"Dad! It's time to leave for Aunty Tan's house." I called to my father.
"Okay, I'll be there in a sec."
A minute later he came running down the stairs.
"Well? What are we waiting for?" He asked when he reached the door.
I just rolled my eyes at him. He was constantly making us late. Two minutes later we were in our Jeep on our way to our cousins house.
"Now son, your Aunty Tan said that they had also invited the American Minister and his family to dinner. Do your best to behave and mind whatever manners you have." My dad informed me.
Yeah, as if I'm the one who can't mind his manners. I thought, but I just said "Okay."
Ten minutes later we arrived.
"Looks like we hit during rush hour--again." I said, looking at all of our relatives walking up to the door.
"At least we're not late." Dad said.
We walked up and got lost in the crowd of relatives, just like we did every year. A couple minutes later, Cousin Amy opened the door. Everyone started to pile in. Finally we got in and took our seats. Aunty Tan brought the food out. My mouth was watering just by looking at it.
"Aunty Tan, it looks wonderful." I said, extremely happy.
I looked all around and noticed that Cousin Amy had a look of embarrassment on her face. When we started eating, all thought of manners went out the window. All of us started licking the tips of our chopsticks and reaching across the table to grab food. As we started eating she started to look horrified. I couldn't figure out for the life of me, why--it was all of her favorite foods and she always seemed to enjoy having relatives over. Once we had what we wanted for the time being, Uncle Tan started to pass the platters of deliciousness towards the Minister and his family.
When Aunty Tan brought out the whole steamed fish we all murmured in pleasure. She set the fish down by Uncle Tan; he in turn took his chopsticks and pulled out the fishes tender cheek.
He looked at Cousin Amy and said, "Amy, your favorite."
Amy was horrified. When we finished eating, Uncle Tan let out a sonic boom of a belch. The ministers family looked at him in astonishment.
"In Chinese custums, it is polite to show your satisfaction." Uncle Tan explained to them.
Trying to show his appreciation, the Minister gave out as big as a belch as he could--it was about as loud as a gun being shot with a silencer on it. For the rest of the evening, Cousin Amy didn't say another word.
A couple of hours later, we thanked Aunty Tan and Uncle Tan for inviting them.As we walked out the door it hit me--why Amy was acting so weird--she must have had a crush on Robert.
Nice story!
ReplyDelete