House of Mei

*Author's Note: Any and all persons engaging in any sexual activity are at least eighteen years of age.

*****

"I cannot, I cannot do this," Mei Lon Soo suddenly said, the laughter and smile slipping away.

"Mother, Father," Mei Lon Soo addressed the now silent gathering.

She took in a deep breath.

"She is with child," the aunt whispered to the uncle.

"I am gay, I am the lesbian," Mei Lon Soo announced.

For a long moment, everyone stared at each other, at Mei Lon Soo.

"Is it, is it because of..." Jimmy tried to ask.

"You mean you like girls?" a cousin screeched in disgust.

"I do not, I no longer have the daughter," Mae Tin Dae loudly declared, grabbing Mei Lon Soo's slender arm.

"Father please!" Mei Lon Soo begged as her father marched her to the front door.

"I am no father to you," he snarled. "I do not know you."

Mei Ul Lon tearfully took the still brightly burning candles from Mei Lon Soo's cake and extinguished them in a cup of water. One of the cousins, a fairly chunky Korean girl of twenty two wanted to ask if we would still be eating the cake. A look from her father stilled her.

"I will take her presents to her," Jimmy quietly offered.

"Her purse; she left her purse in her room," Mei Ul Jon, Mei Lon Soo's younger sister stated.

Mei Tin Dae grabbed the large present he had intended to gift his daughter and thrust the other packages toward Jimmy.

When Mei Ul Jon returned with Mei Lon Soo's purse, the man quickly pulled her fuzzy key chain out and pulled house key and restaurant key from the chain.

"See you on Tuesday," Mei Ul Lon stated as Jimmy quietly gathered the remaining gifts.

"Bye Bergeron Jimmy," Mei Ul Jon tried to smile.

"Good bye; see you Tuesday," Jimmy said.

When he stepped outside into the bitter February wind, Mei Lon Soo was nowhere in sight. Jimmy realized, she'd been pushed outside without her jacket as well.

He carried the gaily wrapped gifts to his truck, put them inside, then returned and knocked again on the door.

"Her coat," Jimmy said to Mei Tin Dae.

The man turned; he did not want Jimmy to see the tears in his eyes.

"Oh, and her books!" Mei Ul Jon said.

Jimmy carried all to his truck, then drove slowly, looking for Mei Lon Soo. He found her, five blocks away, walking in the general direction of the Harvester's College campus.

She gratefully got into his truck and quietly thanked him for bringing her the books and coat. The gifts, she shoved to the floor of the truck.

"I am sorry, Jimmy," she quietly said.

"I don't, just don't understand," Jimmy admitted. "I mean, we made love and..."

"And it was very nice," Mei Lon Soo hastened to assure him.

"But then what?" Jimmy asked.

"I am gay," Mei Lon Soo stated simply.

Andrea was not in their room when Mei Lon Soo came in, carrying the still wrapped gifts. Becky looked up with some interest, but by now knew Mei Lon Soo would talk when Mei Lon Soo was ready to talk.

"I told my family that I am gay," Mei Lon Soo said as she hung up her coat.

"I knew it, I just fucking knew it!" Becky whooped.

"And now I do not have family," Mei Lon Soo said and again burst into tears.

Becky hugged her friend tightly and patted her back while she sobbed.

"It'll be all right," she soothed. "Sooner or later, they'll come around."

"No, they will not," Mei Lon Soo stated firmly.

Tuesday, after his classes, Jimmy drove to House Of Mei and parked behind the restaurant. He steeled himself, not knowing what kind of greeting he would receive, and entered through the rear door.

"Ah, Bergeron Jimmy, you are here just in time to take trash out," Mei Ul Jon said.

"I tell her take it out," Mei Tin Dae snapped at his impertinent daughter.

"Oh, but it is too heavy and I am little girl," Mei Ul Jon playfully whined.

"Do it, or I will put you in dumpster," her father threatened.

"I will do it; I still have my coat on," Jimmy said and Mei Ul Jon smiled up at him.

"You are my hero, Bergeron Jimmy," the four foot seven inch girl declared.

Jimmy did, then returned, took off the heavy coat, washed his hands and began preparing the soups and sauces they would need for that day's business.

"Women, eh?" Mae Tin Dae said quietly.

"Can't live with them and it's against the law to shoot them," Jimmy agreed.

"It is only against law if you get caught," Mei Tin Dae quipped and the two men laughed.

Mei Ul Lon did not know what the two men were saying; they were speaking in English, but she was grateful to hear her husband laugh. He had not laughed since their oldest daughter shamed them in front of their family.

Mei Don Gan, the chunky cousin, entered just before they were to open. Mei Ul Lon did let the girl know she was not pleased that the girl had not come earlier. Mei Ul Jon unlocked the door and they were now open for business.

