2271 words
\nI get my killer recipes from my Vietnamese mom, and my distrust of\npeople from my Chinese dad. Maybe it's not healthy, but least it kept me\nout of the crypto craze.
\n\"For the last time, Clarissa, this space is not cursed,\" Tanya says.\n\"But it's the only affordable space in this overpriced town.\" Her words\necho through the restaurant space, empty of furniture save for the\nbuilt-in bar and hostess station.
\nRight outside the window, the copper statue Sherman Vanquishes the Squid\ngleams in the afternoon sun. Sam Sherman eyes the beast through\nhis gun's crosshairs. The one-eyed Goliath squid looks up in fear, its\nbeak vicious, with rotating hooks on the ends of its tentacles,\nscintillating rainbow skin, and twelve arms flailing.
\n\"I've rented this property to many clients on behalf of Shorefront\nRealty over the years,\" Misty, our realtor, says. \"You can't beat the\nlocation - the restaurant industry is just fickle.\" She clicks her pen a\nfew times too many, and it grates on my nerves.
\n\"I wish they'd take down that ugly squid statue,\" I say, peering out the\nwindow. \"I don't care if Sam Sherman saved this town. It gives me the\nwillies,\" I shiver.
\nTrees sway their long arms in the wind outside on the sidewalk. The\nmirror hanging over the dusty bar twinkles in the afternoon sun. For a\nmoment, I glimpse a translucent figure in the reflection, but it must be\na trick of the light.
\n\"Sam Sherman was my great-great-great-great-grandfather,\" Misty says.\n\"That statue is part of Sherman Heights, just like the sand on our\nbeaches.\"
\n\"You're one of the Shermans?\" Tanya says to Misty.
\nI redden, embarrassed by my squid statue insult. And yet, I wonder what\nit's like to be Misty, to not only belong in the town you live in, but\nto own its land from its near inception, nearly three hundred years\nprior. I look at Misty's ring finger, which sparkles with a three-carat\nstunner.
\n\"I changed my last name when I married Mike,\" Misty says. \"But yes.\"
\nThe Sherman clan owns Shorefront Realty and half of the prime land of\nSherman Heights, on Lake Michigan. They run the Women's Gala every year,\nthe breast cancer fundraiser, and even the Squid Sprint 5K. You can't\nthrow a shard of sea glass in this town without hitting something the\nShermans have invested in, donated to, or had named after them.
\n\"I do agree with Clarissa about the statue, though,\" Misty says smiling,\nclicking her pen again. \"I think a nice water fountain for the children\nto play in would be more progressive. Who needs to be always reminded of\nthe past?\"
\n\"Speaking of the past, what happened to the old owners of this place?\" I\nask. \"Pepper's Pizza Palace?\"
\nMisty lowers her gaze for a microsecond, but maybe I'm just being\nparanoid. \"Edwin Pepper decided to retire early due to health issues.\"
\n\"I miss their basil margarita pizza,\" Tanya says. \"It was the bomb.\" She\nleans against the bar for support, knees weak at the memory.
\nI shake my head. \"And before them, it was Olympia's Diner, La Brasserie,\nand Sushi Mushi. It's hard for a restaurant to survive in Sherman\nHeights because it's so expensive to live here. No workers live within a\nhalf-hour commute.\" I blanch again, realizing the Shermans probably own\nhalf the residential buildings too.
\n\"This economy has not been kind to restaurants,\" Misty says as she\ncrosses the dining room, and the clack-clack of her Gucci heels on the\nunoccupied wooden floor reverberates through the air. I inhale the zing\nof dust and bleach cleaner. Maybe my dream is dead in the water, but the\nthought of serving my mother's recipes from Hanoi to eager diners sends\na thrill down my spine.
\n\"I hope this isn't rude,\" I say. \"But how is the rent so cheap here? We\nlooked at new space on Wood Street and it's ten dollars a square foot\nmore.\"
\n\"Shorefront Realty wants to help keep downtown alive,\" Misty says.\n\"Retail has all gone online. But lucky for you, everyone still loves\nChinese egg rolls.\" She beams at us, hugging her leather portfolio\nclutch to her chest.
\n\"Banh Mi Bistro will be Vietnamese, but sure,\" I say.
\nMisty's clutch has more stickers than a Volkswagen Beetle headed to\nBurning Man: Black Lives Matter, Trans Lives Matter, Human Rights\nEquality, Stop Asian Hate, Shop Local, Women's Rights are Human Rights,\nand Stop Climate Change. I look down at Misty's shoes that cost more\nthan my beater Kia, and blink at her overdone clutch. Maybe I'm cynical,\nbut if she's a Sherman, can she really fight The Man if she is The\nMan?
