Rohani was kneeling on a mat, her buttocks resting on the pale upturned soles of her feet. She did not turn around. She continued with her prayers, prostrating herself low until her forehead touched the ground.
Caught by surprise, Shao Peng stood at the doorway. She held her breath. She felt like an intruder. She had never seen Rohani in prayer. Religion was never discussed. It never cropped up. She knew that her father respected Rohani’s prayer times and abstinence from pork. It never seemed to interfere with the household activities nor the management of meals they ate together, even though her father was not a Muslim. Somehow, they accommodated each other’s practice. How did they do it? Until now she never gave it any thought. She just took it for granted. Now it hit her because she herself might be at the brink of a marriage with someone with a completely different background.
She stood in silent admiration of her stepmother, wondering at how her stepmother had managed to balance the two cultures. At least with Jack and herself, religion would not be a bone of contention. She smiled at the thought, excited by the prospect that they could marry. There was just one more hurdle to go, she thought. She waited quietly at the doorway, trying hard to instil patience in herself.
“Why this early?” her stepmother asked when she completed her prayers. She got up and invited Shao Peng into the room.
“Remember you said you could take me to Kampong Baru, the village set up for Malay people? You were going to show me the girl ... Aishah ... the one rumoured to be Jack’s ... Well, can you do it? “
“Are you sure you want to know?”
“Siew Loong said that if I know for certain that Jack did not have a ... a relationship with her, he’ll let us marry.” She blushed. “Of course that is if Jack still wants to. I have not spoken to him.” Her cheeks turned a deeper pink. She wondered if she was being presumptuous. What if Jack no longer felt the same?
“When?”
“Today? I am going to the Convent this afternoon. We can do it this morning.”
A loud knock interrupted them. “Mistress, is Miss Shao Peng with you? She is not in her bedroom. Someone is here to see her.”
“At this hour! Who could that be?” said Rohani.
***
Shao Peng took her time going to the main hallway. Ah Fatt was vague as to who the caller was. Ah Fatt was new to the household, having arrived from Hainan a couple of months ago. He spoke mainly Hainanese and normally would not be called upon to greet guests because not many spoke that dialect. He was only standing in for Ah Kew whose ankle was playing up once more.
Shao Peng ran her fingers through her hastily combed hair wishing all the while that she had paid more attention to her dressing this morning. She paused for a second in front of a mirror and looked at herself. She grimaced and then stepped over the half moon doorway into the front room. She stopped. It could not be!
Standing with his back facing her was Jack.
He turned when he heard her, his hat in his hand. With four big strides he was beside her. He held her arms and his eyes searched into hers. Then he pulled her to him, brushing his lips against her temple.
For a split second she resisted but her body refused to do as she willed. She gave up and buried her face in his chest. She breathed in his scent.
“I missed you,” he said.
“I ... I...” She pulled away; she was suddenly overwhelmed with anger. “Why did you leave without a word? You were going to marry someone else...” Her voice broke.
He pulled her back into his arms, and his jacket once more muffled her voice. “Please, let that be for the moment. I’ll explain. Please let us have this moment and think of nothing else.” His lips were on hers, stopping any further protestation. She tried pushing him away. She couldn’t keep up with the struggle. The comfort of being in his arms muted her anger. All she wanted at that moment was to be loved and to cast aside the shadows of the past months. She longed for peace and love. In his arms, she felt she had that for the first time since her return from China. They stood there oblivious to everything, he with his arms round her and his lips tracing the tendrils of hair that had escaped on her temple, and she nestling into his jacket. She could feel his heartbeat and he hers.
“Ummph!”
Shao Peng broke away. Siew Loong was standing with arms folded across his chest, looking at them. His expression was fathomless. He looked from one to the other. Then he turned and strode back into the house. “Remember what we agreed last night! Until then, he should leave!”
Shao Peng broke free. “You have to go now. My brother promised he would not stand between us if the rumours about you and Aishah are proved unfounded.”
“Aishah?” A look of bewilderment crossed Jack’s face. Impatiently he brushed aside the lock of hair that had fallen across his forehead. “Aishah? The girl that was sent to clean my quarters?”
He let his arms fall to his sides. The look of incredulity on his face was replaced with hurt and then anger. “Do you believe in the stories, whatever they may be?”
He stepped back. Then he turned and left.
***
The bullock cart trundled into Kampong Baru and Shao Peng found herself in a different time warp. The contrast between the street she lived in and the village they arrived at could not be greater. It was like leaping from the hustle and bustle of activity to a space where everything moved slowly, where the act of breathing was in itself sufficient to count as motion. Even the air, hot with a hint of the turmeric spice, smelt different. From the corner of her eye, Shao Peng could see the glimmer of excitement in Rohani’s eyes.
“At last!” Rohani clambered out of the cart. “I wanted to visit the moment I heard about this place. No one was interested in accompanying me here. Both your father and brother were always busy. It reminds me so much of the village I came from, where your father first met me.”
