***
It was evening when Jack came home. Shao Peng heard his footsteps and went out to greet him. She held a lantern up high and light spilled over the path. She watched him hurry forward to the porch taking the steps two at a time.
“What is the matter?” Jack asked when he saw her face.
“I went to see my stepmother. I couldn’t bring myself to speak to her.”
Jack ushered her into the house, handing the lantern to Ah Kew. It was warm in the house despite the windows thrown wide open. He took off his jacket. “Come, sit down,” he said guiding her to a seat. He was troubled. He suspected that Shao Peng had seen Aishah. He had specifically suggested that she should not go to her brother’s house. He wanted to tell Shao Peng about Aishah first. He could not do so without consulting with Rohani and Siew Loong. They had specifically told him not to tell Shao Peng. His first response then was that the whole idea was ridiculous and the idea of keeping Aishah’s whereabouts from Shao Peng even more so. He had warned them that the servants would talk. They had disagreed with him. They were confident that it could be done. They were keen that Shao Peng should not be troubled until after the birth. For a while he believed them for Ah Kew showed no signs that she knew. Then work came in the way and days passed without him realising until the fateful day when Shao Peng came home with news of Li Ling. Events spiralled quickly then.
“Why couldn’t you speak to Rohani?” he asked.
“I saw Aishah. I told my stepmother the trouble that I had with her. Yet she took her in. I see it as a betrayal. What troubled me more is that my brother must be in it as well.”
“They did it for a reason.”
“You knew!” She snatched her hand away. For her this was the ultimate treachery.
“Let me explain.” He tried to place his arms around her.
“No!” She thrust his hands away.
He caught her in his arms and kept her there. She wouldn’t look at him.
“Please let me explain. They were trying to protect you.”
“Protect me?”
He told her. He explained how Aishah was chained by her guardian. While they agreed that Aishah had to be watched to prevent her from trying to harm Shao Peng again, they did not have the heart to see her so treated.
“Harm me?” Shao Peng asked in surprise. “How could she harm me?”
Jack told her. “She was practising black magic on you...”
By the end of the evening, Shao Peng was calmer. She sat with her head resting on Jack’s shoulder. She was appalled by Aishah’s story. She regretted sending her away so precipitously. “Poor Aishah, poor Li Ling. At least Aishah is safe now.”
“Yes, and I think we will not have any trouble from her on account of me. I have spoken to Aishah. She understands that I love only you and that she had mistaken my kindness for love. Rohani is hoping to channel her need for love to a more suitable young man when the time is right and an opportunity arises.”
“Which brings us back to Li Ling. What can we do?”
Chapter 33
LI LING HELD ON to her side. Her belly was growing by the day. She stroked it, marvelling at its tautness. How did I become like this she wondered, trailing a finger around her naval. It poked defiantly up from the round hump that was now her belly. It was like a little hillock in her engorged middle. She could hardly bend over. She shifted in her seat, hoping to ease the discomfort. She took up her bowl and chopstick and began to eat a solitary meal in her room. She suffered from constant heartburn and her mother-in-law had asked that she ate separately from the household.
“Aiyah!” her mother-in-law had cried. “I can’t stand looking at your miserable face. Can’t you stop burping? Where are your manners? It spoils my appetite. I don’t want you at the table. You have to have your meals separately from us.”
Li Ling took a bite. It was better this way, she thought. The kitchen had spared no effort in preparing delicious meals for her on the orders of her mother-in-law. Li Ling heard her instruct the servants, not caring that she was within hearing. “See that she eats well. It is not her that I am concerned about. I care only for the baby.”
Li Ling laid down her chopstick. Her heartburn was getting worst. There was far too much to eat: chicken braised in rice wine, ginger and sliced spring onions, pork cooked with black mushrooms and wood fungus and green spinach glistening in oyster sauce. She looked up; her eyes met Ah Su. Since Shao Peng’s visit a week ago, the maid had become supportive and friendly.
