by Anne R. Tan
Raina followed her grandma’s gaze. Two men shouted at each other by the clothes department. A store associate tried to calm the men down. The taller man pointed at Po Po and spoke animatedly. The three of them started walking toward Starbucks.
“Yo! The old Chinese woman. Where’s my Jiggle Me doll?” the taller man shouted.
“It’s the only one left in the area,” said the shorter man. “And it’s mine. I called the store to have them put it on hold for me.”
A woman stopped in her tracks. She turned to study Po Po. “How much do you want for the Jiggle Me doll?” She whipped out a fifty-dollar bill from her purse. “I must have it for my daughter.”
The cell phone in Raina’s hands vibrated. She glanced at the new text message.
Meet me outside old bookstore. Parking Bullseye nightmare. Have info on Sui Yuk.
Raina stood, swinging the diaper bag onto her shoulder. The men looked ready to wrestle her grandma. “Let’s roll.”
The taller man broke away and ran toward Po Po. “Stop.”
“It’s mine!” The shorter man grabbed the back of the taller man’s jacket and yanked him up short. They grappled, and the two fell to the ground.
The woman pulled out another fifty. She shoved the money in Po Po’s face and grabbed the shopping bags. “Here. Let me have the doll.”
Po Po slapped away the woman’s hand. Raina and her grandma rushed out of the store to the sound of pounding footsteps and strains of “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.”
2
LET’S DANCE
Raina unlocked her faded red Honda Accord, and they piled in. She handed the baby to her grandma and started the engine.
Po Po pulled a blanket out of the diaper bag and swaddled the child. “Where are we going?”
“The other side of the shopping plaza,” Raina said as she backed out of her parking spot. “I got a text from someone who claims to have info on Sui Yuk Liang.”
“At the empty storefront? What about the police?”
“It’s not like we’re running off with the baby. We’re just following up on a lead while it’s still hot.”
“If you think about it, we’re actually saving him,” Po Po said. “If we’d stayed, he might get trampled at the store. And we could always go back once things die down at Bullseye.”
Raina gave Po Po a sideways glance. Her grandma’s logic was unconventional at best, but downright dubious when she fished for excitement. Was this what she had to look forward to when she turned seventy-five? She parked and reached for the baby. “Can you send Matthew a text to let him know we’re here? I’m going outside with the baby.”
She got out, juggling the diaper bag and the baby. There was no sign of Sui Yuk Liang. The baby grabbed a strand of her curly black hair and stuffed it into his mouth, drooling all over her shoulder in the process. “Good thing you’re a cutie.”
The mega bookstore had left a year ago, but the town hadn’t been able to lure another big box store into the retail space. The windows of the empty building gaped at the shoppers across the parking lot like a toothless crone.
Raina took shelter under the overhanging canopy. Her curly hair responded to the drizzle like an angry cat, spreading itself like a wild halo around her head. Asian Carrot Top on the go. This was the reason she didn’t date much in the winter.
“Psst. Over here,” a voice said over her left shoulder.
Raina swung around and frowned at the man hidden in the shadow of the building. He beckoned for her to come closer even as he crossed the space between them. The man appeared to be in his early fifties with a touch of gray in his brown hair that would have been distinguished on anyone else. But his squinty brown eyes made the hair on the back of Raina’s neck stand to attention. She tightened her grip on the baby as she sneaked a glance at her car.
“Aaron Wheeler, madam,” the man said, holding out a hand. The wind shifted and the acrid stench of cigarettes from his worn parka wafted like a dust cloud around her.
She gave him a fake apologetic smile, but she was secretly glad she could use the baby and diaper bag as an excuse not to shake Aaron’s hand. “I’ve already called the police. They are on their way.”
“Oh, there is no need for that. I’m here to pick up my son. The wife probably forgot her medication. It’s postpartum depression.” He sighed with a weariness that irritated Raina, as if he were a saint for putting up with his wife. “I’ll strap junior in his car seat and take a drive to see if I can find Sui Yuk. It’s the second time she’s wandered off this month.”
