The Kevin review., 1926-11-11
You Gotta Expect the WOist
"wOt,n We have7'' came her prosy reply


an exquisite pleasure to worthless me Whe
prepared by the charming harmOniousnes
of your fingers"
"You sure know how to wag a wickel
tongue! Well-IH fix ye fudge sunda
though God knows ye're fat enough with
out it, Chinkier'
Nag Hong Fab, the restaurant propri
etOr ambled into the Bon Ton He bowel
ipolitely, with hands clasped over his broa,
chest when he saw the other. "Ten thOus
and years, honorable Tsai LurH he muir
INJURED
"Ten thousand times ten thousand years
o wise. and older brotherH same the court
''You like it in New York;"
"a delightful town Far too delightful
for small and unimportant mer'
For Tsai Lu was a newcomer who had
arrived from California month earlier
and in the back room of the Great Shang-
hal Chop Suey palace which was for yellow
men only and bore the euphonic appella-
tiOn of "The Place of Sweet Desire and
Heavenly Entertainment" he was reputed
a rich, retired business man, elegantly Oc-
cupied with doing nothing except the read
ing of classic Mandarin tones, the eating
of splendid food, and the burning of in
cense sticks before the hei-song-c -chechoo,
the Spirits Of the Ink" household gods
Nobody bothered to find out how he had
made his money, if he had wife or child,
kith or kin. For these men, coolies all,
the sweepings of the Canton cutters, cooks,
walters, grocers, and petty traders were
yet of an ancient race. thus sublimely un-
selfconcious tolerant, permitting each man
to look after his own fate, be it good or
bad.
Tsai Lu was rich and civil. He gave gen
erously to local charities. He could quote
fluently from the polished and curiously
inSincere Mandarin classics
What else mattered?
There was a certain amount of gossip
over the fact that, unusual in Chinatown
whose denizens are tightly clannish in race
on bo 10
barbarian, out in the country, somewhere
on Long Island, whence he drove in every
day in large automobile, and that nobody
since his arrival had been invited to cross
the threshold of his home and sip tea.
There was, Furthermore, gossip rolled
under thick tongues, wide blown from Pell
street to Mott, relished as a choice slice
of scan, as to his nightly visits to the
Bon Ton and his waiting there until clos
ing time for a word with Susie.
But this, too, did not really matter. 1t
was his own affair-and the girls.
Let each man sweep away the dirt from
his own roof top" commented Yu Chang
the priest of the joss temple.
So said they all; Only Nag Hong Fab,
a rather ribald and tactless character was
at times little more inquisitiye
Thus tonight.
He pointed a broad thumb at Susie;
whispered sibilantly in the others ear
1T seem that you are fond of buds |
Scented buds, black eyed, black haired
Buds of rose and tulip and precious purple
orchid spotted with gold 2"
"Why nOt?'' came the blunt reply; and |
with a sudden access of brutal Mongol |
directness he added HShut your lips,l o |
wise and older brother, lest your teeth |
catch cold ~
And he returned to his fudge sundae and |
The paying of stilted compliIs.nts to Susie's /
address,
He waited for her outside after the Bon |
.er," he began almost humbly, "of which
would like to speak to you"
''Welp-she retorted belligerently in
Snglish-it was always so, she speaking
English and he Chinese-"spit it out,
Sninkle'
He pointed at his purring, low slung
automobile
"Will you honor small and unimportant
'Nothin' doin'!' she interrupted. "Im
,oin home-alone-get me?"
Home! At the word, she imagined the
vretched lodging house, the fumes from the
easement kitchen; then a tossing, moist
light, an awakening in the morning with '
dull headache and another twenty -four t
ours of crucifixion, of pointed, splintering ;
eat Always, everywhere, there was that
ross fostering, obscene heat S
1t was as if he had read her mind. &
"The heat is so great" he said, perhaps
breath of fresh air. r
Subconsciously he had struck the right
hord in her brain. Again she thought of c
er stuffy room, the clogging, choking at t
losphere. ;
And the noises! Noises OF Pell street anu
oWery They coiled about her, like an evil, d
Iimy sea the Stammering, gurgling stacca- Z
} of Cantonese coolies, the metallic snap
nd crackle of Sicilians and Calabrians
liking dramatically about the price OF
live oil; the unbearable, cultural, belching n
hine of Russian Hebrews-all that down. v
)wn symphony with the blazing roar OF :
lie elevated humping dissonant counter
Oint in the distance-O, to get away from y
if only for an hour! q
All at once she made up her mind. She =
Imped into the automobile.
'Come on y she said. but don't ye get e
She could take care of herself, she 2
ought. She was one wise kid. Sure!
He sat down in the drivers seat; started a
e car. D.
She glanced at him from the corner Of
r eye. Gee just exactly like that Wall :,
rect guy in "The Shadow Of Doom. u
eren't men the limit? Well-let him try
mething-she'd knock his yellow phiz for
row of geraniums-y'b betl
Where shall we go?" he asked. DC
81 don't care! ~ In
Long IsIand-perhaps little sea in
SSuit yerself, misterr she replied defi- su
tly. She'd show him who was afraid of Il
iom. And she was almost disappointed liz
len he said nothing else, did not smile at az
r or wink at her or squeeze her hand or qu
ess her knee re
Well-she thought-he would by-and-by. gr
e was expectin the woist, always the pc
She clenched one small fist.
So he drove, minute after minute.
they left Chinatown behind, the lights at
wing in the distance like brights beads pO
ainst the mellow background of ebony Co
purple An edge of Broadway screamed ms
It with gray houses and elfin lamps. The thu
rty- Ninth street bridge crouched out of pc
dark, clasping hands with the other div
e in gesture OF steel and concrete. 1t no
ped and thundered beneath them. Whizzl So
rossi And down the smooth Long Island gu
ldsI Fr
steadily the air became cooler and clear La
Over her shoulder, like a far, golden
. she could see the lights of the great
7 win king and threatening. There was
It there, she thought, and fostering flo
els and itching flesh, and hands which tak
* and blouses which cling. Co
md here2 clu
he blessed wind. A glitter of silver and gol
ite and pale gold the beach, the ocean, bee
ng to the moons beckoning finger. tiv
lie shot the car along at good speed. He an'
not talk. He
t annoyed her a little. Why didn't he len
something? Anything? She'd show him the
ice and cool, though She was really be- ma
ming to enjoy herself. Only why was it be
t all rich, elderly ginks with automo
IS were such williamson whom one had
expect the woist?
nd why didn't he say something? Mo
e did presently, slowing up his car. tina
Plum Blossom" he said, ''when | see the
my old heart is like moon born clouds SIN