Eat a Bowl of Tea. Louis Chu

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СКАЧАТЬ following week on his day off Ben Loy entrained for New York. He had been looking forward to this day. His pleasurable experience at the hotel had allayed all his anxious qualms. Now when he got to the Hotel Lansing, he tried to find the same bell boy who had taken care of him and Chin Yuen. But that elderly man was nowhere to be seen. In his place was a much younger man. Ben Loy followed him to his room on the seventh floor, just as he and Chin Yuen had done the previous week. As the bell boy turned to leave, Ben Loy managed to force out of his mouth, “You have girl? Nice girl?”

      “Oh, you want a girl?” the bell boy’s face lit up.

      “Yeah, girl. Nice girl.”

      In less than half an hour a young blonde knocked on the door and inquired, “Do you want to see me?”

      Ben Loy happily let her in.

      His subsequent trips to the hotel were made more pleasurable by the knowledge gained through experience. He stopped looking for the same bell boy. Any one would do. When he was in the mood for it, he even had a second girl come in. In time he came to learn some of the girls’ names. He would drop in and ask for his favorite by name.

      On these trips he never showed himself in Chinatown, not even appearing at his Company Room. He made the Hotel Lansing his New York headquarters until several months later, when Chin Yuen asked him to share an apartment on Catherine Street. When the women came to the apartment to see Chin Yuen, sometimes they would find Ben Loy there instead. This arrangement suited Ben Loy. He no longer had to go out to look for women. They would come to him.

      VIII

      Pleased with his conviction that Ben Loy was the right man for his daughter Mei Oi, Lee Gong set about putting pressure on Wah Gay. He would drop in at the club house early in the afternoon to chat with the proprietor about the impending wedding. Did you hear from your wife yet? Have you spoken with Ben Loy about the matter?

      Lee Gong had refrained from telling his old friend that he had gone to the restaurant in Stanton to get a closer look at the prospective son-in-law. Did not his cousin Wing Sim say that Ben Loy was a good boy? Did not Wah Gay say that his son was a good boy? Did not Lee Gong, after his own investigation, come to the conclusion that Ben Loy would make a proper and respectable son-in-law?

      When Wah Gay saw that Lee Gong was quite impatient about matching their young ones, he summoned Ben Loy to the basement club house for a conference.

      It was always an unusual occasion when the old man sent for his offspring. Apprehensive of the usual father-son upbraiding, Ben Loy did not like the idea of going to see his father. He feared that someone had informed his father about his activities in the apartment on Catherine Street. He immediately began to think of excuses and appropriate answers for his father’s expected questions.

      From Grand Central he took the Lexington IRT down to Chinatown. His father was expecting him; for when he tried the door to the club house, it was already unlatched. He pushed it open and walked in, and just as he did, he saw a man get up and walk out. The man was Lee Gong but Ben Loy did not recognize him.

      “You have come out so early?” his father asked.

      “Yes, just got here.” Ben Loy pulled out a chair at the mah-jong table and sat down.

      “How is business in the small town?”

      “Pretty good,” replied the startled Ben Loy. He had not expected such a pleasant opening conversation from his father.

      “You can make a living out there?”

      “I guess so.” The tone of questioning led Ben Loy to believe that his father was going to get another job for him.

      “Ben Loy, as you know,” Wah Gay continued, “your father and mother are getting older each day. Each day makes the light of life dimmer for the old folks. I have just received a letter from your mother. She wants you to return home to get married.”

      Ben Loy did not say anything. He sat silent, thinking to himself.

      “If you don’t get married when you’re young, when would you marry, when you’re old?” the father pursued. “I have thought this thing over carefully. Both your father and mother want you to go home and get yourself a woman.”

      “Next year. Wait till next year.” Ben Loy tried to stall for time.

      “Next year?” demanded Wah Gay, a pained expression on his face. “Next year the Lord may not be so kind to me. A man of my age lives by the day, not by the year. Regardless of how you feel, you must return home to get married.” His voice sounded more severe and curt. “Your mother is crying day and night for your return. You would not want to break her heart by being a disobedient son. It is for your own good, because the jook sing girls over here are no good. You can see how they run around. They are useless.”

      “I’m still young. I can wait a year or two,” said Ben Loy sulkily.

      “You are not young. You are twenty-four. If you remained unmarried any longer, you will end up with one of those jook sing girls, I know. When you do, your old man will be getting a grandchild as well as a daughter-in-law. Then I would have no face to present to my friends and cousins.”

      Ben Loy twisted his neck and pursed his lips, realizing it was hopeless to try to squirm out of his predicament. He knew that by tradition it was his responsibility to get married, as it was his father’s duty to see that he did.

      “I’ll tell Uncle Chuck Ting to find someone to replace you at the restaurant,” announced Wah Gay curtly. “And when you return, the job will be waiting for you there.”

      He did not mention Mei Oi, because he did not want Ben Loy to know the match had already been arranged. “When you bring your wife over here,” he continued, “I’ll see that you have a place to live. Leave those things to me. I will take the responsibility.”

      “Bring my wife over here?” Ben Loy’s face lit up. He had assumed that his father’s plans were for him to return to China and get married, then leave his bride in Sunwei, while he would return to the United States. “Do you mean you want me to bring my wife to America?”

      “Of course,” said Wah Gay. “Nowadays everyone does that. Nobody leaves his wife home any more. Times have changed.”

      “But still, can’t we just wait a while?” said Ben Loy. “I have so little money.”

      “Did I ask you for money?” Wah Gay’s face reddened. “Huh, did I?” The old man was angered to think that his son doubted his ability to provide him with a wife. “That’s my responsibility. I will see to it that all necessary arrangements are made for your transportation. When you set foot on China, the rest is up to your mother. I don’t want you to disobey her. She is your mother.”

      When Ben Loy left the club house he craved for release of his bottled-up emotions. Maybe he would go to China and see what would happen to him. Sooner or later one has to get married. He liked the idea of bringing his bride to America with him. Not like his father and mother, separated by oceans and continents. As he left, he had told his father that he was going to take a train right back to Stanton. And his father had said, “That’s fine. You go right back to Stanton. There is nothing else for you to do in New York.”

      But Ben Loy stealthily found his way to the apartment he СКАЧАТЬ