Tiger Girl by May-lee Chai Read Free Book Online Page B

wasn’t here to tell Uncle how to run his business. I bit my tongue.
    â€œYou want me to help you assemble all those?”
    Uncle looked distracted, and, for a second, he seemed not to understand what I’d said to him. He looked at me sadly, then looked back at the pile of cardboard.
    â€œIt’s no problem,” I said, and gently took one of the boxes from him and folded it along its scored sides. “I can do them all.”
    â€œI never thought—” Uncle began, then stopped. He turned away.
    â€œAre you all right?” I wondered if he might actually be ill. He seemed paler, and he was blinking rapidly.
    â€œI’m very happy you’re here,” Uncle said, but he wouldn’t look at me.
    After I folded up all the boxes, Uncle filled them with fresh pastries and headed out. Neither Anita nor Sitan seemed surprised by his behavior.
    The morning rush had petered out and there was only a young mother with a toddler on her hip grabbing a morning donut.
    The thug flirted with her shamelessly, and the woman blushed and smiled and ordered an extra bear claw to go.
    â€œHe’s a charmer, isn’t he?” Anita nudged me. “All the ladies fall in love with him.”
    I rolled my eyes. “Not my type,” I said.
    The mother with the toddler headed out, glancing one last time over her shoulder as she waved with her fingertips. I refrained from groaning.
    There was a loud cry from a baby seat parked in the corner booth, and at first I thought the woman had actually been so distracted that she’d left her kid behind. Then Sitan hopped over the counter and rushed to the baby’s side, cooing and rattling a toy at it.
    â€œYou brought your kid?”
    â€œDaycare’s a waste of money. What’s it to you?”
    â€œNow, you two, don’t fight. I have something to show you. You’ll never guess what I found waiting for me when I got home last night.” Anita hurried into the kitchen through the swinging doors and returned with a compact box. She hefted it onto the countertop. “My knives came,” she said proudly.
    â€œYo, that’s dope,” Sitan proclaimed.
    â€œNow where did James put the scissors?” She searched through the drawers behind the counter.
    Sitan pulled out a Swiss Army knife attached to his jeans by a chain. Holding the package steady with the three fingers on his right hand, he held the knife with his left and carefully sliced open the packing tape.
    Anita sorted through the Styrofoam peanuts and pulled out a large knife attached by several dozen twist ties to a thick square of cardboard.
    â€œIs that like a Ginsu?” I squinted at the writing on the package.
    â€œIt slices, it dices. It can cut a can, it can slice a tomato! But wait! There’s more!” Sitan put on his best infomercial voice.
    â€œNo, these are even better,” Anita said. She patiently, carefully untwisted the ties, one by one. “These are my throwing knives.”
    â€œAnita used to be famous,” Sitan said. “She was on
That’s Incredible!
, magicians of the world episode.” Sitan added, proudly, “I saw it.”
    â€œYou’re too young.”
    â€œNo, I swear, I saw it. You were da bomb, Anita.” He smiled so that all his strong, white teeth showed. I could see how some women might find him attractive.
    â€œYou were a magician? That’s amazing,” I said to Anita.
    Anita narrowed her green eyes a little, just enough for me to imagine what she might look like when she was genuinely angry. “Oh, honey, no. I don’t do
illusions
.” She reacted as though I’d accused her of turning tricks. “I’m a knife thrower. I filled in between acts while the magicians were setting up backstage.”
    â€œShe can throw flaming spears, too.”
    â€œAmong other things. But mostly I specialized in knives,” Anita said. She took out the long, pointed knife and