\n\"Shorefront Realty is committed to brick-and-mortar businesses,\" Misty\nsays. \"Westview Theater is opening in March down the street, which will\nbe great for your business.\"
\nI can't shake the feeling that something's off. The rent is too cheap,\nthe location too prime for restaurants to fail every year in this space.\nFeelings like this are why Tanya tells me I have trust issues.
\nPian ren.
\nMy father's words appear in a bubble over my head.
\nEveryone is trying to fool you.
\nAnd yet, I yearn to be in this space. Modern geometric light fixtures\ngleam overhead, polished and confident. The wooden floors sparkle,\naching for customers. The chrome-bordered bar and glass shelves beg for\ntop-shelf gin and vodka. I already know where I'd put the shrine with\nGuan Yin and the lucky cat with a waving paw.
\n\"Would you like to see the kitchen?\" Misty asks.
\nWe follow her into the back, and I nearly swoon, my mouth agape. The\noven, range, and prep table shine, beckoning me. It's spacious and\nroomy, and I picture my staff assembling a bevy of orders with\ncontrolled chaos, just the way I like it.
\n\"This is just beautiful,\" Tanya says. She grabs both of my hands. \"Baby,\nwe can do this! It's meant to be.\"
\n\"Can you excuse us for a moment, Misty?\" I ask.
\nMisty nods and disappears from the kitchen.
\n\"We're already in the hole from Pho Pho Food Truck,\" Tanya says. \"But\nthe rent on this place is so cheap, we can swing it for a few months\n'til we pick up steam.\"
\n\"The price is rock-bottom,\" I say. \"But I just can't shake this nagging\nfeeling it's too good to be true.\"
\n\"What have we got to lose?\" Tanya asks. \"Just because those other\nrestaurants failed doesn't mean we will. We'll be different, you and\nme!\"
\n\"She's part of the Sherman family,\" I say.
\n\"So what?\" Tanya says.
\nI stew in my juices of indignation and exhale. \"Let me just look at the\nbasement before we make a decision,\" I say. \"This area's prone to\nflooding.\"
\n\"That's the closest to a yes I've gotten all morning,\" Tanya says. \"Go\nfor it.\"
\n\"Misty?\" I call. \"Can we take a quick look downstairs? I want to check\nfor any water damage.\"
\nAs we descend the stairs into the dank basement, the wind howls outside,\nrustling tree branches. Out of nowhere, a storm front appears, and rain\nbeats against the double-paned glass. Downstairs, it smells like wet\nsocks and cold concrete.
\n\"Ew,\" Tanya says, peering around in distaste. \"I'm good. I'm going to go\nback upstairs and take some measurements for furniture.\" She scampers up\nthe stairwell.
\n\"Previous tenants,\" Misty says, \"have not had any issues with the storm\ndrain. We get it routed every year in case tree branches get into the\npipe.\"
\n\"Can I borrow your pen?\" I ask. She hands it to me, and I scribble notes\non my paper listing.
\nA door in the corner gleams, clean and new, unlike the rest of the gray\nbasement.
\n\"What's in there?\" I ask.
\n\"Storage closet,\" Misty says.
\nMaybe I'm being paranoid, but I need to inspect the closet. I swear I\nsmell musty seawater. She must be lying about the water damage. Everyone\nin this country is trying to get a piece of the pie. If it's too good to\nbe true, it probably is, right?
\n\"Mind if I take a look?\" I ask.
\nMisty smiles, but her eyes widen. She jiggles the key and unlocks the\ndoor, pushes it open with a creak. It's a big closet, more like a large\nstorage room, and inside lie some old Halloween decorations, an air\npurifier, bucket, and a mop.
\n\"Not very exciting in here, I'm afraid,\" Misty says. \"Mostly leftover\nstuff from the Pizza Palace lease.\"
\nA magnetic pull draws me in, and I glimpse the flash of rainbow-colored\nlights. I feel like a minnow getting flushed down a toilet bowl. I walk\nto the furthest corner of the room.
\n\"There's nothing to see down here, trust me,\" Misty says, her voice\nending with a squeak. \"The Peppers took everything with them.\"
\nI walk deeper into the room and see a calm pool of water on the ground\nin a perfect circle. It reminds me of the bowl of holy water at the\nchurch where I took piano lessons as a kid.
