The Tiger Mom's Tale

by Lyn Liao Butler

  Lexa reached over and hefted Maddie’s suitcase off the carousel. “Why can’t you get it yourself?”

  “It’s too heavy. You’re the trainer.”

  Lexa pulled her own bag off and then squared her shoulders. “Okay. Let’s go. Hsu-Ling should be out there somewhere.”

  She walked forward, going through the last checkpoint with Maddie trailing behind. Lexa couldn’t keep the smile off her face as they walked through the doors into the terminal where people waited, some holding up signs written in Chinese. She was really here. She was back in her father’s land.

  * * *

  • • •

  “Sign here.” The lawyer pointed to the paper. “And here and here.”

  Lexa picked up the pen he offered and paused before putting her signature to the paper. It was all in Chinese, and though she couldn’t read most of it, she didn’t mind. It made it less real that she was about to receive the equivalent of a hundred thousand dollars from Pong as well as an apartment. It still felt like blood money to her. And once this paperwork was done, she and Hsu-Ling would take over ownership of the Chang family building.

  Hsu-Ling had hired a car and driver and met them at the airport in Taipei. They’d driven straight to the hotel in Taichung, about a two-and-a-half-hour ride. She’d booked them into a hotel by the old train station in the central district of Taichung, less than a ten-minute drive from the family building. “There’s more to do around that area than where my parents live,” she’d said. “You can walk to a lot of places.”

  After breakfast at a noodle cart on the street, Hsu-Ling had brought them here to the lawyer’s office to take care of the paperwork involved with Pong and their father’s wills.

  “Having second thoughts?” Lexa looked up at Maddie’s question and found both her sisters looking at her. She quickly shook her head. She scrawled her name on the first document and reached for the next until all the papers that required her signature were done. Hsu-Ling had already signed her part when Lexa had decided to come back to Taiwan, so it made that day’s appointment easier.

  They shook hands with the lawyer, and Lexa walked out of the building with her copies of the documents and the bank information, as well as the keys to her new apartment. She stood on the crowded sidewalk and faced her sisters. “It’s done.”

  “It is.” Hsu-Ling nodded. “Thank you.”

  Lexa shook her head. “Don’t thank me.”

  The three stood there for a moment until Hsu-Ling asked, “Ready to face my mama? She’s home right now. I told her we’d be over once we finished the paperwork with the lawyer.”

  Lexa took a big breath and nodded. “Let’s go.”

  * * *

  • • •

  Lexa sat in the back of the taxi with Maddie at her side and Hsu-Ling up front next to the driver. She smiled, thinking this taxi was just as beat-up and smelly as the taxis in New York City. She listened to Hsu-Ling giving the driver directions to her parents’ place from the lawyer’s office in a mixture of Mandarin and Taiwanese. Lexa had never learned Taiwanese because they didn’t teach that at Chinese school, but now she regretted never having learned.

  “It’s not far,” Hsu-Ling said from the front. “I live just over there to the north”—she pointed out the window—“about a five-minute walk from your new apartment, Lexa. And the Chang building is just south of here, about fifteen minutes by car. You can probably walk to your hotel from our family building, but it would take you over twenty minutes.”

  Lexa pressed a hand to her stomach as the busy streets of Taichung sped by. She was having a hard time following Hsu-Ling’s directions of where everything was and would have to look at a map later. Right at that moment, she was more focused on the butterflies in her stomach. She felt like she was going to throw up.

  When the taxi pulled up in front of the building with the red metal gate in the front, Lexa felt a jolt of recognition. This was it. This was her baba’s building, hers and Hsu-Ling’s now.

  Maddie was silent as they waited on the sidewalk for Hsu-Ling to pay the driver. Lexa knew she felt out of place. It still wasn’t that common to see a Caucasian in Taichung. For the first time in their lives, Maddie was the one who stuck out, not Lexa.

  “Ready?” Hsu-Ling asked. Lexa took a breath and nodded. Hsu-Ling opened the gate with a key, and they walked into the courtyard.

  For Lexa, it was like stepping back in time. Nothing much had changed in the courtyard. The same gray concrete steps leading up to the hallway to their baba’s apartment. The paint on the white walls looked new, and the bricks on the outside of the building that Lexa had remembered as green had been painted white, but everything else was the same. Even the tree growing on the side of the courtyard, though bigger now, was just like she remembered.

  Hsu-Ling pointed to the tree. “I used to climb it all the time, driving my mother crazy.” She laughed. “She thought I was going to kill myself.”

