Chapter 13: Names on the Back

May Lau had ordered enough food for a committee meeting and invited one person. Six takeout containers covered her dining table. A seventh sat on a chair beside a stack of photograph albums. May pointed her cane at the food. "Eat first. Then criticize the quantity." Su laid her coat over a chair back. The apartment held its heat the way old buildings do, and steam off the lids carried ginger, sesame oil and fried garlic into every room. She had not seen Evan since Sunday. That fact had followed her up the stairs and through May's door, and it stayed no matter how squarely she set her chopsticks. "You look preoccupied," May said. "I am considering the dumplings." "They must be handsome dumplings." The first one split when Su lifted it. Broth ran across her plate. May watched her blot it. "Structural failure," Su said. "My mother steamed them…