“Nai-nai says that I am to make sure you finish the food,” Ah Su said. “I know it is difficult. Just try. Let me help you.” She picked up a porcelain ladle and heaped a spoonful of spinach into Li Ling’s bowl.
Li Ling protested and shifted in her seat once more. Of late her protests had become less vehement. She was worn down. Suddenly, there was a loud pop and a button flew and landed on the floor.
“See!” giggled Li Ling, though her eyes were bleak and bore none of the joviality that issued from her lips. “I am bursting from the seams. I can’t eat.”
Holding onto the table, she heaved herself up. Another button popped and spiralled onto the floor. “I can’t wear my clothes any more.” She had no one whom she could ask for new clothes. Da Wei no longer visited her. Asking her mother-in-law was not an option. It would just invite more contemptuous comments. She recalled her one attempt to ask for maternity clothes. The response was harsh: “You brought it on yourself. You could have had as many clothes as you could possibly wish if you had been able to keep your husband at home. After all he manages a store that sells clothes and textile. You have only yourself to blame!”
“Wait! I have an idea.” Ah Su left the room with a backward glance of triumph. Within moments she returned with a small pile of clothes in her arms.
“I do not know who they belonged to. They have been in the cupboard for ages, buried under a pile of odd assortments. Someone’s cast-offs, no doubt. No one will miss them. They are huge, probably for someone much bigger than you, so they should be more comfortable than your old clothes. If they are too long, I can help take them up.”
Li Ling took the clothes and smiled at Ah Su. A month ago she would have screamed at Ah Su for daring to suggest that she would accept cast-offs. Her mouth twisted in a bitter grin. A month! A lifetime. She was waiting for Shao Peng to come to her rescue. She prayed that she would not forget her.
“Come, sit and eat,” called Ah Su unaware of Li Ling’s thoughts.
Li Ling shook her head. She held onto her belly. She couldn’t eat anymore.
Ah Su placed a finger on her lip. She went to the door and closed it. She waited a while with her ears plastered to the door and then said softly. “In that case, we’ll have to hide the food. I can’t take the tray back into the kitchen if the food is not eaten.” She hurried to the dresser and took out a silver casket used for storing thimbles and scissors. She emptied the contents out and ladled the food into the casket. “There! This looks better. The dishes are all more or less empty. I’ll come back for the casket later. I’ll hide it here,” she said popping the casket back into a drawer.
Li Ling watched Ah Su carry the dinner tray out. She heaved a sigh of relief. Since Shao Peng’s visit, things had improved. Da Wei had stopped coming to her. She had grown so big that even he would not risk harming her because his mother was keen on having a grandson. She touched her face remembering the slaps when he last came. “What if I don’t have a boy?” she asked aloud. The thought was not worth contemplating. She could only pray that she could escape.
***
The mill was busy. Bags and bags of rice lay on the floor waiting to be stacked. At the other end, men were wheeling cassava into the mill to be crushed and refined into flour.
“Come with me,” said Ah Sook. “We can’t talk at ease here. The air is choked with tapioca dusts. It is not good for you.”
He walked out of the mill and beckoned Shao Peng to follow him. It was a hot sunny day. The road simmer
ed with the heat. Ah Sook walked quickly. By the time Shao Peng stepped out of the mill, he was on the opposite side of the road, standing patiently waiting for her. She looked up and brought a hand above her brow to shield against the glare of the burning sun. She felt queasy. Ah Kew had been disapproving when she said that she was seeing Ah Sook at the mill. “Don’t go. The roads are full of potholes. The journey will be too bumpy for you in your condition. I’ll get word to him. He can come to us,” she said. Shao Peng didn’t want the fuss. It was a good time to see him at the mill because she knew her brother was away on business.
She crossed over the road and he walked her a short distance to a teahouse. This time, Ah Sook walked slowly adjusting his speed to hers.
“I know the owner,” he said as they went into its dark interior. “He has given us his own personal room. We won’t be disturbed. It will be more private than my office. With business growing rapidly, I now share the small space with two other clerks. You did say that you needed to speak to me on a confidential matter.”
