one he had just witnessed.Gratification and good feeling coursed through his body.It made him feel that all the hard work that had been required to get him where he was today was worth the trouble.This was, first of all, a personal victory for him.He lit a cigar,stuck at a rakish angle in his mouth.
The president stood up and waited for the commotion to subside.He raised both hands and soon quiet was restored.
“You have just heard a detailed account of the case of Ah Song and Wang Wah Gay,” he began when the room fell silent.“Are there any questions? Is there anything you want to say? Anything to add to what has already been said?” 0nly silence greeted his remarks.“In that case if there is no objection, I declare that Ah Song be ostracized for a period of five years and that he be ordered to withdraw the charges he filed against Wang Wah Gay with the Police Department.If there are no further business, the meeting is adjourned.”
Wang Chuck Ting beamed happily and shook hands all around.
LVI
Early in the morning a few weeks later, the baby’s cries awakened its parents.The baby, named Kuo Ming, had been born to Ben Loy and Mei Oi fifteen days ago at the Chinese Hospital.All their free time was taken up now by this new addition to the family.With the arrival of the baby, the couple was blessed with a tie that drew them closer to each other.Sacrifices for the baby were made cheerfully and enthusiastically by the new parents.
Ben Loy himself had changed over from working in the dining room to assistant cook.He was rapidly learning to become a good cook.The change gave him new self-assurance.His old job of waiting on tables had subjected him to all sorts of pressures from the diners: The tea is too strong.The chow mein is cold.Not enough shrimps.Where’s my roast pork? Now that he was working in the kitchen, this constant pressure was greatly reduced.He was learning a new skill.He expected to become a master at it.
The birth of Kuo Ming marked the beginning of a new era for him.He was now a proud father.It scarcely occurred to him to wonder whether he was the blood relative of this small person who was so dear to him and Mei Oi.It was enough that the baby was one of life’s miracles and that it needed him.
This precious responsibility meant added expenditures, but he was prepared for them.His new job meant more money to take home.He was working hard to become number one cook at the restaurant.
He liked San Francisco.With the passing of each day, the New York chapter of his life was pushed further back in his memory.New York represented parental supervision and the reckless mistakes of youth.Now all this was being replaced by new surroundings and new attitudes.The proverbial parental shackle had been cut.For the first time Ben Loy knew and enjoyed emancipation.New frontiers, new people, new times, new ideas unfolded.He had come to a new golden mountain.
Except for one thing, he was happy.He tried to push this problem,this inadequacy, into the background.If he could have forgotten it, shut it off from his daily life, he would have done so.But it was impossible and his impotence plagued him with shame.Mei Oi was an understanding and sympathetic wife, but how long could he, as a husband, allow such a situation to continue? Even if his wife were not to make any demands on him, he would still hold his head in shame.
Outwardly, he gave no hint of this inner torture.And his friends said teasingly: “When is the next one coming?” He wished he knew.He would like nothing better than to become a father for a second time.
He had been going to the herbalist faithfully for many weeks.He was determined to do anything to regain his vigor.The thick, black, bitter tea was not easy to swallow, but he kept going back to the herb doctor uncomplainingly.
Mei Oi encouraged him to go, although she herself had not the slightest idea whether the tea would do him any good.As a native of China,where herb medicine was an accepted means of curing diseases, she should have some confidence in the use of herbs.But she could only hope ...No matter how much she tried to tell herself that everything would be all right, that her husband’s impotence was a temporary condition, there was apprehension behind the managed smile on her pretty face.She pretended she did not care; that her husband’s inadequacy would not make her an unwanted or useless woman.But deep inside her, there was terror and resentment.
She wanted so much to be a good, worthy wife; to be a good,respectable mother.Above all, she was a woman.She would have been supremely happy if it had not been for her husband’s lack of manliness.The change of locale had given her a fresh outlook.The move from New York to San Francisco was for her, as it was for Ben Loy, a break from the stern supervision of the parental eye.Her brief stay in New York was a part of her life she wanted to forget.She liked the sunny disposition of California.She made new friends.The birth of the baby gave her a precious jewel the equal of which did not exist anywhere else in the world.She loved the baby.She could walk the streets of San Francisco’s Chinatown with her head high.In spite of their marital difficulties,understanding and compassion drew husband and wife ever closer together,a relationship nourished by the birth of their son.
The sun shone brightly everywhere—except for the problem of incompatibility.In her own quiet, wifely way, Mei Oi tried to help.Unknown to her husband, she bought and scanned numerous Hong Kong periodicals and newspapers for advertisements which might contain the key to recovery of Ben Loy’s vitality.If his present treatment failed, she would suggest sending for some medicines from Hong Kong.
After many weeks of eating the tea, Ben Loy continued to appear at Dr.Suey’s.The doctor felt his pulse.
“The pulse has improved,” said the herbalist.“It is much stronger and more regular.”
Ben Loy heaved a sigh of relief.“Do you think I am…do you think I am strong enough now?” he asked.
“You are much stronger than before,” replied the doctor.“Don’t over-exert yourself and rest as much as possible.”
“Do you think I am ready…I am ready for a test, doctor?”
The doctor chuckled.“Young man, no one can tell you when you are ready.You know that better than anybody else,” he smiled at the puzzled Ben Loy.“When the time comes, you’ll know.” And he winked at him.
For many weeks he had wanted to test his masculinity; but in the back of his mind there was always the fear of failure.The doctor’s answer to his query offered him no solution or encouragement.He realized that, if he failed in this challenge, he faced a very bleak future with Mei Oi.He was like a man who had a new house without a key.
He had delayed the test long enough.Fear was the constant companion of indecision.Lately, though, he had been encouraged.Upon rising in the morning, he felt his body pulsing with vigor.It gave him a sense of elation and hope.