Half by Duncan MacLeod

Author:Duncan MacLeod [MacLeod, Duncan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Gay, mental illness, san francisco, 1980s, delusions, mental health, bizarro, counterculture, new adult, halfway houses
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - MAH JONG

Janis looks skeptical when I tell her about the job, but she nods. “Ethan, it’s no problem. You can work nights, as long as you cook dinner one night. Will your schedule shift around much"?

“I don’t know. I don’t think so. Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights from 7pm to midnight.”

“Then great. We found your activity. Are you excited"?

“Hells yeah. I wanted a job. But will it affect my GA?”

“We can talk about it in session tomorrow.”

“Cool."

As I head towards the stairs, I hear the clattering sound from the common room. Curiosity gets the better of me, so I investigate.

The corner table is pulled away from the wall. Annie, Bernadette, Mei and Tony Ha are sitting around the table, swirling a bunch of giant dominoes in a whirlpool pattern. Tony sees me, and a huge grin spreads over his face.

“Ethan, you here to join us! Here! Sit! Sit! You have my place.” He stands up, offering me his seat.

“I should just watch you play first.” Behind me, the dominoes change from a cacophony of swirling to the gentle click, click of tiles being stacked.

“No, come come come! You sit down.” He strong-arms me into his seat. The dominoes are now arranged in four walls, two dominoes high.

Tony pats me on the shoulder. “Good, Ethan, you have fun. I watch and help.”

I doubt I will have fun. Fun has been off the table since the day I landed in jail. I have had a few laughs, but I feel like crap and hate everything about my life.

Annie, the shyest in the group, reaches out and turns a domino upright. It’s a green Chinese symbol. The ladies at the table draw a gentle breath, look at me, and smile.

“What, what happened"?

“We play halfway house rules,” says Tony. “Some people use dice but we draw tile to start. But green dragon isn’t a number, so we have to draw again.”

“Why did Annie smile at me, though"?

“Green dragon good luck,” reasons Tony, “and Annie smile because you bring good luck, even though she lose her turn.”

Mei reaches out and turns over a tile. This one has 3 small circles. Mei counts in a counterclockwise motion and reaches the third wall of tiles, in front of Bernadette. She counts three tiles in, and draws four tiles at once, turning them upright in front of her. Bernadette grabs the next four tiles, and now all eyes are on me. I collect four tiles. Annie and Mei nod. Bernadette compliments me, “Four at a time, you’re a fast learner.”

The circle continues four tiles at a time, and I stand my tiles in front of me. After everyone has grabbed three groups of four tiles each, Mei does something odd. She takes two tiles, the first top tile and the third top tile. Then Bernadette takes the 1st bottom tile. Tony nudges me, “You take top tile.” I take the second top tile which is now the first top tile. Then Annie takes the tile underneath.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.