by Anne R. Tan
“I don’t know, but he looked out of it when he came back.”
Raina frowned. Joe didn't have the look of a secret addict. “Was he high? Or do you mean he wasn’t all there?”
“It wasn’t drugs drugs.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“He takes some kind of medication. I have no idea what. You’ll have to ask the Sullivans.”
Was it possible Joe could have hit Sui Yuk Liang while under the influence of a medication? Could he be charged like a DUI driver?
Officer Hopper came out the front door. She clicked on a flashlight and swung the beam until it splashed around the pickup. “Hands up where I can see them.”
Raina squinted and held a hand over her face. She hated when a bigger light stick showed up at the party. Time to pack it up and go home.
* * *
Raina's phone rang as she stepped through her grandma's front door. It was her mother. She should let it go to voicemail, but Mom would call again every half hour until she answered the phone. Better off just to get the conversation over.
“Hi, Mom,” Raina said as she dropped her purse on the kitchen island. She read the note her grandma left on the countertop to let her know she was monitoring the police scanner.
“I spoke with Cassie last night,” Mom said. She chattered about Lila and her sister’s shopping trip at the mall.
Raina grabbed a fitness magazine from the coffee table and settled on the sofa. There was no such thing as a quick conversation with her mom.
Time was meaningless to a person who never held a job her entire life. She went straight from her parents’ house to her marriage with no transition in between. When Dad died ten years ago, Mom was back into her parents’ house with her children in tow.
Raina muttered “oh really” and “uh-huh” whenever there was a lull in the conversation while she read an article about the merits of rock climbing. Mom could carry on a conversation all by herself. Once Raina had left to use the restroom, and her mom didn’t even notice she was gone.
“Are you mad at Cassie? Why are you refusing to loan your sister some money?” Mom asked.
Raina straightened. It usually took her mom at least twenty minutes to get to the point. “Do you know what she wants the money for? I’m not paying off her credit cards. It's not my problem that she can't control her spending.”
“I can understand that you don't want to share your inheritance with your cousins, but this is your sister. You have no idea how much it costs to raise a family in San Francisco.”
While Raina could sympathize with Cassie, they could move to a cheaper city or town. “I still don't see how this is my problem.”
“It's your duty to help your siblings. It's not like you need all that money for yourself."
Whenever Mom spoke of duty in helping out a family, it invariably meant Raina had to give something up because she had the unfortunate luck of being a first born. Technically, she was her mom’s first child, but her dad’s second.
Mom was the youngest and the only girl in her family. By the time she came along, Ah Gong’s shipping business had taken off, which meant she didn't have to work in the warehouses by the port like her six older brothers did. Her childhood was full of rainbows and butterflies where one of her brothers always stepped in to keep the dark clouds away. Her adult life wasn't much different.
“If Cassie had visited Ah Gong more than once when he was in the hospital, he might have left her something,” Raina said with a trace of irritation in her voice.
“She was a new mom with a baby. You are single with plenty of free time.”
“She's a stay-at-home mom with a nanny. I worked full time with a one-hour commute each way, and yet I managed to visit Ah Gong several times a week. And when he got home, I drove him to every appointment.”
“Honey, you need to let it go. You make sacrifices for your family. Now put on your big girl panties, and stop whining.”
Raina rubbed her temples. Why did every conversation with her mom always make her out to be a self-centered brat? “Mom, I need to go. I'll see you in a few days.”
“Wait! What about Cassie?”
“I’ll think about it.” Raina hung up before her mom could finagle the promise out of her. Sure, she would give her sister money to pay off her credit cards—when pigs fly. Her husband was a partner at their Uncle Anthony’s law firm. Raina ate more Spam and Ramen on a regular basis that her sister did.
