by Liu, Cynthea
“Well. . . I can trust you, right?”
Peter looked surprised. “Of course, you can. I’m Da Ge.”
“Then maybe I should start from the top.” Cece took a breath. “First, you should know I’m adopted.”
“Adopted?” Peter said. “From here?”
Cece nodded.
“And what is troubling you about that?”
She considered Peter’s question. How would she even begin? There was so much that bothered her. For starters, it would be nice to know who her birth parents were. What they looked like. What they were like. But mainly, it was the same old question she had posed to her parents years ago. “I think what’s bothering me the most is that I want to know why my birth parents gave me up. I feel like I need to know the truth.”
“And what do your American parents say?” Peter said. “Do they have an opinion?”
“They seem to think I was abandoned because I’m a girl. They told me about China’s one-child policy and how a lot of parents here want boys.”
“And you don’t believe that.”
“Well, I don’t know. It sounds so. . . cold,” Cece said. “I mean, you’re from here. Do you think that’s the reason why?”
“I am not an expert on this subject,” Peter said, “but it is a possibility. However, you can never know the truth unless you hear it from the donkey’s mouth.”
Cece smiled. “You mean horse, straight from the horse’s mouth.”
“Right, horse.” Peter wrinkled his forehead. “English sayings are so confusing.”
“Anyway, that’s what I was thinking,” Cece said. “I need to hear it for myself. And I thought I’d start with the orphanage. Maybe they can tell me something.”
“Do you know where it is?” Peter said.
“Well, that’s where you come in. I have the address, but I can’t figure out where it is, and I think I’m going to need a translator when I get there, too.”
“I see.” Peter leaned back in his chair. “Let me think for a moment . . . . ”
Cece watched him intently.
“Okay,” Peter said. “I’m in.”
Cece perked up. “Really?”
He nodded. “You think I would let you wander in foreign country with your Chinese? I may be crazy, but I am not stupid.” He laughed.
“Gee, thanks.”
“No problem. What is Da Ge for?”
Cece grinned, then sat back, relieved that was settled. “So you have to let me do something in return. You name it.”
“Anything?” Peter said.
“Uh-huh.”
Peter went through his backpack and pulled out a folder. “I think I have something.” He opened the folder and handed Cece a few sheets of typewritten paper. “These are essays for my film school application.”
“Oh, yeah,” Cece said, remembering what Peter had said about them when they first met. This would be perfect.
“There are three questions,” Peter said, “and I am very stuck.”
Cece quickly scanned what Peter had written so far. The grammatical errors were everywhere, and many of the words he had chosen to express his thoughts were incorrect. In fact, it read so awkwardly she could hardly understand what Peter was writing about.
“How is it?” Peter said nervously.
“Um. . . when is this due?”
Peter groaned. “A couple of months. It’s like a bad dream, right?”
“You mean nightmare.”
Peter threw his hands up. “You see? I give up.”
Cece giggled. “Don’t worry, Peter. I can totally help.”
“Are you sure?”
Cece returned the papers back to the folder. “Hey, what is Xiao Mei for?”
Chapter Six
After Cece finished her session with Peter, she returned to her room, where she found Jessica standing in front of her closet. Clothes were scattered all over her bed—minis, tank tops, glitter this, sparkly that. “Hey, Cece, are you coming with us tonight? Lisa, Will, Dreyfuss, and some others are going out.” Jessica changed into another top. “Invite your friend Kallyn, too.”
Cece thought it over. It would be nice to see Will tonight, even if Jessica was draped all over him. “That sounds great.”
A look of shock came over Jess’s face. “For real?”
“Yeah. Why do you look so surprised?”
“Well,” Jess said, “to tell you the truth, I was beginning to think studying was your favorite pastime.”
“Yeah, but a girl also has to have some fun,” Cece said, thinking of Alison, who would be so proud of her.
“Great! Go change and get Kallyn. We’re leaving in twenty minutes.”
