averly Jong

    I rengt rategy for s, respect from otually, t at time, chess games.

    quot;Bite back your tongue,quot; scolded my motoore t sold bags of salted plums. At ;ise guy,  go against   be seen.quot;

    t  back my tongue as ered tore ly plucked a small bag of plums from t it on ter  of tems.

    My moted rutances. e lived in San Franciscos Co of taurants and curio s terious t  to knohe names of.

    e lived on averly Place, in a  t sat above a small Ceamed pastries and dim sum. In till quiet, I could smell fragrant red beans as to a pasty sness. By daybreak, our flat en as my fat ready for hree clicks.

    At t playground  bencry people sat cracking roasted ermelon seeds eettering to an impatient gat playground, self. It eries and adventures. My broto tc onto a stiff s of  amount of insect s leaves for omers. It  ral curse t  of American doctors. Next to ter ions and festive red banners.

    Fartreet  ank crourtles struggling to gain footing on tiled sides. A ten sign informed tourists, quot;itore, is all for food, not for pet.quot; Inside, tcained ly gutted tomers cried out ted, quot;Give me your fres,quot; On less cro days,  tes of live frogs and crabs o poke, boxes of dried cuttlefisime; ttened side and reminded me of my motory of a careless girl reet and ; reported my mother.

    At table caf?air t led to a door marked quot;tradesmen.quot; My brot nigourists never  to ed only in Ces in front of taurant. o ture o ure ted duck s er ook ture, I told o  dinner.  ted, quot;Guts and ducks feet and octopus gizzards!quot; ter as ryto of t pounding  he would chase us.

    My moter treet t ant American documents. But my family called me Meimei, quot;Little Sister.quot; I , ter. Eac and yank on my til sigails. One day, as sruggled to  .

    I asked ;Ma, ure?quot; My moted  it nicked s my scalp.

    quot;; s a trace of knoure.quot;

    quot;C; s;Cing. Not lazy like American people. e do torture. Best torture.quot;

    My older brot ually got t. e o tmas party  t Cist C t togeta bag of gifts donated by members of anots e sacks for boys and girls of different ages.

    One of ta Claus costume and a stiff paper beard ton balls glued to it. I t oo young to kno Santa Claus  Curn came up, ta man asked me  it rick question; I o t by t seemed to satisfy  and obey my parents. I kneo t. I nodded back y.

    cs, I already kne ts  necessarily t ones. One girl my age got a large coloring book of biblical cers, oilet er. tant. A ten-year-old boy  jangled  in globe of t for inserting money.   it   ten pennies, ment t  of to t appreciate suc.

    As I peered into ts, testing t, imagining ained. I c one t   t of ty arranging and rearranging tubes in tes. My broton c turned out to be a box of intricate plastic parts; tructions on t ure replica of a orld ar II submarine.

    Vincent got t,  to get at a cmas party, except it er, it ;too good. Cost too muc; At e, ling ;

    old Vincent to t a;S  it. e not  it,quot; sossing iffly to tigruction book.

    I c and inston play during Cmas o e secrets ing to be untangled. t cured ancestral curses. And my brot I  stake t er tradesmens door to hong Sings.

    quot;Let me! Let me!quot; I begged betory, to let go of tcome. Vincent at first refused to let me play, but tons t filled in for ted.  for te knig both.

    As our mot small dougeamed dumplings t  nig explained ting to eac;You een pieces and so do I. One king and queen, tles, and eigep, except on t move. t take men by moving cross in take anot;

    quot;; I asked as I moved my pa; teps?quot;

    quot;Because t; he said.

    quot;But ake ot t;

    quot; you alupid questions?quot; asked Vincent. quot;t make t; ;Pa yourself.quot;

    My motted t;Let me see book,quot; sly. S reading to searcely for noticular.

    quot;t; s last. quot;Every time people come out from foreign country, must kno knooo bad, go back. t telling you  time. Better you take it, find out w; Sossed isfied smile.

    I found out about all ter. I read tionary. I borrooudied eacrying to absorb tained.

    I learned about opening moves and ant to control ter early on; test distance bets is straig tactics beter  plans for bottacking and getting out of traps. I learned ial in to , a matical understanding of all possible moves, and patience; all ages become evident to a strong adversary and are obscured to a tiring opponent. I discovered t for t gatrengthe game begins.

    I also found out o ottle kno advantage one sore for future use. t is t is a game of secrets in w sell.

    I loved ts I found y-four black and o t to my bed, tles. Soon I no longer lost any games or Life Savers, but I lost my adversaries. inston and Vincent decided terested in roaming treets after scs.

    On a cold spring afternoon,  ted across a folding table playing a game of cing peanuts, and cs c, o the game.

    quot;ant to play?quot; I asked  the box under my arm.

    quot;Little sister, been a long time since I play ; ly. I quickly put t to ort.

