The baby section was right around the corner. With all the stuff Mom and Dad had packed, I couldn’t believe we needed a single extra thing. We ran into the Bresners, and guess what? They gave Mom and Dad a whole list of things we’d forgotten to bring.
The best part about running into the Bresners was that they already knew their way around the Walmart. It didn’t hurt that Katherine could read the signs. After we filled our cart with baby stuff, Mr. Bresner said they needed groceries too so all of us took this escalator that had super wide steps for the carts and soon we arrived at the bottom level.
As we passed shelves full of breads and rolls, we landed in a section that really stunk. The smell of swamp water and something rotten almost made me gag and I plugged my nose right away.
All around us were bins heaped with food. Rice. Shrimp. Creepy-looking things with antennae, piled up high. A dead fish stared at me with an unblinking eye. I shivered.
“Dad, what’s that?” I asked as we walked quickly past the open bins. I pointed to the big brown capes that hung from the low ceiling.
Dad looked up and squinted. “I think . . . they’re dried bats.”
“Bats! Why are they hanging from the ceiling?”
“I guess people eat them,” Dad said. “They’re a delicacy around here.”
“You mean like insects?”
“Yup.” Dad gave me a playful punch on the arm. “Look at it this way, Em. People from China think a lot of our food is weird too. Like tongue, or chopped liver, or pickled pigs’ feet, to name a few.”
“Yuck.” I made a face, but I was already reaching for my camera. This was what someone might call an Attention-Grabber, and if I did it right, it could turn out artistic, even if it was a dead bat. “I don’t eat any of those things,” I told my dad.
“Well, not everyone in China eats bats or insects either.”
I figured Dad had a point, but after I snapped a few photos, I grabbed hold of the cart and pushed it out of that section quick as I could. I flew right past the turtles, frogs, and crocodiles—all ALIVE—that had somehow ended up in the food section instead of the pet section.
“There’s the real food aisle,” Katherine said with a giggle as she pointed straight ahead. I picked up speed and followed her, finally taking in a breath of fresh air. Now here were some things we could actually use!
I grinned at Katherine, and we began picking up items like peanut butter, crackers, and chips, tossing them into our carts. “So . . . I’m really good at keeping secrets,” I told her, thinking it was the perfect time for her to spill.
Katherine nodded. “That’s what I thought.” Her eyes sparkled, and she leaned closer to me. Then she whispered. “My parents don’t know it, but while I’m in China, I’m going to find my birthmom.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
My mouth dropped open, but she just smiled and nodded again.
“Hey, what’s going on here?” Dad said, taking a look at the items I’d thrown in our cart. I was still staring at Katherine, wanting to hear more about her plans. Mom had told me the law was complicated. The government limited the number of children a family could have, so babies were left at the orphanage because parents couldn’t take care of them. But, it was also against the law for anyone to give up their babies, so when the orphanage found them, they didn’t know who the parents were. How in the world was Katherine going to find her birth-mom if the orphanage didn’t even know who she was?
Mrs. Bresner’s sharp voice snapped me out of my thoughts. “What did I tell you about junk food, Katherine?” She reached for the groceries and started stacking them back on the shelves. “This is your chance to visit your homeland, to sample real Chinese cuisine.”
Katherine groaned and rolled her eyes, but she looked over at me and winked. Now that she’d shared a secret, it felt like we were on the same side. Something close to friends, even.
Mrs. Bresner was too busy restocking the shelves to notice the eye-rolling and the look that passed between us. My parents didn’t notice either, as they were too busy checking out the items I’d stashed in the cart. Luckily, they must have already been having cravings for familiar junk food because they didn’t return a single thing.
I was standing at check-out in the longest line ever, still thinking about what Katherine had told me, when I felt someone pull on my ponytail. I turned around, thinking it was my dad. Instead I saw a pretty lady with long dark hair, and she was smiling at me.
Then she held up her camera and pointed it right at me.
