The Dim Sum Drama (Flash Fiction Part 4)

This is the 4th part of the story. The previous parts are here: 1, 2, 3.

Now Babutai has got every woman’s attention, he is not in a rush to reveal what he knows. To enhance the sense of suspense and drama, he asks questions instead, “So you don’t know what happened yesterday. However do you know Lau’s daughter Sandi’s story, which happened a month ago?”

“Oh, yes, Sandi ran away, right? Poor Sandi. She has to work as a cashier for Bamboo Palace since she was barely ten years old. She is the only one who speaks perfect English there. Also she has to take care all the bills, official documents. I mean all the business mail related with the restaurant. If I were her, I would have run away too. I won’t be able to stand working as a cashier every day. She has worked as an adult all these years when she should have enjoyed her care free childhood.” Pammy says.

“You only know half of the story. Let me tell you from the very beginning.” Babutai says. “Hi, look, that’s my wife over there. Let me wave to her and ask her if she wants to sit down here.”

“Why is that we call your wife Princess, but we don’t call you Prince?” I ask Babutai.

“How ignorant you are! What a question?” Babutai says. “I can’t just call myself Prince whenever I like. My wife is so much closer to the inner circle of the royal family than I…” Babutai says.

“Is your wife your cousin? Do you still believe in consanguineous marriage?” “I am glad your children look normal. Do they have any genetic defects?” “How much money do you have? If you live up to 100 years old, will your money be enough?” “Have you ever worked in your life?” “Was the last Manchurian emperor a homosexual? It is said all his wives were virgins and he preferred boys.” “I heard that you’ve stored several paintings and poems on silk by the last Manchurian emperor. Can we see that? How much money can they fetch? Can you bring them to Antique Roadshow to get them evaluated?” “Do you have a big closet filled up with gold and jade?” Questions after questions bombarded Babutai. I turn around and see three women, all strangers, standing behind me. They probably know Babutai a little and come over when they see him.

“Ladies, ladies. Listen to me.” Babutai says. He is not offended by the questions but rather he is flattered. “All those rumors are wrong. Princess and I don’t have much money, which is why we live in Edison, New Jersey. We are the royal poor. If we were rich, we would have moved to Bergen County, Short Hill, or even Princeton. I don’t think you are interested in me, but if you do, you know I talked about my life in my book ‘Princess and I’, which can be ordered from Amazon. Today I want to talk about Bamboo Palace. Where am I?” Babutai says.

Princess comes near her husband, but she has no wish to stay. Her hair appointment is coming up and she will be back in an hour.

“But you don’t need a hair cut. Your hair looks perfect to me.” Babutai says.

“Oh, you know nothing about women’s hair. I need a little trim only. Nothing big. Well, I will leave you to talk with your admirers.” Princess pats Babutai’s shoulder, greets each of us with a smile, and takes leave to go to the hair salon in the same plaza.

Babutai’s spirit is high. Now he is talking to six women instead of three. This rejuvenates him.

“Do you know who Sandi ran away with?” Babutai asks. We all profess that we don’t know.

“You don’t know? Well, let me tell you Sandi ran away with Tony, Arjiang’s son. I mean Arjiang owns this shop.” Babutai points to a convenient store right next to the coffee shop, which sells discount household items and school supplies and other goods. “That happened one month ago. Lau refused to let Sandi date Tony. And guess what, the two young people secretly flew to Las Vegas themselves and got married there. Then they came back as married couple. Lau told them the marriage was invalid since Sandi is only 17 years old and Lau had not given his consent. Lau accused Tony conspired with his father Arjiang to kidnap Sandi and force her to marry. Lau wants to sue them. However Tony’s father Arjiang is not easy to deal with. He said if Lau does not give his consent to the marriage and does not help pay for the down payment of a small house for the young couple, he is going to sue Lau for using Sandi as a child labor for years. Lau considered this a blackmail. And the two men met last night at Bamboo Palace to talk things over. Can you imagine what have happened?”

“What happened? Oh, Babutai, just tell us.”

“I couldn’t believe it, but it happened.” Babutai says.

(To Be Continued)