Ah Sook looked questioningly at his young mistress. He wondered what could be so important that it could not wait. He didn’t like her pallor. The greyish sheen on her face was definitely alarming. He reminded himself that it wasn’t his place to comment. They were women-matters. The trouble was the young mistress had no mother and had been left to adopt all sorts of strange behaviour. Why did she rush around to deal with matters that should not concern a well brought up lady? If she had married a good Chinese man, he surely would have reined in her shortcomings. Instead, she was allowed to marry a gweiloh who knew no better. He shook his head and sighed. He wondered at the child she was carrying. What would it be, a Chinese or a white child? Under whose law would it come? The world had become a topsy-turvy place. If she came for his advice on that score, he would not be able to help her.
Shao Peng held on to the edge of the table and lowered herself on the stool. A woman came in with a pot of tea and tiny porcelain teacups. She said nothing and did not look at them. She poured the streaming hot tea into the cups and then left, closing the door gently behind her.
Shao Peng reached for the cup and drank deeply, ignoring its heat and the burn on her tongue. The fragrant steam and the warmth of the tea quelled her queasiness. She looked around. The room was bare except for the table and marble top stools.
“Is it safe to speak?”
“Yes Miss,” he answered. Like Ah Kew, Ah Sook preferred to address her as Miss. He avoided calling her by her married name. He couldn’t pronounced it in any event.
“It is about Li Ling.”
Ah Sook rolled his eyes. “Not her again,” he wanted to say. Shao Peng intercepted him with a wave of her hand.
“She is married and with child. She suffers terrible abuse from her husband and her mother-in-law doesn’t treat her well. Can we do something?”
Ah Sook stared at her in amazement. His bushy eyebrows came together and his eyes were like slits below their hooded lids. “First of all, you must understand that under Chinese customs she has to obey her mother-in-law. Li Ling, I remember, was always wilful. You must not give credence to everything she says.”
Shao Peng had not expected this. She half rose from her seat, her eyes wide with horror. “I have seen her injuries. Surely that is not allowed?”
“No. Proving her husband inflicted these injuries, however, might be difficult. Who knows? She might be inflicting the injuries on herself.”
“You surely cannot believe that?”
“You can never tell with cases such as these. Even the Kapitan does not like to intervene in family matters. If he did, he’d find himself inundated. He has enough on his hands. He has only six policemen under him to keep law and order. Stopping fights between gangs, robberies and murders are his main priority. He would not consider squabbles between a husband and wife important work.”
“Then he is wrong! Especially when the husband is inflicting bodily harm on his wife.”
“Look! His aim is to make Kuala Lumpur a better town and his energy is directed towards building better houses and roads. He would not wish to deal with a domestic issue like this. You just have to accept this.”
Privately Ah Sook was appalled. Hadn’t Shao Peng enough on her plate? He tried not to show his disapproval. He pursed his lips to stop them quivering from indignation. A woman should know her place and probably Li Ling didn’t and hence invited such censure from her in-laws and husband.
“I cannot believe we can’t do anything. You did such a wonderful job when you helped rescue Jing-jing. Can’t you do the same for Li Ling?”
Ah Sook had a soft spot for Shao Peng and could not refuse her when she was a little girl. He couldn’t refuse her now when she looked at him with those limpid eyes.
“It was different with Jing-jing,” he explained in a quieter voice. “We were dealing with gangsters then and we had the law behind us. This is meddling with someone’s family. We cannot forcefully extract Li Ling from her husband. He has rights.”
“What about her rights?”
“A woman has to obey her husband. If she doesn’t, she opens herself to all sorts of recriminations. Please forget this whole business. You don’t look well. Go home.”
“Not until you promise to try to help.” Shao Peng reached over and took his hand. “Please,” she pleaded.
Ah Sook looked away. He was conscious of Shao Peng’s pleading eyes and the pressure of her hand. He withdrew his. It was not right. She shouldn’t put him in such a situation.
