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Our next stop was at Jake's Steak House. Jake was as Chinese as Dr. Chan
but of another generation and style. He greeted us with: "Howdy, folks. What'll
it be? Hamburgers? Or scrambled eggs? Coffee or beer?"
Gretchen spoke to him in a tonal language-Cantonese, I suppose. Jake looked
annoyed and retorted. Gretchen threw it back at him. Remarks slammed back and
forth. At last he looked disgusted, and said, "Okay. Forty minutes"-turned his
back and walked away. Gretchen said, "Come, please. Now we go to see Charlie
Wang about suits."
As we walked away she said privately, "He was trying to get out of doing
his best cooking, as it is much more work. But the worst argument was over
price. Jake wanted me to keep quiet while he charged you tourist prices. I told
him, if he charged you more than he would charge my Papa, then my Papa would
stop in next time and cut off his ears and feed mem to him, raw. Jake knows that
Papa would do exactly mat."
Gretchen smiled with shy pride. "My Papa is deeply respected in Lucky
Dragon. Back when I was young. Papa eliminated a boomer here who tried to take
something free from a singsong girl, something he had agreed to pay for.
Everybody remembers it. The singsong girls of Lucky Dragon made Mama and me
honorary members of their guild."
The sign read: Wang Chai-Lee, Custom Tailoring for Ladies and
Gentlemen-p-suit repairs a specialty
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