He either didn’t get the message or chose to ignore it, and leaned in closer to Hsu-Ling.
“Can I buy you all a round?”
“Um, hello? Can’t you see we just got our drinks?” Maddie’s voice was sugar-sweet, but Lexa could hear the daggers in her tone.
The guy draped an arm around the back of Hsu-Ling’s stool, causing Hsu-Ling to shrink away from him toward Maddie. “You’re so beautiful,” he said, staring into Hsu-Ling’s eyes. “Where are you from?”
“Um.” Hsu-Ling’s forehead wrinkled. “Taiwan?” It came out sounding like a question.
Lexa was about to jump to Hsu-Ling’s rescue when Maddie took the guy’s hand from behind Hsu-Ling’s stool and tried to lift it off the back. When she couldn’t budge his arm, she said, “Hey. You need to remove your arm. I don’t think she’s comfortable having you draped over her like that.”
The guy leaned across Hsu-Ling and said to Maddie, “Listen, I was talking to these two exotic beauties here. But you know, I’ve never had three sisters before. You can join us if you’d like.” And he turned and gave an exaggerated wink at Lexa and Hsu-Ling.
Lexa would have laughed at the look of horror on Hsu-Ling’s face if she weren’t so incensed by this idiot’s words. Exotic? What were they, birds?
Maddie started pushing on his arms, trying to loosen his grip on the stool as he leaned even closer to Hsu-Ling, trapping her against him.
“Listen. I’m serious. You need to let her go.” Maddie’s voice rose and attracted the bartender’s attention. Lexa glanced at the guy’s friend and saw that he was enjoying the show.
A rush of energy propelled through her when she noticed the terrified expression on Hsu-Ling’s face. The bartender was coming around the bar, but Lexa didn’t wait for him. A buzzing sounded in her ears, and her Kung Fu training took over. Believe in yourself, she could hear Shifu saying to her. Trust yourself. Use your training to defend yourself. In a real fight, there is no style. You just try to knock down your opponent before they get you.
She didn’t think. There was no form, no style. She had the element of surprise on her side since the guy had his back to her, and she used it to her advantage. She found his weak points and broke his hold on Hsu-Ling and the stool, and in the next instant, he was lying flat on his back on the ground. She stood over him as he gasped for breath. She brushed herself off in the stunned silence that had fallen over the bar.
“Whoa.” Maddie’s voice was hushed with awe, and Lexa saw her exchange a look with Hsu-Ling. “That was awesome. I haven’t seen you practice Kung Fu in so long. Remember I used to watch your classes sometimes?”
“Yes.” Lexa deliberately turned her back on the guy, who had struggled to his feet.
“You’re crazy, woman. Batshit crazy!” he shouted as he limped toward his friend, who had the audacity to be laughing at him. “Shut up, idiot,” he said to his friend, and brushed past the bartender, who was telling them to go.
Hsu-Ling watched them leave and turned to Maddie. “Thanks for trying to get him off me.”
Maddie shrugged. “I didn’t. Lexa was the one who did. He was freaking strong. I couldn’t move his arm.”
Hsu-Ling smiled at Maddie. “But you tried. I appreciate it.”
Maddie didn’t answer, but when she smiled back at Hsu-Ling, Lexa’s heart jumped with hope.
Hsu-Ling turned to Lexa and wrinkled her nose. “So this is the kind of guy you meet at bars here, huh? What a hole in the butt.”
Lexa and Maddie stared at her. “A what?”
“You know.” Hsu-Ling gestured with a hand to her backside. “Pigu. Butthole?”
Lexa started laughing. “You mean asshole.”
“Oh, right. Asshole.” Hsu-Ling gave a sheepish grin, and Maddie snorted, which caused the three sisters to lean on one another as helpless laughter overtook them.
37
January, Nineteen Years Ago
Manhattan, New York
Maddie sat with her back against the wall, watching the end of Lexa’s Kung Fu class. Their dad was taking them to lunch and then a Knicks game after. He had some work to do in his office, and Maddie had opted to stay and watch Lexa’s class. She was curious about what Lexa actually did in Kung Fu. Her mom used to drag her with them when Lexa was younger, but ever since Lexa was old enough to take the subway by herself, Maddie had no idea what she was doing. All her sister talked about lately was Kung Fu and Shifu, especially since Shifu had asked her to move to the adult classes a few months earlier.
