Page 8 of Rules for Rule Breaking
“No, Dae-seong. It’s you,” Halmeoni replied. Bobby’s eyes got wide. “It’s both of you. You both are so young, and you’re here, at a senior center, on summer vacation, setting up for bingo.”
“I like visiting you, Halmeoni,” Winter said.
“I know you do. And I love that you do. But when I was your age,do you know what I would have done on a trip without my parents? Who cares who you go with?” Halmeoni’s mouth curled into a dark smile. “Why do you think your parents let you do this?”
“Because our parents trust us,” Bobby said.
“Yes, and you know why?” Halmeoni raised her hand to the two confused teenagers, not letting them answer. “Because they know you will try not to have fun. You only care about school. You are already the best. Try to be something else.”
“Like what?” Winter asked.
“Kids.”
“Why didn’t you say all thisbeforewe set up the room?”
“Because my back was killing me,” Halmeoni said. “Break a few rules. Your parents trust you. Take advantage of opportunities, as I just did.”
“We would only be visiting colleges,” Winter said.
Halmeoni clicked her tongue. “You have no imagination.” She looked around at the nearly full room. “Now it’s bingo time, so I have to go. Stay or leave. That’s your choice. But our games get intense.”
Winter snorted. “Intense? What, do you put money on it?”
Halmeoni smiled.
“Wait, how much?”
“Enough. We put money in, and whoever wins gets the pot.”
“You gamble in here?” Bobby asked. “Do you have a permit for that?”
“Our age is the permit.”
Bobby was such a stickler for the rules. He was probably going to leave the center and head right over to the police station to report them all. Winter rolled her eyes.
“How much money do you guys put in?” Winter asked her grandmother. “Like, five bucks?”
Halmeoni shook her head.
“Twenty?”
“It’s a one-hundred-dollar buy-in,” Halmeoni conceded.
The teenagers’ mouths nearly hit the floor.
Bobby mentally counted all the seniors in the room with their bingo boards and markers. “Halmeoni, there are, like, fifty people in this room. That’s a lot of money.”
“I know,” Halmeoni replied. “You have to break rules once in a while.” She smiled sweetly. “I have to host my event. If you want to stay, that’s fine, but you should do something fun. It’s Friday night.”
Halmeoni had a beaded bag that hung from her shoulder by a thin, twisted cord. It was very chic. She popped open the clasp, pulled out her equally sparkly wallet, and handed Winter forty dollars. She then walked away without saying another word.
“Did she just wink at us?” Bobby asked.
“What the hell just happened?” Winter looked down at the money in her hand. “And what the hell am I supposed to do with this?”
The two of them sort of wanted to stay, but they feared the judgment they would receive from Halmeoni. Bobby offered Winter a ride home. She knew it was only because it was the gentlemanly thing to do, not because he cared if Winter got eaten by a coyote if she walked.
They sat in the parking lot in silence for a while, watching the seniors pop bottles of champagne, whooping and hollering every time a number or a letter was called. The teenagers couldn’t hear anything, but it looked like Halmeoni’s neighbor, Mr. Joe, was about to hit someone with his cane for cheating. Halmeoni was right; they did get intense during bingo.