Mei Don Gan was a lazy girl, which was why she'd been fired from nearly every job she'd ever held. The ones that had not fired her, she had simply not gone back to. Both her aunt and uncle yelled at her, urged her to work faster, but she still shuffled through her paces. After an hour of this, Mei Ul Jon put Mei Don Gan at the Hostess station and began serving the clients. But Mei Don Gan seemed to have no sense of seating the new arrivals to minimize foot travel for Mei Ul Jon. She'd space the customers apart so Mei Ul Jon had to travel from one area to the other.

And at the family dinner, the girl complained that there was not enough food.

"Maybe you work a little faster, we give you a little more," Mei Ul Jon suggested.

"You be quiet; you are just little girl," Mei Don Gan snapped.

"Here; you have worked from twelve until four," Mae Ul Lon snapped, pulled two twenty dollar bills from the register and slapped the bills in front of the girl.

"I thought I was getting fifteen an hour," the girl complained.

"We would be insane pay you fifteen an hour," Mei Ul Lon snapped.

So Mei Ul Lon gave up her perch in the kitchen and did her best to act as hostess. She did not know English, always having her daughters there to translate for her, so found it to be extremely tiring.

After two days of the new arrangement, the Mei family decided to actually hire an outsider.

(Jimmy Bergeron laughed at this; he was a blonde haired, blue eyed white man, but the Korean family had actually said 'outsider' in front of him.)

Rebecca Dunn was the granddaughter of a Cambodian refugee. As a second generation Asian-American, she knew very little of her culture and knew almost nothing of their language. But she was cheerful and willing to work.

And, much to Mei Ul Jon's consternation, Rebecca was a terrible flirt with Jimmy Bergeron. The girl would toss her hair back, laugh at Jimmy's comments, playfully touch him, and thrust her slightly large chest out, throw her little backside out.

When the family would sit to eat their dinner, she'd make sure she was seated on the other side of Jimmy, would try to engage Jimmy in conversation.

"You weren't here yesterday," she whined playfully on Thursday. "I missed you."

"I don't come in on Wednesdays and Fridays," Jimmy stated.

"My birthday is tomorrow, Bergeron Jimmy," Mei Ul Jon suddenly said.

"I know that. And you'll be eighteen, right?" Jimmy asked.

"That is right; I will be eighteen," the girl smiled, pleased that he remembered this.

"And what would you like?" Jimmy asked her.

She rested her small hand on his forearm and looked into his eyes.

"What? What'd she say?" Rebecca asked, as Jimmy and Mei Ul Jon were speaking in Korean.

"Tomorrow is her birthday; she will be eighteen years of age," Jimmy stated.

"Oh, well, Happy Birthday!" Rebecca beamed across Jimmy.

After his one o'clock class on Friday, Jimmy skipped his three o'clock class to go to the mall. He bought a new back pack for Mei Ul Jon, noticing that the one she used was quite battered. He also bought her silver chain and heart pendant and silver hoop earrings with little silver hearts hanging from them.

He also bought her a nice card and meticulously wrote, with Korean characters 'Happy Day of Birth to Very Sweet Girl.'

Then he made the mistake of going to the restaurant to give Mei Ul Jon the card.

"Oh, Bergeron Jimmy! You are hero!" Mei Ul Jon cried out.

The dining room was packed and there was a line of patrons waiting.

He was hustled into the kitchen and Mei Ul Lon and Mei Tin Dae happily greeted him.

"I knew I shouldn't have come here," he grumbled good-naturedly.

"You are not here; you are ghost," Mei Ul Lon laughed. "Remember? You not work Friday."

The line of customers did not cease; they did not break for dinner, just individually took turns eating a quick meal, and then got back to their stations.

The last customer finally left at nine thirty eight and Mei Ul Jon locked the door behind them. At ten o'clock, the kitchen was cleaned and Jimmy wearily pulled on his coat.

"Thank you, Bergeron Jimmy," Mei Ul Jon quietly said and looked pointedly at her parents. "The card was very nice."

"You're welcome," Jimmy smiled and wondered why both Mei Ul Lon and Mei Tin Dae decided they needed to tally the register when Mei Ul Jon had already done this.

"You are so tall," Mei Ul Jon laughed and hopped up onto the chair Mei Ul Lon often sat in as she directed the kitchen's traffic.

Then she surprised Jimmy by grabbing his collar and pulling him in for a kiss.

"I love you, Bergeron Jimmy," she admitted and stuffed her soft tongue into his mouth.

Jimmy hugged the small woman and returned her kiss.

"You have had long enough tell him thank you," Mei Ul Lon demanded, returning to the kitchen.

"And you are standing on my chair?" she shrilled at her daughter. "You clean that!"

Mei Ul Jon laughed happily and jumped down, pulling Jimmy with her. They kissed softly a few more times, then Mei Ul Jon grabbed a rag and wiped her mother's chair clean.