Cece left the room and made her way to Kallyn’s. She knocked, and a few seconds later, Kallyn answered. She said a quick hello and hurried back to her desk. She was already wearing monkey-print pajamas. “What’s up?” Kallyn typed at her laptop.
“Just wanted to see if you’d like to go out with me, Jess, and a few others tonight.”
“Yeah?” Kallyn kept typing. “Where?”
“Actually, I don’t know,” Cece said.
“Um... sounds good,” Kallyn said, “but I think I’ll stay here.”
Cece laughed. “Kallyn, you’re not even listening. What are you doing?” She leaned over Kallyn’s shoulder and peeked at the screen. The message window read
MISS YOU. MISS YOU MORE. MISS YOU MORE THAN MORE.
“Oh, you’re IMing Ryan.”
Kallyn quickly covered the screen. “Hey, don’t look, okay? It’s kinda personal.”
Cece stepped back and smiled. “I can see that. You sure you don’t want to come?”
“Sorry, Cece, but Ryan got up early to talk to me. It’s so hard with the time difference as it is. Maybe next time.”
“All right. I’ll miss you tonight, but I suppose Ryan would miss you more.”
“Very funny,” Kallyn said, without even bothering to look in her direction. “Have a great time!”
Cece left and went back to her room to change.
While she touched up her makeup, Jess let her know the dress for the evening would be casual, but she refused to tell Cece where they were going. She wanted it to be a “surprise.”
Cece put on a simple tank and her cute new jeans that showed off her curves. Then she popped in the earrings she had bought at Macy’s. She inspected herself in the mirror. Perfect. They went to the lobby and met up with Lisa and the guys—Dreyfuss, Michael, and Will. Will looked amazing, dressed in a baby blue polo and a pair of vintage washed jeans. Cece smiled as a million butterflies fluttered in her stomach.
“Hey, Cece. I wasn’t expecting to see you,” Will said, sounding pleasantly surprised.
“Neither was I.” Dreyfuss smiled. “Jess, what did you do to get her to come out?”
“Nothing,” Jess said nonchalantly. “She just finally came to her senses.” She slung an arm around Will and steered him out the door.
Cece’s smile waned, and her confidence about the eve ning plummeted. How was she going to have fun tonight?
The group took two cabs to their destination, and when Cece got out of her taxi, she saw a brightly lit sign outside of a huge building. It read HAO LE DI. Cece tried to translate it. Good Happy what? “What is this place?” she asked.
“Beats me,” Dreyfuss said.
Lisa grinned. “You’ll see.” She and Michael followed Jess and Will into the building.
Cece and Dreyfuss looked at each other. They shrugged, then went inside.
The place was at least a few stories high, judging by the escalators. Chinese pop music piped through the large lobby area, where some teens were talking to each other and laughing. Cece took the escalators with the rest of her group to the second floor, where a few clerks waited behind a counter. Jess walked up to a clerk and, after a few minutes, turned to the group.
“Come on, guys,” Jess said. Everyone followed her down a hall, and she stopped in front of a door and opened it. “Afte
r you, Cece.”
Hesitantly, Cece stepped inside a dimly lit room that was about the size of her bedroom at home. But instead of a bed, there was a long U-shaped couch along the wall, a touch screen at one end of the couch, a coffee table, and a big flat-screen TV.
After everyone was inside, Cece said, “So now can you tell us what we’re doing?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Jess sat near the touch screen, and everyone took a seat. “Tonight we’re partaking in the fine art of karaoke.” She tapped at the screen and pulled up a song list.
“Karaoke?” Dreyfuss and Cece said.
“Here?” Dreyfuss glanced around the room. “Like where’s the piano bar and the cheesy singers?”
“That’s the States,” Jess said. “The Chinese are way classier. We can let loose in the privacy of our very own room.”
“Wait,” Cece said. “I thought karaoke was Japanese.”
“It is.” Jess reached behind the console and grabbed two microphones. “But that doesn’t mean it’s not popular here.”
Cece stared at the mikes. She wasn’t sure she wanted to embarrass herself in front of everyone. Especially Will.