Shao Peng looked at the little wooden houses on stilts, the banana groves with their bedraggled palms, the colourful sarongs strung out to dry and flapping in the wind and the children with brown torsos bared to the hot sun, playing in the dirt. She realised why Rohani had carved out a garden that mirrored such a place. The depth of her stepmother’s homesickness touched her deeply. She understood why her stepmother had chosen Suet Ping for Siew Loong. She longed for someone she could relate to and Suet Ping being half Malay provided her that.
Mindful of her own quest, however, she placed a gentle hand on the arm of the excited Rohani. “Where is Aishah?” she asked.
Rohani pointed to a group of men squatting idly by the path. The men were brazenly staring at them. “Ask them. I know only that she lives in this village.”
When asked, the men pointed them in the direction of the river. They gawked at the two women. Every now and then they would drop their eyes, shift on their haunches, and mumble to each other before continuing with their staring. They did not often see Malay and Chinese women together, at least not in this village where all the residents were Malay.
Shao Peng was too preoccupied to notice. She boarded the cart and they moved in the direction of the river. She could not keep calm. She could feel her heart beat go faster and faster. She had started the journey feeling confident that she would be able to clear up any misunderstanding so that she would be free to marry Jack. Now that she was here, she found her confidence ebb away.
A number of women were washing clothes on the riverbank. They were singing and chatting. Their voices rose and fell in rapid cadence. They stopped when they saw Shao Peng and Rohani.
“Aishah?” Shao Peng heard her own voice squeak. “Is anyone here called Aishah?
A young woman detached herself from the congregation of women and came forward. “Saya Aishah.” She was the colour of dark honey. Shao Peng’s heart fell. She absorbed the symmetry of the woman’s face and her large eyes framed with long dark lashes. She was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. How could any man resist her?
Rohani saw how Shao Peng had turned deathly pale.
“Leave it to me. My Malay is better. I’ll speak to her,” said the older woman. She beckoned the girl to follow her. Shao Peng stood aside. Aishah brushed passed, her buttocks undulating under the tight sarong. She glanced back at Shao Peng, and smiled.
Shao Peng stood rooted. Her legs refused to budge even though she wanted to move nearer to listen. She watched Rohani speak; the girl’s eyes slid in Shao Peng’s direction. She nodded emphatically. The thudding in Shao Peng’s heart did not stop.
***
After Jack left Shao Peng, he went straight home. He ran up the short flight of steps that led from the front porch of his house to the verandah that skirted it. He entered the house. It was quiet. No one was around. He hurried to the back. He found his valet, a young Chinese called Wang, polishing shoes. Startled, Wang dropped what he was doing and got up. He was not expecting his boss.
“Master, you are back. I didn’t hear you ring for me.”
“I didn’t. Come with me.” Jack led the way into the drawing room. “Are you aware that there were rumours about Aishah...” Jack could not finish his sentence. He felt it was unseemly to ask his own valet about rumours concerning himself. “What do you know about Aishah?” he asked instead.
A smirk crossed the man’s face briefly. “Aishah? She used to clean here. You know her, Master. She says you often gave her gifts, a roll of sarong, once even your shirt. She is not here now. She left once you went to England. She is back in her kampong.” From under his eyebrows, Wang observed his Master’s reaction. He had been extremely irritated when Aishah showed off the things she received. He had been jealous, afraid that his own importance to his Master would be diminished by a mere slip of a girl.
“Yes, yes! I remember her. Did she say why she left? Were there any rumours surrounding her departure?”
Wang did not answer at once. A sly look crossed his face. He remembered how he had teased the girl and accused her of bedding his master, how the others joined in until she could not stand it any more and had fled. Good riddance to bad rubbish. He now looked up and returned Jack’s searching gaze. “No Master. Just that she was lazy and did not wish to work. May I bring you a drink? It is a very hot day.”
Jack picked up his topi and placed it on his head. “No. Thank you. I am going out.”
He strode out of the house into the scorching hot sun and walked briskly to the British Resident’s house. He needed to clear his mind. He thought of George, his best friend. George was the district officer from the neighbouring state of Negeri Sembilan. He was visiting Kuala Lumpur. He would ask him if he heard of rumours concerning him and Aishah.
As he walked, his mind went back to recent events since his return from England. He remembered, in particular, the silence that greeted him when he entered a room. He had thought little of it then. He had attributed it to news of his broken engagement. Everyone had expected him to be married and they were embarrassed to speak to him. He now realised that he was snubbed for a different reason. He recalled the first day of his return when he was asked to join the Resident for dinner. The women averted their gaze when he looked or greeted them. Gone were the smiles and friendly greetings of the past. The lady seated next to him had barely a word to say in response to his polite conversation. Surely, he thought, his gifts carelessly given to the poor girl who had so little could not be misconstrued.
***
“Well old chap,” said George, “you have yourself partly to blame for the plight you are in. I did warn you that the natives here are childlike. You should not encourage over-familiarity. There should be a strict division between employer and staff. It is for good reason that we have this policy of segregation. It is no good you saying that you gave her gifts because you pitied her. That act in itself would lead to all sorts of misconstruction. My servant is a friend of your valet, Wang. He apparently told everyone that you favoured Aishah. He hinted that she bedded you. As a man, I can’t say I blame you on that score. She is beautiful. You should, however, try to keep such things from the public’s view. These things do happen.” George looked pityingly at his friend. “It should just appear not to.”
