by Anne R. Tan
“You don’t have to get nasty about it. I’m just the messenger.”
“Sorry. I mean it. At least we don’t have to worry about Mom being homeless. How is she doing?”
Cassie shook her head. “Well enough after Po Po talked her out of shaving her hair to become a Buddhist nun.”
Raina felt guilty for revealing Hudson as Martin’s killer, but her mom had insisted she got involved. “I guess this reaction was better than the numbness she felt when dad died.”
Cassie shrugged, dismissing their mother’s grief. She probably didn’t want to remember how she fell apart after their father’s death either. “Uncle Anthony decided to split the first million dollars between all of us cousins. Each of us gets fifty-thousand dollars. He’ll pay for the rest of your grad school tuition so you won’t have to use your inheritance on your education.” Her sister gave her a crooked smile. “I guess you must find yourself a real job.”
Raina ignored the bait. Fifty-thousand dollars and back in her family’s good graces? She must have hit the karma jackpot…except it felt like she got voted off the island. “What will happen to the rest of the two million dollars? Is Uncle Anthony sending it to his half-brother?”
“I don’t know. It depends on what Matthew digs up.”
“And you’re happy with this decision?”
“Anything is better than one dollar.”
Raina nodded, not so much in agreement, but as a ploy to get rid of her sister. “I’m glad everyone is happy with this decision.”
“I don’t understand why you think Ah Gong’s secret was yours alone. It impacts our entire family—and guess what? No one appreciated the secrecy.”
And hence the difference between the two of them. “I was trying to protect the family. I was afraid of the fallout.”
Cassie shook her head as if Raina lost one too many brain cells. “We didn’t need your protection. No one asked you to take on this role. You isolated yourself from the rest of the family for nothing.”
Her sister was wrong. “You think the family would have been able to handle this news at the eve of Ah Gong’s death? And you expect me to tell our dying grandfather ‘no’ at his bedside?”
“What’s wrong with lying? It’s not like he would know after he’s gone. The family would have been able to deal with it. Instead we had this drama between you and the cousins—first a lawsuit and then picking sides. We kept ripping the scab off an old wound. You could have trusted me with Ah Gong’s secret. I would have helped you.”
Raina stared at her sister. No matter what she said, it would be misinterpreted. “You already have enough on your plate with a new baby. I didn’t want to add to it.” This was technically true.
Cassie studied her for a long moment. “I appreciate it because you’re right—I wouldn’t have been able to handle the truth.” She gave a long sigh. “Being smack in the middle of our large family is hard with so many cousins and their running list of alphabets after their names. But this middle child’s need to please everyone is only going to break your heart someday. You got to learn to say no, kiddo.”
Raina stiffened. Middle child syndrome? Oh please! At least she wasn’t walking around pretending everything was perfect when things were falling through the cracks at home. And did Uncle Anthony expect her to sit back and let Matthew finish the investigation on her family? Fat chance. Unlike her ex-boyfriend, she still had an ace in the hole.
“Well, at least someone appreciates it.” Raina said, not bothering to disguise the peevish tone creeping into her voice.
Cassie chuckled as if Raina was a child who said something amusing. “I better hit the road so I don’t end up in rush hour traffic when I get to the Bay Area. Take care of yourself.”
Raina shut the door after her sister and whipped out her cell phone. Po Po had been a prophet when she'd bought insurance on the cell phone she'd given Raina for Christmas. She lifted her head, staring at the blank space above her television.
Her Uncle Anthony stepped in as patriarch of the family to investigate the secret family. He had also taken over the disbursement of the three million dollars. Wasn’t this the best possible outcome? She could walk away. She could finally be free. No more holding on to a fortune for a half-uncle she’d never met. No more searching for a journal with the longevity symbol and tangling with the triad.
Her heart pounded, but she had no choice. Either she would let someone else dictate her life or she would take care of business herself. Her fingers flew across the screen on her phone.
You're a lying cheating rat who should be cursed the next time I step into a temple.
She held her breath, waiting for a response. She was gambling that her instinct had been correct. For all she knew, Sonny Kwan could send one of his goons to chop off her head with the mere flicker of his pinkie finger.
The cell phone chirped. Her hands trembled as she tapped on the message icon.
Then come spank me.
The cell phone chirped again. It was an address in Canada.
The breath rushed out of her. She had been right. If she wasn't meant for this job, her ancestors wouldn't have assigned it to her. Who was a mere mortal like her dictatorial uncle to interfere with things he didn't understood.
An overwhelming sense of victory came over her. Raina fist pumped and pranced around the room. She went into the kitchen to dig in the freezer. This new beginning needed her best buds—Ben and Jerry—to help her celebrate.
Thanks for reading Breezy Friends and Bodies. I hope you enjoyed it!
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Want more?
Raining Men and Corpses (Raina Sun #1)
Gusty Lovers and Cadavers (Raina Sun #2)
Breezy Friends and Bodies (Raina Sun #3)
Balmy Darlings and Death (Raina Sun #4) available June 2016.
