This choice: "Alright, you can take it to him." • Go Back... "Alright, you can take it to him. But not a word of this to anyone. That means you too, Jackson."
Jackson just shrugged. "It's no big deal to me."
Coach turned back to Marcus. "Get cleaned up and then come see me for the address."
"You got it, Coach," he replied, a grin on his face.
*****
Thirty minutes later found Marcus walking through a small and relatively posh neighborhood. Considering how close he lived to school, he'd never needed to take his car to school. But Li's family apparently lived further away from school in the opposite direction from home, which meant a bit of a walk.
Of course, Marcus didn't have much of a problem with that. The houses here were all small but nice looking, and all were neatly clean and efficient in their presentation. Marcus didn't want to go making any untoward assumptions, but it seemed Li's parents were decently well off.
As he turned a corner, he noticed on the opposite side of the intersection an odd little shop, not unlike a Mom and Pop store near downtown. But the sign outside was in Chinese lettering, and the only thing he could make out from it was the picture of the mortal and pestle in forest green. He considered it for a few moments, but then moved on. He needed to get to Li's place soon if he wanted to be home before dark.
Luckily for him, Li's place was just another block down from the odd shop. Marcus, seeing the house number that matched the address, nodded to himself and went right up to the front door, ringing the bell and stepping back to wait. And after a few moments, the sound of a lock turning announced the appearance of a small Asian woman opening the door to him.
She was quite small, surprisingly small even. Marcus of course knew about the standard stereotype of Asian people being relatively short, but he'd expected someone like Li, a literal giant kid, to have parents that might have been at least a little above average. But this woman couldn't have been much more than five feet. Her head barely came up to his chest.
"Can I help you?" she asked warily through her accent.
"Um, hi, Miss. I'm Marcus, I'm a friend of Li's from school."
She lit up. "Oh, yes, hello! Come in, come in!"
She quickly stepped aside to allow him, and after a bemused moment he entered, instinctively ducking through the doorway like he'd had to for the past several years.
"Li is not here right now," she explained, closing the door and moving past Marcus into the front room. "But he will be back soon.
"It is so good to meet one of Li's friends. His father and I were not quite sure he had been making any, since he is so shy. But here you are. And you're tall, too, just like our Li."
"Yeah," Marcus managed to get out, a little overwhelmed at Mrs. Li's exuberance. But he managed a smile as she went on.
"It has been so hard for him, with his height and being in this new country. But now he has you, and that will make things so much better for him. Especially with his height. He is so self-conscious about that. And maybe having another big friend will ease his mind about it...."
Marcus nodded along, but was finding it hard to concentrate. He felt bad about being here behind Li's back, even if it was for a legitimate reason. His wandering thoughts led to wandering eyes, and he found himself looking around at the room's decor. In particular, the pictures on the table they were standing beside. One near the front especially drew his attention.
In it, he saw the same small woman standing before him. On the other side was a middle aged Asian man who looked like he wasn't much taller than her, maybe five-four at most. And in between was a younger Li, who was only slightly taller than his mother.
Marcus' mind began to work. Li, who today was at least an inch taller than himself, was at some point just barely taller than his mother, this tiny five foot woman who could barely reach his chest. How was such a growth spurt even possible? What was going on here?
"...and I hope you can stay to meet Li's father. He is working late tonight, but should be back soon."
Marcus' attention came back around to Mrs. Li. "Oh, is this him?" he asked, directing her attention to the picture. It wasn't perhaps the most subtle tactic, but it might shed some more clues.
"Oh yes, that is him," Mrs. Li replied, picking up the frame to better look at it. "That is the three of us about..."   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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