Free Food for Millionaires

by Min Jin Lee

  Taking Rose’s example, Anna clasped the necklace around her neck. It looked beautiful on her.

  “You are too much,” she said to Leah. Her face was split in its expression—the mouth was smiling, but her brow wrinkled in a frown. “Too generous. Too, too much. So Korean to give such extravagant things. It is really so gorgeous, but—” Anna guessed correctly that her necklace-and-bracelet set had cost nearly as much as her son’s watch.

  Leah stroked her scarf. It was a nice lambswool. “It will be good and warm for the winter. Thank you so much,” she said. It was better this way. Yesu Christo had said it was more blessed to give than to receive. Her father had taught her to take on the suffering, to donate her whole self to the interests of others, to give everything up because God would take care of your every need.

  Tina smiled weakly, feeling so disappointed and hurt for her parents that she could hardly speak. Her mother had spent days going to shops and agonizing about whether or not the Baeks would be pleased. In a way, her mother had succeeded, because the gifts were beautiful. But she wished she could’ve prepared her parents for the fact that the Baeks wouldn’t make a similar effort. The Baeks were undoubtedly rationalizing that the Hans were ssangnom, trying to act better than they were by giving such expensive things. There was no way to win. Generosity was always suspect. Tina picked up her chopsticks and moved the preserved duck egg from one end of the plate to the other. Chul put on his watch, and he made his sisters admire it. They oohed and aahed at him as if he were an indulged child.

  Joseph looked Chul over carefully. He didn’t have any resemblance to his own father except for the rounded jawline. Out of his summer earnings and savings through the years, the boy had given Tina a one-carat diamond engagement ring, which she loved. In the future, if he didn’t take good care of his daughter, Joseph resolved to let her come home anytime she wanted.

  “Thank you for the tie. It’s very nice,” Joseph said to Anna, closing the box before tucking it in their shopping bag. He’d never wear anything so hideous.

  Casey had heard about the large house they owned in Bethesda, the beach house in Rehoboth, the membership at the country club in Chevy Chase, and she could’ve easily guessed the price of each St. John’s outfit of the Baek sisters. The mother was wearing Armani. Chul’s parents made seven or eight times more than her parents. These weren’t people who shopped at Macy’s normally, and none of them would have worn less than cashmere around their throats. They’d gone out of their way to let her family know its place. It was mean to Tina, but Casey saw that it was also mean to Chul.

  Howie came by with a magnum of champagne. He picked up the change in mood.

  “How is everyone? How was the jellyfish?” he asked.

  Joseph smiled at him. “Great. Great.”

  “Champagne?” Chul’s father checked the label: Moët & Chandon. Philip Baek liked to drink and was fond of good wines.

  Howie filled the champagne glasses. “On the house! Anything for my good friend Joseph Han and for his beautiful daughter’s wedding celebration!” he said mirthfully. Spotting the pile of discarded silver wrapping paper near the edge of the banquet table, Howie jutted his chin toward it and a busboy cleared it away.

  “May you kids have lots of champagne in the future!” Howie said with a flourish, but only a few of them smiled.

  When Howie had filled everyone’s glass, he realized that none of the party was likely to make a toast. The sons-in-law were busy cleaning their appetizer plates. The groom’s father had finished his bourbon and soda and had already picked up his champagne glass to drink. The grandchildren pulled at Anna and Heidi. Joseph appeared restless.

  When you owned a restaurant, occasionally you had to become a guest and join the party. A glass was brought to Howie, and he filled it himself.

  Howie raised his glass.

  “For Tina’s wedding. To Tina—Joseph and Leah’s beautiful daughter who will one day become my favorite surgeon!” Howie Chan laughed. “And to love—” He directed his glass toward the groom, then the bride. He added, his voice lowered, “I believe in true love. With all my heart.” One day, Howie planned to marry Emily Lo, his mistress of twenty-three years—his soul’s true companion.