Raina patted the baby’s small back and studied Aaron. He looked old enough to be Sui Yuk’s father rather than the baby’s. Sure there were December-May relationships, but the child didn’t look bi-racial. “Where is his birthmark located?”
Aaron stiffened as if he were offended. “What is this? A test?”
“Why isn’t Sui Yuk here with you?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but she’s having a hard time adjusting to motherhood. She wanders off sometimes.” He stepped closer, looming over her. His face tensed and his eyes tightened into a scowl. “The baby is mine. I'm not wading though bureaucratic red tape to get him back.”
Raina straightened, hoping her five feet three inches appeared to take up physical space like a puffed up angry cat. Her heart raced at the veiled threat, but she wasn’t going to let him see her fear. “You need to talk to social services or the police. I called the number in the diaper bag because I hoped whoever answered would tell Sui Yuk to contact me.”
He took a deep breath, visibly forcing himself to relax. “Can I hold him? I haven’t seen my baby in a couple of days. The ex wouldn’t let me see him as much as I would like.”
“How did you get divorced in the last five minutes?”
“What?”
“I said—”
“Just give me the baby,” he said through gritted teeth.
Raina held the baby closer against her chest. Despite the cold, a bead of sweat rolled down the small of her back. A car rumbled past, blaring a few strands of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” She swallowed the knot in her throat and opened her mouth. “When you can prove—”
His hand snaked out, grabbing a corner of the blanket.
Raina twisted, using her body as a shield. “Stop it. You’re going to make me drop him.” She tightened her grip on the baby. He squirmed and let out a cry.
Aaron tugged at the blanket until a chubby leg was exposed. He grabbed the leg and pulled. The child’s cry grew more piercing.
She clawed at his hands with her nails. “You’re hurting him!”
His arm curled around her waist, but he didn’t let go. “He's mine!”
“What is going on here?” called Po Po from behind her.
Raina’s heart stopped at the thought of Aaron knocking over her seventy-five-year-old grandma. She opened her mouth and screamed. A blood curling sound that matched the infant’s.
Po Po swung her beach bag sized purse and smacked it against Aaron’s head. Pain spread across his face and he spun around. “What the fu—”
Raina staggered backward. Her gaze scanned the area, looking for a safe place to set the baby. She wedged the child in the space between the communal mailbox and the empty building. The mailbox should prevent anyone from accidentally stepping on him.
As Aaron advanced toward her, Po Po stepped back, clutching her purse.
His fingers curled into fists. “Listen, you old bat—”
Po Po whipped out her pepper spray and blasted him.
Aaron jerked and covered his face with his hands. He screamed like a girly man.
Raina smacked him with the diaper bag. It ricocheted off his shoulders and smashed onto her nose. She yelped in pain and stumbled against Aaron, knocking both of them onto the wet concrete sidewalk.
As he picked himself up, her grandma slapped him with her purse. She sprayed him again. Another quick blast that even made Raina’s eyes sting. “Co
me on baby, let’s dance.”
He hunched his shoulders and fumbled sideways, almost falling again in his haste to leave. “Keep the baby! The money isn’t worth this.”
Po Po swung her purse above her head and threw it against his back. He yelped, grabbed his back, and scrambled away.
Raina’s jaw dropped. Forget flies. She could catch hummingbirds with her mouth. She turned her head slowly to stare at her grandma. What was that? She’d always known Po Po to be a fighter, but she didn’t think it was literal.
Po Po held out her hand for a high five. “Show me some love.”
Raina patted her grandma’s hand dutifully. Her heart was still participating in a race she didn’t want to be in.
Po Po was literally bouncing from the adrenaline. “Where’s the baby?”
Raina rushed to the mailbox, fearing the worst, but the baby sucked his finger as he stared at a spider wrapping his lunch. She scooped the child into her arms and inspected his leg. It was slightly red around the ankle, but there was no bruise. She rubbed it gently. “Poor baby,” she murmured.
