Chapter 6

A few weeks after Jimmy had bought Barbara stinky tofu, he showed up at their church. When the family was just getting seated after waiting until Isaiah had dragged himself into a seat, Barbara noticed that Jimmy was sitting in a pew near the back.

She nudged Carol with a giggle, then as discretely as a giggly 18 year old could get, pointed at Jimmy. Carol turned three shades of pink before settling on a darker purple hue and the changes made Barbara giggle more. Poking them in the back, Simon pointed to a pew.

After the singing and tithing, a small bespectacled unassuming man took the podium and the Ching family collectively gasped: it was Sung Mok Sze, Reverend Sung, the one who had baptized all three Ching family children as well as all their cousins. Hallelujah, he had made it out of the Communists' grasp! Sarah beamed at her family as if it was her surprise, since she had played piano as well for the previous service and knew about his presence.

The affection with which the mostly Shanghainese audience showered on the good Reverend would've surprised the current Pastor of the church, if he hadn't just witnessed in the previous service. In 1946, his church consisted of mostly southern Chinese who'd emigrated to Macau in search of a better life than life in rural China but now, his church had been taken over by the Shanghainese refugees. It was amazing how many protestants came from up north. Here, in the south, the heavier influence had been catholic.

So, when Reverend Sung contacted him from Hong Kong and confirmed the large presence of Shanghainese in Macau, they quickly arranged for this surprise visit. It was a good move; Reverend Wong could see his congregation visibly perk up.

Revereng Sung had specifically asked about Isaiah and was saddened to learn of his stroke. He hadn't been surprised to learn of Sarah's immediate volunteering to take over piano duties and was glad to hear that Carol seemed to follow in the elders' footsteps of service to the church. What of the two younger, he wanted to know and in order to do that, he had decided to stay the week.

Barbara loved having Reverend Sung around. He'd always been a sweet, benign person to be around, one that people tried to make laugh because his laugh was so infectious. Even Simon enjoyed having him around and Simon liked very few people.

After the sermon, Sarah rushed over to tell her family that they were going out for dinner. Isaiah looked at her with surprise, and she said to him, "I'm going home to press your best suit. You are going to look so handsome. I've been saving for a special occasion and I guess this is going to be it." She straightened up his tie, beaming at him.

Just then, a very nervous Jimmy walked up to Isaiah, stuck out his hand to shake Isaiah's before realizing Isaiah was leaning on his cane for support, and quickly withdrew the hand. Clearing his throat, he stood straight up and announced to Isaiah that his name was Jimmy Sun Wun Ming and he'd like the opportunity to sit next to the family during sermons, and if Isaiah didn't mind, perhaps he, Jimmy could take the entire family out to dinner sometime.

Simon looked at the firetruck red Carol, then at the stammering Jimmy and put his quick analytical mind to work. He quickly surmised Jimmy's intent and started laughing his head off, earning him a hard punch in the arm from Carol.

Before any of the family could react (besides laugh), Barbara quickly said, "Well, what about tonight?" Sarah poked her youngest in the back, though stifling a chuckle, and Isaiah laughed outright. The good natured Jimmy nodded with enthusiasm, even at the suggestion that a family friend come along, and to his everlasting credit, he never balked at the suggestion of the new western cuisine restaurant that just opened near the riverfront.

Before the night was out, Jimmy had become one of the family.

Since the Ching family and Reverend Sung were all familiar with Western culture, they were all looking forward to being able taste such faire as borscht, french onion soup, roast beef, and chicken marsala. Most western restaurants during that time in Asia tended to carry an international menu since western food were pretty much lumped into one group.

And just in case some of the party objected to the standard western cuisine, a few Chinese dishes would be included in the menu as well. There would usually be an oxtail soup, disguised to be a french dish but in reality was a oxtail stew Chinese style. Also, some sort of fried rice or rice noodles would appear under the Chinese Food heading. Simon had a peculiar habit of trying out the Chinese cuisine in western restaurants, so Jimmy didn't feel out of place ordering the rice noodles with beef.

Reverend Sung's curiosity with Jimmy didn't last long; he was much more interested in what the younger two Chings were up to. The last time he had seen the two, they had been far more receptive to the gossip rags of Hollywood than the word of God so he feared a little that the younger two would not be as devout as the parents or Carol.

When Reverend Sung asked Simon what his plans for the future was, Barbara, under Isaiah's direction, made an announcement, much to Simon's surprise. She stood up and cleared her throat instead of letting Simon speak for himself.

"Simon," she declared, "will be going to America soon. I wrote my godparents and they have decided to sponsor him to America." She could feel Simon's stunned look boring into her back. She quickly continued. "He will be attending the California State University of Sacramento after he works off the money that paid for his passage to America."

A fist slammed down on the table, making the entire restaurant look towards their table. An fuming Simon asked, "Who made this decision?" Whirling on his father, he snarled, "Trying to get rid of me, old man, is that it?"

Very quietly at his end of the table, Reverend Sung coughed and said almost under his breath in English, "Thou shalt honor thy mother and father." Having said that, he bowed his head and prayed.

That small little action seemed to drive all the air away from Simon's horn and he just looked at the small praying man on one end of the table and then at the crippled, glowering man on the other end. Trying to keep his dignity and yet hold on to some of his righteous anger, he threw his towel down on the table and said, "Fine. America it is. At least there, I might learn something."

After delivering this little jab at his father's teaching abilities, Simon stormed out. Jimmy, in all earnestness, asked Isaiah if he should go after him. Shaking his head, Isaiah said, "Don't worry about Simon. His love of fine food will overcome his anger." Sure enough, Simon came back before they finished the main course and devoured his roast duck.

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