Sunshine Nails by Mai Nguyen

Author:Mai Nguyen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: 2023-07-04T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR Phil

Phil had no idea what his wife meant when she said that. When he asked her later that night, she simply told him not to worry. He knew she was keeping something from him, but if thirty-eight years of marriage had taught him anything, it was that when two people trusted each other enough, the truth was overrated.

Besides, Phil had his own ways of keeping the salon afloat, and it involved cooking a series of spicy meals for his family. It was a trick he learned from his grandmother: Whenever money was tight, just add more bird’s-eye chili into everything. The spicier the food, the less everyone would eat, the more money they’d save on food. It was the reason why Phil preferred to make his own fish sauce; Debbie insisted one chili was enough, but to him there was no kick without at least five.

His scheme was working. Their grocery trips were stretched out a bit longer, their credit card bills not as high. But by no means was it a perfect solution. The other day, he had overdone it with the bún bò Huế, causing Dustin to have a continuous bout of explosive diarrhea in the middle of the night. Dustin could eat nothing but crackers and bananas for the next week. Phil felt so bad. Then again, having one less person to feed pushed their savings up even more.

For Phil, it was a small price to pay if it meant having financial security. He even switched to a discount grocery store, even though it added an extra thirty minutes to his drive. He’d done the math and determined that the savings he’d reap from shopping at this particular store made up for the extra cost of gas. His family agreed no gifts would be exchanged this Christmas. He also resisted the temptation to buy anything unnecessary, including a pair of shoes he’d tried on during a sale. Even though they felt heavenly on his sore bunions, he walked out and opted for generic aspirin whenever the pain flared up.

When it came to the salon, he instructed everyone to be a little more pushy. If someone wanted a polish change, suggest a relaxing pedicure while their nails dried. If someone wanted acrylics, tell them biogel was more natural-looking. If someone didn’t want designs on their nails, show them a picture of a celebrity sporting a trendy design.

Bless the girls. They were naturals at this. Something about the stylishness of their youth gave them an air of authority as they casually pointed out flaws (“Your nail bed’s a little short,” “They’re looking a little yellow today”) in hopes the customers would get bummed enough to fork over more money. It worked. Some of the time.

The toughest change of all was telling his relatives abroad that he’d have to stop wiring them money. That phone call nearly killed him, especially when his younger brother protested that he would have no food for his family, that the state would cut their power, that he only had a month’s worth of asthma medication left.

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