“Is the little guy okay?” Po Po asked.
Raina nodded. “Where are the police? I thought you said they’re on their way.”
Po Po shrugged. “Let’s go to your apartment. He might show up with friends next time.”
After they piled into her car, Raina hit the locks. It took her two tries to insert the key in the ignition. By the time she pulled out from the driveway, the familiar citrus air freshener and the warmth from the heater helped slow her heart rate. After several rattled breaths, the jittery feeling disappeared.
Raina drove as if she had a car full of eggs. She hoped the one time she drove a child around without a car seat wouldn’t be the first time she got a ticket. The other drivers must have thought they were sharing the road with a new student driver. The baby slept in Po Po’s arms without a care in the world.
The earlier drizzle became a downpour as if a water tower were cracked in half. The twinkling Christmas lights and large wreaths adorning the lampposts in the downtown area became a blur.
“Please call Matthew to let him know that we are heading back to my apartment with the baby,” Raina said.
She hoped she wouldn’t get in trouble for leaving, but what choice did she have? If they had stayed outside the store, the three of them would be soaked and Aaron might return. Neither was returning to Bullseye an option. There was no telling if the other shoppers would continue to harass them over the Jiggle Me doll.
Instead of calling Matthew, Po Po called Donna, the front desk clerk who also worked as the dispatcher. It looked like her grandma wasn’t too keen about facing his annoyance either.
Did she make the right decision by calling Aaron Wheeler? Was she over analyzing this? Sure, Sui Yuk Liang could have put the baby on top of the diaper bag in the restroom. But the floors were disgusting when Raina had used the restroom prior to her encounter with the young mom. Crumpled paper towels and unidentifiable wet spots on the floors. Yuck. Management should have increased the cleaning schedule with so many shoppers in the store.
She pulled into the parking lot at the back of her small apartment complex. The eight units were divided into two strips and faced one another over a courtyard like the green houses on a Monopoly game.
“When are the police going to get here?” Raina asked as she opened the front door.
She grimaced at the soreness on her shoulder as she dropped the three-ton diaper bag on the living room floor. And here she thought her grandma’s beach bag size purse was a pain to lug around. As she turned on the lamp next to the new-to-me sofa, she rubbed her aching shoulder.
“Maybe another hour? Donna said things”—Po Po averted her gaze—“got out of hand after we left the store. Matthew and Officer Hopper are busy taking statements right now.”
Oh great. They were going to be in an awesome mood when they finally showed up. “What happened?”
“The usual Christmas stuff. A shoving match. A broken window. Oh, a riot that shut down the store for the day.”
“We’re in deep sh—”
“Language, Rainy. Little ears are listening.” Po Po glanced at the infant in her arms. “There’s no proof the riot has anything to do with us.”
Raina looked pointedly at the Jiggle Me doll sticking out of the plastic bag next to the diaper bag.
“Finders keepers. Whiners weepers. It wasn’t my fault the two men would rather argue with each other than hustle to the checkout line. I paid for it. It’s mine,” Po Po said. “Any who. I can’t wait to see Lila’s face when she opens her present. I’m winning the best great-gran award.”
Raina sighed and dropped the subject. She didn’t want to lose the chance to put her name on the gift tag. Mercenary? Yes, but it was for a good cause. She needed to get back in to the rest of the family’s good graces without seeming like she was groveling.
Life was sure more exciting with her grandma around. Her growling stomach told her it was late afternoon. A quick glance at the clock with gilded kois swimming around the dial confirmed what her body already knew. Two o’clock. Time to wolf down some food before the cops got here.
Po Po held out the baby. “Why don’t I get the mail for you?”
For a moment, Raina experienced a sense of déjà vu. It was like her morning with Sui Yuk all over again. She grabbed the child. “The mail can wait. We should eat before the cops get here.”
