bread

sonny t.

I woke up that morning with beams of light barely piercing through the window. Morning sunshine glimmered through my blinds with an occasional gust of wind rattling the plastic old blinds. Streaks of shallow brightness lighting up the room. All this peace on a summer morning just to be awakened by a disastrous voice. “WAKE UP!” Expecting me to get up and dressed and get ready for a day of adventure. I ask for “Five more minutes!” My mom proceeds to pull me out of the deep abyss of blankets pillows and sheets. I get up from my bed to walk to the bathroom to brush my teeth and the cold air strikes all of my body. As I step out of my room a group of family and friends wait for me in the warm lit living room.  

As we open and close the door to leave the door clangs continuously against the metal frame. Every time the door opens a rush of cold summer wind enters the house. Every aunt, uncle, cousin, parent, friend and pet packed in a large van. Driving from the center of suburban Milwaukee to Chicago is kind of a negative experience for me. I was the most carsick in my life. Otherwise, driving to Chicago is actually not bad. The drive was about 1 hour and 45 minutes long. The scenery between the two cities is full of farms, suburbs and gas stations with an occasional hill and forest.

Arriving in the central of Chinatown. Stepping out with weakness in my legs, greeted with cars speeding by. The smell of all the mixed foods from restaurants, old perfume and plastic smells from gift shops and jewelry store. Walking around deciding where to go. Some family the hair salon across the street, Some want to go around and group up with even more family, some want to go to all of the gift shops but there was one that everyone agreed on.

The Tasty Place. Most vibrant colors of all the shops. Bright pink, tan and green. It caught all the attention. It also could’ve been that the owner was best friends with my mom but whatever. We finally concluded that our first destination was here.

Entering the building was the most memorable thing in my entire life at the time. Dragging across the brick building trying not to throw up making a distinct scratchy noise and finally getting to the somewhat rusty door. Opening the door released a gust of cool wind chilling all of us standing in the summer heat of Chicago. Opening the second door that lead to the actual building was even more nostalgic. Slowly cracking open the door the smell of all the perfectly buttered breads, meat filled buns, sweet desserts and cookies and the warm smell of black coffee and green tea. Truly one of the most saturated memories. All the customers sipping their drink occasionally taking bites from they’re meal. This was lunch or in their words “tea time.” As it bring lunch of course I had to eat too. I requested whatever my mom had so I was given a bowl of rice no more than 2 handfuls and a piece of bread on the side.  That day I learned that I disliked bread… a lot.

I finished my lunch and so did everyone else so we left go explore more of Chinatown. We left the building and again we had no idea where to go. All of us just ended walked in and out of all shops not buying a single because it was “too expensive.” By the end of the night I was tired and fatigued from walking all day so finally we decided to head home. Once again having to pack us all into a very large van. Driving home seeing all the lights from the sky scrapers and light poles in the distance fade away was a good visual as I fell into a deep slumber until the next morning.