The knock on Christmas Eve
LONG ISLAND, New York — Ma Ju was in the kitchen making dinner on Christmas Eve 2023 when he heard a knock. The woman on the doorstep of his two-story suburban Long Island home held a manila envelope in her hand. “Mr. Ju Ma?” she asked. “Yes,” he said.
She told him she was a lawyer from Nassau County, asked for his signature, and handed him the document.
“My eyesight isn’t great,” Ma recalled with a weary chuckle. “I glanced at it briefly and thought, ‘Huh? Who’s suing me?’” He paused, his smile fading. “At the time, I thought it might be a joke.”