She’d thought she’d be bored for the two-hour class since she got bored easily, but instead she couldn’t take her eyes off her sister. Lexa was the smallest and youngest in the class at only sixteen—everyone else was an adult. But she was the fastest and the lightest on her feet. Some of the men were clumsy and heavy footed when they did their kicks and jumps across the floor. Lexa seemed to skim across, at once grounded yet also kicking and jumping so high Maddie felt her mouth drop. When Lexa did her cartwheels across the floor, Maddie got dizzy trying to track the ball of motion that was her sister.
And the power! Maddie had never seen so much attack and power before. Shifu had it—Maddie could see when he demonstrated. Most of the adults didn’t. They tried hard, but they were weighted down and didn’t have the oomph behind their kicks. They were sluggish and struggled to kick their hands in the extended roundhouse kicks. Maddie heard someone call them bian tui.
Bian tui, she said to herself, loving the way the foreign word rolled off her tongue. Lexa’s bian tuis were lightning fast. She hit her hands every time, striking them with a smacking sound, never missing a beat and with more energy than Maddie knew she had.
Ever since Lexa had come back from Taiwan two and a half years earlier, she’d been withdrawn. She spent a lot of time with their mom, the two of them whispering together. Every time Maddie tried to join in, they’d stop, and their mom would change the subject. Maddie was hurt. She wanted to know the secret too.
Lexa started losing herself in books. She never wanted to go to the playground anymore, or do crafts with Maddie, or play their own made-up game where they each had a family (their stuffed animals) and they’d act out the adventures the families had. Maddie had found her crying more than once, but Lexa always wiped her eyes and told her to go away.
So to see her now, so completely different from the quiet and withdrawn Lexa, Maddie could finally understand why Lexa spent so much time here. Under Shifu’s guidance, she came alive. She was a star. The other people in the class asked her for advice. They watched her with admiration and spoke to her with respect, even though she was only a teenager. She was flexible and unbreakable, strong yet light on her feet, fast but controlled, and Maddie was sad when the class ended and they were stretching. She could have watched Lexa all day.
When Lexa came out of the dressing area changed and showered, she walked over to Maddie. “Let’s go find Dad.” She was trying to stuff her sweaty uniform into her pink Hello Kitty backpack and dropped her wallet on the ground.
Maddie reached to pick it up and saw the wallet had fallen open on a picture of Lexa’s Taiwanese father. She studied the photo, thinking again how much Lexa looked like him. Lexa reached out a hand for her wallet and paused when she saw what Maddie was looking at.
“I didn’t know you kept a picture of him in your wallet,” Maddie said.
“Yeah.” Maddie heard Lexa’s sharp intake of breath and looked over at her. Lexa was biting her lips, like she always did when she was trying not to cry. Alarmed, she laid a hand on Lexa’s arm.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you sad.”
“You didn’t.” Lexa stared at the ground, not moving.
“Do you miss him?” Maddie asked in a small voice. Lexa usually bit her head off when she asked about her father or Taiwan.
“Yes.”
“Why don’t you go see
him, then?” It made no sense to Maddie why Lexa had stopped visiting her father. And he hadn’t been back to New York to see Lexa either.
Her sister looked away and didn’t answer. When Shifu called to her, she ran to him without another look at Maddie.
Maddie watched her go. She’d always thought Lexa was the stronger of the two of them, the one who protected Maddie. And after watching her in Kung Fu class, she knew she was right. But seeing her reaction to her father’s photo, Maddie knew her sister needed her too. Whatever had happened to make Lexa so sad, Maddie vowed then and there to find out one day. Maybe she couldn’t beat someone up the way Lexa could, but she could and would stand by Lexa’s side if she ever needed it. Maddie could fight in different ways.
