4
Fiona
My birthday partyhad consisted of a family dinner and then games afterward. I’d told Li earlier that I had something exciting to share with him. He’d promised we could sneak away for a talk later, but then he and my brothers and brothers-in-law had disappeared into the sitting room for brandy and cigars. Now everyone was inside playing games or talking together in various corners of the formal sitting room. I’d declined an offer to play another card game to follow Li out to the back porch. I found him on the steps. He startled as I swept through the screen door of our enclosed porch to join him. “Hello.”
“Fiona, you scared me.”
“I’m sorry. I wondered where you’d gone off to.” I sat next to him on the second step, careful to keep my boots out of the snow. “What are you doing out here? It’s freezing.”
“I needed a little air. Your brother gave me a draw from his flask, and it made me a little dizzy.”
“You should stay away from whatever’s in Flynn’s flask,” I said, laughing. “Whatever it is, it’s probably enough to eat away the lining of your stomach.”
“Are you enjoying your birthday party?” Li asked, turning to look at me. In the light from the house, I could see purple shadows under his eyes that matched the bruises on his face. Had he not slept well? Although he was dressed impeccably, he seemed a bit tattered, not refreshed as he’d appeared when I picked him up at the train just days before. “Are you all right? You’re not feeling poorly, are you?”
“No. A little tired, that’s all. Nothing to worry about.”
“I am.” I smiled as I searched his face for clues to what troubled him. We knew each other very well. Something was worrying him. “Thank you for coming.”
“I wouldn’t miss your birthday party,” Li said.
“Now that I’m twenty, you no longer have to look after me.”
“Or perhaps you’ll need someone with an even keener eye? The young men of Emerson Pass hover about like locusts.”
“Locusts isn’t right. They haven’t devoured me yet.”
“True. But they could.”
“With you and my brothers, there’s not much chance of anyone making a meal of me.” I nudged him with my elbow. He sucked in a breath as if I’d hurt him. “Are you hurt?” I asked. Was that why he hadn’t slept well?
He let out a long sigh. “I didn’t want to tell you and spoil your birthday, but I might as well. Last night, after you left the club, I was jumped by two men as I walked to my car. They beat me up.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Jumped? Beat up? “Here, in Emerson Pass? Outside the club?”
“Yes, in our own town.” He bent over, wrapping his arms around his knees. “It can happen here, too, I guess. The attack was remarkably similar to what I’ve come to expect from other places, actually.”
He’d hinted before about the times he’d been harassed in Chicago but never told me details. “How badly did they hurt you?”
“I’m all right. A little sore around the ribs, that’s all. They didn’t touch my hands, thank goodness.”
“Do you know who they were?”
“I’d not seen them before, no. They seemed to think they belonged here and I didn’t. They told me to go home.”
“Home? This is your home.” Rage coursed through me. I clenched my fists, wishing the cowards were in front of me right this instant.
“They meant China.”
“How stupid,” I said, hot. “You’ve lived here all your life. Your family belongs here. You’re part of our family, for goodness’ sake. Who are these men? Papa wouldn’t stand for it. Not in his town.”
“Maybe they moved in while I was away? I don’t know.” He sighed and then drew in a ragged breath. “Never mind all that. This is your birthday party.”
“Li, we can’t simply ignore it. Have you told Papa? He’ll make sure it never happens again. Or we can put Cym and her pistol on the job.”
He shook his head, not even smiling at my joke about Cymbeline. “It’s not that simple. These types of men are everywhere. They don’t like my kind. If it were up to them, no one like me would live here in America.”
“This is America. People have come here from all over.” I stopped myself before I went on and on when it was clearly only upsetting him further. “I’m sorry that happened to you.” I didn’t know what else to say. My news about Paris and my hope that he would join me there seemed stupid now. This was reality. Here in our own town, men had hurt Li. A member of our family. There would be payment extracted from these men, whoever they were. I’d make sure of it.
He straightened and adjusted my cap by sliding his thumb under the brim. “It’s all right. Tell me your news. You were about to burst with it a minute ago.”
“It’s nothing that important, not really. Not compared to what happened to you.”
“Tell me what it is.”
“I do have news.” First, I would tell him about Paris and then finally confess my feelings. I reached into the pocket of my wool coat I wore over my evening dress. “Papa wants me to go to Paris to study with a Mr. Basset. Supposedly, he’s one of the best voice teachers in the world. Papa arranged it as a surprise, along with an apartment in Paris.”
“Fi, that’s wonderful. I’m happy for you.”
“I’d have to be gone for months, and I’m not entirely certain I want to go. Everyone keeps telling me I should be excited, but I hate to miss the spring flowers.” I paused, about to explain that flowers were only a symbol of everything here at home. He knew, though. Li understood me. We could have entire conversations without words. Music was our language but even without it, we understood each other.
“All of this.” He waved his hand to indicate the house and yard. “It will all be here when you return.”
“Yes. Perhaps.” I drew in a deep breath, inhaling the scent of fir and pine needles. From inside came the raucous laughter of my siblings and their spouses. They’d started a game of gin as well as gotten into the gin. “There’s more. I’d like you to come with me. Papa said he’d pay your way. You’d be my chaperone.”
He recoiled a bit as he had when we were kids and he’d been the first to spot a snake. “Come with you? To Paris?” His eyes narrowed, examining me closely with a dark, serious expression. “I’d like to, but I can’t. I have responsibilities here.”
“Your grandmother?”
“Yes, I couldn’t leave her. She’s frail these days.”
My heart sank. I’d have to go alone. I’d be away from him for what would feel like a hundred years. “I understand, but I’ll miss you terribly.”
“You’ll be better off going without me. Much safer.”
“Why would you say that?” I asked. “You always make sure I’m safe.”
“I can’t keep you safe. Look what happened to me in our own town. In Paris, it would be worse. I’m not welcome here or there or anywhere.”