The Dim Sum of All Things by Kim Wong Keltner

Author:Kim Wong Keltner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins

There was a click at the front door, followed by the sound of shuffling steps leading in the direction opposite Lindsey’s bedroom.

Lindsey’s eyes became as large as Nilla wafers, and she suddenly could not breathe. She began to hyperventilate. Although Pau Pau was a hallway and two rooms away, the romantic mist of lavender-rosemary had faded away, and the powerful odor of Tiger Balm seeped down the hall and wafted up Lindsey’s nostrils immediately.

“Oh my God. Don’t move!” she whispered between short, hopping breaths.

Her panic struck Michael’s funny bone. He mussed her hair and tried to put his arms around her.

She stepped away from him, practically shoving him off. Her stomach turned over, and she didn’t know if her urge to barf was caused by the excitement of him being so close or by the dread she felt, knowing she was caught red-handed “playing hanky-panky.”

Pau Pau was sure to have an aneurysm if she discovered a white devil in her granddaughter’s bedroom. There was only one thing Lindsey could think to do. She had to hide him.

“Don’t move!” she whispered again.

“You’re being silly. Let’s just go say hi to her,” he said.

She clapped her hand over Michael’s mouth and told him to shut up.

From the framed photo above, the thirty-ninth president of the United States gazed down at her. He seemed to say, “You’ve blown it now. You’re ruining everything.”

Forgetting that she had dumped all the Chinese medicines and ointment jars in the hall closet, Lindsey now grabbed Michael’s hand and shoved him inside. He tripped on a plastic jar of honeylike goo, which cracked into bits under the weight of his heel, releasing a peppery camphor smell into the stuffy air.

“I’m going to distract her. Meet me at the bottom of the stairwell,” Lindsey said. Slamming the door, she left Michael in the dark.

Pau Pau called out, “Linsee-ah?”

Lindsey came running around the corner.

“Yeah, it’s me,” she replied, careening to an abrupt halt on the living room carpet.

“What smell?” her grandmother asked, sniffing the air.

“Room freshener,” Lindsey answered, speaking softly so that Michael wouldn’t hear.

Pau Pau headed toward the bathroom, but Lindsey jumped in front of her.

“Ai-ya! What wrong with you?”

“Where are you going?” Lindsey asked in a panic.

“Go to toilet!” Pau Pau screeched in Cantonese, pushing past her impatiently.

Now was her chance. Lindsey ran to the closet door, threw it open, and found Michael standing there with folded arms and goop on his bare foot. She grabbed him, cast him out the front door, and repeated, “Meet me at the bottom of the stairs!”

“But what about my shoes?” he whispered before the door whoofed shut.

Pau Pau came out and found the closet door flung open with her medicines strewn about and the broken jar oozing on the carpet.

“Ai-ya! What happen?”

“I was cleaning and I dropped that. I’ll clean it up right now!” Lindsey made a feeble motion toward the spill, but Pau Pau was already gathering up her small jars and vials of herbs.

“Don’t touch my things! You make

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