The Turning Tides - By Derrolyn Anderson Page 0,24
the doorways of the various storefronts.
We stopped in an herb and tea shop that Evie frequented, and the elderly proprietor recognized me, asking about “Miss Evelyn” with reverence. He pressed various samples into our hands, urging us to sniff all the different scented teas, talking about how they would bolster our “Chi”. I ended up buying a large tin of my favorite Jasmine flower tea, and a set of elaborately decorated porcelain cups to serve it in.
“For our place,” I said, making Ethan smile.
We looked over some of the exotic produce displayed under the awnings of a grocery store, and Ethan pointed out and named some of the things that Lue Khang was growing on his farm. We both paused to gawk at the smoked ducks hanging by their necks in the window of a butcher shop.
“What’s in here?” Ethan asked, pulling me through the door to look at the live fish, crabs and turtles displayed in giant tanks that lined the walls. The smell of the animals and the bubbling of the aquariums made me lightheaded; a frog clawed at the glass of the tank in a futile attempt to escape. My breath caught in my throat, and I found myself staring, transfixed, imagining how terrified it must be.
I stood frozen to the spot, finally snapping out of it when a worker dropped a metal tray onto the floor with a loud crash. “Let’s get out of here,” I told Ethan, backing away slowly.
“Are you okay?” he asked, looking alarmed as I gasped for fresh air out on the street.
“I’m just a little claustrophobic,” I said with a shudder, “That place would make Abby cry.”
Ethan laughed and slipped his arm around my waist, “I was over at the house for dinner last night. She’s so happy right now I don’t think anything would make her cry.”
I smiled up at him, “How’s your little sister doing?”
Ethan told me about visiting Adria while we walked, and I wished we were both there at that moment, getting ready to tuck in to one of Dutch’s fabulous dinners. I missed being part of Abby’s family, and I missed Aptos.
“Are you getting hungry?” I asked.
We walked on, looking into some pagoda-roofed curio shops packed with souvenirs and garishly colored silk dresses. Rows of ginger jars lined the sidewalk, leading up to shelves stocked with fake designer handbags, golden sculptures of Buddha, and all kinds of colorful dragon figurines. I bought my dad a package of his favorite ginger candies, tucking it into my purse.
We stopped in a dimly lit doorway to kiss, but were broken apart by a woman with three little Chihuahuas in sweaters who brushed past us to get into her apartment. We hurried away down the street, laughing at the way she’d she scolded us under her breath in Chinese.
“This place has the best dim sum,” I pointed towards the crowd of people lined up outside a brightly lit restaurant. We peeked in the door, and surprisingly, managed to get seated right away. A woman led us on a weaving path through the labyrinthine rooms, gesturing to a small table in the very back. We were so close to the kitchen that the swinging doors jarred our table each time a cart laden with food came bursting out.
“At least we’ll get first crack at it,” I laughed, and we did.
Dim sum carts rolled by us every few minutes, loaded with precariously teetering steamer trays. We sipped tea and picked out the best looking dishes, sampling pork buns, shrimp stuffed mushrooms, and Shanghai dumplings with ginger scented pork.
I asked Ethan how his classes were going, and he told me about a horticulture class he was enrolled in. He was most excited describing all the different greenhouses they had at the university, impressed with their vast collections of plants from all around the world.
“My dad would like to see that,” I said wistfully, “I wish he was better.”
“Me too,” said Ethan, reaching across the table for my hand.
“So… Why did you want to tell him about us without me there?”
“I thought maybe I should… Uhm, I wanted to ask for his permission.”
My eyebrows shot up with surprise, “Really? Isn’t that a little old fashioned? Did you offer to trade some goats for me or something?”
He laughed, and then smiled apologetically, “I just wanted to cover all the bases.”
I rolled my eyes at him, “Dad’s not like that. He knows I have a mind of my own.”