Kimchi & Calamari(35)

Jae could be my cousin. I could have sisters and brothers in Pusan. My mother’s name could be Hea!

“The day you were found, May seventh…I remember it because in Korea, it’s close to Children’s Day, May fifth. My parents were having a party, and my aunt brought my cousins. Her face looked sunken, and she didn’t have a big belly anymore. She didn’t have a baby, either.”

“What did your aunt do with her baby?” My heart pounded louder than a bass drum. Louder than six bass drums. I was ready to fit the final piece into the MBA puzzle.

“I asked my mother once, and she changed the subject. My aunt took a job waitressing at a coffee shop. Nobody ever talked about the baby, and I knew I wasn’t supposed to either.”

“Mommy! Mommy!” Kevin’s squeaky voice called, and she whispered back to him in Korean.

I tried to remember what I knew: my birth mother named me Duk-kee. I was left outside the Pusan police station in a basket, with a blanket and a note. An old lady found me in the afternoon after returning from the market.

“Jae, is anyone in your family named Duk-kee?”

“That’s my uncle’s name. My mom and Aunt Hea’s older brother. Why do you ask?”

“My birth mother named me Duk-Kee. Where did your aunt live in Pusan?”

Jae said her family lived in the same row of small houses as Aunt Hea’s, up on a hill, not far from the docks. I knew all about those docks and hills.

“My father worked on the boats. My mother used to take us to the market nearby. Before he left, my uncle sold fish from a cart. Sometimes he’d give us big, plump shrimp that my mother would steam for dinner.”

That could’ve been the market that the old lady was walking from when she found me. The market where my real father sold shrimp. No wonder I love shrimp!

“Does your aunt still live in Pusan?” I asked.

“Yes. She’s remarried now, actually, to the owner of the coffee shop. One of her sons, my cousin Chulsu, graduated from university and came to America like me. He’s a computer programmer for Microsoft.”

My real brother could be hacking away at a computer, side by side with Bill Gates!

“What’s your aunt’s last name?” I asked. I was seconds away from identifying this phantom lady who’s loomed over me my whole life. I’d say her full name out loud and—presto! She’d be real.

I didn’t hear an answer. Mom, Sophie, Gina, and Aunt Foxy burst through the door, talking and laughing all at once.

“Sorry, Jae. I’ve got to go.” I hung up quickly. I’d just uncovered the most incredible news of my life, but I couldn’t imagine sharing it with anybody yet. Especially my family.

”Hiya, Joseph!” Aunt Foxy called out.

“Hi,” I said, trying to act normal, even if my hands were trembling.

“What, you’re too big to kiss your godmother?” She wrapped her arms tight around me. I could smell Shear Impressions’s body-fragrance-of-the-month on her clothes.

“I better get my hugs now before those high school girls notice your good looks and stylish haircuts,” she said.

Sophie started searching through the snack cupboard, ignoring Mom’s threats about not eating before dinner. Meanwhile Gina unloaded her backpack, spilling a bag of pretzels on the floor. But before anyone could say “Back off, boxer,” Frazer had gobbled them up.

“Aunt Foxy’s staying for supper,” Gina told me with her eyes aglow.

“But the bad news is Mommy’s making meatball heroes.” Sophie pouted. “Ground guts, yuck! I’m having a special veggie burger. And I get to sit next to Aunt Foxy.”

“No fair!” Gina cried.

Mom ignored Sophie and Gina. She was listening to Aunt Foxy rave about her new boyfriend, who was a producer for the cable company.

“I’m telling you, Maria, he’s different from the other clowns I’ve dated. Dominick’s a perfect gentleman—and sweet, too. Remember when I was sick last week? He brought me orange juice and chicken noodle soup.”

“Just for you? Or does he make deliveries for every attractive woman he sees blowing her nose?” Mom grinned.

“C’mon, you haven’t even met him,” Aunt Foxy said, laughing. She turned to me. “What do you think, Joseph? Dominick’s a diehard Yankees fan with season tickets.”

“He can’t be a total jerk if he roots for the Yankees,” I said. Wanting to avoid more talk, I brushed past her on my way upstairs.

Aunt Foxy gave me a curious look, as if she wondered why I wasn’t goofing around with her like usual. But I just couldn’t. My brain was overloaded. I needed to lie down and rewind everything I’d just heard from Jae.