“Please,” she begged. “Li Ling is in a terrible state. I promised her that I would help.”
He did not reply immediately. The room fell quiet, so quiet that Shao Peng could hear every rustle, every breath in the room. Finally Ah Sook stood up and brushed his tunic. “Leave it with me,” he replied.
Aren’t you going to tell me what you plan to do?” asked Shao Peng.
“You won’t want to know,” he said. He went to the door, opened it and stood aside for her.
Reluctantly, Shao Peng rose and went out of the room. The conversation was over. Ever since she was a child, she knew that she could not push too far with her father. It would be the same with his old retainer, who after all was more a family member than an employee.
Chapter 34
AISHAH TOOK UP a hair brush and considered Suet Ping’s reflection in the mirror. Suet Ping’s hair was undone. It fell like black silk right down to her waist. Her eyes were wide with just a hint of a slant, eyes that now stared back at Aishah without any guile. Obviously, thought Aishah, she did not understand what I was saying. She, Aishah, would have to approach it another way.
Aishah began to brush the hair until it crackled. Then she parted it and braided it, revelling in its thick silky smoothness. She caught sight of herself in the mirror. She saw her brown, honey coloured hand against the pale alabaster colouring of Suet Ping’s face. Strange, she thought, that the girl should have such fair skin when she was half-Malay. With a deft twist of her hand, she wove the two braids together and pinned it up with a gold hairpin. “There!” she said laying her hands on both of Suet Ping’s shoulders. The girl smiled. Encouraged, Aishah lowered herself and turned the chair around so that Suet Ping was facing her. “Did you understand what I said earlier?”
Suet Ping blushed. “No!” she confessed.
“Then come with me.” Aishah drew Suet Ping up from her seat and walked her to a long wooden sofa. She sat down. Mistress Rohani had specifically set her this task and told her to do it as she saw fit. Aishah didn’t understand why her mistress was not able to instruct Suet Ping herself. She waited until the girl sat down. It was obvious that words were insufficient. She had spent the last half hour speaking and the girl had just blushed.
Perhaps a demonstration was better than mere words. It would at least be more entertaining. Gently, she placed a finger under Suet Ping’s chin and tilted it up. With her other hand, she drew her closer. Then, she lowered her face towards Suet Ping
and brushed her lips with her own. Suet Ping started and pushed her away. “When Master Siew Loong does this, you have to kiss him back. Like this,” she said moving even closer. Suet Ping could feel Aishah’s breast on her own and smell the muskiness of her scent. She tried to strain away. Her shoulders connected with the back of the seat and she could not move any further.
Aishah pressed her lips once more on Suet Ping’s, this time parting them ever so slightly. Suet Ping froze; her whole body went rigid. She could feel Aishah’s tongue as it ran over her lips and into her mouth. Suet Ping gagged. She stood up and ran out of the room.
Aishah got up and stood in the middle of the room. If Suet Ping was an unwilling student, perhaps Master Siew Loong might not be. She smiled, her cat smile. She wondered if Mistress Rohani would allow her to teach the young master instead. She wondered at all the fuss. She recalled her own childhood and the thin thatched walls with gaping holes that separated her from her mother’s room. Her mother had been very generous with her favours. The uncles that came every day and night were generous in return, sometimes pressing a coin into Aishah’s palm or tousling her hair to demonstrate that they extended their affection even to her. Sometimes they sat her on their knees and petted and touched her until her mother pushed her away.
When her mother died, she was bereft. Alone in the hut, some of the uncles came and comforted her and loved her like they did her mother. She did not find it strange. It was no stranger than seeing her mother with these men. That was until Mahmud came along and took over her care. He said he was her uncle. The headman in the village was glad to give her into Mahmud’s care. She hated her guardian Mahmud. He wanted her only for himself and he was cruel. She had prayed and hoped that one day she would find a man who would love her like her mother was loved by all those uncles. She thought that she found him in Master Webster. The only obstacle was his wife, Shao Peng.
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