"He is good man," Mei Tin Dae quietly said when Mei Ul Lon told him of their daughter kissing Jimmy.

"I love you, Bergeron Jimmy," Jimmy kept hearing Mei Ul Jon's voice in his head as he drove back to his dormitory.

The next day promised to be a slow one at the restaurant; the rain was torrential and Jimmy knew very few would venture out into it, just to eat Korean cuisine. He certainly did not like the wild scamper from dorm to truck and then the difficult drive to the restaurant.

"My birthday is in four months," Rebecca told Jimmy as he shook the water from his coat before hanging it up.

"That's nice," Jimmy said politely. "Mine's in October."

"And what you want for your birthday?" Rebecca asked, thrusting her chest in his direction.

Jimmy did not answer, just began the preparation of that day's soups.

Three times during the lunch service, Mei Ul Jon came into the kitchen for a quick kiss. And three times, Mei Ul Lon yelled at her daughter to get back to her station.

As the family sat to eat their dinner, Jimmy smiled as Mei Ul Jon leaned against him. Then his smile froze as he felt a small hand softly caress his crotch.

"Tomorrow is party; you come," the eighteen year old woman ordered quietly.

"Oh, I am so very busy tomorrow," Jimmy joked.

He gulped as there was a sudden, very tight grip on his testicles.

"Tomorrow is my party; you will be there," she said quietly.

She looked into his eyes.

"I will cry if you do not come," she said.

"And I do not want you to cry," he stated.

She smiled and the pressure on his balls lightened.

"They feel very funny," she whispered in English.

The rest of the evening was a little busier than the daytime, but they were still finished just after nine that evening.

"You go, you go, you do something, it Saturday, get crazy," Mei Tin Dae ordered Jimmy and Mei Ul Jon.

Then he grabbed Jimmy and pulled the tall boy down close to his face.

"Not too crazy; I have to hurt you," he hissed in English.

"Before or after she does?" Jimmy smiled and the man laughed and slapped Jimmy's face softly.

College town or not, there wasn't much to do after nine o'clock on a rainy Saturday night. They finally decided to try their luck at bowling. Mei Ul Jon sent her father's cell phone a text message of where they were. He responded with 'I tell you get crazy and you think that crazy?'

Both she and Jimmy laughed when Mei Ul Jon read the message out loud.

Jimmy didn't know if she was aware of it, but Mei Ul Jon would wiggle her cute little backside after releasing the ten pound ball. Then she would stand and sway her arms, as if trying to guide the ball down the lane. This also made her long black hair swing about, revealing her cute little butt.

She won, seventy two to sixty three. (Jimmy threw a few gutter balls on purpose)

Then she yawned, which cause him to yawn.

"Let's go home," Jimmy said.

"Bye; hope you guys had fun," the old woman smiled when they returned the shoes.

"Of course, I beat him very badly, made him cry," Mei Ul Jon said.

"Well, good for you," the woman said as Jimmy smirked and shook his head.

Sunday morning, Jimmy called his sister, Donna and the two caught up with each other's lives.

"A party?" Donna asked. "You like this girl?"

"Almost as much as she likes me," Jimmy laughed.

He then told her of dating her older sister and then her sister's announcement that she was gay.

"May what?" Donna interrupted. "Jimmy, this some kind of trailer park family, name all their girls' one name and all the boys another?"

"Know, know, it's, they're Korean," Jimmy explained.

"Oh my God; you know Daddy's spinning in his grave," Donna laughed out loud. "God, he hated them chinks with a passion!"

Jimmy had not forgotten about just how prejudiced his father had been. He was glad Donna did not share their father's unreasonable dislike and distrust of others.

"Well, y'all have fun; I got to get ready. Another day of fun and games at the Pak-N-Sak," Donna said.

The only blight on the party was when Mei Don Gan, who had not wanted to come to the party, asked where Mei Lon Soo was.

A few weeks before the end of the semester, Jimmy quietly informed Mei Tin Dae he would be returning home to Louisiana, for a short visit. He had already enrolled for the summer semester so would be returning to Colfax, Missouri, returning to his job at House Of Mei.

"If you will allow me to return," he hastened to say.

"I will think about it," Mei Tin Dae shrugged, hiding his smile.

"Think hard, Father," Mei Ul Jon demanded.

"You forget who teach you forms?" he asked, laughing. "I not afraid of you."

"You forget who teach her to cry?" Mei Ul Lon asked. "One tear and you do whatever she say."

"Tell him I want raise," Jimmy said to Mei Ul Jon.

Both Jimmy and Mei Ul Jon did well on their final exams. Both also saw and spoke with Mei Lon Soo. They may not be dating any longer, but Jimmy still thought of the attractive girl as a friend. And Mei Tin Dae and Mei Ul Lon may say they had only the one daughter, but Mei Ul Jon still thought of Mei Lon Soo as her big sister.

