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I flicked a small twig from the side of my sneakers. “You have lots of places.”
“Yes, but only one of them is my home. And that’s where you and your mother are.”
I studied him with a crunch of my forehead. “What did we ever do to make you so happy?”
“You exist, silly. That’s enough.”
I sprawled in my seat, tap-tap-tapping my knee, bored to the max. “If we make you so happy, why do you always buy stuff to feel good?”
“Art is notstuff.” He put his hand over mine to stop me from tapping my knee. “It’s a person’s soul poured into material. Souls are priceless, Zach. Try to protect yours any way you can.”
I inched closer to him, peering at the velvet satchel between us. “Can I look at this one?”
“Not until your birthday.”
“It’s mine?”
“Not to carry around. It’s dangerous.”
“Even better.” I rubbed my hands together, turning my attention to the hand-carved canton box cradled between his palms. “How about this one?”
We’d just picked up the spoils of Dad’s bidding war at an antique auction.
Well, Dad did.
I sat in the car, solving a Rubik’s cube without bothering to actually look at it as he trudged through the ID verification process.
Art had never interested me.
Dad spent the past twelve years drilling his wisdom into me, hoping some of his obsession would penetrate my skull.
No such luck.
I could debate the merits of gongbi versus ink and wash painting, but I couldn’t force myself to actually give a crap about a bunch of lines on paper.
Sometimes I secretly wished I had a dad like Romeo’s. He let him handle guns and hand grenades. Rom even knew how to operate atank.
Nowthatwas a flex.
Dad slid the heavy lid off and slanted the box my way. “Your mother’s anniversary present.”
Clasped between satin walls sat a round jade pendant chiseled into the shape of a lion. A red cord looped around the curved edge, leading to stacked beads, an oversized pan chang knot, and double tassels.
A cool two million dollars, and for what?
Mom wasn’t even gonna wear this thing.
Adults sometimes made the dumbest decisions. Dad called them impulses and said they were human. Maybe I wasn’t much of a human because nothing made me too excited. I always thought things through and craved nothing.
Not even sweets.
I slumped back into my seat. “It looks like the slab of cheese mold growing in the Tupperware in Oliver’s locker.”
My other best friend had the hygiene of a wild boar. Though that wouldn’t really be fair to the boar, because the latter didn’t have the option to shower daily.
“Sha háizi.”Silly kid. Dad flicked the back of my head, chuckling. “One day, you’ll learn to appreciate beautiful things.”
The rain intensified, knocking on the windows like it was begging to enter. Red and yellow lights gleamed through the distorted glass.
