Free Incensed by Ed Lin

asked.
    â€œIn school,” said Gao.
    â€œIn detention,” Whistle added. “This was back when Mei-ling was in public school.”
    â€œShe seems to find trouble,” I said.
    â€œYou have no idea,” said Whistle. Gao gave him a meaningful look over his slick plate.
    Mei-ling came back and sat down.
    â€œYou two should go to the bathroom,” she said to Gao and Whistle. “It’s a long trip.” Amazingly, they got up and went.
    â€œYou really shouldn’t talk to people like that,” I said.
    â€œSo what? They work for us. They’re not our family.”
    â€œDo you talk to Chong the same way?” Her face went stiff. “After all, he’s not family, either.”
    â€œIt’s none of your business, Jing-nan!”
    â€œIt is. Your dad told me to keep an eye on you. Part of the deal if you get to visit Taipei is that you give this guy up.”
    She looked at me for the first time with sincerity. “I did already, so don’t worry about it,” she sniffed.
    â€œIs he going to come after you?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œGood.”
    â€œI don’t care about him, anyway. I was with him just to piss off Big Eye. He hates new immigrants as much as he hates gays and lesbians.”
    â€œBut he has a lot of love for you, his only daughter.”
    â€œHah!”
    Whistle and Gao came back and stood at the table.
    â€œAnything else, Mei-ling?” asked Whistle.
    â€œLet’s get going, already. Jing-nan was wondering what was taking you guys so long!” They both gave me dirty looks. I shook my head but they didn’t buy it.
    Mei-ling curled up and fell asleep right after we piled back into the car. I started to drift off, too, but her snoring prevented the door between wakefulness and dreamland from closing entirely.
    â€œTired?” asked Gao.
    â€œNaw,” said Whistle.
    That was the end of the conversation. These guys did what they were told and they were efficient. I wondered what other jobs they did and what else they wouldn’t talk about.
    A couple hours later, I felt a warm patch of sun on my face. I opened my eyes and sat up. I could tell by the ugly construction barriers that formed the median that we were on Xinyi Road, a major artery of downtown Taipei that sliced through Da’an District. Xinyi connected Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall to the Taipei 101 skyscraper. We drove toward that gleaming spire that symbolized not only Taipei but the future of Taiwan itself. The past with its memories of colonization, defeat, dead dreams, and oppressive martial law rose up behind us, always close.
    The Memorial Hall grounds, which also include the National Opera House and the National Concert Hall in addition to ponds and gardens, covered almost as much area as fifty American football fields. My dad used to say that no fair and honest man would have conscientiously allowed something that big to be built in his honor.
    Traffic was bad on Xinyi. Whistle cursed as some madman in a van cut us off. I crouched to look out the windshield. The van ahead of us looked like it had been through the Chinese civil war, a driving patchwork of welded metal sheets. A sign in the rear window declared, in English, its opposition to the legalization of same-sex marriage: made by mommy and daddy .
    I looked over to Mei-ling. She was awake and glaring at the sign.
    â€œThis is Taipei,” she said. “I thought people here were more open-minded in the city.”
    â€œWhat do you care, Mei-ling?” I said. “You’re not gay.”
    She crossed her arms. “Some people are.”
    â€œLet other people worry about it. You’ve got enough problems.”
    â€œWho are you to criticize what I say and think? You’re not that great!”
    I was about to tear into her when I heard Gao cough. I looked up and saw him gesture discreetly with his left hand. Let it go, it said.
    I’m not experienced in talking to