  Everyone clinked glasses. Tina didn’t correct Mr. Chan about her new specialization but felt bad for her father again. Everyone sipped the champagne, and Tina felt grateful for the restaurant owner’s tenderness, his sincere wish to make people feel happier.

  They got through the dinner—talking mainly about how good the food was, and it was very delicious food after all. There was no fight for the check. Joseph paid it, and Howie had cut it down to a third of its cost. The two families said their good-byes till the next day. Tina returned to Queens with her parents, and Chul left with his family to the Hilton Hotel in midtown where the Baeks were staying. Casey and Unu left together. They would walk home.

  Tina would marry Chul the next day.

  10 WONDERS

  CASEY HAD A TENDENCY TO FIDGET. She had a long back, making it difficult for her to find a comfortable sitting position. Occasionally, when they were at a movie or at dinner, Unu would place his hand on her shoulder or thigh, calming her for a bit; but it didn’t take long before she’d shift her torso again. In the past, people seated behind her had complained because it was distracting. At Tina’s wedding, she was put in the front row with Unu, Joseph, and Leah on the bride’s side of the pews. Casey could smell tobacco on Unu’s suit jacket, and she wanted a cigarette. It would be impossible for her to sneak one during her sister’s wedding. Her parents knew that she was sleeping with Unu but didn’t yet know about her smoking. She crossed her legs again.

  Tina and Chul stood at attention like wedding cake ornaments opposite the minister’s podium. The Reverend Lim was twenty minutes into his homily, and he had another fifteen minutes to go.

  “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” The minister quoted the verse in a thunderous voice, ill matched for his slight figure. The Reverend Lim couldn’t have been more than five feet tall—his body lost in his black acetate robe. His mop of black hair was greased into place, yet it shook as he pointed his childlike index finger at the bride and groom. His diction was very good, but his accent was difficult to understand.

  Nevertheless, three hundred guests paid close attention to him. It was hard not to. He pounded on the podium often to emphasize his points and was easily moved to tears.

  Unu knocked on Casey’s knee with his. He whispered, “I kind of like him. He’s got—”

  “He’s crazy,” she answered in a soft voice.

  “No.” Unu shook his head in disagreement. “He’s passionate. He believes his message.”

  Casey was a bit taken aback by this. She’d been embarrassed by the minister’s dramatic physical display and bad accent and thought Unu would be, too. She turned around slightly—the guests were listening to him raptly.

  Suddenly the minister lowered his voice. “What is the pearl of great price?”

  The guests lifted their heads, their necks straightening.

  Casey was getting annoyed. Jesus? she thought. In Sunday school, that was usually the safe bet for everything.

  The minister turned in her direction suddenly. Looking straight at her, he said, “You are the pearl of great price.” Casey froze.

  He continued, “I am the pearl of great price.” Then he pointed to the middle of the pews. “He is the pearl of great price.” The minister lowered his head solemnly. “And God, dear God Himself, sold everything He had to buy you. He sacrificed His only son—selling everything, absolutely everything, because you are His beloved, and you are the pearl of great price. Do you see that, my dear brothers and sisters? Do you feel how much He loves you?” Lim raised both hands in the air—his billowing sleeves falling to his suit sleeve elbows. Then he clapped loudly, punctuating his statement. His eyes filled w
ith tears. “God loves you now. You are His priceless treasure.” With hurried steps, the Reverend Lim approached Tina and Chul.

  “Now, children, you must love each other deeply, seeing the treasure that you are to each other. As God sees the treasure in you. And each of you must help the other grow closer to God, for that is the true purpose of marriage. Whenever you feel apart from your beloved, see if you are helping your mate grow closer to God—the One who truly, truly sees your value. You are rich. Wealthy beyond measure in talents and love. You are a divine creation. And your mate is the half of another divine creation.” The Reverend Lim placed Chul’s hand over Tina’s.

  “Your value will never rise or fall with your beauty, work, or money. Your worth is priceless. You must remember that.” The minister wept openly, and Casey turned away, feeling both irritated and embarrassed. She glanced at Tina and realized that Tina wasn’t holding her bouquet. She whispered to Unu, “Her flowers.”

