Death at Chinatown by Frances McNamara

Author:Frances McNamara
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allium Press of Chicago
Published: 2014-08-05T00:00:00+00:00

EIGHTEEN

I followed Ida down the narrow stairs. When I reached the street, she put her arm in mine. She bent towards me to talk, completely ignoring the men we passed along the way. It was usually my practice to put my head down and rush along, avoiding contact with men on the street. It was an inbred caution that came from being a woman alone, travelling through the city. But Ida kept our gait to a stroll with her head up, paying no attention to the knots of men, and they, in turn, kept out of our way.

“You must wonder about Mary and Mr. Chin.” She didn’t wait for me to answer. “In the four years we have spent in this country we have sometimes missed our home very much. The people at the university in Michigan were very kind but sometimes one just misses one’s home. In English you call it homesickness. In Chinese it has the meaning of longing. For us, coming here to Chicago, where there are Chinese people, customs, and food that we recognize, we feel a little closer to home. So we came here several times a year. We always went to the King Yen Lo restaurant.”

“That’s how you met Mr. Chin?” I was glad for the shade from my straw hat when we crossed the street into the full light of the sun. Ida wore a flat little hat decorated with a pile of velvet roses and a broad yellow ribbon that tied under her chin, emphasizing her round face and spectacles. It didn’t provide much shade and she had to squint in the bright sun. We were both careful to skirt the horse droppings on the street and the garbage that overflowed containers on the walkway.

“Yes. He is from the south of China, where he was brought up to be a scholar. When his father died, he had to give up his studies to come here to make money to support his mother and younger brothers and sisters. He has an uncle whose brother-in-law owns the restaurant. Chin started as a waiter, but he is very bright, so he has moved up to become the manager.” She looked quizzically at a knot of men in front of a saloon. They backed up to make room for us, so we continued arm in arm. I was impressed by her composure.

“He seems to admire Mary.”

“He works very hard, but talking to us reminds him of the life he had to give up when he stopped his studies. You see, in China, if a man can complete his studies and pass the examinations he can rise in the world. He expected to have such a career while his father was alive, but now it will never be.”

“Never?”

“You cannot go back. The life of a scholar requires wealth enough to have the time to study. Once a man becomes a merchant or takes some other job to earn money for his family, he does not have the time to study to take the examinations for a government post.

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