I shook my head and took a step backward, but Dad smiled back at the lady. He turned to me and lowered his voice. Not that it mattered. She probably didn’t understand a word he was saying. “We should have warned you,” Dad said, squeezing my shoulder. “Lisa Wu told us that people might want our photos since they don’t see Americans around here very often, especially ones with curly red hair like yours.”
Oh! I remembered the lady who chased me to the elevator and pulled my ponytail when I was exploring on my own. So that’s what it was all about?
I swallowed. “But I don’t want my picture taken. She can take Mei Lin’s.” I looked down at Mei Lin, sitting quietly in the cart, her brown eyes gazing out from underneath her long bangs at all the sights around her. She didn’t weigh much, and she hadn’t made a sound the whole time we were in the store, almost as if she were in a trance. The Super Walmart in Changsha trance, which could definitely be a thing.
“She wants your picture, Emily,” Dad said. “Come on, honey. Be a good sport. It’ll only take a second.”
I let out a big, loud sigh. But I gave in and posed while the lady took the photo.
“Xie-xie,” the lady said before she pushed her cart away.
“It’s weird,” I said after she walked away. “Why would she want a picture of me?”“Because you’re beautiful,” Mom said.
I made a face.
“It’s true. Besides, you stand out in the crowd. How many girls have you seen around here with red curls and freckles?”
“It’s rude to stare,” I said.
Dad laughed. “She wasn’t staring. She wanted a photo, that’s all.”
I rolled my eyes. If you don’t want a stranger taking your picture, then you should be able to say no. This was the second time it had happened, and even though Dad thought it was funny, I didn’t like it at all.
Next time we left the hotel room, I would put my hair up under a cap.
By the time we made it back to the room, Mei Lin was sound asleep. So far, she seemed like a pretty good baby. Mom put her down in the crib and she didn’t even wake up while we ate a perfectly yummy lunch—peanut butter on crackers, chips, and soda.
’To stop thinking about Katherine and her secret plans, I pulled out my list of tourist attractions. If I didn’t make some plans of my own, we’d end up wasting another afternoon. “We could go to the Provincial Museum,” I told my parents. “That’s the one the Bresners went to yesterday.”
“Mei Lin needs a good nap,” Mom said, glancing over at the crib. “She is worn out, and I can tell you from experience, babies are no fun when they’re exhausted.”
“She can nap in the stroller,” I said, glad we’d picked one up at Walmart. “Babies do it all the time.”
“We have paperwork we need to finish up, too,” Mom said.
How much paperwork could one baby possibly need? “I bet the Bresners aren’t going to stick around the hotel room all day doing boring paperwork.”
Dad glanced at his watch. “Actually, it’s almost three o’clock. I don’t know if we can squeeze in a trip to the museum—”
“How about a trip to Orange Lake then?” I studied my travel guide. “It says you take the Number 4 bus and it’s all very quick and easy.”
“What’s at Orange Lake?” Dad asked.
“Orange trees,” I said. “Lots of them. And a big lake, and a temple, and you can go hiking.”
“Let me see,” Dad said, reaching for my guide. “Hmmm, thi
s looks really interesting. Great research, Emily!”
“Dan, we are not chasing after buses today,” Mom said firmly. “I’m sure it’s not as quick and easy as it sounds. And didn’t you hear what Lisa said? Buses aren’t supposed to be great for tourists.”
Dad paused a minute then snapped his fingers. “Hey, I just remembered something else we forgot to buy at Walmart.”
“What?” I asked.
“One of those baby backpacks, so we can go on hikes with your sister.”
“We could take the stroller,” I said. “I’m sure there are some paved paths.”
“This is Mei Lin’s first day with us,” Mom said. “It’s been stressful and tiring for her, and I’m not about to make it worse by taking her to a place where she’s even more uncomfortable.”
Dad paused a minute then dropped his head and nodded. “You’re right, Lynn,” he said. Then he turned to me. “We’ll have plenty of time for exploring China. We’re here for two whole weeks, you know.”
