“No, Mother danced the Savannah, not the Charleston! It was much more complicated, you know.”
“What, Flappers?”
“No! Calvinists.”
“Which of them did you say was humorless?”
“Does it matter? Cause those questions really aren’t funny.”
“Speaking of, someone had recently said Mother’s ‘Missing Decade’ represented her ‘Secret Life’. One of the cousins, I think. Kathleen? Rebecca?”
“What does that mean? When? Which decade? Who mentioned this?”
“I think maybe a secret family. During the ‘50s.”
“WHAT?”
Wait a minute, I thought. I remember hearing her mention a guy named Pete when I was a kid, or something like that. Back when she was living in South Carolina after finishing school. I think she said he was Chinese. And they were engaged! But how likely could that have been? How many Chinese men were in the South in the ‘50s, particularly South Carolina? How would they have met? Where? Wouldn’t her Old South debutante family have kicked her out of the family? They all seemed racist as shit back then. That never made much sense to me and Mother would rarely talk of it. You really knew not to bring it up.
“What are you thinking?”
“Just pondering some vague memories of her mentioning some Chinese guy named Pete who Mother claimed she ‘went with’ way back then. Wondering how that was logistically possible. Culturally possible for that matter.”
“Oh yeah. Did Art ever tell you what he found when he tried to look into that?”
“No, I mean that was a long time ago. What?”
“He found a blurb about a marriage license and wedding date published in a small North Carolina paper! He sent me a xeroxed copy, so I’ve seen it.”
“SHUT UP! No way. What was the date? That can’t be true. She freaking met Father in Memphis right around then, right? And had me a year or two later. So that’s got to be BS, right? And why the hell didn’t you ever mention this to me? When did Art even think of looking into anything like that?”
“You’d think it’s BS, but since we haven’t seen each other in such a long time and while it’s great to catch up and stuff, I’ve had a chance to look at you while we ingest our salads and I’ve got to ask, have you ever really studied your facial features in the mirror? Really studied? Like your eyes? And have you ever wondered why you were the only one in the family with coal black hair while all the other kids and cousins had auburn or blonde hair?”
“What? Wait, are you saying I’m Chinese then? That’s crazy! And Dad…”
“What if Dad wasn’t Dad, or not your father? Like we said, there are a few years that are hard to account for, right? You could never pin her down on that and besides, there’s no one’s left to ask any questions. Ever wonder why your middle name was Lee and not one of the more traditional family names the rest of us were stuck with like Randolph or Worthington? Haven’t you ever wondered about that? I asked Mother once and she said something about not knowing proper naming conventions when you were the first child but with families as old as ours, that seems hard to believe now that I think of it. I mean, LEE?”
“Hold on. ‘Lee’ isn’t a Chinese name, is it? Wouldn’t it be more Korean instead?”
“Yeah, you’re right, or at least at first glance. But one of the most common Chinese surnames is “Li,” and I’ve known two Chinese Americans – one I worked with and one who was a classmate – whose name was “Li” but who spelt it “Lee” despite that seeming more traditionally Korean. So it actually fits the narrative.”
“Oh, Holy Shit – who am I? This could change everything…”
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