RAINING MEN AND CORPSES
Leaning against the coral restroom stall, Raina blotted the sweat off her face and wished for an attack of diarrhea or food poisoning. Anything to delay the upcoming confrontation, but delay was the last thing she could afford. She pulled her shirt away from her body and sniffed. No B.O. Just the industrial strength Pine-Sol and cloying lemon cleanser.
While she’d eventually recover from being a fool in love, no way would Raina let herself lose two thousand dollars to learn this lesson. Not when she had lawyer’s fees gobbling up her savings and bald tires giving her heart palpitations every time she got behind the wheel.
For the first time, Raina wished she were more physically commanding. Her petite frame wasn’t a real threat to anything larger than a pygmy goat and even then the claim was questionable. If only she were the type who walked around threatening to break people’s kneecaps as casually as some people cracked their knuckles. Holden would beg to pay her back then. It was time to up the ante and to pester him like a fly on a fresh pile of crap. She wasn’t walking out of this meeting empty handed.
Raina splashed water on her face and toweled it off, hoping it would reduce her flush. The trek from the bus stop to the history building in this August heat had turned her curly black hair into a fuzz ball. A Chinese girl with an Afro. Not exactly the image of a ballbuster. Grabbing the curly strands and stuffing them into a hair tie, she made one last attempt to look in control.
She glanced at her cell phone. Holden lived by his clock. He would be ruffled by the time she strolled through his o
ffice door ten minutes late. Taking a deep breath to calm her fluttering stomach, Raina banged open the restroom door in a show of bravado that echoed through the hall. A paunchy student glanced in her direction but returned to his study of the bulletin boards. She stalked into her graduate adviser’s office, prepared for a disparaging remark about her tardiness.
Holden continued scribbling on his yellow legal pad and gestured for her to have a seat. “Let me finish this thought.” He chewed on his pencil and wrote a couple more sentences.
Raina dropped onto the chair in front of his desk and folded her arms across her chest. So much for ruffling his feathers. The scratching of the pencil and the ticking clock tightened the knot in her stomach. She shifted in the chair, wondering how she should bring up the loan. Her upbringing had made discussing money taboo, and even as an adult she had trouble talking about it.
Just ask for the money back, said a small voice in her head.
Her skin itched at the neatness in his office. Books were alphabetized by subject and authors’ last names on the shelves lining one wall. No crammed volumes on the space above the shelved books like in her apartment. On the opposite wall, framed covers of his published books hung in neat lines, forming a perfect grid. As in previous visits, she resisted the urge to nudge a frame by a small degree just to see how long it would take for him to notice.
A place for everything and everything in its place, just like the blond man with the crisp collared shirt sitting in front of her. The pale light filtering in from the dusty windows behind Holden gave him a tarnished halo. He was a tall man with strong shoulders and a confident aura. She’d once found his heavy-lidded brown eyes mesmerizing. Now he just looked tired, but he was still spit-and-polished within an inch of his life.
Holden placed the pencil on the center of the pad and folded his hands on the desk. He cleared his throat. “Have you decided which countries you want to focus on?”
Raina unclenched the twin fists resting on her lap. So he was going to pretend they were nothing more than professor and grad student. “Not yet. China and Japan look to be a good option.”
“Good choice. You’ll certainly have an advantage with your background. Unfortunately, you’ll need to take beginning language classes with the undergrads. Too bad most of the classes from your undergrad engineering degree are not applicable towards your graduate degree.” He turned to open the low filing cabinet underneath the window and pulled out several sheets of paper. “We need to declare your area of focus before the end of this semester.”
Raina scowled at his back. If he wanted to pretend nothing had happened between them over the summer, she could do the same…after she got her money back.
She smoothed her face and tugged at her earlobe. “My car is having problems. When can you pay me back?” Darn it. She sounded like a pansy.
Holden flashed a commercial-worthy smile. “Sorry. You’ll have to wait. I don’t get paid until the end of next week.” He scribbled on the margin on the top page of the pile and pushed the stack toward her. “Here’s the information for this semester.”
Raina took a deep breath to calm her rising irritation. He made it sound like she was asking him for favor. “That’s what you said last time. Why don’t you post-date a check for me? I’ll deposit it next week.”
“Sorry, I don't have my checkbook with me.”
She forced her face into a smile, hoping it would keep the anger from her voice. “Why don't you log into your bank online and post-date a bank check? I can wait.”
He tapped his pencil on the desk. “Look, I don’t have time—”
“I’m pregnant. I really need my money.” Raina widened her eyes for emphasis at “really.” She sagged against the chair. The knot in her chest tightened until it strangled her voice. Where did that lie come from?
Holden licked his lips and his knuckles whitened on the hand gripping the pencil. “I…I don’t know what to say. Are you sure?”
Raina nodded, not trusting her voice. Press him, said a voice in her head. She cleared her throat and opened her mouth. To do what? Threaten to expose their affair or explain the lie? She closed her mouth, waiting for his next move.
