Jewel of the East by Ann Hood Read Free Book Online Page A

wash your hands first,” Zhenzhu’s mother said. “And for goodness’ sake, take that hat of yours off inside.”
    Zhenzhu grumbled but reached up and removed the red hat with gold Buddhas.
    Both Maisie and Felix stared in disbelief as long, blond hair tumbled down Zhenzhu’s shoulders.
    “Pearl,” Zhenzhu’s mother said. “Show your friends to the sink.”
    Zhenzhu, they realized, was a girl.

In the morning, the little house did not look as wonderful as it had in the dark. The bricks, Maisie saw now, were faded and chipped, and the little front porch sagged. Even the silk curtains and straw rugs did little to hide the condition of Pearl Sydenstricker’s home. She looked down at the blue cotton trousers and tunic Mrs. Sydenstricker had given her. The fabric was slightly worn and frayed at the edges. Felix’s was, too, Maisie noticed.
    Felix nudged Maisie and tilted his chin toward a corner of the small room where they’d slept on a futon on the floor.
    She had resolved to continue to ignore him, maybe forever. Hadn’t Great-Aunt Maisie andUncle Thorne done just fine without each other all these years? But she sneaked a glance at what he was trying to show her. The biggest bugs she had ever seen slithered across the floor. They must have been eight inches long, with hard shells and lots of yellow legs.
    Maisie let out a small yelp.
    “Z
ê
n me yàng?”
someone called to them.
    A small, old woman appeared in the doorway. Her face was as wrinkled as a prune, and her hair was so thin that her leathery scalp showed through.
    “Z
ê
n me yàng?”
the woman repeated, and now Maisie saw that she was toothless as well.
    Felix pointed to the bugs scurrying around.
    The old woman tottered into the room laughing.
    Maisie and Felix couldn’t help but stare. Her feet in their faded cloth shoes were smaller than those insects. From beneath thick, white stockings, her three-inch-long feet moved in quick, mincing steps. How could she possibly walk on such tiny feet? They watched as she picked up an old slipper, which seemed to be there just for this purpose, and began smashing the bugs. A sickening crunch echoed every time she got one.
    The old woman grinned her toothless grin at Maisie and Felix, threw the slipper down, and teetered out of the room.
    “Her feet,” Felix whispered.
    But Maisie thrust her chin upward and did not answer.
    “Please,” Felix said. “Don’t do this.”
    Maisie walked right out of the room without saying a word.
    Pearl was in the kitchen with the old woman and a young Chinese girl holding a fat baby. All of them were eating rice from small bowls and laughing as the old woman talked.
    When Pearl saw Maisie, she said, “You don’t like our centipedes, I hear.”
    “Is that what they are?” Maisie said, grimacing.
    “They’re better than the scorpions,” Pearl said.
    Maisie swallowed hard. “Scorpions?”
    “Mother hates them, too,” Pearl said. “But Wang Amah came to your defense.”
    At the sound of her name, the old woman bowed slightly toward Pearl.
    “She’s my nurse,” Pearl explained. “I love her mightily. And this is my
mèi mei
, Precious Cloud.”
    When she saw Maisie’s look of confusion she added, “
Mèi mei.
Little sister.”
    Pearl lowered her voice. “Her mother died, soshe’s come to live with us.”
    “Nice to meet you,” Maisie said to Precious Cloud.
    “Oh, she doesn’t speak any English at all,” Pearl said. “That baby she’s holding is my little sister Grace. I think you’ve met all of us now.”
    Wang Amah held out a bowl of rice to Maisie. With chopsticks, she added something bright pink, chopped small scallions, and thin slivers of that white, lacy vegetable Maisie had seen in the marketplace.
    “What is this?” Maisie asked.
    “Pickled vegetables,” Pearl told her. “And lotus root.”
    “Lotus Root,” Maisie said to herself. It sounded exotic, and she said again, softly this time, “Lotus root.”
    By now Felix had come into the