The First Time I Loved Forever

Chinatown Philadelphia, 1983

May 9

It was a bright, cheerful sunny day for the residents of the Chinatown in the City of Brotherly Love. The entire town was busy preparing for the Dragon Boat Festival; streamers went up, decorations were painted, the traditional Zongzi lotus leaf dumplings were prepared and the guest of honor, the Dragon himself, was rehearsing for that night's dragon parade. And yet life went on as usual; Dragon Boys pushed their way through the crowd, the ever-present reminder to those Chinese citizens that if they valued their lives, they'd better watch it.

But for two extraordinary people, life seemed to brim over with joy and blissful ecstasy. But that is usually the case concerning couples deeply in love.

"So, is that a maybe-yes, or a maybe-maybe?"

"It's a…maybe-yes."

"Maybe Friday night then?" he asked hopefully.

"We're not talking about when," she stated firmly. "We're still in different types of maybe."

"I've known you since I was twelve; maybe I can convince you to speed things up a little bit? Huh?" Grinning he leaned in for a kiss.

"Don't kiss me so close to your father's store," she chided gently. It was imperative they keep their love a secret in a culture still firmly grounded in tradition and societal customs as ancient as China itself.

"Don' worry, he's not the jealous type," he flippantly replied.

"I know exactly what your father thinks of me."

"If my father knew you, he'd like you even more than he likes me," he responded seriously, stopping to fully face her.

"You're just trying to change my maybe-yes into a yes-yes," she noted flirtatiously with a gleam in her eye.

He truly hadn't, but the prospect wasn't a bad one. He grinned impishly. "Is it working?"

She laughed then, about to respond when she caught sight of the dragon. Rehearsal had begun.

"I gotta go. They're starting without me. Are you coming tomorrow night?"

"You've been practicing all week; I'm not going to miss it."

"Okay," she replied softly.

"Hey lovebirds, before you part…" said a voice behind them.

"THINK FAST!" It screamed demonically into their ears.

"Aaahh!" They screamed simultaneously.

Abruptly turning, they screamed again as they saw a dragon mask only inches away from their faces.

"Hey!" he snapped, still freaked out. "Don't do that!"

A feminine face emerged from behind the outlandish dragon mask, laughing so hard, tears started to stream down her face.

"Oh, you should have seen your faces," she gasped.

"It's not that funny, Claire," Tam Sung said crossly. "I would have thought by now, you would be a little more mature than that, considering that you've been fourteen for awhile now."

"You're one to talk, Tammy," she grinned. "Besides, what's a practical joke between friends every now and then?"

"This is all your fault." She turned on her boyfriend and mock punched him. "You're a bad influence, and that twisted sense of humor of yours has corrupted her so much that now she never stops."

"Hey now, I only do it after you two-"

"Furthermore," she pressed on, as though the other girl hadn't said a word. "It's starting to get really old. Maybe we should call a truce."

She laughed. "Oh, Tammy," she chuckled. "I would, but I know you too well. As soon as I'm out of earshot, you and Jack will start plotting with that one-mind thing you guys do and you'll try and get back at me. You'll try to top this."

"Oh, please," he rolled his eyes. "What's with this 'try'? Of course we'll top this. This is kid stuff. Anyway, don't we always?" he grinned at his girl.

"Oh, whatever," she grumbled, still annoyed. "Thanks to you, I'm later now for the Dragon Boat rehearsal than I was-"

"Two minutes ago," Claire replied smugly. "But by all means, don't let me keep you. I'm just the best friend who hasn't seen you since yesterday."

"Oh, you're so dramatic," she scoffed, laughing.

"Seriously though, Tammy, you should go," she smiled, leaning over to embrace her. "You're so lucky to be part of this tradition and I'm so proud to have such a talented and amazing friend. Oh, I just so can't wait 'til this is for real! You should be going now, though," she added.

Touched, Tammy smiled back and said, "You know, Claire, I can't wait 'til it's for real either. I'm looking forward to seeing you there." She smiled at their little group. "Both of you. But I gotta go." She smirked at her lover. "Look out, your cousin's coming."

Sure enough, little Warren Lee came barreling through as soon as Tammy Sung departed.

"Hey Jack, I just won twenty dollars!"

"They let you in the casino?"

"I was outside, playing dice."

"You're supposed to be watching your little sister," he reminded him.

Before Warren could reply, one of the Dragon Boys shoved through the group and would have successfully knocked Claire off her feet if Jack hadn't reached out and grabbed her arm in time.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Warren exclaimed boldly.

All of them went still with dread as the gang member flashed them his gun, tucked securely in the front of his trousers.