“Lisa has a lot planned for us in the itinerary,” Mom said. “She’s going to keep us busy enough and we’ll be able to ride in the van with someone who actually knows the area.”
“But what about today?” I asked. “We’re not going to do anything the rest of the afternoon?”
“Mei Lin’s going to take a nap and we’re going to finish our paperwork,” Mom said very slowly and clearly. I knew that tone. It was the ‘Because I said so’ tone, and I knew there was no point in fighting it.
I let out a big sigh and flopped back down on the bed.
“Emily.” Mom said my name in a way that told me she wouldn’t keep her patience for long.
“Tell you what,” Dad said. “After Mei Lin’s nap, we’ll explore the hotel. Check out some of the shops. Maybe go bowling?”
I sat up. “Okay,” I said, remembering the shop with the little glass balls.
“And for dinner we’re all meeting in the playroom,” Mom said. “Guess what we’re having tonight?”
“Grilled bats’ wings?” Dad teased.
“Pizza,” Mom said. “They have a Pizza Hut close by.”
I smiled. But just for a second. Pizza Hut sounded much better than having to tackle chopsticks at another Chinese restaurant, but it was something we could eat any time. Exploring Orange Lake was not something we could do at home. Would we ever visit a really cool place during this trip, where I could take awesome pictures? Or were we going to spend the whole time in old brick buildings, Walmarts, and hanging out in our tiny hotel room?
If I wanted to win the contest, I was going to need more than a photo of a dead bat hanging from the ceiling, even if the picture was taken clear across the world in China.
***
While Mei Lin napped and Mom and Dad did paperwork, I plugged in my laptop and typed in: How to find your birthmom in China.
A number of articles popped up. Some girls had found not only their moms, but dads, sisters, grandparents, and cousins.
I glanced over at Mei Lin, snoozing away in a little pink dress we picked up at Walmart. I studied the way her chest rose and fell with each breath, her almond-shaped eyes, her tiny feet and hands, her perfect red lips. I was officially a big sister, but so far, Mei Lin seemed like a fragile little doll. She had no idea we were her new family.
Right now, she was caught between a family she didn’t know in China and a family she didn’t know in the United States. But she wouldn’t be a little doll forever. Eventually she’d get to know her new mom and dad, the way Katherine had, and her new sister, too.
And someday, like Katherine, she might wonder about the family she left behind.
I snapped the laptop shut. It was all too complicated, and it made my head spin. Besides, I was in China to find my own adventure and to win a contest, not to help Katherine find her birth family.
A little while later, Mom and Dad finished their paperwork, which didn’t turn out to take as long as they had predicted. They could have put it off until that evening and I bet we could have fit in that trip to Orange Lake after all, with Mei Lin sleeping soundly in the stroller. She was still out cold an hour after we got back, so what do you know? My parents decided to take advantage of the peace and quiet and nap along with her.
“Thirty minutes,” Dad said, “and then we’ll explore the hotel.”
I didn’t even bother to protest this time around. I needed to stop thinking about Katherine’s secret and look for my own adventures. So, I waited until they dozed off. Then, I pulled my hair up under a cap, dropped Dad’s cell phone and room key into my backpack, and slipped out of the room without even writing a note. I knew from recent experience that once they fell asleep, it would take a pretty loud noise to wake them.
Running down the hallway to the elevator, I planned my outing in my mind. First stop: the bowling alley on the bottom floor. Lisa had told us it was at the end of the hall, so I ran in that direction, figuring I’d hear the sounds of crashing pins before I arrived, but I almost walked right past it.
The room was small, with three lanes and a snack bar, and the only person I saw was a man behind the bar, drying glasses. I hesitated in the doorway a minute. I wanted to play, but if we came back another time, my parents might find out I’d been sneaking around.
The man looked up. “Ni hao,” he said, waving at me.
Which made me feel a little braver. If he didn’t speak English, he wouldn’t be able to tell my parents anything, so I tried another question to be sure. “How much does it cost?” I asked.
