Red Thread Sisters (9781101591857) Read Free Page B

card ring and showed her a picture of a plane, the words “Airplane” and
“Fei ji”
on reverse sides of the card.
    â€œ
Fei ji.
OK.” He thumped the airplane window and grinned at her. Her father talked too loudly, as if shouting would help her understand. Wen forced a small smile.
    When the plane rose from the ground, Wen felt her stomach do a flip-flop. She was in the air! It was a good thing Auntie Lan Lan had told her about airplanes not falling from the sky. Wen blinked in disbelief as puffy white clouds floated right outside her window. She was up so high, she must be near the sun itself.
    Later, when her father had dozed off, Wen slipped Shu Ling’s roll of paper from her backpack and smoothed it on her lap.
    With charcoal, Shu Ling had sketched the two of them, standing side by side. Their elbows linked, the girls wore their favorite clothes, assigned to them from the common wardrobe. Wen had on her sparkly pink sweatshirt and Shu Ling was in the flare jeans that hid her bad leg so nicely. Their smiles were as wide as the slices of watermelon the aunties served as a special treat in the summer.
    Underneath the picture Shu Ling had written, “I will always remember you,
mei mei
.”
    Mei mei
. Little sister.
    Wen could almost hear Shu Ling’s voice saying the words out loud for the first time. Wen was six years old when she and Shu Ling had been scrubbing the courtyard tiles. Shu Ling told Wen her story, how a policeman had discovered her, just three months old, in a melon crate, left on the steps of a hospital. Her parents had wrapped tape around her bad leg. Shu Ling said that her parents must not have wanted a broken baby, so they threw her away.
    Shaking her head, Wen told Shu Ling that her parents hadn’t just left her anywhere. They’d left Shu Ling at a hospital so the doctors could find her and fix her.
    Shu Ling had straightened, as if a basin heavy with wet laundry had been lifted from her back. “So they weren’t just throwing me away.” Shu Ling thought for a long time. Then she thanked Wen for telling her this new thing.
    When Wen stretched for the bucket to get back to work, Shu Ling had warned her to be very careful with the bleach. “No matter what happens,
mei mei
, from now on, we’re family.”
    Mei mei
. Now, the portrait on her lap, Wen read Shu Ling’s words again. She told herself not to cry. If her new family knew she was sad, they might think she wasn’t grateful and give her back. As soon as the plane landed in America, her mother and father and Emily might get up from their seats, say “Wait here,” and then never return. And then what would happen to her?
    Very carefully, Wen rolled up the scroll and put it into her backpack. Lulled by the drone of the plane, she finally slept. She woke as the plane jolted to a stop. Her father nudged Wen’s arm and pointed out the window.
    Mei Guo!
America!
    All she saw was a vast stretch of concrete, as big as a wheat field, with airplanes lined up in rows. This was America? Where were the big houses and the McDonald’s on every corner?
    â€œ
Di er jia fei ji.
Plane number two,” she heard her father say. Fighting her drowsiness, Wen tried to open her eyes wide to see more of this America. Her mother took her elbow and guided her to a long line of people waiting for a man to stamp their papers. Wen twisted the straps of her backpack. Why was it taking so long to get into America?
    Finally, with her father and Emily right behind, Wen and her mother approached the desk. The man stamping papers stopped and took a long look at Wen. Wen felt his round eyes burrowing right through her. His eyes darted from her to her mother then back to her. He shook his head, like he was confused, like something was wrong. Wen covered her face with her hands.
    â€œMy daughter.” Wen’s mother placed her hand on Wen’s shoulder.
    Wen remembered her mother saying those