"Excuse us," Jack spoke, nervously using the local dialect. "Have a good day," he added sarcastically in English.

Shaking off the chill, Claire tried to diffuse the tension.

"So… think your dad has any new shipments of that tea in yet?"

"Hey Pops," Jack called as they entered his father's store, Hong's and Long's. His father looked up briefly before turning back to his current "customer."

"Thank you; this orange tree will bring us luck."

The man at the counter didn't say a word, merely took the money and gave the teenagers a condescending smirk before leaving the store.

"Why do you even bother buying the tree? Why don't you just give them the cash?" Jack joked good-naturedly.

"The tree brings us luck," his brother answered for their father, his tone hard.

"Brings us flies," he responded glibly.

"You're already late; haven't you insulted me enough today?" his father fumed.

"Come on, I was kidding," Jack placated. "Dad!" he pleaded, as his father huffed and promptly disappeared into the back of the store.

Sighing, he exchanged a defeated look with his friend. "I can't do anything right," he mouthed.

His brother gave him a warning look. "Hope you're kidding about that girl. If Dad finds out, he'll have a stroke."

His brow furrowed as though he were actually thinking about it.

"What's he going to do when I marry her?" he asked facetiously.

Unable to contain herself, Claire burst into laughter.

"Wow! Oh, Jack, that was perfect timing." She chuckled mischievously. "Hilarious because it's true."

"It has been known to happen," he replied deviously.

Ling Lu looked back and forth between the both of them, looking absolutely flabbergasted. And, truth be told, a little panicked.

"Keep your voices down! And don't talk about that! Marriage is-"

"Serious," he finished, giving his brother an ironic look.

Older brother and younger brother stared at each other for a second before they both started laughing.

"You're a little punk," Ling lectured, still smiling. "You need to grow up." He shoved Jack's work clothes at him.

"Why, 'cause you make it seem like so much fun?" Jack taunted.

Ling didn't have an answer for that.

Still laughing, he turned to his best friend. "So, Claire, you want to come behind the counter today?"

"Really? What would your father have to say to that?"

"He'd say, 'My, how good it is to see my son acting so responsibly for once and studying as he should-regardless of the company.'" He winked at her. "And then he'd say-"

"'Don't forget to watch the store!'" they finished together.

"So, he really doesn't mind then, if we study there instead of our usual spot?"

"Ling's gotta go unload the new shipments; who else do you think is going to cater to the customers?"

"Okay then, let's get started on English, that'll be the easiest to do…"

"No," Jack objected. "We should get the math out of the way because it's the hardest, we've talked about this before…"

"Hey, you want me to walk you to the bus stop?"

"That's a good idea," she agreed. "I don't like the looks of tonight," she added, apprehensively eyeing the group of men across the street.

"Don't look at them," Jack warned. "It'll bring them right over."

"I can't help it," Claire confessed quietly as they started to walk away. "It's like, if I take my eyes off them for one second, they'll take us by a nasty surprise."

"I know what you mean," he agreed, increasing the pace. "That still doesn't change the fact that they need very little excuse to start something. Especially with a pretty little tourist like you."

"Oh, don't give me that crap, Jack," she replied irritably.

"What, about you being pretty?"

"No, the part about me being a tourist. I've been regularly coming to Chinatown since I was eight. In fact, I practically grew up here! I hardly think I qualify as a tourist anymore."

"Claire, I'm so sorry to be the one to tell you this, but you'll always be a tourist. If there's one thing China's known for, it's that Chinese are Chinese and outsiders are outsiders."

She was silent for a moment. "Yeah," she said quietly. They didn't say anything else until they reached the street outside of Chinatown.

"Jack?" she whispered.

"Yeah?"

"I think we're being followed."

A surreptitious glance backward proved she was right. A good-looking man with dark, shoulder-length wavy hair and a martial artist's build was nonchalantly following them. Jack raised an eyebrow.

"Why the heck is he the one following us? Didn't think he'd have time to fit us into that busy schedule of his."

"Dang it, why can't he leave me alone?" she fumed.

"You mean this is an everyday thing?" he asked sharply.

"No, not often enough to be everyday," she answered bitterly. "I think he's too smart for that. No, usually when I'm least expecting it, he'll pop out of an alleyway or 'just be happening' to leave the same store I'm crossing at that exact moment, and then I'll feel his eyes on my neck for the rest of the time I'm in Chinatown. Or out."

"Or out?"

"I never see him once I'm out of Chinatown, but I don't know if he really is still following me or if I've gotten so paranoid that I imagine he is. Either way, I still have this heavy cloud of dread hanging over my head until the next day."

"Do you think he knows where you live?"