  “You’re lucky you didn’t.”

  At the strange voice, all three of them turned toward the hallway. And there, standing at the top of the steps, was Hsu-Ling’s mother. Her mouth was pinched exactly the way Lexa remembered, as if she’d swallowed something sour. Her hair was pulled back in a severe bun, streaked with more gray than black now. Wrinkles furrowed her forehead, and because of the way her mouth was drawn together, Lexa could see the lines radiating from it. Hsu-Ling had said her mother had taken their father’s death badly, barely getting out of bed for two months after the accident. Lexa was sure that hearing Lexa had inherited the building as well as an apartment and money from Pong hadn’t helped.

  “Mama. You remember ChiChi.”

  Pin-Yen nodded at Lexa and then looked away.

  Hsu-Ling gestured to Maddie. “And this is her sister Maddie.”

  Pin-Yen regarded Maddie, letting her eyes roam from Maddie’s blond curls to the hot pink sundress with spaghetti straps she wore and down her bare legs to her wedge sandals. She didn’t say anything.

  Without acknowledging Maddie, Pin-Yen turned to Lexa. “You came back. I didn’t think you would. Not after the way you shamed this family and the Chang name.” She spoke in Mandarin, even though Lexa knew Pin-Yen spoke English well enough.

  “Me?” Lexa stared at Pin-Yen and understood immediately how things were. Nothing had changed in twenty-two years. Pin-Yen still hated her, probably even more so now that Lexa had the very thing Pin-Yen had done everything she could to keep from her.

  “Mama.” Hsu-Ling’s voice held a warning, and Pin-Yen turned to her.

  “I only speak the truth. This, this bastard daughter of your father’s, somehow managed to manipulate her way into his will, despite my best efforts to show Jing Tao her true colors. She even got Pong to include her in his will. She is despicable. I don’t want her under my roof.”

  “Are you out of your mind?” Rage exploded in Lexa’s chest, and she realized the woman was deranged.

  At the same time, Hsu-Ling said, “Your roof! It’s technically Lexa’s roof, and you’re lucky she’s letting you stay here.”

  Maddie looked back and forth between the three of them. “What’s she saying?”

  “She’s just as vicious as I remembered. She called me a bastard daughter and said I manipulated my father and Pong.”

  Maddie turned and aimed a glare at Pin-Yen that was filled with so much vitriol that the older woman recoiled visibly. Don’t say something you’ll regret, Lexa pleaded with her silently. Too often, Maddie lashed out and criticized people or said something mean when she felt threatened. As much rage as Lexa felt toward Pin-Yen, she knew it wouldn’t help if Maddie said something scathing.

  Knowing Pin-Yen understood English, Maddie said, “Lexa was right. You are a such a bi . . .” She trailed off when Lexa placed a warning hand on her arm. Shooting a glance at Lexa, Maddie huffed out a breath and planted her hands on her hips
. She waited a moment and then said in a soft voice, “Lexa owns this building now, along with your daughter. Her father knew the truth about you in the end. Pong even said in his letter that he saw you for who you really are. Why don’t you just give up, okay? You lost.”

  Pin-Yen’s jaw dropped, and her entire body shook. She stood speechless, her eyes darting from Maddie to Lexa. Hsu-Ling made a sound, but her mother ignored her. Instead, she focused her wrath on Maddie. “What do you know about Pong? You know nothing about what was between us.”

  “Why don’t you tell us, then?” Maddie challenged.

  “You, you . . . ,” Pin-Yen sputtered before she turned on her heels and stalked down the hallway back to her apartment, letting the door slam hard behind her.

  Lexa and Hsu-Ling looked at each other. Lexa was suddenly curious about the man who had been her father’s best friend. “Pong said he saw through your mother’s act years ago. I wonder what happened.”

  “I have no idea.” Hsu-Ling shook her head. “The only one who’s still alive to tell us is my mother. But I don’t think she ever will.”

  44

  September, Seventeen Years Ago

  Taichung, Taiwan

  Did you see? Did you see what’s happening in New York?” Pong burst through the front door of their apartment without knocking. Jing Tao had given him a key to their front gate and apartment years earlier, yet he’d never used it without asking first.

  Pin-Yen regarded Pong from her seat at the dining table, where she was going over Hsu-Ling’s homework with her. It was late, but Hsu-Ling wasn’t allowed to go to bed until everything was done perfectly. Pong was red-faced and panting for breath, as if he’d run here all the way from his apartment, which was fifteen minutes away by scooter.