They stared at each other, and the clock leisurely swallowed the minutes and filled the silence between them.
“The money?” Raina finally asked.
Heels clicked on the hallway floor and someone knocked on the opened door.
Holden jerked up like a tangled puppet, and his chair scuffed against the floor. He grabbed the pile of papers in front of her and knocked over the mahogany pencil caddy Raina had given him for his birthday.
Raina glanced behind her.
Gail, the history department’s secretary, stood at the door. Her thick brows were a tight line across her forehead. “Sorry to interrupt. Holden, you’re late for your meeting with the Dean. He’s waiting for you in the conference room.”
Holden squeezed Raina’s shoulder as he stepped around his desk. “We’ll finish our discussion later,” he whispered.
Raina stared openmouthed at his back. What was that about? The fluttering returned to her stomach. She resisted the urge to brush the feel of his hand from her shoulder.
“Are you okay, hon?” Gail asked.
“Yes. I…” Raina nodded. “Yes, thank you.”
“Just let me know if I can help.” Gail left the room and the sound of her clicking heels faded in the hall.
Raina took a couple of deep breaths, staring at the tiny window in front of her. With shaking hands, she tucked a curl behind her ear. What if he thought she still wanted him? A sudden stab of guilt twisted her gut. Why should she feel guilty about wanting her money back? Asking nicely for the last month hadn’t worked. He had this coming. This was his fault as much as hers.
Her eyes flicked to the knocked-over pencils and the small framed photograph next to them. She turned the frame around and her eyes widened in surprise at the blonde. New girlfriend already? He sure got over her fast enough. She replaced the frame facedown on the desk. Yes, it was petty, but she’d never claimed to be gracious.
Raina left the office and trudged toward the computer labs for her shift. She didn’t expect Holden to pay up with a smile, but now things were even more complicated between them. Tomorrow‘s fundraiser committee meeting would be awkward with a fake pregnancy hanging over them. Awkwardness she could power through, but her lawyer wasn’t going to work for an IOU.
* * *
The sky was turning pink when she drove home through the downtown area. Most of the mom-and-pop shops were closed, but there were still people frolicking in Hook Park, enjoying the Delta Breeze after another hot record-breaking day. The strands of lights in the outdoor seating areas and the few bicycles rolling leisurely next to parked cars were part of the charm that made Raina seek refuge in the small town of Gold Springs. Far enough away from her family in San Francisco, where the two-hour drive back was a convenient excuse to skip out on birthday parties and last minute family gatherings.
At the corner of Second and B Street, Raina slowed and squinted at the bank’s parking lot. Was that Holden? The two heavyset men on either side of him wore bored expressions, while Holden seemed to have diminished since this morning. His shoulders drooped and his wide eyes had the trapped expression of an animal in a cage. The three of them got into a shiny black SUV with chrome spinners.
The car behind her honked, and she drove through the intersection. By the time she circled the block, the black car was gone. She shook her head. Whatever was going on was no longer her business. She needed to stop obsessing over why he left her with no more explanation than a good-bye text.
Raina drove the rest of the way home on autopilot. She lived in a small complex on the edge of the downtown area, which consisted of two strips of four units facing each other like the little green houses on a Monopoly game. She threw her purse on the narrow side table and turned on the lamp next to her olive-colored sofa. The soft glow filled the living room and cast shado
ws into the breakfast nook.
Above her TV, the clock with gilded koi fishes swimming around the dial said it was past dinnertime. Her failure to get her money back meant ramen until payday, and she wasn’t in the mood for another noodle meal. She shifted on the thick cushions of the sofa until she didn’t feel like she would get lost between the cracks of the padding. Raina had no idea why her petite sister, Cassie, favored furniture built for linebackers, but then an expensive new-to-me sofa was better than a cheap sagging one.
She was immersed in the world of Middle Earth when there was a sharp knock on her front door. Cocking her head, she waited, in case it was dressed up church people trying to convince her to give up her Sunday mornings. The knock came again.
Raina glanced at the gap between the closed drapes of the big window above her sofa. Her friend, Eden, peered in with her hands framed around her dark round face like a peeping Tom. No church people, but Raina wasn’t sure an inquisitive reporter who didn’t know how to leave her work at the office was much of an improvement.
“Did you get it back?” Eden bustled in and dropped a pizza box on the square Goodwill dining room table. “Got any soda? Never mind. Be back in a sec.”
Her graceful friend turned and her silky brown weave fanned out like a shampoo commercial, glittering in the dim light. The scent of lavender lingered in the air even after she hustled across the courtyard toward her apartment. Eden returned with a can of soda.
Raina told her friend everything that had happened on campus and the strange incident at the bank. “I know I haven’t seen Holden in two months before today, but he seemed diminished somehow. A little less larger than life.”
“It’s called taking off the rose colored glasses,” Eden said. “I’m surprised he didn’t shove a check in your hands and tell you to get rid of the pregnancy.”
