Danny Chung Sums It Up by Maisie Chan

Author:Maisie Chan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abrams
Published: 2021-09-07T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

LYCHEES AND BINGO BALLS

Nai Nai and I arrived at the Longdale Community Center and followed the arrow signs for bingo, which were in big bold colors. They led to a large hall where tables were out in rows and the lights were dim. Onstage was a screen; it showed bingo balls bobbing up and down in a glass cube. Pink, green, blue, yellow, and white balls jostling for space and attention.

I had enough money for twelve bingo cards and I got Nai Nai a triple pack of red marker pens, because even I knew that red was lucky in Chinese, and a token for a free cup of tea or coffee and a cookie at break time. These old people had it good. It was warm, they had snacks, and they could basically sit in here all afternoon if they wanted to and play games. Sounded like a good life, if you asked me.

As I returned to the table where I’d left Nai Nai, I saw that a group of old people had gathered. There seemed to be a commotion. I could hear people saying things like “ashamed” and “no way, José.” I hurried over with the cards and pens under my arms.

“Hello? Hi? Excuse me? What’s going on? Where’s my gran?” I squeezed through a wall of white hair and knitted bags.

“Oh, you’re with her, are you?” a voice said. It belonged to a very wrinkly lady who had bright blue cotton-candy hair. She was tall and gawked at me like I was a cockroach.

“Yes, I am … Nai Nai, are you okay?” I said, getting closer to her. I realized that even though Nai Nai was little, she stood out like a sore thumb because she looked different. I knew how she felt.

“She has to move,” another voice chimed in. This time it was a man. He was wearing the same sweater as the blue-haired lady. “We always have these seats, without fail,” he asserted. His leg began to twitch. I peered through the crowd of bodies that had formed around us. There were rows upon rows of empty seats.

“But there are loads of other spaces in here,” I said. “Can’t you sit somewhere else?”

“Cheeky little so-and-so!” said the blue-lagoon lady. I wanted to finger joust all of them away from Nai Nai. She didn’t seem so mighty with all of these people jabbering around her. In fact, she seemed small and a little lost. She was looking around at the angry faces, wondering why they were there. She put her apple core on the table and rummaged in her bag once more. She pulled out a kiwi, offering it to a woman next to her.

“Look, she’s new here, okay?” I said. When the woman shook her head, Nai Nai proceeded to get out a small teaspoon, cut the kiwi in half, and begin eating the insides.

I heard a gasp and then a tut.

“You should call management, Enid!” the man in the sweater demanded.

Mrs. Blue Hair ran off with her hand in the air, trying to catch the attention of a lady who was standing by the exit.

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