One Pacific Away

4 || Jonathan

I wake up and realize that I am sideways on my bed.

Horizontal, actually. I must have had a very fitful sleep last night— especially if the blankets are tangled and twisted that much. They resemble méigān cài.*¹

I try to get up. "Ohhh..." My back is very sore. I stretch out on the mattress, like a sunlight-hungry houseplant. Crack-crack go my bones. Just how fitful was my sleep?

Moving myself upright into a sitting position proves to be very difficult, especially since my right arm is numb. I move my feet around on the tile floor, finding my slippers and slipping my feet into them.

As I stand, I realize that I am still wearing my clothes from last night. I must have fallen asleep in my clothes. I groan. I do not have the energy to change, but I have to. So I shuffle blearily to the bathroom, taking a shirt and a pair of pants with me.

After showering, changing, and brushing my teeth, I come out of the bathroom and head to the living room, also a dining room. Tyler is already there, sipping a cup of something at the dining table. "Oh, you are awake."

"Just how early did you wake up?"

"Six. It is almost eight now, Jonathan."

"What are you drinking?"

"Soy milk," he says with relish. "Extra sugar. Want some?"

"No thanks. Do we have any tea?"

"We have some in the cupboard. And make it yourself this time, lazy," he says, grinning at me.

"Thanks. Such a helpful friend." I trudge to the kitchen, picking up the kettle and turning on the tap into it.

"You are welcome. I even bought breakfast, since I am just so helpful and thoughtful like that."

"Oh, thanks. What did you get?" I put the kettle on and get out the tea leaves.

"Fan tuan and dan bing.*² But they were all out of pork floss fan tuan so I got these." He gestures to the dining table. I notice said fan tuan, but something is off about it.

I pick up one, glance at it, and groan. "Tyler, why did you get such strange flavors? Cheese fan tuan?*³ Really?"

"And tuna," he adds. "I had one already— it was pretty good."

"Tuna fan tuan too? Please, no." The water is not boiling yet, so I put down the tea leaves and walk over to the dining table to find the dan bing. No way am I ever going to eat cheese or tuna fan tuan. "You can have all the fan tuan you want today. I am having dan bing."

"What, you do not want to try some cheese fan tuan?" Tyler picks it up and waves it at me. I back away. "Pretty sure it is good."

"No, thank you." I hear the kettle starting to whistle. "Oh, the water is boiling." 

I rush to the kitchen and turn off the stove before the kettle can overflow and start a gas fire. Whisking my favorite cup off of the rack with one hand and picking up the container of tea leaves in the other, I put down the cup on the counter and put a spoonful of dried, furled leaves in it. Then I pick up the kettle and carefully pour boiling hot water into the cup. The leaves unfurl slightly, making the water take on a greenish hue.

"Hey, Jonathan. Dong Wei," Tyler calls from the living room. "We need to go buy groceries."

"What? Again? I thought we just bought groceries?"

"You only bought a few packs of spicy instant noodles and some vegetables last time, remember? And—"

"Right, right, the shrimp chips that were on sale. Buy one, get one half off. You are right— we need to buy groceries."