This design to profit from Raina’s supposedly newfound wealth would only get worse. Until everyone realized the three million dollars were meant to care for their grandfather’s eldest son and mistress, Raina would always get blamed for the division of Ah Gong’s wealth. Po Po needed to expose her husband's infidelity to the rest of the family. But what self-respecting woman would rush to let everyone know how she was hoodwinked her entire married life?
* * *
When Raina woke the next morning, Po Po was already at her exercise class. She was hoping to catch her grandma to discuss what happened at the Sullivans last night. Apparently retirement kept a person busy. Her grandma’s social calendar was miles longer than hers.
Raina swung by the Venus Café to grab a bagel and coffee. Brenda worked the cash register while another woman filled the orders. They exchanged morning pleasantries, but there was no time or privacy to talk about last night’s police visit.
The Spanish music was already blaring by the time Raina trudged into the utility room. She nodded at Lucille and started folding towels. Her conversation with her mom left her in a rare mood—somewhere between irritation and guilt. As much as she outwardly denied it, Raina knew she had mommy issues that were probably best hidden in the weak morning light.
The Spanish music stopped, and Raina looked up at the sudden silence. Lucille took a long drag at the cigarette dangling from her fingers, eyeing her the entire time.
“What’s going on? You look like a dog ate your breakfast,” Lucille said, her voice scratchy and sharp.
Raina shrugged, hoping it would prevent further questions. “Just rolled off the wrong side of the bed.”
“I hope you’re not going to be as sloppy as yesterday. I’m not redoing your work. Here.” Lucille held out a sheet of paper. “This is your half of the work. Go ask Cecelia where she stored the other maid’s cart. You’re flying solo today.”
Raina glanced at the room numbers. “This is not half.”
Lucille shrugged as she pushed the maid’s cart out the doorway. “I figured the two extra suites should make up for my help yesterday.”
Raina glared at her coworker’s retreating back. Not only were the extra suites the bigger bungalows, Lucille waited until they finished loading up the maid’s cart before mentioning her maiden flight. Geez, the woman should just crackle and fly around with a broomstick between her knees.
As the sliding glass lobby doors whooshed shut behind her, a blast of warm air hit her face. She stood for a moment, letting the heat take the chill off her body. The front desk clerk glanced up from the cell phone in her hands, a welcoming smile on her face. When she noticed the resort logo on Raina’s shirt, she nodded and returned to her phone.
“Is Cecelia here yet?” Raina asked.
“Ya-huh,” the clerk mumbled, dragging her eyes from the small screen. “Are you going there now?” She pulled out a cardboard box from under the counter. “Can you give this to her? It came in yesterday’s mail. Thanks.” She returned to her phone.
Raina grabbed the package and wondered if people were just plain ruder these days. At least the clerk said thanks. As she approached the office, tendrils of a rose scent drifted out from the interior. If Cecelia’s perfume were visible, Raina imagined it would be a light pink haze with the consistency of cotton candy and the reach of octopus legs. Her eyes itched before she even crossed the threshold.
Cecelia looked up from her laptop. “Good morning, Raina. What can I help you with?”
Raina handed her the package. “
Good morning. The front desk clerk asked me to give this to you.”
Cecelia frowned at the smudged return address and grabbed a pair of scissors from the cup on her desk.
“Lucille decided we should split up today,” Raina said. “Where is the other maid’s cart?”
Cecelia glanced at Raina, while her hands opened the flap. “It’s in the shed to the right of the Community Room.”
Raina frowned at the dark interior of the box. Was something moving inside it? She took a step back.
“What’s wrong?” Cecelia asked. A worried look crossed over her face, and she jerked her hands back from the box.
The gap between the flaps widened, and a Pepto Bismal pink balloon expanded until it pushed the flaps apart. The balloon kept growing.
Cecelia’s mouth fell opened.
Raina’s back brushed against a hard surface. She’d glanced over her shoulder, surprised she backed up to the doorway.
Pop!
