“Come on son. Keep up!” Quang’s father said rashly, struggling to keep his side of the new table up. His son watched as the other end wobbled back and forth.

“Dad,” Quang called out with a calm demeanor, “Just put it down. I’ll just slide it into place.”

The father lost his grip of the table and it came crashing on it’s side. Still holding onto his end, Quang tilted the piece of furniture upright and let it rest on the frame of the door, scratching his head as he leaned down to examine the section that it had landed on.

“That’s a pretty big dent.,” Quang said with disappointment.

“Ah, we’ll just throw a tablecloth over it,” Mr. Nghiem replied as he panted. He ran a finger through the gray strands of his hair. “If you’re so strong, you bring it inside.”

“That was my plan in the first place.” Quang hoisted his end back up and eased in through the restaurant. Both of his parents were now watching as he slid the table on its side towards the center of the room. With some effort, he set upright with the dented side facing them.

“I liked the old one better,” Mrs. Nghiem replied with a shake of her head once she got a look at the damaged area.

“It was a good table, Ma. But this one isn’t too bad either. It’s bigger.”

Mrs. Nghiem put her hand on one corner of the table, tilting the top towards her while the legs on the other end lifted a couple inches off the ground. “It’s crooked.”

“I know. But it’s the only one the pawn shop had that fit our budget. Just stick a plate on the other end and it’ll be fine.”

“We’d still have our old table if it wasn’t for the Union!” Mr. Nghiem punched his open palm with his fist and grit his teeth. “They’re lucky I was out last night. Because if I wasn’t…” He got into a stance, spreading his legs apart and letting his fists rest at his side. He threw a right punch, followed by a left.

“You would have gotten yourself hurt just like your son. For once I’m glad you were out playing cards all night.” Mrs. Nghiem put one hand on her hip and gave her husband a scowl.

“If I was there, we’d still have our old table!” Mr. Nghiem threw a high kick and returned to his original stance. Quang tried to hide his laughter as he began to wipe off the top of the wood surface.

“How is your back, Quang?” Mrs. Nghiem put her hand on the rear of her son’s shoulder.

“It’s fine. Don’t feel a thing.” He tensed his muscles to hide the pain.

“Good. You know we can’t afford you going to the hospital.”

“Thanks Ma.”

“What happened to that girl? Is she okay?”

“Selene? Yeah, she’s fine. I took her back home last night.”

“We raised a gentleman!” A smile came across the old woman’s face. “Did she enjoy the food?”

Quang nodded. “She said she liked it.”

“Good. Hopefully she’ll come back again. I hope what happened last night didn’t scare her away. We need all our customers.”

“I have a feeling she’ll be back,” Quang remarked as he finished wiping down the rest of the table. There were still scratches, nicks and stains spread out across the top that gave it a filthy appearance. “Where are our tablecloths again? No one is going to want to eat off this once they look at it.”

“I’ll go get it.” Mr. Nghiem went into the kitchen. Once he was gone, Mrs. Nghiem gave her son a big embrace. Quang was caught off guard, staggering back as a pair of arms wrapped around him.

“I’m so glad you’re okay, Quang.”

He looked down, only able to see the top of her long black hair as she buried her head into his chest. Quang returned the sentiment and placed his arms around her back. “Thanks Ma. I’m happy that you’re safe too. I’m sorry if I got angry last night. It’s just been rough these past few years, you know?”

“I know. But we’ll get through it. You know how hard it was for your sister, father and I to come all the way here? If we can do that, we can do anything.”

“I believe you, Ma.”

The hug ended. Mrs. Quang lifted her glasses off her face, wiping away a lone tear from her eye. She looked up and her son’s eyes greeted hers, red and glossy. “Did you get to do what wanted to last night?”

“Kinda,” Quang replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

“What was so important?”

“I went to meet Rodney. I’m trying to figure out happened to Vic.”

“You still haven’t seen him?”

“Not since he was last here.”

Mrs. Nghiem shook her head. “He’s always getting into trouble. Trying to start fights. I’m telling you, it all caught up to him and he’s probably in jail now.”

Quang became silent as he pondered the sentiment. He recalled the time Vic was locked away for a month for a brawl he had started. The thought of him being incarcerated for a more heinous offense made his heart sink.

“I hate to say it, but you might be right Ma. Maybe Vic finally got in over his head.” Quang leaned forward on the new table, shaking his head the image of his friend behind prison bars presented itself in his mind.

“He always was a bad influence on you.”

“Is this really the time to have this conversation again?”

“No, no. You’re right.” Mrs. Nghiem gave her son another pat on his back’s sore spot. “I’m sure he’ll show up again. He always does. Especially when he’s hungry and has no money.”

Quang couldn’t hold back his chuckle. “Yeah, that’s true. Or when he’s looking to rustle some feathers.”

“Don’t remind me. I still remember the time he we had to break up that fight between him and those karate people from across town.”

“Oh, that was real bad. Could have gotten really ugly if…” Quang ended his sentence, interrupted by one of his thoughts.

“Quang? Everything okay?” His mother asked.

“Huh? Yeah. I think I just got an idea.”

“Oh no,” Mrs. Nghiem took a step back as she shook her head. “I don’t like where this is going.”

“You and dad can handle the table, right?” Quang asked.

“Why?” Mrs. took a brief look at the table and then back at her son who was moving towards the door.

“Told you I got an idea. I’ll be back later tonight, alright?” Quang reached over and gave his mother a hug. The embracement was short. Both backed apart and met eyes once again.

“Stay safe, alright?” Mrs. Nghiem pleaded, teary eyed.

“Of course.”