On the Back Burner (7 page)

“Oh, I don’t want to walk down all those stairs,” Ah-mah said.

“What are you complaining about? I’m the one with all the bags!” he teased.

“Oh, you,” Ah-mah said fondly. “Let’s go.”

Just as Ah-mah had said, Wo Hop’s had a long staircase leading to the restaurant, which was below street level. “I know it looks plain,” Mr. Cheng said, “but I love their food. I think it’s the best Chinese food outside of China—except for what Ah-mah cooks, of course!” Mr. Cheng spoke to the waiters in Chinese and they pushed two tables together so everyone could sit at one table.

The menu they were given was in Chinese, so the girls needed Ah-mah’s help to order. Peichi impressed everyone by ordering a couple of dishes in Chinese.

“Wow!” Molly said. “I’ve never heard you speak Chinese before. Cool!”

“Thanks,” Peichi replied. “It’s hard, but Ah-mah helps me a lot!”

Molly noticed a poster on the wall showing a wheel divided into twelve pie pieces. At the end of each of the twelve sections was a picture of an animal. “What’s that mean?” she asked.

“Oh! It’s the Chinese zodiac I was telling you about,” Peichi exclaimed. “It goes around in a circle. Each year is represented by a different animal until it comes back again.

“Does that mean that every twelve years, the same animal comes around?” Natasha asked.

“That’s right,” Peichi replied.

“Then people who are twelve years apart should have a lot in common,” Natasha concluded.

“That’s what they say,” Peichi told her.

“There is a story about that zodiac,” Ah-mah recalled. Because it was easier for her, she started speaking in Chinese as Mr. Cheng translated. “The legend goes back to ancient times. It is said that the great prophet, Buddha, invited all the animals to meet him on Chinese New Year. Only twelve came, so Buddha named a year after each one of them. He announced to everyone that the people born in each animal’s year would have some of that animal’s personality.”

Two waiters arrived, bearing heavy trays of food. “It smells so
good!”
Molly exclaimed.

“Everyone shares,” Peichi explained to her friends. “Just take some rice and then help yourself to whatever looks good to you!” There were so many choices—some of the girls’ favorite Chinese dishes, like cashew chicken, moo shu pork, and lo mein, as well as dishes they’d never tried before, like shark fin soup, spicy hot bean curd, and sea conch with black bean sauce.

“Mmmm,
moo shu pork is the best!” Shawn said as she took a warm, thin pankcake, smeared Hoisin sauce on it, and filled it with the shredded pork, bok choy, and mushroom mixture.

“Try the shark fin soup,” Ah-mah encouraged the girls. “It has other things besides shark, like pork and chicken. I think you will like it very much!”

“Hey, I’ll go for it,” said Molly, laughing. “I’ve never had shark before!”

The meal was delicious, and everyone was stuffed when they finally left the restaurant and headed for the subway. Ah-mah and Ah-yeh lived in Chinatown, above their store, but today Ah-mah was coming to Brooklyn to give the girls a cooking lesson.

Mr. Cheng had left his car back in Brooklyn because he said it was impossible to park in Chinatown. Fortunately the subway car they got on wasn’t crowded, because their packages took up three seats! Shortly after they started the ride home, the subway came up from its underground path and traveled above ground.

“I’m so glad you invited us to come along, Peichi,” Natasha said. “I really had a great time. Thanks, Ah-mah. Thanks, Mr. Cheng.”

Ah-mah smiled and nodded.

“You’re welcome, Mr. Cheng replied.

Natasha suddenly sat up in her seat. “I just had a great idea! I’m going to write an article on Chinatown for the school paper. With Chinese New Year right around the corner, the timing is perfect!”

“e can help with some of those packages, Mr. Cheng,” Molly offered as they got out at their stop. Before he could say anything, each girl had picked up a bag or two.

They all climbed the stairs back up to the sidewalk. “It’s snowing!” Peichi exclaimed. She was the first to notice the light powder that had gently started falling while they were on the subway. They walked to the Chengs house, which wasn’t too far away, catching flakes on their tongues and gloves.

“Careful on the steps,” Mr. Cheng warned as they climbed the steps of the tall front stoop. “They might have gotten slippery. I’ll have to shovel and salt them right away.”

“We’ll go slowly,” Molly promised.

Peichi reached the front door first and unlocked it. “This afternoon we will be making fortune cookies,” Ah-mah told them as they went in. “Would you girls like to help me by writing some fortunes?”

“Definitely!” Shawn agreed. “That’ll be so fun.”

“Sonia already told us our fortunes,” Natasha reminded them.

“I didn’t like the fortune she gave me all that much,” Amanda said. “Maybe I’ll change it.” Amanda had had fun that day and was happy that Shawn was with them. The idea of losing her as a friend made her too sad.

“Besides, we need to write a
ton
of fortunes for everyone who will come to the party, not just for us,” Peichi told her friends.

As the girls hung up their jackets, Peichi went into the den and returned with paper, five fine-tipped permanent markers, and scissors. “Let’s go up to my room,” she suggested. The girls turned on the radio and settled themselves on Peichi’s big velvet cushions and at her desk, and began to write.

You and your
best
friend will be friends forever, Amanda wrote. She looked at her words. Maybe she really could change her fate by writing herself a new one.

You will
write something that
wins many awards, Natasha wrote. She hoped that by writing this, she wouldn’t have to be a TV star. She’d be able to do what she wanted—write great articles for magazines and newspapers.

Molly thought for several moments before she wrote.
You will never break the heart of anyone you love, not even by accident, not even your sister.
Her fortune was so long that she had to write it on the back of the little slip of paper, but writing those words felt good—as if she was replacing Sonia’s prediction by making an opposite prediction of her own.

Peichi also thought about Sonia’s prediction as she lay on the floor, wondering what to write. Would changes really be coming to her house? The only thing that had changed since Sonia made her prediction was that Peichi had been spending less time on her homework. Peichi tried to ignore the sinking feeling she had whenever she thought about her social studies and English tests. Her parents didn’t know about them yet, but what would happen when they found out? Would anything change once they knew?
You will do excellent work in school,
she wrote. Maybe writing it would make it come true.

Shawn liked the fortune Sonia had given her—that she’d always be the apple of her fathers eye. Her dad had started dating again just a couple months ago. At first, Shawn was really upset. But after they’d had a long talk, Shawn knew that she was the most important person in her dad’s life. Who else could possibly be the center of his affection, the apple of his eye? No one she could think of. “I can’t think of anything to write,” she complained.

“Write things you want to happen,” Molly suggested.

“Okay,” Shawn agreed. What did she want? Then she remembered how much she wished Amanda and Angie would give each other a chance. If the two of them weren’t so stubborn, they might start to like each other and get along.
Your two friends will no longer hale each other,
she wrote.

For the next half-hour, the girls continued making up fortunes, writing some for the party guests when they finished writing their own fortunes. When they were done, they cut each prediction into a strip and mixed them up in a wooden box. “Let’s bring these down to Ah-mah now,” Peichi suggested.

When they got to the kitchen, Ah-mah and Mrs. Cheng were drinking fragrant green tea from tiny porcelain cups.