Free China Dolls by Lisa See Page A

all married now. They have babies.” Her voice hitched, and she shrugged. “Plus I now work in a big-thigh show. If I see one of those girls on the street, she looks away. None of them wants to associate with me. Their husbands wouldn’t like it. Of the three of us, I’ll bet you’re the one who’s had the most friends.”
    Ruby nodded slowly, pretending deep thought. Finally, she said, “I’ve had friends. Lots of friends. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry!”
    Helen looked aghast, and then her face cracked as she burst out laughing. Ruby and I joined in. One of the waiters rolled his eyes. Here we go again .
    “I’ve never had friends like you,” I said after we regained our composure.
    “I’ve never had friends, period!” Helen softly slapped the table for emphasis.
    “The three of us are like the Three Musketeers,” I said. “We get strength from each other, and we have adventures together. We’re all for one and one for all.”
    “ I don’t plan on being in any duels!” Ruby scoffed good-naturedly.
    “Did you ever hear of the Boswell Sisters? Maybe you’re like them.” This came from a man at a neighboring table, which sent us into a cataclysmic fit of giggles. A man(!) just talked to us. He’d been eavesdropping on us! We could flirt with him all we wanted, because we were three girls together. So we broke into song, piecing together the lyrics to “Someone to Watch Over Me” and throwing in some exaggerated arm movements for the benefit of our audience of one, who clapped appreciatively and scooted his stool a little closer to our table.
    “Maybe it’s better to say we’re like the Andrews Sisters,” Ruby announced when we came to the end of the song.
    “Three friends are better than sisters,” I said, even though I’d been dumped by Velma and the other evil triplets. I never wanted a day to come when I’d be excluded by Ruby and Helen in favor of someone like Ida. “Besides, we aren’t sisters.”
    “And it’s a good thing,” Ruby agreed. “Sisters are stuck with each other, whether they like it or not. We chose each other. We wouldn’t be here now if Helen hadn’t found our apartment. So thank you, Helen, again , for being right there when we needed someone.” She gave a smart two-finger salute to our benefactor. “Anyway, all that makes us better than sisters, like Grace said.” Her eyes sparkled. “Hey, what if we put an act together and called ourselves the Swinging Sensations or the Oriental Wonders—”
    “How about the Swing Sisters?” Helen suggested.
    “We aren’t—”
    “Sisters,” Ruby finished for me. “But so what? We’re singers and dancers—”
    “You’re dancers too?” The man on the stool leaned forward, skeptical.
    Ruby stiffened. “Of course! We’ll show you.”
    The customer regarded us in unveiled delight as we jumped up and started pushing tables and stools out of the way. The cooks came out from the kitchen to see what all the hubbub was about, wiping their hands on their aprons, shoving their folded paper hats back on their foreheads. We lined up. I counted, “Five, six, seven …” And we broke into “Let Me Play with It.”
    Halfway through the number, Monroe came in the door, bringing with him a rush of damp air. He scowled as he took in the scene. Our voices trailed off, the man on the stool slid back to his own table, and the cooks slinked into the kitchen.
    “Time to go,” Ruby said to Helen.
    Monroe was clearly upset to see his sister and her friends dancing in a neighborhood restaurant, but he didn’t yell or anything like that. Instead, he radiated disapproval. That was fine for Helen; he was her brother. But to me, his attitude was upsetting. He was younger than Eddie Wu and just about the most darling boy I’d ever seen—almost as cute as that boy I’d met on Treasure Island. It probably helped that Monroe was the first Chinese boy I’d seen up close.
    We waved to the man on his stool as Monroe herded us out the door.