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Uncle turned to him and gave him a cool look. “My family would not be upset for no reason.”
Aunt Monica crossed her arms. “This is ridiculous. De
Lisa pulled away from me and buried her face in her hands. We could still hear her muffled words. “I wanted to stop but he wouldn’t. He just kept going.”
I heard Uncle’s sharp intake of breath.
De
Aunt Monica said, “I believe him. He’s the most trustworthy person around. That child just wants to cause trouble.”
I glared at Aunt Monica. “Don’t you dare say that.”
De
I hadn’t thought of that. Lisa didn’t look up or respond, only seemed to shrink further into herself. That clever bastard. He’d been careful. “She’s had all these symptoms this past year. It started soon after De
“Wait,” De
I thought of what Naomi had told me about conversion disorder. “We’d need to get her examined to be sure, but mental trauma can lead to physical symptoms exactly like those.” I appealed to Uncle Henry. “Every Chinese medical practitioner knows the psyche and the body are one.”
Uncle’s quick eyes sca
De
Uncle roared, “I trusted you!” He and Pa both stepped toward De
De
Uncle yelled through the doorway, “I will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law!”
By then, De
When Uncle Henry returned to us, Aunt Monica said, gasping, “There is no proof. How can you be sure? What will everyone say?”
Uncle ran a visibly trembling hand through his hair. “I am certain. This will already damage his reputation in Chinatown beyond repair. We won’t bring Lisa’s name into it, just allow people to believe what they want of him.” He bent down and spoke gently to her. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t think you would believe me. I’m only a girl.”
He looked stricken. “What a fool I’ve been. This happened under my nose.” He stood and turned to Pa. “I failed you, brother.”
Pa took him into his arms and the two men held each other for a moment. “That man has caused enough damage. Do not let him hurt us any further by feeling guilty. He alone is to blame.”
—
Summer was ending. I started getting both Lisa and me up at the crack of dawn on Sunday mornings so we could join Godmother Yuan to do tai chi at six thirty in Gossip Park. The first time we got up so early, Lisa protested. “Why do you always have these crazy self-improvement programs? Now that we’re reading Pilgrim’s Progress again, isn’t that enough?”
“Come on, I’ve always wanted to do tai chi together with you.”
“Why can’t we go to the Saturday afternoon classes you help teach?”
“Because I want to be a part of the group with you, not leading it. And since I’ve started qigong training with Godmother, I need my full concentration for that.” I’d finally consented, and while it was hard for me to lose control of my emotions, I could feel it healing me. “Anyway, Godmother says the most powerful tai chi sessions are at dawn, in the open air.”
I hoped it would help bring Lisa back into her body. Although it would mean getting painfully little sleep, I thought it was exactly what she needed right now to heal her body and soul. She’d been so damaged. She still wet the bed sometimes and often she woke up screaming, but the problems with her legs had disappeared. Mr. Song had guided us through everything. Pa had signed the insurance papers and Lisa was fully covered now. The western doctors could find no physical problems, which was a great relief. She was talking to a very good psychiatrist every week—Naomi, my dance student. Now I wanted to start the eastern medicine part of her healing as well.
We stood at the edge of the group in Gossip Park. This early in the morning, even the late August heat wasn’t too bad yet. I caught sight of Godmother Yuan, who waved at us. Lisa shifted from leg to leg, nervous. Then the group started to move as one, and I could feel the energy flow outward to surround us. I nodded at Lisa to encourage her to follow along, as I was.
We rose from the basic position of having our weight balanced into the Pouncing Tiger, where our arms guarded our faces as cats do. We swirled and flowed from position to position. We went from High Horse stance, where we bowed our legs as if we were balanced upon a horse, to the Crane, where we stretched our arms out like an ascending bird, with the left knee raised. I stopped worrying and just felt my life force flow through me. In many ways, it was similar to doing ballroom when I felt most grounded. And it was hard. Lisa made mistakes several times but managed to keep going. By the end, I was sweating and Lisa’s cheeks were pinker than I’d seen them in a long time. The old Chinese people seemed as calm as ever. They bowed to each other and us, then left.
“Come on.” I jerked my thumb in the direction of the street. “I’ll get you a bowl of congee and some fried dough.” Lisa clasped her hands together. That was one of her favorite dishes.
We went to a tiny restaurant that had some of the best breakfast food and seated ourselves against the wall. Lisa dipped a segment of fried dough into her congee and took a big bite. “I love this place.”
“I know, I think I’d starve if we didn’t live in Chinatown.” I blew on my steaming congee. “What did you think of the tai chi?”
She nodded, chewing. “It felt good. Difficult, but peaceful too. It’s nice to do something with you again.”
I felt a dullness grow in my chest. “I’m so sorry.”
She stared at her food.
I pushed on. “I let you down. You were right, I was so busy with myself—”
“No.” Lisa’s eyebrows drew together in concentration. “It wasn’t your fault, Charlie.” Despite the heat of the congee, she was shivering.
“Do you forgive me? Of all people, I should have seen it.”
Her voice was husky. “There’s nothing to forgive. I was just trying to block it all out. No one could have done more than you. You always said I did better than you in everything, but do you know the reason why? You know what the only difference between you and me is? That I grew up with you to help me, and you didn’t have anyone.”
I got up and went over to her side of the table. I hugged her and we held each other.
—
When Lisa and I got back into the apartment that day, the Broadway jar was sitting on the table. Lisa ran to it, picking it up. “It’s so much fuller.”
Pa came out of his bedroom. He’d aged a decade in just a few weeks but he was making a real effort to spend more time with us. “Now that I don’t have to pay for so much medicine, I had something left over for the jar. I think we’ll have enough very soon.”
Lisa laughed and ran into his arms. “Thank you, Pa!”
“Anyway, I promised you we would do something nice if you did not get into Hunter, right? Well, I think we should do something extra special since you will be starting there in a few weeks.”
Lisa said, “Which show? And when? I want to pick!”
To tease her, I said, “No, I want to choose!”
We gri
—
It was mid-September and the weekend of the Autumn Moon Festival celebration. I strolled through the blocked-off streets arm in arm with Mo Li and Zan. Something had caught Ryan’s eye and he’d told us to go on ahead, he’d catch up with us soon. The Moon Festival was one of the most important holidays to us, a time when people reunited in a circle like that of the full moon. To many Asians, it was similar to Thanksgiving, and Mo Li had come back from Boston University for it. I loved the streets packed with tables and tents, the colorful lanterns that hung over our heads. No regular food stands were allowed, which was why Zan had the day off too.