Something slimy oozed down the side of her face. A burnt plastic scent clung to the air, so the whole office smelled like someone left a plastic plate in the microwave too long. Her heart rate sped up. Her hand rose to touch her face. The slime was thick and hot pink. She glanced at Cecelia.
The resort owner’s chest heaved as if she were running from a predator. She was covered from head to toe with splatters of the slime. Her bulging wide eyes fixated on the package on her desk.
Raina’s gaze traveled to the box. Nestled in the ruins of the pink balloon and a pile of yellow joss paper rested a paper doll in a pool of hot pink slime.
13
JUMP OVER THE FIRE
Raina shivered as if someone walked over her grave. The hair on her forearm stood at attention. The coarse yellow joss paper was an offering to appease the angry spirit of a dead baby. She prayed whoever sent the package only had a vendetta against Cecelia. Please don’t let this have anything to do with BL.
“We should call the police,” Raina said. Her voice came out sounding like a cartoon mouse.
Cecelia shook as if awakening from a trance. She smiled, but only one side of her lips twitched, like a puppet master forgot to lift the other string. “There’s no need for that. This is just a practical joke.”
“You don’t send joss paper as a joke. It’s for the dead, and very bad luck in Chinese culture to use it like this.” Raina gestured at the package. “This is a curse.”
Cecelia grew even paler, but she tried to laugh it off. “I can assure you this is a joke. It’s poor taste, but certainly not a curse. Why don’t you go home for today? You are clearly rattled.”
“What is the return address?”
“It’s smudged.”
“But you must have an idea who would play this kind of joke on you.”
“Probably my ex-husband. He might have walked out on me, but he never got over that I became a millionaire after he left.”
Raina frowned. “But Eric isn’t Chinese. How would he know where to even find joss paper?”
Cecilia’s head swiveled, and she studied Raina with beady eyes. “You know Eric?”
“No, but I’ve seen him around the resort.”
“Oh,” Cecelia said, brushing a clump of slime off her shoulder. “Go home for today. Lucille can finish up on her own.”
Raina nodded stiffly and left the office. She didn’t believe for a second that Cecelia had no clue who sent the package. While crime could be random, exploding joss paper was not.
Instead of going home, Raina went to her grandma’s condo. Po Po took one look at her, and told her to wait outside. She disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a stainless steel salad bowl and a plastic trash bag. She set the bowl in front of the threshold, threw in a handful of thin joss paper with gold metallic squares, and lit them. This cleansing ritual had been used by housewives for centuries to keep “the dirty stuff” outside the home. The gold metallic squares would attract the good will of higher level gods.
“Jump over the fire,” Po Po said.
Raina did as instructed, feeling a sense of calm flow over her at the familiar ritual. Even in the modern world, there was a place for superstition, just as a placebo often had similar effect on patients.
“Quick,” Po Po said as her gaze scanned the hall, “take off your clothes.” She held out the plastic bag.
Raina crossed her arms. “What?”
“I don’t want pink slime all over my house.” Po Po shook the bag. “Just do it before someone comes by.”
Raina clenched her jaw. Either she continue to argue with her grandma or drive back to her apartment. Neither option was appealing, but she did want the shirt off ASAP. The cold slime was giving her the heebie-jeebies.
As she whipped her head up and down the hall, she pulled off her jeans and dropped them into the trash bag. She grabbed the edge of her shirt and pulled it over her head. Her hands slipped on the thickening pink slime, trapping her forearms against her face. Yuck.
“Help,” Raina said, struggling to free her arms from the tight vise.
Po Po’s hands grabbed the back of her shirt and tugged, freeing an elbow. Almost there.
Ding! The elevator whooshed open. Cheerful conversation between an elderly man and his granddaughter drifted over, along with their approaching footsteps.
“Inside,” Po Po whispered next to her ear, giving Raina a gentle shove.
Raina stumbled and fell onto the floor. The impact knocked the breath out of her.