38
Maddie came over to Lexa’s apartment unannounced two weeks after Hsu-Ling went back to Taiwan. It was nine o’clock, and Lexa was pooped from another long day with her clients and classes. Ever since her father had died, she’d felt restless at work. Days that used to fly by now crawled, and she found herself checking the clock constantly.
She opened the bottle of wine Maddie had brought and poured them each a glass. “So, what’s new with Mike?”
“Ugh. He wants us to see someone together. A therapist. Not something I want to do at all.” Maddie took a big gulp of her pinot noir. “But I don’t want to talk about him.”
“Okay.” Lexa sat on the couch next to Maddie. “Then why are you here?”
“I came over because I’ve been thinking.”
“Uh-oh.” Lexa made an exaggerated face. “Maddie’s been thinking.”
“Shut up.” Maddie punched Lexa in the leg, causing Zeus to growl low in his throat. Maddie reached out to stroke Zeus’s head. “That was a love tap, Zeus.” He wagged his tail.
“So what were you thinking about?”
“I think you need to go to Taiwan. Not because of saving your family or any such bullshit like that. I think you need to do this, for yourself.” At Maddie’s words, Lexa hunched deeper into her couch cushion. She’d been avoiding making a decision, giving herself the excuse that she still had plenty of time.
Maddie shifted so that she was facing Lexa. “Listen, I’ve watched you struggle all your life with who you are. I know it wasn’t easy for you to grow up in our family. And now that I know what happened all those years ago, I think you need to go back and resolve it for yourself once and for all.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that?”
“Maybe because they’re right?” Maddie turned up her hands. “You’re so much stronger now. You need to go back and show that woman she didn’t succeed in chasing you away forever. You’re a rightful member of the Chang family, and she’s kept you away long enough.”
“I know. But every time I think about Hsu-Ling’s mother, it makes me so mad that there was nothing I could do when I was younger to stop her lies. It was easier to push it aside and not think about it.” Lexa played with her wineglass, swirling her wine around and staring at it as if hypnotized. “I don’t know. I think I’ve already kind of decided I have to go. And truthfully, the money would help. But then I think about seeing her again . . . and what it means to take Pong’s money. He caused Baba’s death, even if it was inadvertently.”
“Lexa.” Maddie put her wineglass on the coffee table and took one of Lexa’s hands. Lexa couldn’t believe how gentle Maddie sounded, so unlike her usual brash self. “I don’t have to remind you that’s a lot of money he’s leaving you. You’d be a fool to turn it down. But money aside—this is your heritage you’ve turned your back on your whole life. As awful as Pong’s letter was, he’s offering you a chance to go back and see your family and learn about your father. Don’t you want that? It might help heal that hole in your heart. And make you see family in a different way.”
Lexa stared into her younger sister’s eyes, her face showing her surprise at Maddie’s words. Too often, Maddie spoke without thinking, and Lexa was used to her lashing out or sulking and giving people the silent treatment instead of talking. But for once, she was being the adult here. She was actually being rational and mature.
“You’re right,” Lexa said, wondering if she’d ever said that to Maddie before. “But I want to wait to see what my Taiwanese family is going to do first. Hsu-Ling told me earlier this week that they’re trying to figure out their finances, to see if maybe, all together, the family could buy back the building. They’re supposed to have a family meeting in the next few weeks, as soon as they can gather all the cousins who’ve moved out of Taichung.”
“But you’re considering going back, whether or not they need you to save the building?”
Lexa paused and then nodded. “Yes, I am.”
39
Three weeks later, Lexa sat in Mediterraneo restaurant on Second Avenue with Andi over plates of pasta.
“How’s dating going? You haven’t told me any stories lately.”
Andi smiled and wiggled her eyebrows at Lexa. “I met someone. He works in finance and doesn’t watch the Food Network so has no idea who I am. I really like him.”
“Oh my God! Why didn’t you tell me?” Lexa squealed. “That’s fantastic.”
“Things are great so far. We’ll see.” Andi’s eyes glowed.
“What’s his name?”
“Manos.” Andi sighed. “He’s Greek. Isn’t that just the most romantic name?”