\n\"Condensation can happen over time,\" Misty says, flipping through her\nportfolio. \"I can have the inspector take a look tomorrow if you want.\"\nBut I see her toes curl in those Gucci heels, and single bead of sweat\ndrips down her temple.
\nThe puddle calls to me, clear and bottomless. Top notes of brine and\nalgae float through the air, and distant voices call from the water. I\nstep into the puddle, and the chill of the water ripples from my toes to\nmy core.
\n\"No!\" Misty shouts, grabbing me by the hair, but we're falling, falling,\nand I scream, but no sound comes out, and I clench my fists, still\nclutching Misty's clicky pen in my right hand. In the puddle, I see the\nlife of this restaurant.
\nI see the dining room mural that Niko Papadakis uncovered during\nrenovations. In it, the giant squid eviscerates a wooden lake freighter\non Lake Michigan. Each squid tentacle houses dozens of suckers with\nserrated teeth, and they rip into the ship's hull like razorblades. From\na schooner nearby, Sam Sherman blasts the monster with a punt gun.
\nNext, I see Niko clutching his chest and collapsing to the ground at\nSunday brunch service.
\nI see Paula Lavigne baking macaroons and hiring an exterminator for the\nmice in the wall. They break through drywall and uncover a tunnel\nleading to a vast underground reservoir. Paula suffers a nervous\nbreakdown and has to be hospitalized.
\nI see Edwin Pepper operating the sump pump in the basement, and a giant\nbeak attached to a translucent pink body rises from the floor.
\nI am underwater but somehow can still breathe. I wonder if the squid\nwill peck me to pieces with its beak first or if I'll feel my skin being\ndigested alive. At this point, if I could just drown like a normal\nperson, I'd consider it a gift. Then, I hear a voice in my head.
\n\"Is it already time?\" A single giant eye stares at me, and I know the\nsquid must be talking to Misty.
\nI look up to see Misty bobbing with ease in the water, Gucci heels and\nall. Her glamorous blonde hair undulates like a Barbie Color Reveal\ndoll.
\n\"She's not signed her lease yet,\" Misty says in an echoey voice. \"I\nwon't get my bonus, but feeding you takes priority, my Lord.\"
\nNo. I am not going out like this. Not to a giant soul-sucking squid.
\nMy thoughts drift into vapors, like cigarette smoke wafting in swirls,\ndissipating, equilibrating, out of my brain. I know I don't have much\ntime.
\nI grip Misty's pen in my hand. The squid places its tentacles on my\nskull and I feel my brain lighten, taking the burden of my ambition, my\nwill, my worries away. It's not unpleasant, and I am lulled into the\nspace before sleep. My father's voice enters my mind.
\nDon't let them fool you.
\nWith all the strength I can muster, I drive Misty's pen into the\nplate-sized pupil of the squid's eye. A current pulses through the water\nand Misty and I launch out from the underwater tomb like Pinocchio spat\nfrom a whale's blowhole.
\nMisty and I stare at each other in ragged, soaked silence, panting, on\nthe cold concrete floor.
\nMy dad was right. I shouldn't have trusted Misty. But I don't want to be\npart of this cursed space for lease—at least, not in the way it's\nbeen for hundreds of years.
\n\"I have a proposition,\" I say, wiping water from my eyes. \"Because\nyou're right, Misty. You really can't beat this location.\"
\n#
\n\"Salt and pepper squid is our specialty,\" Tanya says to the couple at\nthe bar.
\n\"It's just delicious,\" the man says. \"I haven't tasted calamari this\ngood since I left Hanoi.\"
\n\"There's plenty more where that came from,\" I say, wiping the\ncountertop. \"Can I get you another lychee martini?\"
\nThe man nods, mouth full, chewing.
\n\"I hear Pepper's Pizza Kitchen is reopening?\" the woman says, dipping\nher calamari in lemongrass chili sauce.
\n\"Sure is,\" I say. \"City repossessed the properties after Shorefront\nRealty defaulted. Edwin Pepper's son Brian took over after his dad fell\nill. Brian knows a good deal when he sees one.\"
\n\"Sherman Heights really has it all,\" the man says. \"I hear they're\nputting up a fountain where the old squid statue was?\"
\nI hold Misty's pen in my hand like a talisman. \"Yes,\" I say. \"Who needs\nto be always reminded of the past?\"
\n© 2025 Vivian Chou
"}},"pageContext":{"id":"34c9c511-abb5-5d6f-84f1-72525775b290"}}, "staticQueryHashes": ["1262870893","1569350959","2932184110","3159585216","3638184005"]}