The man lunged for the doctor The knife hovered above the doctor’s chest Suddenly the book disappeared from Han’s hand He looked up and blinked The graveyard had vanished Han was back behind the counter of the Liu Grocery & Dry Goods store on the corner of Dupont and Clay Streets in Chinatown San Francisco Next to him stood Father an angry scowl on his face and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in his hand Why are you still here Father nodded at the box on the counter The Zhangs are waiting for their groceries Guilt and irritation battled in Han’s stomach Guilt won Sorry Father he said I just sold some sugared almonds to Miss Cameron and she loaned me this book I’ll make the delivery now
Father’s scowl deepened turning his eyebrows into a furry brown caterpillar Miss Cameron The white woman who runs the Occidental Mission Home for Girls Han nodded Father glared at the open jar of nuts on the counter That woman feeds those wayward girls too many sweets Han screwed on the lid and returned the jar to the shelf But she pays for them so it’s good for business He eyed the book Father held May I have that back Father fanned the pages of Tom Sawyer stopping now and then to study an illustration His lip curled up as though the book stank Setting the novel down on the counter a little too hard Father asked Why aren’t you reading Three Character Classic for your Chinese class I already memorized my couplets for
tonight Han said Father’s big fingers drummed on the cover of Tom Sawyer Well then if you have extra time to read don’t waste it on this American nonsense Tucking the novel under his arm Father walked across the shop floor He disappeared down the hallway that led into the back bedroom That book belongs to Miss Cameron Han called after him A few seconds later Father returned Instead of Tom Sawyer he now held a small paperback Father carefully set the tired-looking book on the counter and pushed it slowly toward Han Your grandfather’s grandfather compiled this book of Chinese proverbs almost one hundred years ago His voice had turned gentle My father gave it to me when I was eighteen right after we arrived in San Francisco He knew living in a strange land would be hard and that I’d need something
