 I'm reading a short story from my collection that I actually haven't read ever yet in at a reading, so and In shorthand it's sort of the battle between the FOB and the ABC. So you'll see it's told from two different narrators A woman from China another who's American-born Chinese So it's just an excerpt from my story for what they shared Boss struggled to unfold the canvas chairs while mossed it by with a stack of Chinese newspapers and a thermos of black tea Lynn frowned should she do it or let her father figure it out. I Yeah Mike's claimed his boss throughout his arm to stop her from falling lean back Lynn said lean back They were camping in Big Sur with brand new equipment purchased by Lynn and her husband sang on an evening shopping spree at REI They were software engineers and consequently respected good design to every feature a purpose Money-back guarantee Lynn still marbled though. They had lived in California for close to four years No wonder products made in China cost so much more here. They splurged knowing they could return whatever they did not like No purchase final that was the American way In China camping was considered a Western idiosyncrasy People did not buy expensive gear to sleep on the ground Why strived to be uncomfortable when you had a bed that your ancestors could only dream of? Although her parents had grumbled at the strange idea Lynn wanted to share this new experience with them So that they could see what life here meant to her and saying her parents wanted Lynn to return to China The economy was booming there while her future in Silicon Valley was uncertain Even wygerin foreigners were flooding into China to make their fortunes After earning her master's degree in computer science Lynn had worked at one failing startup after another Sangs company was struggling with rumors of massive layoffs. Maybe later this month None of them knew that Lynn lost her job not long before her parents arrived Instead of going to work. She hid at the library searching online for jobs and reading Chinese novels She'd been unable to find another company willing to sponsor her work visa Which meant she was now here illegally if she left she'd be unable to re-enter She was supposed to return with her parents at the end of their visit to attend her cousin's wedding But Lynn had decided that she and sang would stay no matter what she would work as a babysitter a house cleaner He could be a waiter a handyman anything until prosperity returned Lynn would always belong to dirty and cramped Beijing, but here she could give herself away If she returned to China She could already picture the rest of her life a baby living in a high-rise apartment near her parents She and sang advancing toward middle management growing old and playing with her own grandchild someday Comfortable but predictable Here there was discovery uncertainty and possibility So now we move into the next point of view When Janie mentioned she practiced Buddhism Eileen cringe White people who were more Chinese and her made Eileen feel guilty She had a Chinese character tattooed on her bicep, which Eileen didn't know how to read but probably meant peace courage or woman Everyone at the campsite had been drinking since sunset Downing micro brews and plastic cups of Cape Cods and rum and coax After dating read for about six months Eileen was meeting his old friends for the first time the ones he did not often See now but starred in his strongest fondest memories It turned out that she and Janie lived four blocks apart in the mission Janie told her about a mindfulness class in the neighborhood I'll have to try it sometime Eileen said She stared into the fire her cheeks flushed from heat and embarrassment. She almost didn't come on the trip She and Reed had been arguing all week They're biggest fight yet after she discovered a stash of porn on his hard drive in a folder labeled misch pics She had been snooping for photos of ex-girlfriends and found naked leggy red heads chesty blondes and smoky eyed brunettes No Asians. Why not anyone like her? She couldn't bring herself to ask You disgust me. She said and stormed into the bathroom through the locked door. He promised he would delete the files She could hear him breathing and imagined him with his ear to the door. She let him in Reed had never dated anyone Asian before her never learned to say Ni Hao Ma or Ni Piao Yang Never decorated his house with paper lanterns and that had appealed to her He didn't have yellow fever, but were these women on his hard drive what he desired most? Or maybe she had she had to admit she was moody because she suspected something worse Her period was late by two weeks Eileen wasn't sure why she had agreed to go on the trip Maybe it was easier to put off knowing for sure about the baby or maybe it was a test if they could survive the days Long intimacy she could tell him. If not, she would know it was over As a kid she never went camping or did Girl Scouts or Indian maidens Her parents idea of getting back to nature was to drive to a vista point take pictures and check into a best Western or Motel 6 By the camp campfire she examined the group a collection of people in their late 20s Clean cut and athletic and jeans fleece pullovers and baseball hats and designer running shoes The kind of people Eileen couldn't help but think who went to parties She wasn't invited to in high school to keggers where they played Steve Miller and Santana And then drove home drunk and crashed their SUVs into garage doors and received new cars the following week Who rushed sororities and fraternities in college and majored in polysci and anthropology and didn't grind away at pre-med or engineering Their histories were jumbled in Eileen's mind about what she was supposed to assume and what she could not let on that she did not that she knew What if they shut her out? What if she could not stand them? Eileen's a San Francisco native Announced to the group by way of introduction from San Francisco Sean asked you don't meet many natives Eileen felt a surge of pride although it was an accident of birth a decision made by her parents to settle in the sunset Talk turned to Takarias to the city's best burrito That question marked your authenticity your sense of belonging in San Francisco La Cronetta Eileen said she had taken read to the Takari around the corner from her apartment And now it was his favorite too. The shrimp super baby is awesome Eh Sean said El Feralito is much better more authentic This often happened transplants trying to out local the locals Men like Sean prided themselves on knowing every hole in the wall and would dismiss any suggestion for a restaurant or bar as being too touristy or too popular With each drink the conversations grew noisier sloppier and indistinct and everything except the decibel level Mike Janie's boyfriend threw the paper box that held the firewood into the pit For a moment the flames died down and then flared three feet high The heat was intense almost painful the flames churning the group a maniacal orange and casting blurry shadows onto their faces Someone cranked a portable stereo and the ominous beats of the inter-sandman thundered After a beer Eileen found the jokes and stories more entertaining She could feel herself getting red the asian flush Her goal was to get buzzed without getting sick or stumbling drunk Which could be the difference of one or two drinks on an empty stomach It might also be better to stop drinking if She was pregnant She switched to water drinking out of the same red plastic cup. So no one would notice Janie said the park's curfew was 10 p.m Each time the group silenced for a moment before growing louder than before And so this is meanwhile at the neighboring campsite. We return back to the first narrator Music from the neighboring campsite thundered through the ground jarring Lynn with each beat a buzz filling her ears They were laughing a growling rumble pierced by giggles and shrieks If she closed her eyes, she could see a million cars honking a riot breaking out in a market and the earth cracking apart Though she burrowed in her sleeping bag. She could not escape Her husband rolled over and whispered her in ear so loud so rude. It's not right What should we do? She asked She wanted to impress her parents, but could not have predicted this outcome How could she claim to know what was best for her in saying? And what if these campers had a gun Americans were crazy for guns? Only thin walls and faith kept them safe from the outside The Leatherman was on the picnic table. It's short knife their sole defense Lynn jerked on her sweatshirt. Where are you going? Lynn sang asked Lynn stumbled to the picnic table where she waved the flashlight until she found the Leatherman She clenched it in her right hand running her fingers over the casing in the twin grooves in the center She turned her flashlight to the noise across the road at the many people standing around the fire laughing Carefree careless Lynn could not see their faces only long shadows that bled into the darkness A towering man outlined by the fire jumped whooped and looked straight at her She fled Thanks