Yao's Girl
Li En minced no words: in Mandarin she told the truth: "I hope to become Yao Ming's wife"
The family watched basketball in order to enjoy the Rockets' new Chinese player. They took pride in him the way they would have taken pride in a Chinese astronaut or new high-tech millionaire. Li En, sitting between her parents, tried to pretend that she wasn't really paying attention to the TV. She mostly looked down at a needlepoint cat in its frame.
"This Mr. Moochie needs a haircut," her father said. "Look at him—he looks like he's been in a tornado."
"He's Moochie," Li En corrected, "not Mr. Moochie."
"What kind of name is that?" her father asked. "Is it American?"
"Yes," Li En said. Then she reminded him that most Americans thought Yao was a funny name.
Her father raised his eyebrows; he specialized in keeping his body still in the midst of movement. He went to the window where he could look out at her fourteen-year-old twin brothers, Tommy and Timmy,......
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Approximate Word Count: 5934
Approximate Pages: 23 (260 words per double-spaced page) |