Tough Guys Gone Wild

"Huh?"

"Come on, let's do something wild!" he said.

GuiGui stared at YaLun, open. The question had been so unexpected, she found herself completely tongue-tied.

YaLun was looking across the counter at her.

Just then GuiGui felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see her father directly behind her, his forehead perspiring, an angry expression on his face.

"Those kids in the booth are waiting for their check," he said speaking in a low voice, slowly and distinctly the way he did when he was trying to control his temper.

"Sorry," GuiGui said, pulling the check pad out of her apron pocket.

She glanced at YaLun. To her surprise, his face was bright red, and his dark eyes glowed with anger. He flashed a furious glance at Mr. Wu, then pushed himself up from the counter stool and quickly walk to the doorway.

"Hey--- your hamburger!" GuiGui called after him.

He was gone. The door slammed hard behind him.

That was weird. Did he really ask me out? GuiGui thought.

Why did he run away? I guess he got mad because Dad interrupted us.

Wow.

She write down something on the check and dropped it onto the table, thinking about YaLun.

So much for my first date, she thought regretfully.

She started to feel sorry for herself but forced her thoughts on the bright side. At least he asked me out. A boy actually asked me out on a date.

But would she have said yes? Would she have gone out with him?

He was so tough looking. Something about him seemed so old, so hard.

She thought about how angry YaLun had become when her father stopped their conversation, how his face had grown so--- hateful.

No, GuiGui decided. I wouldn't have gone out with him.

No way.

I would've said no.

If I'd had the chance.

She glance through the window into the kitchen. Her dad was tossing the burned hamburger into the trash, a blank expression on his face.

Two more elderly customers came in--- regulars. They took their usual booth by the window.

GuiGui brought them menus and stood by, hands inside her apron pockets, waiting for them to decide. She found her thoughts drifting to wang Zi.

Staring out the window into the gray skies, she rehearsed her conversation with Wang Zi again. She knew every word by heart. She wondered if Wang Zi would say the things she had planned for him.

She wondered if Wang Zi would ever ask her to go to the movies.

Will you be my first date, Wang Zi?

Or will you walk away just as YaLun did?

Wang Zi seemed so shy, so painfully shy.

As shy as GuiGui.

Maybe I'll ask him out, GuiGui thought.

The idea excited her. It opened up a whole new world of possibilities.

She decided to forget the conversation she'd been rehearsing. Instead, she'd ask him out for Saturday night.

No. No way, she immediately decided.

I could never do that. Never. I'd die. I'd die first.

What if he said no?

I'd be embarrassed for life.

Rehearsing how she might ask Wang Zi out, imagining their conversation, carried her through the rest of her shift. Seven o' clock, closing time, came quickly for her.

"Let's go home," her dad said brightly, emptying the cash register. He carefully placed all the money into a manila envelope, which he kept locked in the desk in a back room until he could take it to the bank the next morning.

"Mom won't be there," GuiGui told him.

"I know. She's working the late shift tonight," he replied.

GuiGui impatiently pulled off the apron she hated and tossed it into the laundry bag. Her father went to lock the front door.

She heard noise at the front of the restaurant, shouts and struggling.

Uttering a silent gasp, GuiGui focused her eyes on the door and saw three tough looking young men, dressed in jeans and denim jackets, push their way in past her father.

She started to cry out, but her voice caught in .

"We're closed!" Mr. Wu was shouting. "You don't belong in here. We're closed!"

One of the young men, tall and muscular with long hair, shoved her father back against the counter. "Empty the cash register and we'll get out," he snarled.

"There's nothing in there," Mr. Wu insisted, his eyes wide with fear. "Nothing!"

"He's telling the truth!" GuiGui managed to cry. She was huddled in the doorway to the kitchen.

"Let's just see," one of them said. He started to the cash register.

"No!" GuiGui's father screamed. "Get away! Get away from there!" He bolted after the young man and grabbed his shoulders from behind.

"No--- Dad! Don't!" GuiGui screamed. "Dad--- look out!"