“Me?” I said, confused. “Who would I sleep with? No one wants to do me.” I could feel my face turn hot.

Nina burst out laughing while a couple of people chuckled.

—

Late that afternoon, when Mateo and Nina were sitting in the reception area, waiting for their students to come, I asked them, “Was it Estella’s competition student?”

Nina answered, “They’ve been carrying on together outside of the studio for so long. It was totally obvious. I think Adrienne and Dominic were trying to give them the benefit of the doubt but she only got in deeper. She’s in love with him. She thinks they’re going to get married.”

“Don’t you think so?”

“I don’t believe in men’s promises anymore,” Nina said, tossing her head. Mateo kicked her. “Except for yours, darling.” Her tone was light but I could see the strain on her face. “I think she’s making a huge mistake. I even told her, but she wouldn’t listen. She’s lost her job, her career, all for this guy.”

Mateo put his arm around her and gave her a quick hug. “Just let out the pain, baby. And he’s secretly gay too.”

Nina laughed. “Shut up.”

Mateo said, “It’s dumb all around. She should just have made him quit taking lessons here first. Everyone knows it’s impossible to police your relationships after the student’s gone. No one cares then.”

“Are they going to replace her?” I asked.

“Of course,” said Mateo. “We’re understaffed for the number of students we have anyway. What we really need is another man.”

“No, we don’t!” Nina said. “Enough men. You’re just looking for some fresh meat.”

Mateo shrugged. “Can’t blame a guy for trying. But I heard Ms. Simone and Adrienne fighting after the meeting.”

“Why?” Nina asked.

“About Pierre, of course.”

I had to think for a moment. “You mean Simone’s partner?”

“Sure. She’d do anything to get him in the same studio. Making a commitment . . .”

Nina pitched in. “And it’d be a lot easier for them to find time to rehearse. Plus, I’m sure he’d love to come here.”

“Why?”

“We’re the most successful studio in New York City.” Nina shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. “It’s because Adrienne and Dominic are so smart. They’re good to us too. They pay a fortune to bring in people like Julian Edwards for the entire staff. So what did Adrienne say about hiring Pierre?”

Mateo struck a pose and began to imitate Adrienne. “This is ballroom, my dear. I do not need the drama, not until I’m sure you’ll stay together. Dance couples, one moment they’re all over each other, the next they’re slamming doors and refusing to appear in the same show together. So if I were you, I’d get myself to rehearsal instead of complaining to me.”

I tried to keep a straight face but then I heard Nina snorting with laughter and I couldn’t stop myself from giggling.

“You’re preaching to the choir,” Nina said.

“So who are they going to hire?” I asked.

Nina shrugged. “Beats me.”

Six

Lisa and I stared into the vat filled with live frogs. Some were black, while others were olive with black markings. As we watched, the fishmonger scooped out the largest one, a mottled purple-black frog, and popped it into a plastic bag. He tied the handles together. The bag writhed as the frog kicked. The customer dropped the bag into her large shopping tote and left, looking satisfied.

Lisa said, “Can we buy some vegetables now?”

I signaled the fishmonger for a few pieces of sea bass, which were fortunately already dead. Then Lisa and I took our time looking at the different produce stands. Lisa’s red wool jacket brought out the gloss in her hair. It’d taken me weeks to save up for the sneakers she wore, the ones she’d wanted so much because the other girls had them. I didn’t care about clothing for myself but I loved making Lisa happy. She stuck her finger in a pile of hairy rambutan. I shook my head, silently telling her not to touch. Then she paused over some bitter melon.

“Do you want one?” I asked. “I thought you didn’t like them.”

“I don’t. But Pa does, especially with salted black beans and fish. I’m trying to expand my tastes now that I’m becoming more mature.”

I laughed. “Good move.” I studied the rough, pockmarked skins of the bitter melon. “These are really light green. That means they’re going to be old and bitter.”

Lisa made a face. “Pa can soak them in salt water. Maybe I’ll just have a taste and you guys can have the rest.”

“Oh, thanks a lot!” But Pa did love them and we hardly ever ate them at home. I bought one and then we went to the soy man to pick up some sweetened soy milk and fresh tofu. Our grocery money was dwindling by then but Lisa looked with so much longing at the containers of doufu hua, sweetened tofu pudding, that I bought her one.

On our way home, we passed Gossip Park. It was a beautiful autumn day so we sat on a bench just inside the park and I opened Lisa’s pudding for her, then dribbled the syrup on top.

She paused with her spoon over the plastic bowl. “Don’t you want any?”

“No, you go ahead.”

She happily gobbled everything up. When she was done, she wiped her mouth with a paper napkin and sighed. A tall girl with her hair in two long braids passed by on the street behind us, arm in arm with her mother.

I said, “Hey, isn’t that your friend Hannah?”

Lisa scrambled around to look, then sat down again. “Yeah.” They’d already gone down the block. “She’s taking the Hunter test too.”

“Anyone else?”

“A white kid named Fabrizio. I don’t know him that well. Hannah’s studying with her parents for it every night.”

A pang passed through me. I tried to sound casual. “What are they doing?”

Lisa rolled her eyes. “You know. That family lives to do homework together. It’s the way they have fun. They’re like, ‘Oh, I know the answer to question number three!’” Lisa pretended to shoot her hand in the air. “When we were in elementary school, I overheard her mother complaining to the teacher because Hannah had homework over Mother’s Day weekend. She said, ‘When Hannah has homework, I have homework.’”

“Well, at least they care about her. What do her parents do?”

“Her dad is a dentist and her mom works in the bank. Hannah’s always showing off that both of her parents speak perfect English.”

“Well, I’m going to help you prepare for the Hunter test too.”

Now Lisa looked worried. “That’s okay, Charlie. I’ll manage.”

“No. I’m going to figure out what we have to do and then we’re going to do it.”

—

That night, I woke suddenly on my mattress on the floor. Lisa was sitting up on the couch next to me. My heart pounded in my chest. Something was wrong.

“Lisa, are you all right?”

She didn’t answer. She started feeling around in her sheets with her hand. Finally she spoke in a small voice, looking astonished, “I peed in my bed.”

Relief poured over me. “Oh, that’s nothing. I’ll help you.” I turned on the light, then we took the sheets off together and rolled them up. “I’ll wash them at the laundromat this morning after Pa goes to work and he doesn’t have to know.”

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Lisa said. “Next thing you know, you’ll have to give me a bottle at night like a baby. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry. I bet you’re just nervous about the test and everything else that’s going on.” I ruffled her long hair. “Good night, sweetie.” I gave Lisa my blanket and she rolled over and went back to sleep.

I stayed awake for a while. Lisa was so smart, I often forgot she was only eleven. She hadn’t wet her bed in years. But her body was changing now and it made sense she would hit some rough spots along the way. Maybe my new job and this exam were causing her more anxiety than I’d realized. I knelt by the sofa Lisa slept on, felt her soft rounded forehead, and brushed it three times with my left hand to ward off evil.