  “Hmm?” he replied, not understanding her.

  “Tina forgot her flowers in the basement.”

  “Does it matter?” he asked.

  Casey turned to her mother. “Tina’s flowers.”

  “Mahp soh sah,” Leah uttered in surprise. “Can you get them? They must be—” She grew distressed. “She needs them for the photographs. When she walks down the aisle,” she said. “Casey, can you get the flowers?”

  As quietly as she could, Casey got up and left the sanctuary. She walked out of the service just as the minister was preparing to ask the bride and groom to take their vows.

  When Casey reached the choir room where Tina had gotten dressed only an hour before, she found Ted with his back turned to her. His right hand was on the handle of the stroller, and with his left, he was holding a mobile phone. His voice was tender, and initially Casey thought he was talking to his daughter, but she saw that Irene was asleep.

  “I’ll be there, baby. Around eleven. I can get there then, okay?. . . Okay?” His voice was full of love.

  Casey leaned against the door frame of the choir room, its doors swung wide open. What was he thinking? The caterers were making noise as they set up for the reception in the church kitchen, but otherwise the halls were empty of guests.

  “Delia,” he said, “I love you. We’re going to be together, please believe me—” Ted took his right hand off the stroller handle and finger-combed his hair. “You mean everything to me. It will all work out.”

  Casey cleared her throat out of instinct more than anything else. The cough was involuntary, as if her body hadn’t wanted to hear any more of this. Ted turned around this time, his mouth agape slightly, but said nothing. Casey shook her head at him but could think of nothing to say. Tina’s flowers—lily of the valley encased in their pale green leaves—were still on the chair near the mirror where Tina had left them. Casey walked steadily toward them, unable to look in Ted’s direction. She picked up the bouquet and quickly returned upstairs.

  In the sanctuary, they were done: vows said, rings exchanged, union blessed. Tina and Chul did an about-face to leave the church. As they began to march back down the aisle—carpeted with a white strip of cloth that the florists had put down that morning—Casey slipped the bouquet into her sister’s hand. Tina smiled at Casey—she hadn’t noticed its absence. She was married to Chul. For Tina, it was easily the happiest day of her life. Chul was the kindest, loveliest boy she had ever known, and she was profoundly attracted to him, interested in all his thoughts. When she was in his arms, she felt everything was good. It was true they were young, but she had found love.

  Casey could see her sister’s happiness, and she was pleased, but Ella had looked happy on her day, too. Casey had no wish to be a cynic in love. Losing Jay had been hard, but somehow she had trusted that it wouldn’t work for them forever, and that had given her the courage to stick to her decision—to withstand the loneliness. And perhaps that fact alone was the sign that Casey was still hopeful about love, because she wanted marriage to be an eternal bond.

  Unu touched her elbow. “Honey, it’s time for us to walk, too.”

  “I just heard Ted telling Delia that he loves her. He’s meeting her at eleven. Tonight.” The words just tumbled out.

  Unu turned around. “What an asshole.”

  “That’s what I should have said. Damn,” Casey whispered, her teeth clenched in a formal smile.

  They were walking behind her parents. Joseph tried to smile at the guests, and Leah’s shy gaze fell to the white fabric carpet.

  Casey adjusted the strap of her dress, and Unu slowed his pace. He couldn’t help recalling his own wedding every time he went to one. His wife, too, had been a beautiful bride, and she had seemed very happy. Women were just better at faking their feelings.

  “Marriage. What a fucking sham,” Unu mumbled.

  “We’re well aware of your thoughts on the institution. But what should I do?” Casey asked, annoyed by his comment.

  “You gotta tell Ella.” He shrugged. “You know where my loyalties lie.” The fact that Ted could cheat on Ella was unbelievable to him. Ella was a saint, a beautiful, kind, and good person. How could he do that to her?