Po Po snatched the keys from the narrow table next to her front door. “No, I insist. I want to see the ads for this week. Only a few more shopping days left before Christmas.”
“Don’t you want to leave your purse—”
Her grandma hustled out of the apartment as if she were using a “get out of jail free” card.
The baby's face scrunched up and his little arms windmilled. Her niece Lila had the same expression right before she exploded into her diaper. No wonder her grandma was hiding out until the cleanup was done.
Raina gently placed the baby on the beige carpet. He was still young enough that she didn’t have to worry about him rolling anywhere. She headed to her shoebox of a kitchen for another cup of coffee to give the baby time to finish his business. The scent of brewing coffee almost masked the smell of poo filling the small apartment. The knot between her shoulder blades loosened as the tension oozed out of her body.
Everything turned out okay. The police would pick up the baby, and being stood up was the perfect excuse to ward off any future duties with the foreign exchange student. Life was good.
After a quick diaper change, Raina was cooing to the baby when her grandma returned with the mail. “Aaron said the baby is his.”
They both stared at the almond-shaped brown eyes and downy black hair on the baby.
“Adoption?” Po Po said doubtfully. “But that wouldn’t explain Sui Yuk Liang. Why do you think he wants the baby?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. Do you think we should do a reverse lookup on the phone number in the diaper bag?”
“It's not a bad idea. That way we would at least know which part of town to avoid until this dies down.”
“Isn’t it odd Aaron mentioned money? Do you think he’s being paid to retrieve the child?”
“For who? Sui Yuk?”
“Now that is the million-dollar question.”
Knock! Knock!
Raina’s pulse jumped. She wasn’t sure how much more excitement she could take. Today was supposed to be a mundane Saturday morning. Aaron couldn’t have followed her home.
She squinted in her peephole. E. Matthew Louie. Her breath rushed out in relief. The police finally arrived. As usual, her ex-boyfriend always managed to show up after the action was over.
3
BRINGING SEXY BACK
Droplets of rain clung to Matthew’s black hair. His navy-blue sweater looked damp as if he hadn’t bothered with an umbrella for the short distance from his police cruiser to her apartment. The warmth radiated off him, raisi
ng the humidity in the space between them. His body always ran warmer than hers—the perfect bedmate for a long winter night.
Matthew leaned down as if to kiss her. “Hi, Rainy.”
Raina inhaled his citrus and sage scent, but shifted so his lips grazed her cheek. “Boy, am I glad to see you.” She stepped aside so he could come in.
He smiled as if he heard an offer he couldn’t resist. When he saw Po Po sitting on the sofa with the baby, he straightened. His gold-flecked brown eyes lost their come-hither sultry gaze.
“So you’re bringing sexy back, huh?” Po Po asked.
He flushed as if he were caught with his hands in the honey pot. “No, madam.”
“I wouldn’t want to see my Rainy upset again.”
Raina held up her hands. “Whoa! I’m not—”
“Of course not. I wouldn’t want to see her upset either,” he said.
“She tells me it’s over. I’m assuming you’re not one of those stalker types,” Po Po continued, ignoring Raina.
Matthew winced. “Yes. I mean no. I’m a not a stalker.”
Raina glanced down to hide her grin. A flustered Matthew was a rare sight. His grandma, Maggie Louie, and Po Po were best friends for the last fifty-five years. Po Po had been like another grandparent to him, just as Maggie Louie had been to Raina. But there was no hint of this now. Po Po was a mother bear protecting her cub.
“Several officers are at Bullseye doing crowd control and taking statements,” Matthew said. “It’s the reason I’m here instead of an officer.”
Raina stared at the koi clock above her TV. She bit her lip to hide her smile. Even flustered, Matthew handled her grandma like an old pro.
Po Po stood with the baby. “Boy, do I need a nap. Wake me up when it’s my turn.” She went into the bedroom and closed the door.
Matthew sighed. “Is there any way you could control her?”
“With what? A tranquilizer dart in her butt?”