He shook his head and pointed me to a lane. Which meant I was safe to play, and it wouldn’t cost a thing. I got started right away, the sound of the bowling ball and the clatter of pins echoing in the room. It was pretty basic as far as bowling alleys go, no barriers to keep the ball from hitting the gutter, pencil and paper to keep score instead of a computer screen.
Thankfully my score wasn’t posted on the wall or up on a screen; without the barriers, I hit a lot of gutters. The ball always started out straight, then about halfway down the alley it would make a sharp turn to the left or right, and Clunk! Into the alley it would go.
If Dad were standing next to me, he’d be full of pointers. It was kind of fun being in the bowling alley all by myself with no one watching or telling me how to do things. And then, on my eighth frame, something amazing happened.
I knocked down all the pins with one roll.
“Score!” I cheered, jumping up and down as the machine cleared the pins from the lane. I didn’t realize I’d yelled out loud until I heard clapping coming from the bar. The worker stood there, clapping and grinning. “I can’t believe it!” I said, and then I curtsied.
A few minutes later, still floating from my victory as I waved goodbye to the man at the bowling alley, I glanced down at Dad’s cell. I’d been gone for twenty-five minutes!
I raced down the hallway, trying to decide if I should take the elevator or the stairs. Luckily the elevator was on the ground floor, so I hopped on, crossing my fingers that everyone was still asleep in the room. That’s when I realized I hadn’t taken a single photo on my outing, and while it had been fun bowling a game and hitting a strike, hanging around a hotel was not exactly going to help me win the contest. And my adventure may have been about to land me in a heap of trouble.
When the elevator opened, I raced down the hall. Taking a deep breath, I leaned my head against the door of our room, listening for sounds. Nothing. Whew! I turned the key as quietly as I could and stepped inside to find the room exactly the way I’d left it.
Except for one thing. Mei Lin was standing up in her crib, staring right at me.
CHAPTER EIGHT
I dropped my backpack on a chair, and after a quick glance to make sure my parents were snoozing away, I turned to Mei Lin.
“Hey, little girl, what are you up to?”
Her brown eyes stayed glued to mine. I reached for the polka-dotted elephant in the crib and held it up. “Hello, Mei Lin!” I said in a high v
oice as I wiggled the elephant. “My name’s Polky! Do you like to dance?”
Mei Lin let out a squeal. Then she reached for Polky and tossed him on the floor.
“Hey, don’t throw me!” I said, picking the elephant back up. This went on for a while, with Mei Lin squealing and throwing the stuffed animal and me picking it back up. She was playing a game, but when I heard Dad’s cell phone ring from inside my backpack, I jumped.
I turned to get the phone, and Mei Lin howled, loud enough to wake my parents from their nap. Dad sat straight up in bed. “What? What is it?” he yelled.
I shrugged. “Your phone rang,” I said, handing it to him, “and Mei Lin started crying.”
Mom jumped out of bed and went to pick up Mei Lin, and that made her cry even more.
“What’s wrong with her?” I asked.
“Nothing’s wrong,” Dad said. “She’s just exercising her lungs, that’s all.”
“Shhhhh, shhhhh,” Mom said as she paced back and forth with Mei Lin.
She sure could hit the high notes. I clamped my hands over my ears. When Dad stepped out in the hallway to listen to his message, I stepped out with him, eager to get away from the noise. “The families are meeting at five o’clock in the playroom,” Lisa was saying. “See you there!”
Dad glanced at his watch, then at me. “Looks like we won’t have time for bowling this afternoon.”
I shrugged. “That’s okay.” I knew if I protested and Dad changed his mind, there was a good chance we’d run into the same worker, and even if he didn’t speak English, he’d make it clear he remembered me after my amazing strike.
“Sorry, Em,” Dad said, giving my shoulder a squeeze. “But after dinner, we’ll do some exploring, I promise.”
“You mean it?”
Dad nodded. “If Mei Lin’s too tired, Mom can take her back to the room and we’ll spend a little time together, okay?”
Emily Out of Focus Page 5
