CHAPTER FOUR

Chinatown, San Francisco
April 18, 1906
Wednesday, 12:00 p.m.

I barreled outside, eager to see my mother. When I got to the street, I spotted her resting on a pile of crates. Mother looked pale. Her eyes were closed.

“Mother!” I wrapped my arms around her but quickly let go when she flinched. “What happened?”

“One of my legs is hurt,” she said. “I can’t walk on it.” Mother held my arm. “Don’t worry, I have plenty of help. And June has been great company.”

I looked down at my baby sister asleep in Mother’s arms. I shook my head. I had no idea how she could sleep through the commotion in the streets. June didn’t care what anyone thought. She would take a nap whenever she wanted.

I sat down on the crate next to Mother and took in Chinatown. It looked upside down. Buildings had collapsed into one another. Market stands had turned over. Fallen bricks and rocks were everywhere.

I thought about The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and how after the cyclone, Dorothy saw two feet sticking out from under the bottom of a building. The feet belonged to the Wicked Witch of the East, who was crushed by a falling house. I didn’t want to study these broken structures too closely. I didn’t want to see anyone’s limbs sticking out of the debris.

Father was talking with a neighbor. “Chinatown is nothing like some parts of San Francisco,” the man said. “There are some areas where the homes are completely gone.”

“This means we can come back,” Father said. “After the fires are put out, we can come back and rebuild.”

I looked at our building. The grocery store was still standing, and the apartment was still there. Somewhere in our home was Lee’s hat and my horse drawing.

“I am going to the temple to pray,” the man said to Father. “Come join us. Or are you going to your church?”

Father stood by Mother. “I need to find a ride out of Chinatown,” he said. “You should leave too.”

The man waved Father away. “It is not that bad,” he said. “We will stay with our homes.”

As he turned to leave, Mr. Quan came up to Father. Jade See Young, a young woman who lived in our building, handed Lee and me a bowl of rice with some meat and vegetables.

“Please eat,” she said, her voice soft.

My stomach growled. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was. It was already time for lunch. We had spent all morning trying to dig out from under the table.

With my fingers, I scooped bits of rice into my mouth. It was cold but very welcome. It almost tasted just as good as my birthday meal from last night.

“Thank you,” I said to Jade. I felt shy talking to her.

Jade didn’t come out often. She was not married. Jade was very traditional, and she had bound feet. This means her feet were wrapped tight with cloth and broken to keep from growing bigger. It was a custom that came from China. Some of the more traditional Chinese believed that women who had small feet were most beautiful. But having bound feet made it harder to walk.

Once, I was behind her going up our staircase. It took her a very long time to shuffle up to her floor.

I tried to give some of my food to Mother.

Father stopped me. “I have food saved for her,” he said. “You take that for yourself.”

He knelt down, so he was the same height as Lee and me. “I’ve talked with our neighbors. We all agree we need to leave Chinatown. Mr. Quan heard that the fires are spreading quickly through the city. We also have to watch out for the aftershocks.”

“Aftershocks?” Lee said.

“Yes,” Father said. “Aftershocks are smaller earthquakes that happen after a big one. They can be just as dangerous.”

I swallowed and looked up at our apartment window. An aftershock could do more damage. Or our house might burn. I might no longer have a home.

“Where are we going to go?” Lee said.

“Oakland,” Father said. “My cousin works on a fishing boat across the bay. We can stay with him.”

I watched Mother, who still had her eyes closed. I was worried we might lose our home, but I was even more worried and scared to see Mother suffering.

“How will Mother get there?” I said.

“Mr. Quan is trying to get in touch with his friend who has a cart,” he said. “We are going to wheel her to safety.”

He placed a hand on my shoulder. “Lily, we decided the best thing to do is to divide up. We will make our way to the waterfront and meet again at the Ferry Building. You and Lee will go with Mr. Quan and Jade See Young. I’ve given them some provisions from the store to take care of you and Lee.”

“No!” Lee yelled and clung to Father’s arm. “I don’t want to leave you.”

Father hugged him. “I don’t either, but your mother cannot walk. She needs a ride. But it really isn’t safe to stay if you are able to leave.”

How could my strong mother suddenly be so helpless? How could Chinatown look so different from one day to the next? I knew I needed to be confident for Lee, but I didn’t know how. I wanted to cling to Father and cry too. Instead, I took a deep breath.

“We’ll meet in front of the Ferry Building. We can find transportation from there to Oakland,” Father said. He put his arm around Lee and me. “We will all get on a boat together.”

He looked down the road, past St. Mary’s Church. I followed my father’s gaze. The church was still standing, but the cross was no longer on top of the steeple. I could see flickering flames in the distance. They seemed to dance on the rooftops but looked too far away to cause any harm.

“The firemen can put the fire out, right?” I asked.

Father looked worried. “I hope so. I worry about the fires coming so close to our home.”

Lee wouldn’t let go of Father.

“We will meet you at the Ferry Building,” I said. “Come on, Lee. We will be okay.”

Father nodded. “Come say goodbye to Mother,” he said.

Lee and I approached Mother. When I held her hand, she opened her eyes. They were deep brown, just like mine.

“Here are my brave ones,” Mother said. Her voice was tired. “I am proud of you both. Let me give you both something.” She leaned forward and gave us each a kiss on our foreheads. “For protection.”

I looked up. My mother remembered the beginning of my favorite story.

“Like in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” I said. “The good witch gives Dorothy a kiss for safety.”

“Yes.” Mother smiled. “No one will injure a person kissed by the Good Witch of the North. I think it goes something like that.”

I touched the place where Mother had kissed me.

“Instead of following a brick road,” Mother said. “You will follow the San Francisco streets to the Ferry Building.”

Father and the neighbors were starting to form their groups.

Mr. Quan waved to us. “Time to go!” he shouted.

Resting the basket against my hip, I took Lee’s hand in mine.

He looked up at me. “Are you ready, little lady?”

“You betcha, cowboy.” I heard my voice shake. We were both pretending.

With that, we left our parents and headed toward the waterfront. I hoped we would see them again.