  Asshole. She should’ve called him an asshole, Casey thought. She should’ve said something, anything, thrown her purse at him. Perhaps it was seeing Irene, sleeping so perfectly the sleep of an eight-month-old girl—her right fist curled softly, her Raggedy Ann checked dress—that had struck her dumb while hearing Ted telling his mistress that he loved her.

  She felt like killing him. Because of him, she’d been avoiding Delia. Delia had called in January, and when they finally had that incredibly awkward talk about her and Ted, Casey had pretty much explained how Ella didn’t want her to be friends with her. It was something out of junior high school with an adult flavor. But Casey missed Delia. She was a real friend, and though she knew Delia was at fault, she was far more upset with Ted because he was the married one. For some reason, Casey had never cared that Delia slept with married men. Maybe because Delia never seemed to want anything from them. In Casey’s mind, it was absolutely possible that Delia was a good friend and that she could sleep with married men; there was no conflict. Now it seemed more complicated, because Delia had told her that it was over. But that conversation had been in January. And it sounded as if Ted was really in love. What would happen if Delia had fallen in love, too? And Ella and Irene? How about them? Casey felt scared for them.

  Casey and Unu stopped walking as they approached the receiving line. Her arm was linked with his. The photographer snapped his camera.

  “Again, please,” the photographer asked.

  Casey glanced at Unu and together they smiled politely at him.

  The reception was not beautiful, but the food was abundant, and everyone seemed to relax in the church basement. The deejay that Chul had hired cracked jokes between playing top forty music. There was nothing lovely about the basement—the wedding lilies hardly covered the smell of insecticide and kimchi soup from prior communal church meals. Basketball hoops were stationed at opposite sides of the large room, which also served as a gymnasium. Chul and Tina danced to a Whitney Houston song, and at Joseph’s request, the father-daughter dance was skipped, but Chul danced with his mother to “Wind Beneath My Wings.” Chul’s parents danced well, and remained on the dance floor, as did his sisters.

  Casey had been seated with Sabine and Isaac, Ella and Ted, and Unu. Dr. Shim, who was supposed to be sitting with Joseph and Leah, had migrated to their table to chat with Unu. Sabine and Isaac left shortly after dinner, because Sabine had a migraine. As she’d expected, throughout the evening Casey was peppered with questions by several Korean parishioners as to when she’d marry and would Unu be the lucky fellow. There was no polite answer to this, so Casey was relieved when Tina told her that she had to pee.

  There was no way Tina could negotiate the crinoline-and-hoop skirt beneath her wedding dress by herself. Tina and Chul had agreed on no bridesmaids or groomsmen, but as her sister,
Casey had hosted a bridal shower at Sabine’s apartment, gone to choose her wedding clothes at Kleinfeld’s, and helped her to get dressed today, and now, they joked, she had the bridal bathroom duties.

  They headed toward the bathroom behind the sanctuary on the main floor because it was large and private. Tina was irrepressibly happy and in her blissful state didn’t notice that Casey was quiet.

  After Tina finished her business, Casey held on to the hem of Tina’s skirt because there was a large puddle of water near the sink.

  “Wow. You’re married.”

  “I know! Isn’t it crazy?” Tina replied, turning from her own reflection, then seeing her sister’s thoughtful face. “Hey, you okay?”

  “I’m good.”

  Tina nodded, feeling foolish for being so giddy. She was ashamed of her happiness. It might have been difficult for her sister to deal with all these Koreans asking her questions about marriage and such when Unu had said he’d never marry again. It occurred to her that she was being inconsiderate. But she couldn’t imagine getting married without Casey being there.

  “Thanks for getting the flowers before. Can you believe I forgot them? What a moron!” Tina hit her head dramatically.

  “You’re allowed to forget things, Dr. Han.”

  Tina nodded, noticing how her sister’s face could be so beautiful when it softened. “I’m really glad you’re here. It means a lot to me.”

  Casey looked at her sister. “I wouldn’t have missed it. I’m really happy for you. Chul seems like a terrific guy.”