“Ohhh, yes, that one even worse,” Ma says, nodding gratefully at her before shooting Fourth Aunt another dirty look. Fourth Aunt ignores her.
“Surely if we go to the cops and explain everything, they’ll see that Meddy is no killer. Look at her!”
I’m suddenly the subject of four pairs of shrewd eyes once more. I try my best to not cringe away from the attention. Big Aunt exchanges a look with Ma. Though the question is unspoken, I know what she’s asking Ma: It’s your daughter, what do you want to do?
Ma straightens up. “We are not going to police. No, I don’t trust them. We don’t know what they say. They might say she temperating the body—”
“Tampered with the body, you mean,” Fourth Aunt says.
Ma shoots her a look of pure venom. “They might say she block justice—”
“Obstructed justice,” Fourth Aunt says.
“It’s very clear what I mean!” Ma snaps. “Yes, we know your English is very good, no need to show off, okay?”
Fourth Aunt throws her arms up. “I’m just helping!”
Big Aunt catches her eye and gives a small shake of the head, and immediately Fourth Aunt deflates, her breath coming out in an angry sigh. She mumbles, “Do whatever you want.”
It’s as though there’s a fire under my skin. My cheeks are red-hot. My mom and aunt are fighting because of me. I mean, okay, Ma has never gotten along with Fourth Aunt, and they fight every chance they get, but still, it sucks to be the reason they’re fighting now.
Big Aunt nods. “Okay, no police. Come, we go see body.”
8
Senior Year, Four Years Ago
“—and they say want twelve lily tower!” Ma practically shouts at me over the phone.
“Wow, that’s amazing, Ma,” I say, lowering the volume on my phone to the minimum. I can’t see her face. As usual, she’s got the camera pointing too high, so it’s only showing her forehead and her permed bangs.
“Yes, it all go so well, Meddy. When you finish school and come home, it will go even better, especially then we have photos of everything we done.”
I don’t even have to force my smile. The family business, sans me, has been surprisingly successful. I have to admit that my mom and aunts have exceeded my expectations, even though I was somewhat dubious about the idea to begin with. I’ve been helping out here and there whenever I’m home, taking as many photos as I can of Ma’s flower arrangements and Big Aunt’s cakes. I even set up a website for them. It doesn’t look half bad, but I can’t wait to be able to spend a lot more time streamlining everything and making it look all shiny and impressive. Weirdly, I’m actually really looking forward to graduating and plunging headfirst into the business. Who woulda thunk it?
There’s a knock at my door. A second later, Nathan pops his head in. I quickly tell Ma I have to go and cut the call short. Still haven’t told her about Nathan. I figured we’re so close to graduating, and once we do, I’ll definitely tell them about Nathan because he’ll be coming round to our house all the time. With them constantly fussing over him, I’d lose him to them. So for now, I choose to be selfish again. Keep him all to myself. Just for the time being. There’s plenty of time to serve him up to the sharks. At least with graduation looming, Nathan’s stopped asking when I’ll introduce him to my family. He knows it won’t be long now, so he can afford to be patient.
“I’ve got news,” Nathan says, dimples on full assault as he walks in.
“Oh?” Three years together and the sight of him still makes my breath catch. Maybe I have asthma. I shouldn’t still be so breathless around such a long-term boyfriend. But seriously, those stupid dimples. They should be outlawed.
“No horny face,” he scolds, grinning. “Not yet, anyway.” He takes both of my hands in his. “Okay, so. You know how I was interning at JLL last summer?”
I gasp. “Did they offer you a position? That’s awesome! I knew they would!”
“They did.”
I squeal and leap into his arms, and he lifts me right off the floor, laughing. “Wait, I’m not done telling you the offer yet.”
I’m peppering his entire face with kisses, so I miss the next thing he says. Or rather, I hear it, but my brain says, Does not compute. I pause mid-kiss. “Come again?”
“It’s in New York. That’s where their headquarters are.”
“I—oh. Can you put me down?”