“I was excited to see you. I thought…But never mind.” Tao swallowed; the rush of shame that ran through her was a hot, visceral thing. The shopkeeper’s eyes felt like her Baba’s. What kind of daughter are you, she imagined them saying, to no longer speak the language of your ancestors? But then, too, came the anger. Why should she be ashamed? She’d done what she’d had to, hadn’t she?
