Free Panties for Sale by Mattie York Page A

gingerbread cookies all rolled into a Starbucks cup. When she
finally opened her eyes, Chieko was eyeing her strangely.   “You try,” Alex smiled, “It smells so good.”
    Chieko lifted the cup suspiciously up to her nose. “In
Japan, we make tea, um, cold,   not so
hot.   How do I say?”
“Warm?”
    “Ah, yes, warm, and not so giant.”
    “Yes,” Alex rolled her eyes. Of course, Chieko would think
everything in Canada was too big.   She
was so tiny.   She was one of those girls
that GAP made size 0 for.   Size Zero!
Alex hated seeing that size on the rack. Doesn’t that mean you don’t
exist?   That you are so skinny if you
turn sideways, you disappear?  
    God, but Chieko must be intoxicating to men.   She must make them feel so big and
strong.    They must get that primal
warrior feeling like they are protecting this tiny delicate flower of a
girl.   Alex suddenly wished she hadn’t
eaten those Macdonald’s fries on the drive over.   She felt like her belt buckle was straining
against her stomach.   She readjusted her
belt and   tried to sit up straighter, but
it didn’t help.   She still felt like a
giant.   Crossing her arms in front of
her, slouched down in her chair.
    The girls sipped their lattes in silence
    Looking back at Chieko, Alex remembered she had promised
Angela that she would be nice.    “This
business is tough,” Angela had said, “everyone needs a support system.   And you two are starting at the same time. It
will be good for you to share your experiences.   Chieko might be your savior some time, you know?   I don’t know what I would have done without
Dora.   Think about it.   Who else can you talk to about this
stuff?   Your friends?   Your family?   They won’t understand.   No,
actually it’s better if they don’t know at all.   Trust me on that.   No, Chieko and
you should be friends.   You two can talk
about things, share your experiences.   Plus I really think she is going to need help here.”  
    “How long have you been in Canada?”  
    Chieko looked up, “I, ah, come to Canada for, rokkagetu,
ah, six months.”
    “You mean six months ago?”
    “Hai, yes.   Six
months ago,”
    “Did you come with your family?”
      “Nei, no.”
    “Oh.   Are you here
with friends?”   Chieko shook her
head.   “You are here alone?”   Alex asked.
    “Hai, yes.” Chieko nodded.
    “With no one to help you?”
    “Yes,” Chieko looked away.
    “Wow that is brave. But what do you do? I mean, why did you
come to Canada?   Are you a student?”  
    Chieko looked up at Alex.   “No, I was a student in Japan.”
    “Oh, did you study English in Japan?”
    “Hai.   Yes, I did,
but I am not so good.”
    “No, no, you are fine,” Alex smiled, surprising
herself.   Chieko puzzled her.   At first, Alex thought she was a total stuck
up bitch.   Any one that beautiful and
tiny had to be nothing less, in Alex’s experience.   But Chieko was here all alone and she could
barely speak English.   What was she
doing?   Toronto could be pretty harsh at
times.   Especially to immigrants.   Especially if they don’t speak English so
well
    Torontonians don’t mean to be offensive, sometimes, they
just don’t understand.   They still have
that ‘we were here first’ mentality. Most Torontonians didn’t grow up with so
many different people, from different cultures and religions all around them,
crowding them in.   It’s not that they
mean to be harsh or insensitive, Canadians are usually very open minded
accommodating people, but the rapid influx of foreign populations can get hard
to deal with, especially when it means crowding the 401 and filling up the city
with foreign cultures that seem loud, dirty and at times dangerous.  
    It’s not just the Torontonians though.   Immigrants come to Toronto with their own
preconceived ideas of what life should be like and try to create small epochs
of their hometowns here.   It creates a
rather