Free Destined by Gail Cleare Page B

been living here for a long time now,” Mei said. “My father still does
not speak English. But he understands more than he lets on.”
    She and her siblings were raised in
the U.S., while her parents worked at a relative’s Chinese restaurant. The kids
all went to high school and graduated with honors, then all four children went
to college and trained for high-paying jobs. One was now a lawyer, one was an
accountant, a third was in medical school and Mei herself worked full-time as a
project manager in the Information Technology department at a large corporation
nearby. All four of them also worked at the restaurant, whenever they could.
Sometimes the brother in medical school would even fly in for the weekend, if
they were in a pinch.
    “Your family must be very close,” I
remarked approvingly.
    “Yes, very close. Sometimes, too
close,” she said, looking pointedly at Rocco.
    “Yep, yep,” he said, “‘Close’ is one
word for it.”
    “My family is very traditional,” she
repeated. “They have very strict rules for how everyone must live.” An angry
expression fluttered across her face, and was gone.
    Rocco leaned forward to join in. He
lowered his voice confidentially.
    “They don’t approve of me.”
    “No!”
    “Yes.”
    “Of you? What’s not to love?” I
demanded indignantly, and we all laughed.
    “It’s not you , not you personally, though,” Mei
protested.
    “Yeah, they love me as the pizza-head
from down the street, right?”
    “Right, it’s just that they don’t want
me going out with someone who is not Chinese,” she explained to me. “They have
always been very definite about that.” She glanced at him. “My brothers and
sister have all followed the rules, they have always dated only the ‘approved’
kind of person. But I guess I am the rebel!”
    She sat up, straightened her shoulders
and grinned proudly.
    “Yeah, she’s a rebel all right,” Rocco
teased, “Four years we’ve been going out, and she still doesn’t tell her
parents.”
    “No! Four years! They still don’t
know?”
    He nodded, shrugging.
    “My father would be very angry if he
knew we were serious about each other,” she explained. “He would not want me to
be a part of the restaurant anymore. He would shun me. My entire life savings
is invested. They cannot afford to buy me out. It’s complicated.”
    “So your relationship is a secret,” I
concluded.
    “My parents don’t know, either.” Rocco
looked at me meaningfully.
    “Ohhh. OK. I get it.”
    “No, it’s not what you think. I’m not
afraid to tell them about her. I do what I want. I own my own place. It’s
nobody’s business what I do.”
    “Yes, of course.”
    “But, you can’t tell my mother.”
    “OK, OK, I won’t. Don’t worry about
it.”
    “It would be all over the neighborhood
by noon.”
    “Yes, yes.”
    “I would say, by no later than ten
o’clock,” Mei quipped, grinning.
    We all laughed.
    “Seriously,” Mei said, “We’d really
appreciate it if you don’t tell anyone you saw us today. That’s why we always
come to the Sunday morning movie. There’s never anybody here. I don’t want my
family to find out right now. It is not a good time for us to be mad at each
other.”
    I assured them I would keep their
secret. I was sorry that Josie couldn’t find out that her son was involved in a
happy, loving relationship. She would have been delighted to know he was no
longer alone. I thought she would probably approve despite what I assumed was a
major difference in religion. I didn’t think Mei could possibly be Catholic.
She was probably a Buddhist. Or whatever. In any case, I was sorry for everyone
that her family was not more flexible in their attitude. It seemed like they
all lost something as a result.
    And, it couldn’t go on like this
forever. What if the couple wanted to get married and have children? They
couldn’t keep that a secret. It seemed like eventually, things would have to
change, one way or