“What the—”
“Grandpa, why does she have holes in her underwear?” the little girl asked. “I don’t have holes in my underwear. Golly, the underwear is as big as a hat.”
Raina groaned, glad the shirt covered her flaming face. Po Po was right. Apparently one never knew when she would be flashing her underwear in public. Why didn’t she wear the new panties her grandma had gotten her?
Thirty minutes later, Raina wore a pair of her grandma’s silk pajamas and huddled over a cup of steaming coffee on the barstool by the kitchen island. She told her grandma about what happened at the resort. “Someone is out to get Cecelia. Probably BL’s mother.”
“It could be another matter entirely,” Po Po said. “Cecelia might have all kinds of enemies for all we know.”
“What did you find out in Sui Yuk Liang’s emails?”
Her grandma adverted her gaze, staring out the window at the overcast sky. “I didn’t quite get to it last night.”
“Po Po.”
“Don’t use that tone on me. The emails are boring, and I already did half of them. You should finish them. Just think of it as practice.”
“Fine,” Raina said. It took all of her willpower to stop her eyes from rolling to the back of her head.
“You know I’m more of a doer than a thinker.”
“Uh-huh,” Raina said slowly. She rubbed her hands on the leg of her jeans. This moment was as good as any. The upcoming Christmas dinner would be the perfect time to reveal Ah Gong’s other family. Her grandma should understand they couldn’t keep it a secret forever.
Po Po snapped her fingers. “Earth to Rainy. I said there was no birth certificate for Muyang Yao’s baby, but there was one for Sui Yuk Liang’s baby.”
Raina blinked as her grandma’s words sparked a lightbulb in her head. “So this is why the Chinese woman is snooping around Cecelia’s office. She couldn’t very well ask the police to return BL to her.”
“How do we even know she is BL’s mother? She could be delusional or suffering from postpartum like Matthew said.”
“There’s only one way to know for sure—a DNA test.”
“And where would we get a sample of BL?”
“You’re not going to believe this.” Raina told her grandma about the cutie pie at the Sullivans and the police visit from the night before. “They must have called around the body shops to see if anyone brought in a damaged vehicle.”
“What did Joe tell the police?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t had a chan
ce to talk to the Sullivans. But getting a sample from BL shouldn’t be a problem.”
Po Po stood. “What are we waiting for? We can’t let an innocent man take the fall for the murder. Let’s grab a pastry from the Venus Café to go with that coffee you’re drinking.”
“Slow down. We don’t know if Joe is even accused of a crime yet.” Raina held out her mug. “Besides, I can’t bring my own coffee to a cafe.”
“I don’t see why not.”
“Matthew is on the police force. He’ll do the right thing.”
“I’m not so sure. Since he is stupid enough to let you go, I have no faith in his ability to see things in shades of gray.”
* * *
They hopped into Raina’s car for the short drive to the café. Normally they would have walked, except the swollen clouds threatened a heavy rain. Raina turned off the radio, the false cheer of the Christmas music reminded her that the countdown to D-day was around the corner.
“What good is a sample from BL if we don’t have a sample from Muyang Yao?” Po Po asked. “I have a feeling she has something to do with the curse. We need to smoke her out.”
“One thing at a time,” Raina said. “Muyang would continue to circle around Cecelia if she believes the resort owner stole her baby.”
“Whoever put the curse together probably couldn’t find black dog blood and so had to improvise with pink slime. Without the blood, the curse is nothing more than window dressing. Too bad Chinatown is so far away. You can find anything in Chinatown if you know where to look.”
Raina slid a sideway glance at her grandma. Sometimes she had no idea if Po Po was serious or just making conversation. “I don’t see the mousy woman being so aggressive. She was practically weeping from fright in Cecilia’s closet.”
“Honey, if this woman is BL’s biological mother like we suspected, she’s a mother bear waiting for her chance to strike. And why are we calling her ‘woman?’ I thought her name was Muyang Yao.”
