A Concubine for the Family: A Family Saga in China by Amy Kwei Read Free Book Online Page A

car. Crouched behind the front seat, Purple Jade watched her brother adopt a splayed walk while Orchid clung to his arm. Orchid walked with mincing steps, which gave her a seductive sway.
    Purple Jade’s legs felt sore and she was twisted into an uncomfortable position, but she did not feel the usual pain in her feet. If she weren’t a cripple, would she have taken Orchid’s place in this plot? Yes, she might have. Her outrage at the presence of an opium den in town overshadowed her usual concerns with propriety and decorum. She perspired. She felt restless and young again. She shifted in the cramped space, fiddled with her handkerchief and imagined herself swimming in the aqua lake. She peeked out the window. Everything was quiet. Should she tap on the horn if she saw something suspicious? “Oh please, please don’t let anyone find out about our role,” she prayed to Kwan Ying Buddha.
    Glorious Dragon led Orchid into the parlor. As expected, the proprietor greeted them as he would any prosperous couple ready to forego dinner for the pipe — and so addicted that they need not be watched. Orchid, in her fancy clothes, passed as a prostitute. Her shaky steps amply demonstrated that she was in dire need of a fix and would lapse into oblivion after just a few puffs. Reassured, the proprietor left for his evening meal.
    The smokers lolled on their rosewood beds and sucked on their pipes. The opium lamps lit the artificially darkened den like fireflies, fluttering with each draw of the smokers. Glorious Dragon and Orchid walked by several wasted figures hunched over the miniature hurricane lamps. Some stared up at them with vacant eyes. Saliva dribbled from their gaping mouths, revealing smoke-stained teeth. The addicts would not have recognized their own mothers.
    Several serving girls hovered over the reclining bodies. Some twirled a thin stick in a jar of opium paste, shaping it into a pellet. After turning and warming the brown blob over a small dusty lamp, they placed the pellet into the pipe’s porcelain bowl, inverting it over a glowing fire to burn the opium. The smoker sucked on the pipe and exhaled; thin wisps of fumes curled around his mouth and nostrils. Then he leaned into his pipe, and slowly and steadily he inhaled again. The little flame winked eerily in the darkness.
    Glorious Dragon chose a bed near the entrance for a quick getaway. After picking out the pipes and opium, he motioned the serving girl to leave them alone.
    Orchid began to twirl the opium paste. The atmosphere of lazy inattention stirred Glorious Dragon to action. With a sleight of hand, he pulled out strings of firecrackers from his robe and lit the long fuse lines. He hurled them toward the corner draperies where the fireworks were stacked outside the window. He threw his opium lamp after the firecrackers, adding fuel to the sparks.
    Firecrackers banged, immediately followed by screams and shouts. Fire crept up the draperies and burst into flaming columns that consumed the wooden beams overhead. Everyone, even those who looked comatose, struggled to reach the door. Some hobbled, some crawled on their hands and knees, and many had to be carried to safety.
    Once outside, Glorious Dragon avoided looking into the frightened eyes surrounding him. More loud bursts followed. The burning building ignited the fireworks outside, which looked anemic under the afternoon sky. The roar of flames sent everyone coughing and scrambling. The staff and other shouting men gathered to help. They flailed their arms in frustration. Their buckets of water could not contain the fire. Crowds gathered across the street; all eyes were riveted on the fiery display. Glorious Dragon and Orchid slipped into their car unnoticed.
    Purple Jade peeked through her curtains and mumbled her “oh-me-to-fu” to her Kwan Yin Buddha.
    “Oh, Dragon, you didn’t tell me you would burn this place!” Purple Jade gasped as soon as her brother came near. “People can get