“You could have given Dennis a chance.”

She exploded. “That’s not the point! I’ve been ordered around my entire life. I’m not going to be told whom to marry on top of it all.”

I remembered she’d been caught with a girl. Maybe she didn’t even like guys. “Are they still so upset about that other incident?”

“Oh, you heard about that. Whole Chinatown thinks I’m a flaming lesbian.”

This was the Grace I’d known all those years ago and I couldn’t help chuckling. “Are you?”

A tiny smile played around the corners of her lips. “Maybe.”

I thought about that for a moment. “Did they make you break up with her?”

Now she looked tired. “They’re trying.”

I deliberately leaned against her so that our shoulders touched, and nudged her elbow the way I used to when we were kids. “No one’s better at getting around parents than you.”

She burst out laughing. “Thanks. All I want is to have control over my own body. Can’t I choose for myself? Is that so much to ask?”

“No. I guess they’re just a bit freaked out.”

“It’s not the first time. I dated a Triad guy last year.”

I stared. The Triad was the most dangerous gang in Chinatown. Most of us tried to stay away from them. I knew many of the stores had to pay “protection money” to different gangs, depending on where they were located, otherwise the owner would find his store ransacked. I’d heard rumors of them putting out hits on people they didn’t like.

“He dumped me. He thought I wasn’t paying enough attention to him. I guess I wasn’t really interested in him anyway, I was just trying to prove to myself that I still liked guys.”

“You’re lucky he was the one to leave you.”

“I know. My folks found out later and panicked. I swore I’d be better and then they caught me with this. They’re now planning to send me back to China to find a husband. They’ve already got five men picked out. I just have to choose one of them, marry him there, and bring him back to the U.S.”

I gaped. Traditionally, men who couldn’t find a wife here had been sent back to China to choose a bride. Nowadays, it’d become much harder for anyone to find a bride in China because of the one-child policy. If a family could only have one child, they usually wanted it to be a boy, so many had illegally chosen to abort female fetuses or given girl babies up for adoption. The result was that there were now many more men than women there. I guessed it made sense that women could return to find grooms these days, but I’d never expected someone as westernized as Grace to be sent back. “What do you want me to do?”

“Please speak to my grandmother. She loves you. You should hear her talk about you, it’s like you’re the best thing since the invention of chopsticks. And you always know what to do. At the dim sum restaurant, you did it all correctly, with the tea and the serving of the dishes and everything.”

“No one looked that happy with me.”

She giggled. “Believe me, I was grateful you were there. Why don’t you go out with Dennis?”

“Oh no, thanks. My life’s complicated enough.” I thought of Ryan and ached.

“So will you talk to her? For old times’ sake.”

I gazed at Grace’s troubled expression and missed her usual bright mischievous eyes. We’d always gotten into trouble together as kids, and had so much fun doing it too.

“All right.”

—

I knocked on Godmother Yuan’s door. She had dropped by our apartment several times to try to heal Lisa further, but it hadn’t seemed to make much of a difference yet. When she called for me to come in, I let myself inside. The fan whirred. Her flowered couch was still covered in plastic, her few furnishings tidy. Although her place was very simple, she was lucky to have it. Most elderly women in Chinatown were still working at factories or shops. Godmother could survive on teaching her classes and the gifts she received from students. She bustled into the kitchen area to make me some jasmine tea.

Once we were settled, I said, “I wanted to talk to you about Grace.”

“‘The tiger takes the leap, the eagle spreads its wings.’”

“Excuse me?”

“You two are so different and each creature must follow its own nature.”

“Godmother, tell me the truth. Do you study those wise quotes so that you’re ready when you see me?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Maybe a little. An old woman has to have something to keep her mind busy as well as her body.”

“Okay. I just heard that she’s being sent to China to find a husband.”

“It will be good for her. She is running wild.”

“Don’t you think she has the right to choose her partner? Or to decide if she wants to marry at all?”

She sat up very straight. “She can pick! Who says she can’t?”

“Out of a handful of men that the family has selected for her.”

“The family is very wise, often much wiser than a young heart.”

“Godmother, I know it isn’t my place. I am younger and more foolish than you. I am not a Yuan. It’s just that Grace asked me to say a few words to you. She made mistakes and she deeply regrets them. She’s building a fine life here. She has just graduated from college. Do you think it’s wise to uproot her? Pair her with a man who may be more traditional, expect her to play a role she can’t fulfill?” Godmother took a dainty sip of tea. I knew she was listening and pressed on. “We both know how Grace is. She’s not going to submit docilely. Even if you manage to force her to marry someone, she’ll find a way out. She always does. How will this end?”

She sighed. “You may not be a Yuan but you are family. Perhaps you are right. Knowing Grace, the marriage will be a disaster. I will speak to her mother. It was only that your uncle was going to China anyway and it seemed to be the ideal opportunity. He’d be the perfect chaperone until Grace met up with our own family.”

“Uncle Henry’s going to China?”

“You didn’t know? He’s going to take your sister there, so she can be treated properly.”

—

I raced back home to our apartment. Pa was in the kitchen, stirring something over the stove, while Lisa was lying on the couch with her eyes closed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Pa could see from my face what this had to be about. He turned off the flame and came into the living area. “It would have upset you.”

“I have the right to know. Have you told Lisa yet?”

She said, “Tell me what?”

“So you and Uncle were planning to ship her off to China without informing either of us?”

Lisa’s eyes grew enormous.

Pa said, “The temples and witches there are much more powerful. It will be better for her. The Vision says she must escape the evil that resides here.”

“Lisa hardly speaks any Chinese,” I said, enunciating carefully. I had to stay calm.

“That’s why Uncle Henry will be going with her.”

I gripped the sides of my head as if to cover my ears. “What about his practice?”

“Aunt Monica and Dennis will stay here and keep the office open for the regular prescriptions. Dennis can handle the simpler cases, he’s been doing so for months. Uncle’s always wanted to go back to China and this is his chance. And he’ll be able to help Lisa at the same time.”

I still had a terrible feeling about this. “How can we afford it?”

Pa let out a deep breath. “Uncle Henry will pay for it. We are very lucky to have such a generous man in our family.”

“I think it’s an awful idea. We don’t even know if any of this stuff works. They could do anything to her there, scar her, both physically and emotionally.”

“Uncle Henry will accompany her to every treatment and the Vision is a very powerful witch. We must trust their advice.”

“I don’t know about the Vision.”

“She has helped many people in Chinatown. Charlie, I know you’re worried about your sister but she won’t be alone. Uncle Henry wants to help her as much as you do. He’ll make sure that nothing bad happens to her. You must have more of an open mind.”