“Don’t worry,” Lisa said. “This’ll be great.” She grabbed one of the mikes from Jess. “Jess, why don’t you order some drinks, and I’ll start us off.”
“Good idea.” She pressed a button in the console, and when someone answered, she spoke Chinese.
Cece leaned back on the couch as Lisa selected her song. Cece gave a sideways glance at Will, who looked amused by her discomfort. “The point isn’t to sing well, Cece,” he assured her. “It’s to have fun singing badly.”
“Have fun singing badly, huh?” Cece tried to relax and embrace the concept. She took in a breath and smiled. “I guess I can give it a try.”
An attendant arrived with a bucket of drinks and a sack loaded with snacks. Dreyfuss reached into the drink bucket, pushed past the bottled water and Coke, and grabbed a beer. “I’m definitely going to need one of these if I’m doing this tonight.” He offered one to Cece, who merely shook her head. The last thing she needed was to accidentally overdo it and wind up on the table, dancing and singing bad show tunes.
Jess and Lisa both cracked open their own drinks while Cece peeked into the sack of snacks. She pulled out a bag.
“Shrimp chips,” Jess said. “My personal favorite.”
Cece cautiously opened the bag and the odor of seafood wafted out. She almost put the bag down, but she told herself she wouldn’t let something as innocent as a Chinese snack get the best of her. She popped one into her mouth and crunched the chip. She was surprised to find that she liked it. The taste wasn’t nearly as heavy as she thought it would be.
Lisa picked a song. “The trick is to choose songs most people know or it’s not nearly as interesting.” When the music for Britney Spears’s “. . . Baby One More Time” came on, the TV played a video while lyrics scrolled across the screen. Everyone groaned, but it was funny to hear Lisa sing it. She wasn’t going to win a talent contest anytime soon, yet it was still amusing to see her try to hit the high notes with such a serious expression on her face. Michael was cute, too, attempting to sing along and stumbling over most of the words. Soon Jess was at the mike with Lisa, singing a Madonna song. As the night wore on, everyone got sillier and sillier. Will would sometimes join in with Jess and Lisa, and Cece had to admit, the whole experience was pretty entertaining to watch.
Finally, Lisa thrust the mike into Cece’s hand. “Okay, I think it’s your turn.”
Cece swallowed. “I don’t know about this,” she said hesitantly. She glanced at Dreyfuss. “Here. Why don’t you go.”
“Oh, no,” he said. “I’m definitely not warmed up enough yet.” He held up his beer. “This is only my second one.”
“Here, Will,” Jess said, holding out the mike. “My throat is getting sore. Show Cece how it’s done.”
Will took the mike from Jess and sat next to Cece. “Okay, Cece. What do you want to sing?”
“Um. . . ” How was she supposed to sing with Will?!
“Come on, pick a favorite.”
“A favorite?” There were so many to choose from. Then suddenly a song popped into her head and she blurted it out. “‘You’re the One That I Want.’ From Grease.” The min ute she said it, she wished she could take it back. Maybe that was too much?
“It’s perfect!” Lisa said. “I love that duet.”
Will stood and grabbed the mike. “Not to brag, but I’d make an excellent Danny.”
“Of course you would, Will.” Jess made the selection on the console.
The intro started playing, and Will gripped the mike tighter. Getting into character, he flipped up his collar. Cece, her stomach in knots with nervousness, couldn’t help but laugh. She started to feel more comfortable. Will began belting out the lyrics. “I got chills. . . . They’re multiplyin’ . . .”
Cece giggled. He was so adorable.
Soon it was Cece’s turn, and she got into the spirit of things and unleashed her inner Sandy. Jess and Lisa were so surprised, they went into hysterics.
By the end of the song, Dreyfuss was finishing his second beer, Michael looked perplexed but was laughing, and Cece and Will were breathless from hamming it up in front of everyone.
“You were great, Danny,” Cece said, returning to the sofa.