"I can't be sure. It always looks like I'm able to ditch him before coming home, but there's no way of knowing for sure. God, he gives me the creeps."

"Has he ever said anything to you?"

"No. We've never spoken, not once. It seems strange to me that he's so interested in me but has never come up to me and told me so. At least if he did that, maybe he wouldn't weird me out so much."

"It's probably just a scare tactic," Jack answered, but even he didn't look convinced.

"Why am I so interesting anyway?" she demanded. "I mean, I'm not rich, or outgoing, or some social butterfly. I'm not a Chinese woman, in any sense of the word. Why in the world is his attention on me?"

"Beats me; maybe he likes you," he offered.

"We've never even met!" she growled in frustration.

"Since when has that ever mattered? Look, I'm not saying I've read his mind; I'm just trying to make sense of it as much as you are. Offering an educated guess, you might say."

"Well, here's an educated guess of my own: Maybe he doesn't like it that the three of us are so cozy together. I mean, it can't be a good thing for China gangs if the people they 'protect', so freely befriend us lo fan," she snorted derisively.

"Oh come off it; you don't really believe any modern Chinese people still use that term, do you?"

"How am I supposed to know? For all you know, everybody but you still think of people like me in that way. And who can blame them?"

"Anyone still narrow-minded enough to keep the prejudices of the old people don't deserve to be taken seriously. If you can't appreciate the here and now and just enjoy life, why are you here?"

"What prejudices?" she scoffed. "If I was alive and Chinese during the time your parents first came here, well…I don't know if I could have withstood half the things they had to endure. Why do people set out to deliberately hurt each other?"

"What do I look like, Confucius?" he asked. "All that's in the past," he said reasonably. "You can't stay stuck in the past if you lived it, and you can't stick yourself in the past just because it would please an elder. Live for today, 'cause it's never coming back. And tomorrow…well it could be anything. It's a fresh, brand-new day that should be celebrated."

"Jack…" she cautioned.

"What?"

"Try to keep your voice down. There's no way of knowing if we ditched him or if he's just hiding in the shadows."

Needless to say, it was a huge relief to get to the bus stop and see a bus waiting there for them.

"Hey," Jack took hold of her arm. "You won't forget to come tomorrow?"

"Of course I'll come! What could possibly keep me away?" Her expression grew wistful. "You know something Jack?"

"No, but I'm sure you'll tell me."

She rolled her eyes. "I was actually going to say that someday, I hope I meet someone who feels for me what you feel for Tammy. Until you guys got together, I didn't really realize how great love could be."

"It's…something that's hard to describe, hard to put your finger on. Everything about it is true…and, at the same time, it's not." His eyes met hers and in that moment, she was startled to find that the emotion she found in them was too powerful to read easily. "There's no doubt about it; I've found the girl of my dreams and I want to spend the rest of my life with her."

"I can see that," she said softly. "I've never seen this before, not even with my own parents. You know," she laughed lightly. "When it's been fifty years and your kids have started having grandkids-" she snickered. "You guys will probably be old and senile, but you'll still win the award for 'Most in Love Couple.' She'll be the sweet old lady who still makes the best won-tons and green tea, and you'll be the devoted husband who's still so smitten with her, you're totally oblivious to the fact that you've been her slave for the past fifty years."

"A slave? I resent that!"

"No really, this will be you guys when you're old and wrinkled. Tammy will greet guests at the door and say 'Welcome, dear friends! Please make yourselves comfortable. Jack!'" she imitated shrilly, mimicking Tammy perfectly. "'I thought I told you to weed out the bok choi and the chive gardens!""

"Hey!"

"And then you'll shuffle in, all apologetic, and say, 'Yes dear. Right away, dumpling.'"

"You're such a dork!" And then he tackled her, tickling her until she was gasping for breath.

"Besides," he sniffed casually, after they'd regained their composure. "'Dumpling' is a stupid pet name. She's my bao-bao."

"Doesn't that translate to darling?" She beamed at him. "Seriously though," she said in all seriousness. "I can't wait for the next couple of years. By the time high school's over and done with, you'll be ready to marry. I can see the long, happy life you'll have together and I just can't wait to live it."

A/N: Hello all! I left this author's note out the first time because I realized that I would upload the new and improved chapter later and it might need explanation, but I also thought that I would have received a review by now. I was hoping to have at least one since I updated, but since I have to resort to begging (LOL) I'll just say this: I will update this story no matter what, and at least at first it will be happening frequently, because I am getting a lot of inspiration for it and it's become a pet project right next to another one. I would appreciate a few reviews in the meantime and it would probably help me update faster. Thanks a bunch and I'll see everyone at the next scheduled update!