The Son Marcus Never Met

Marcus had known Ivory for a while.

He knew about her husband, Mr. Liu. He knew about her son Ben. He knew the usual little details about her family that came up during conversations at Golden Wok.

But one afternoon, Marcus discovered something he had somehow never heard about.

He was at Golden Wok making a delivery when he noticed a young man sitting near the back of the restaurant.

Marcus had seen him before.

Not often, and never close enough to actually talk to him. The guy would occasionally appear around the restaurant, usually keeping to himself. Marcus had simply assumed he was one of Ivory's relatives.

That day, Marcus finally overheard someone call him.

"Kenny!"

Marcus paused.

He looked toward the back.

The young man turned around.

Marcus immediately thought:

Wait... Kenny?

He didn't say anything.

A few minutes later, Ivory walked past Marcus while carrying a stack of takeout containers.

Marcus casually asked, "Hey, Ivory... who's Kenny?"

Ivory looked at him like the answer should have been obvious.

"My son."

Marcus froze.

"...Your WHAT?"

"My son," Ivory repeated.

Marcus stared at her.

"But I thought Ben was your son."

"Ben is my son."

Marcus blinked.

"So you have TWO sons?!"

Ivory laughed.

"Yes."

Marcus looked toward the back again.

Kenny was still there, minding his own business.

Marcus lowered his voice.

"How did I never know this?"

Ivory shrugged.

"I don't talk about him much."

Marcus nodded slowly.

"Okay... that explains a lot."

Ivory smiled.

"You've seen Kenny before."

Marcus pointed toward the back.

"That's Kenny?!"

"Yes."

Marcus stared at Kenny again.

Kenny didn't even notice him.

Marcus suddenly felt like he'd discovered some secret character who had been hiding in the background of the Golden Wok universe the entire time.

The funniest part was that Marcus realized he'd probably seen Kenny dozens of times without ever knowing his name.

He had never spoken to Kenny.

Kenny had never spoken to him.

They weren't friends.

They weren't enemies.

They had absolutely no relationship whatsoever.

Marcus just happened to know that the quiet guy he'd occasionally seen around Golden Wok was Ivory's second son—and now he knew his name.

Kenny.

Later that day, Marcus was leaving the restaurant when he passed Kenny.

Marcus considered saying hello.

He stopped.

Kenny looked at him.

Marcus looked at Kenny.

There was an awkward three-second silence.

Marcus finally gave him a little nod.

Kenny nodded back.

That was it.

Marcus walked outside.

He got into his car and sat there for a moment.

"Well," he said to himself, "I officially know Kenny exists."

And somehow, that felt like a major discovery.

The next time Marcus saw Ivory, he couldn't resist joking about it.

"You know, Ivory, you really had a whole second son just sitting around the restaurant like an unlockable character."

Ivory burst out laughing.

"Marcus!"

"What?! I've known you this long!"

"You never asked!"

"I didn't know I was supposed to ask!"

Ivory shook her head.

Marcus smiled.

From then on, whenever Kenny happened to be around Golden Wok, Marcus recognized him immediately.

He still never interacted with him.

But now Marcus knew exactly who he was.

Kenny. Ivory's second son.

The mysterious background character was finally named.