“I didn’t bed her. I love Shao Peng. You know that.”
George took a big gulp of brandy and looked appraisingly at his friend. Sometimes he wondered how Jack could be so brilliant and then so naive when it came to matters of the heart.
George decided that he should try to steer his friend away from such ill-conceived thoughts of involving himself with a local. “I thought Shao Peng turned you down. Again, even with her, you are not conforming to what is expected of us as representatives of the British Crown. The people above us don’t like it, you know, consorting with the natives. As far as the Administration is concerned, she is not English and that is that.”
“I don’t care a damn about what the Administration thinks. Funnily enough, Shao Peng’s father thought exactly the same way. I am not good enough for his daughter because I am not Chinese!” Jack ran his hand through his hair, almost tugging it in his frustration.
“I wish you good luck.” George finished his drink and placed the glass down with a sharp bang. He knew that Jack would not change his mind when it came to Shao Peng. Well, he gave it a try. “Duty calls. I have to go to the Resident now. I shall put in a good word for you if I am asked. There is little else I can do. “
***
“What did she say?” Shao Peng asked Rohani, the minute she had a chance.
Rohani waited until Aishah could not be seen and the last of the women by the river had left. She knew Shao Peng was anxious and thought for a while to choose her words carefully. It had not been easy to fathom all that Aishah told her. She had to separate the facts from the fiction.
“She clearly is quite besotted with her master,” she replied. ‘She tells me that Mr Webster sayang her. He gives her things. However, the word sayang means a range of things. It does not necessarily mean sexual love or love between a man and a woman. You sayang a baby, you sayang a child, you sayang your cat. If she had said cinta, I would be more concerned. From what she told me, I think it merely means ‘fondness’ as he would a pet or a child. In any case, what is most important is that she has not slept with Jack, the way it was rumoured. I specifically asked her, both indirectly and directly. From what I gathered he had been mainly kind to her.”
Relieved, Shao Peng clasped both hands to her face. She wanted to jump for joy. “Would you tell Siew Loong? If I told him, he might not believe me.”
Again Rohani did not reply immediately. She lowered herself to a wooden bench and patted the seat next to her. She beckoned Shao Peng to sit. “I have one condition. I would like you to be friends with Suet Ping,” she said. “I would like to have her with us more frequently, and when she is in our house, she needs a friend. Your brother shows no interest. I don’t want her discouraged. Having you as a friend would help the situation; it will help tide over awkward moments. Your brother could be quite trying. Moreover, as her friend, it gives me a reason to invite her over. It gives her a reason to stay. Would you help?”
“I don’t want to be involved with any scheme to make my brother marry Suet Ping.”
“You are not asked to do so. There is no scheme. I just want you to make her feel comfortable when she comes to us. You were so good to that girl Li Ling; can’t you be equally kind to someone I like? How is being kind to a young girl make you a culprit to my scheming, as you so uncharitably put it?”
Shao Peng felt trapped. She stifled her misgivings. “All right, I will try to be kind and friendly; nothing more. Will you tell Siew Loong then?”
Rohani reached over and took Shao Peng’s hands in hers. “Thank you,” she said.
Chapter 18
THEY STOOD HIP TO HIP, arms entwined around each other’s waist. The river gleamed darkly before them. Across the opposite bank, the jungle loomed large, its shadowy movements caught by the moon above. Every now and then, the silence was broken by the sounds of birds and animals. Shao Peng nestled closer
into Jack’s arms and sighed.
“Bliss,” she murmured into his chest. “How did you find this place?”
“George. It is his secret hideaway. It was generous of him to lend it to us.”
“It is perfect.”
Jack could feel her smile without actually seeing it. “I am sorry. It has not been quite the wedding I wished you to have.”
“Everything is perfect. I don’t need a grand ceremony or beautiful clothes or lots of people to make it perfect for me. You make it perfect.”
She raised her face. He leaned down and kissed her. Her lips felt velvety soft. “I wish it had been a bigger event for you. I hope you will not regret it.”
She nestled into his arms. “No I won’t. I like it the way it was, with my stepmother, brother, Uncle Grime and Janidah attending. It is only right. My father had only just passed away. Any lavish celebration would be unseemly.”
“I suppose.”
“And we do not want to ruffle too many feathers in the British Administration either. I know that they do not approve your marrying me.”
“I am not worried about what people think.”
“I am for your sake. In fact, I have taken matters into my own hand. I have asked Aishah to work for us. Do you mind?”
Astonished, Jack pushed Shao Peng away until she stood at arms length facing him. “Why?” he asked.
“I hope this will stop any further rumours. If I, as your wife, wish to have her around, it should be proof enough that there was nothing between you and her. They will have to find other things to gossip about.”
He gathered her into his arms, “Mind? Why should I mind? With you beside me, I am ready to face any obstacles.” Jack buried his face in her neck. Then, clasping her face with both his hands, he kissed her again. Shao Peng sighed with contentment. All the doubts, worries, troubles and cares of the past years slipped away.
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