Mei Lon Soo let them know, while the sorority house was closed between semesters, she was staying with a cousin of Andrea's.

The campus had thinned considerably, so their Saturday crowd was sparse as well. They managed to get out of House Of Mei just after nine pm.

"Go, you go, wild and crazy Saturday night," Mei Tin Dae ordered Jimmy and Mei Ul Jon.

"Bowling?" Jimmy asked the girl and she smiled.

"And no crying I beat you so bad," she demanded and kissed him.

She then looked into his eyes as she knelt on the seat of the truck.

"And no forgetting me when you gone, hear?" she begged.

"And you don't fall in love with first cute boy you see, hear?" he asked and she smiled.

"Bergeron Jimmy, I never fall in love with anyone but you," she promised.

"Hey guys, back again?" the old woman asked when they entered the bowling alley.

After dinner on Sunday, Mei Ul Lon and Mei Tin Dae made themselves scarce while Mei Ul Jon and Jimmy said a tearful goodbye.

"I love you, Bergeron Jimmy," Mei Ul Jon sobbed as they kissed again.

"Sweetheart, it's only for a week or two," Jimmy promised.

"And a week or two very long without you," Mei Ul Jon declared.

Donna squealed and screamed when Jimmy's truck pulled into her driveway.

They both chattered, both interrupted each other, both laughed.

"But, God, driving all that way; bet all you want to do is crash," Donna finally said.

"Actually, I'm starving; you didn't make stuffed peppers, huh?" Jimmy asked.

"Uh, like I'd ever forget your favorite meal?" she asked.

He sent Mei Ul Jon a text, letting her know he was home, safe and sound. She must have been waiting; her response was immediate.

"So, you got a picture of this girl?" Donna teased as she put the steaming peppers in front of him.

He scrolled through his phone and located one of the two of them at the bowling alley.

"Um, uh, Jimmy," Donna asked, looking at the girl standing next to the towering Jimmy. "Uh, just how old is this girl?"

"She's eighteen," Jimmy said and found one of Mei Tin Dae, Mei Ul Lon and Mei Ul Jon standing together. "See? Her mother's even shorter than she is."

He groaned happily as he stuffed a forkful of the bell pepper into his mouth.

"But what about you? Seeing anyone?" he asked.

"This pussy is closed," Donna spat, losing her good mood.

Jimmy did not say anything; he had nothing to say to that comment.

Far too quickly for Donna, and not quickly enough for Mei Ul Jon, the brief visit was over.

"Bye, love you, you call me minute, I don't care how late it is, you call me minute you get there," Donna sobbed.

"Bergeron Jimmy you come straight here," Mei Ul Jon ordered.

So Jimmy drove the seventeen hours from Baylor Lake, Louisiana, to Colfax, Missouri.

Donna kept her cell phone in her pocket for her entire shift. Carl, her manager had a strict policy; cell phones must be locked in the employees' lockers, but Donna was waiting to hear that Jimmy had made it, safe and sound.

While Mei Ul Jon sat and scanned the street outside of her parents' home for Jimmy's truck, while Donna waited to hear from her brother, Aaron Putnam fixed a syringe and injected himself with heroin. Sighing with the relief that came almost immediately, the twenty year old man was able to lay down behind the dumpster and sleep.

The voices had been especially bad tonight. He knew he was a failure, he knew he was a disappointment. But tonight, the voices had told him he deserved to die. That actually frightened Aaron. He was a great musician, the master of the bass guitar. If he died, then his rock opera would die with him. It was a beautiful opera too, a tale of a brother killing the abusive husband of his sister, then taking the dead husband's place as the sister's spouse.

'She will have your eyes,' the sister sang as she held her arm over her pregnant belly.

'And he will have your nose,' the brother sang.

'And all ten fingers and all ten toes,' they sang in harmony.

While Jimmy turned off the highway, he hit '5' on his cell phone and told Donna he was about to pull up to Mei Ul Jon's house.

"All right, love you," Donna said.

"Love you too, talk to you soon," Jimmy promised.

"He's here! Bergeron Jimmy is here!" Mei Ul Jon screamed as she saw the headlights of his truck.

"Go see what your daughter's screaming about," Mei Ul Lon ordered her husband.

"I notice, after one o'clock in morning, she is my daughter, not our daughter," Mei Tin Dae laughed as he pulled on his robe.

Jimmy hugged Mei Ul Jon and kissed her. Mei Tin Dae surprised both Jimmy and Mei Ul Jon, as well as Mei Tin Dae when he hugged the tall boy.

"I am glad to see you, very glad you are safe," the man said. "Now, we go work tomorrow, so everybody go to sleep, eh?"