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“That’s not the way to incentivize me to come over,” she replies.
“Sure it is. Because if you take your punishment like a good girl, you get rewarded. And I know you like your rewards.”
She blushes and goes back to having her breakfast. But I don’t feel like eating anymore. Just the thought of what punishment I would serve has me aroused.
We end up making out on the floor before we finish breakfast. I drop her back at her apartment before returning to The Lotus for my lunch meeting with Lee Hao Young.
“How was Southern California?” I ask the older man as he takes a seat across from me at a table.
Hao Young, originally from the southernmost province in China, is half a foot shorter than me and naturally more tan. His thin gray hair has receded well past the top of his head. If it weren’t for the dim lighting in the club, his crown would probably shine.
“Good. Warmer,” he replies.
Mimi, one of the young, pretty servers, comes over and pours oolong tea for us.
“Have you given thought to the opportunity I presented?” he asks.
“I’m honored to be considered,” I reply, “but I’m not ready to accept.”
In typical old-school Chinese fashion, Hao Young shows no emotion. Mimi returns with a basket of steamed xiao long bao.
“Because of your mother?” he asks as he uses his chopsticks and picks up a dumpling.
I nod, though it’s Bridget who pops up in my mind.
Hao Young dips his dumpling into a small dish of soy sauce with vinegar and sliced ginger. “She does not want to lose a son after losing her husband.”
“Sure.”
“What happened to your father was unusual. His death had nothing to do with the triad. That crazy inmate who killed him was not hired by us. We respected him too much. We honored him.”
“But his involvement with the triad was what put him in prison.”
“Are you afraid to go to prison?”
“No,” I reply, still thinking about Bridget.
“Do you know the number of triad members who have gone to jail?”
I shake my head.
“Less than five percent. The odds of going to prison are low. Your mother should not worry.”
“Try convincing her of that.”
“If your mother was not opposed, would you accept?”
Bridget is still in my mind, but this isn’t about her. Even if it was, however, I’m not going to tell Hao Young about her.
“Sure,” I answer.
Mimi returns with more dishes: shrimp dumplings, fried taro cakes, and Peking duck.
“And why would you accept?”
“Because it sounds interesting. More interesting than running this club. And it’s what my father would have wanted me to do.”
“Does his legacy matter to you?”