He sank down beside her. “No, Sandy, ” he said in his best Danny Zuko voice. “You were.”
Will held her gaze, and Cece laughed again, and after a couple of seconds, she thought she saw something genuine flicker in his eyes. “All right, Sandy and Danny,” Jess said. “Break it up.” She took the mike from Cece. “Michael, it’s your turn.”
Will cleared his throat and Cece straightened, wondering if she might have imagined the moment.
She looked at Will, and he smiled at her. Maybe not.
The next morning, Cece sent a quick e-mail to Alison.
-----------------------------------------------------
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Subject: Live from China...
Hey Al,
The last two weeks have been crazy. First the bad news: I’m BURIED with schoolwork, and I think I’m developing a taste for shrimp chips—China’s version of seafood Doritos—don’t ask.
The good news? I’ve enlisted Peter, my host in the program, to help me when I go to the orphanage. And some more good news. . . I had a great time last night singing karaoke with Will—the epitome of perfection. We did a duet from Grease, and had so much fun. Of course, it might have been no big deal to him. But seriously, Al, it was the highlight of my night!
—Cece
Smiling, she closed her laptop. The Great Call of China
Quickly gathering her things, Cece headed out to the tour bus for the program’s excursion to some of Xi’an’s most popular landmarks—the Bell Tower, the Drum Tower, and the City Walls.
“So, did you have a good time last night?” Kallyn said as Cece sat down next to her.
Cece nodded, thinking of Will. “It was nice. A bunch of us sang karaoke.”
“Oh?” Kallyn lowered her voice. “Was Will there?”
“Uh, Kallyn... ” Cece glanced over her shoulder toward the back, where Jess and Will usually sat. “Maybe we shouldn’t talk about this now.”
“But they’re way back there,” Kallyn said.
“Well, there’s not much to say. We sang, we laughed, I did an impersonation of a blonde desperately in love... that’s it.”
Kallyn giggled. “I’m sorry I missed it,” she said as the bus pulled out of the lot.
Half an hour later, Cece could see the familiar site of the Bell Tower through the window. After everyone got off the bus, they descended underground and walked below the street to get to the tower. When they reemerged, they climbed another staircase to reach the platform where they had a close-up view of the tower. Cece was overwhelmed by the amazing building. The
three-story structure looked imposing, with a sloped tiled roof, its four corners curving upward toward the sky. It was nothing less than spectacular, from the ornate timber beams running across the eaves, to the brightly colored painted columns running upward.
The group gathered outside the building, and Jenny and Mark led the tour. “As many of you know, the Bell Tower is the symbol of Xi’an,” Jenny began. “It was built in 1384 during the Ming dynasty. The bronze bell that hung in the tower is now resting over there.”
Cece glanced at an enormous bell in one corner of the platform. It was at least twice her height and was suspended above the ground by a wooden frame. A long wooden log was tethered to the frame and hung horizontally beside it, no doubt to ring the bell.
“For over four hundred years, this bell rang every morning to give Xi’an’s citizens the time. The bell in the Drum Tower, the building lying to the west, sounded at dusk to signify the end of the day.”
“If you want,” Mark said, “you can pay ten yuan and ring the bell yourself. Inside the tower, you can have a look at more bells that were used in practice as musical instruments during the same dynasty, and if you go upstairs, you can see the view from the surrounding balcony. This shouldn’t take you long, so return here in thirty minutes, and we’ll move on to the Drum Tower.”
Already some of the students were lining up to ring the bell. “You want to give it a try with me?” Kallyn said.
“Sure. It looks like a great photo op.”
They got in line.
“Actually,” Cece said, “the view behind us is pretty good, with the City Walls in the background.” She dug out her camera from her purse. “Could you get a shot of me while we wait in line?” The giant bell rang as students took their turns.
“No problem.” Kallyn took Cece’s picture.
“Hey, Cece!”
Cece saw Jessica approaching. Will, Lisa, and Dreyfuss were standing behind her, waiting by the tower entrance. “Let me get one of you and Kallyn,” Jess said.