    Lau Po, as o call urned out to be a mucter player t many games and many Life Savers. But over ts. Lau Po gave me ttack from t and est Sones on ting of t  Blood.

    ts of ciquette. Keep captured men in neat roended prisoners. Never announce quot;C; y, lest someone  your t. Never o ter you  a game, because t find ter apologizing to all around you. By taugter chess player.

    A small s ed my opponents one by one. My motdoor exion games. S proudly on telling my admirers y, quot;Is luck.quot;

    A man  my moto play in local cournaments. My mot meant notely ed to go, but I bit back my tongue. I kne me play among strangers. So as   to play in tournament. t, I would bring shame on my family.

    quot;Is s; said my mother.

    During my first tournament, my mot  roed for my turn. I frequently bounced my legs to unstick tal seat of t up. My mot  of red jade ; sucked it into my dress pocket. I turned to my opponent, a fifteen-year-old boy from Oakland.  me, wrinkling his nose.

    As I began to play, t of te pieces and ing on t  my ears. It ws only I could hear.

    quot;Blo; it murmured. quot;trail.quot; I saraps to avoid. tled. quot;S; said tronger. quot;t to distract ; t came for;Blo;

    quot;C; I said, as ter. to little puffs, my oh.

    My mot trop to a neic c t tao society o me. As s clot;Next time ;

    quot;Ma, its not ; I said. quot;Sometimes you need to lose pieces to get a;

    quot;Better to lose less, see if you really need.quot;

    At t tournament, I  it riump grin.

    quot;Lost eigime. Last time ell you? Better off lose less!quot; I  I couldnt say anything.

    I attended more tournaments, eacairs from our flat displayed my groion of trops  t-covered cakes t er I ant regional tournament, t cake ing and red script saying, quot;Congratulations, averly Jong, Coer t, a floo sponsor me in national tournaments. ts on and Vincent o do my chores.

    quot; to play and ; complained Vincent.

    quot;Is ne; said my mot;Meimei play, squeeze all  for ;

    By my nintional cill some 429 points aer status, but I outed as t American o boot. to of me in Life magazine next to a quote in er.quot; quot;Your move, Bobby,quot; said tion.

    took ture I ly plaited braids clipped ic barrettes trimmed ones. I  eced across from me  ty. I remember t y broo  my every move. . One of s uffed  we kerc flourish.

    In my crisp pink-and-c te points of my elboent leatient c in its neening place, riump smile t my opponent for good measure.

    I no longer played in ted t to scly o learn neages, more escape routes.

    But I found it difficult to concentrate at  of standing over me  my games. I t of ective ally. iger eac quot;; would escape from her nose.

    quot;Ma, I cant practice ,quot; I said one day. Sreated to tcs and pans. opped, I could see out of t sanding in t;; Only t of ig.

    My parents made many concessions to alloo practice. One time I complained t t I couldnt ter, my brot in a bed in treet. I said I couldnt finis  table  ty I couldnt avoid. I o accompany my moturday market days  to play. My moting many stle. quot;ter ave-ly Jong,quot; so whoever looked her way.

    One day, after  a s;I , telling everybody Im your daug; My motopped  us on to first one sher.

    quot;Aiii-ya. So s; Sig me.

    I looked do;Its not t, its just so obvious. Its just so embarrassing.quot;

    quot;Embarrass you be my daug; h anger.

    quot;ts not . ts not ;

    quot; you say?quot;

    I kne ake to say anyt I ;o use me to s to s you learn to play c;

    My moturned into dangerous black slits. S sharp silence.

    I felt t ears. I jerked my  of my motigo an old he ground.

    quot;Aii-ya! Stupid girl!quot; my motin cans careened doooped to ook off.

    I raced doreet, das looking back as my mot;Meimei! Meimei!quot; I fled do dark curtained ss , into a large street croourists examining trinkets and souvenirs. I ducked into anotreet, up anotil it  and I realized I o go, t I  running from anytained no escape routes.

    My breat like angry smoke. It  dourned plastic pail next to a stack of empty boxes, cupping my c reet or anoturning o a my arrival. After two ood up on creaking legs and slowly walked home.

    t and I could see ts s like tigers eyes in t. I climbed teen steps to tly up eac to make any urned teps, turning—click! click! click!—and the door opened.

    quot;About time you got ; said Vincent. quot;Boy, are you in trouble.quot;

    o table. On a platter s flesill connected to bones sream in vain escape. Standing ting for my punis, I her speak in a dry voice.

    quot;e not concerning t ;

    Nobody looked at me. Bone cicks clinked against tied into hs.

    I o my room, closed time ligs.

    In my y-four black and e me , ts. Sriump smile. quot;Strongest  be seen,quot; she said.

    o eac. My o my edge, I felt myself gro tops of tiled roofs,  sky until everything below me disappeared and I was alone.

    I closed my eyes and pondered my next move.