"Why are they rubbing its balls?" I asked with disgust, nearly choking on a piece of bun from my hot dog.
Li and I were standing at a distance from the massive bronze bull statue. It was impossible to get any closer. A huge line of women of all ages had formed in front of the bull's backside. One by one, they stepped forward and rubbed the poor animal's bronze balls.
"They say that if you rub the Attacking Bull in that spot, you'll find yourself a man soon. Tourists and others like this rumor. As you can see, people are willing to stand here for hours waiting their turn."
"What nonsense," I snorted and decided to bypass the crowd.
By the bull's head, where it was crouching on its front legs, ready to charge, there weren't many people. A few were taking photos against the backdrop, so it was easy to get a good look at the intricate range of emotions the sculptor had captured in the bull's face.
"I agree," Li sighed heavily. "This didn't help me."
Almost choking on my bun again, I looked at her in confusion.
"You're still young, why the hell would you need a man?"
Li blushed and, annoyed, hit me on the shoulder.
"I'm not a kid!" she protested. "I'm very grown-up! I'm already sixteen! I just take after my mom, and she was small and looked young too!"
"Fine, fine, don't spit. Grown-up, you're grown-up. Want to go to the park? I'll buy you some ice cream..."
"Let's go!" Li immediately responded and grabbed my hand. She probably feared I'd change my mind and run off. "But, um... guys don't usually buy ice cream for girls."
By this point, I'd managed to wash and dry the clothes I bought from the second-hand store in one of the public laundromats. So I eagerly changed into a light, thin long-sleeved shirt. If it weren't for this, that cheeky Asian girl might have gotten knocked out.
"Yeah, yeah," I sighed heavily. "No ice cream or gifts. You must be bored living like this."
Overall, I liked Li. Of everyone I had met so far, she seemed the most reasonable. But she was raised in this local culture, and she believed it was women who should take care of men, not the other way around.
"Why bored? We live just fine."
"Yeah, I'm saying you're bored. Listen," I decided to change the topic, "Want to tell me how you ended up on the streets?"
"Then it's a trade, huh? You tell me, and I'll tell you. I'm curious what made a guy end up on the streets."
"No problem, but you go first, heh."
Li sighed and started speaking. Jubilee Li was born in Beverly Hills. Yes, her full name was exactly that. When I first heard it, I wasn't really surprised. I mean, these kinds of meetings are nothing new for someone like me. I could've guessed I was meeting a young Jubilee. To complete her stereotypical image, she was only missing a yellow cloak with a raised collar. Maybe she hadn't bought it yet, or she just didn't dare wear such a piece of clothing in this heat.
So, Jubilee was born and raised in Beverly Hills. Her parents had moved there from China and were pretty well-off, even wealthy people. Until recently, everything was going fine. They were settling into their new country and living comfortably. But then, all of a sudden, everything went to hell.
Her parents' business went under. As if that wasn't enough, when she came home from school one day, she found social workers in her house. The unfamiliar people told Jubilee that her parents had been killed by a gangster and took her to an orphanage. The harsh environment and unfriendly peers forced the teenager to either stand up for herself or run away when fighting the crowd was no option.
Her bold character and constant involvement in brawls led the orphanage administration to transfer Li to a more disciplined institution—a place for troubled teens. She escaped during the transfer and ended up in the Big Apple. And that's the whole story.
"Your turn!" Li demanded, poking me in the chest.
"Alright, alright, but my story's not that interesting. A while ago, mutant abilities woke up in me."
"M-m-mutant?" she was so surprised she even pulled away from her ice cream.
Jubilee carefully avoided any mention of her own mutant status. It made sense, keeping such a big secret to yourself and not spilling it to every random person. Anti-mutant sentiments were still widespread, and no one with their wits about them would admit to being a mutant in polite company.
"Yeah, I can stun people just by touching them. That's why I wear gloves."
"You're not lying, are you?" she asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes.
"Why would I lie? You better eat your ice cream, or it'll melt."