“Oh, my. You have it bad.”
Andi let her eyes roll back in her head in a fake swoon, and then she grinned and turned to look at Lexa. “What about you? Are you still talking to Jake?”
Lexa nodded. “He texts or calls me every day.”
“Is it getting serious?” Andi wagged her eyebrows at her.
Lexa heaved out a breath. “How can it be serious when he lives in California?”
“People have long-distance relationships all the time.”
“It’s not just the distance. It’s . . .” Lexa didn’t feel like explaining, so she shoved a giant forkful of gnocchi into her mouth.
“Oh my gawd! Is that Lexa eating gnocchi?”
Lexa looked up to find Carla, the woman who had accosted her on the street weeks earlier and who had just taken Lexa’s barre class along with Andi not even an hour earlier, gawking at her.
“That was an awesome class, Lexa. Loved the burn. But I can’t believe you’re eating gnocchi. Isn’t that fattening?”
Andi caught Lexa’s eye, but before either of them could say anything, Carla launched on. “Hey, I saw you in the grocery store the other day. I tried to catch you, but you didn’t hear me calling.” Lexa looked away. She had heard Carla but had been in a rush and wanted to get home. “Anyways, next time you go to the store, let me know? I want to buy everything you get, and I’m going to eat everything you eat so I can look just like you. I love your body. You’re so toned and lean.”
Andi eyed Carla up and down. “Girl, I don’t think eating any amount of any food that Lexa eats is going to turn you into a petite Asian woman.” Carla was about five eight, with short brown hair cut in a shaggy style and light blue eyes. When Carla only stared, Andi shrugged and said, “Just saying.”
Lexa hid a smile and was about to answer when her phone rang. Saved by the bell. She picked up without thinking, forgetting that she was having dinner with Andi.
“Hi, Lexa.”
“Oh, Hsu-Ling. Hold on a minute, okay?” Lexa turned to Carla, who was still hovering over their table, eyeing Lexa’s plate of gnocchi in cream sauce. “Sorry, Carla, I have to take this. It’s my sister in Taiwan.”
“Oh, okay. I’m going to order the gnocchi too.” Carla finally took her eyes off Lexa’s plate. “I’ll see you in class. Let me know when you’re going to the grocery store.”
Lexa waited until Carla had walked away before saying to Andi, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pick up the phone. Let me just tell Hsu-Ling
I’ll call her back later.”
Andi waved a hand at her. “Talk to her. It’s fine. You said you were waiting for her to call about the family meeting. And I can eat my pasta in peace. That’s the problem with having a trainer as a friend—I always feel guilty when I eat with you. I need my carbs.”
“Hey, I’m eating carbs.” Lexa gestured at her own plate before turning back to the phone. “How was the meeting?”
“Not good. Have you decided if you’re coming to Taiwan? Ah-Ma keeps asking. You know she’s so upset with my mother.”
Lexa played with her fork. “She’s still not talking to your mother?”
“No. Everyone is angry with her. No one is really talking to her right now.”
“Hmm.” Lexa took a sip of her water. “So? The meeting?”
Hsu-Ling’s sigh echoed down the phone line. “The price Pong set on the building is so high we can’t afford it. None of us make that much money, and even if we combined incomes, we don’t come anywhere close to the asking price.”
“Why would he set a price that high? Is it above market value?”
“No, it’s just at the higher end. That building is worth a lot of money. He knew none of us would be able to afford it. It seems my uncles and aunts have made some bad investments recently.”
“Ugh. It makes me sick.” Lexa looked up and found Andi looking at her in concern. “And I’m the one who has to decide whether your family loses their home.” Lexa wiped her mouth with a napkin, suddenly not hungry anymore.
“They’re your family too.” Hsu-Ling’s voice was quiet yet strong. “But I want you to know you should do what’s right for you. Don’t accept Pong’s conditions if it goes against everything in you. If you don’t do it, our family will be okay. Our aunts, uncles, and cousins can rent cheaper apartments, and my mother can fend for herself. The only one I’m worried about is Ah-Ma. She’s lived there most of her life.”
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