  “Jing Tao, turn on the TV,” Uncle Pong ordered, and Jing Tao immediately reached for the remote from his spot on the couch.

  “What happened?” Pin-Yen asked.

  “There’s been a terrorist attack in New York,” Uncle Pong said.

  “Aiyo!” Jing Tao’s eyes were glued to the TV.

  Pin-Yen rushed to the couch, all thoughts of homework forgotten. Hsu-Ling slammed her math book shut and went to sit by her mother’s side.

  “The Twin Towers,” Uncle Pong said. “Someone drove two planes into them.”

  Pin-Yen watched, fascinated, as the news showed the first tower collapsing, only moments before. It looked like a TV stunt, something she would see in a movie.

  “ChiChi,” Hsu-Ling said, turning to Jing Tao with wide eyes. “Chi lives in New York!”

  He had already gotten to his feet and run to the phone, dialing Susan’s home phone number. He hung up right away and said, “It’s busy. Hsu-Ling, where’s her cell phone number?”

  She gave it to her father. “I think she’s back at school. I hope she’s not in New York City.” Lexa was a sophomore at Middlebury College that year. They’d just reconnected the year before, when Hsu-Ling had found that letter from Lexa on Pin-Yen’s desk. Pin-Yen still cursed herself for being so careless that day. She should have thrown out that letter as soon as she found it in their mail. But she’d been distracted by the Chinese soap opera she was watching and hadn’t thought Hsu-Ling would come home from school so early. Ever since Hsu-Ling had read that letter, she’d been emailing that girl, even though Pin-Yen disapproved.

  “Wei?” Jing Tao said into the phone. “Chi-ah, is that you?”

  He listened, and Pin-Yen could hear Lexa’s voice, loud and hysterical. Jing Tao said something, and then he hung up.

  “She’s okay. She’s at college. But she can’t find her dad.”

  Their eyes were drawn back to the TV, where a reporter announced that the second tower had just collapsed.

  Three hours later, at one thirty in the morning, Jing Tao finally retired to their bedroom with a book, and Pin-Yen and Hsu-Ling walked Pong out of the apartment. As soon as they stepped outside the front door, Pong reached into his front pocket for a cigarette and lit up.

  “Uncle Pong,” Hsu-Ling scolded in her sternest voice, “what did I tell you about smoking? It’s going to kill you.”

  He inhaled deeply and blew out a perfect smoke ring. Catching the disapproving look in Hsu-Ling’s eyes, he stubbed out the cigarette. “Ah, my smoking police.” He chuckled. “Still after me, eh?”

  “Yes. Especially today, with all those people dead.” Hsu-Ling stood at the top of the stairs and shivered. “I can’t stop thinking about ChiChi. I’m so glad she and her family are okay.”

  “I know. Crazy day.” Pong and Pin-Yen walked down the stairs and stopped in the middle of the courtyard.

  “The whole world’s going crazy,” Pin-Yen said.

  “Poor ChiChi.” Pong patted his front pocket, and Pin-Yen could tell he was itching for another cigarette. “I’m glad she was finally able to get through to her dad. It must have been terrifying knowing he was in the city at the time of the attack.”

  Pin-Yen frowned. “Too bad she wasn’t in one of the towers at the time.”

  Pong’s hand stilled, and he drew back sharply, as if Pin-Yen had slapped him. “What did you say?”

  “I said I wish she’d—” Pin-Yen started, but Pong cut her off.

  “Hsu-Ling, go to bed,” he ordered.

  Pin-Yen could see the startled look on Hsu-Ling’s face at Pong’s unusual order. Hsu-Ling opened her mouth to argue, but Pin-Yen shook her head at her daughter. “Yes, Uncle Pong. Good night, Mama.” And she turned and went back into the apartment, closing the door softly behind her.

  Pong came to Pin-Yen’s side, so close she could smell the cigarette he’d just smoked mixing with the menthol drops he liked to chew. “What did you just say?” he repeated. “In front of your daughter, no less?”

  Pin-Yen took a step back and crossed her arms over her chest. “You heard me. She’s done nothing but cause trouble for us since Jing Tao learned of her existence.” She laughed, a hollow sound that was too loud in the still night. “It would make life so simple if she’d just disappear.”

  Pong’s mouth dropped open, and he stared at Pin-Yen as if he’d never seen her before. “You would wish your husband’s child to perish in a tragedy like what happened today in New York, just to satisfy your own needs?”

  She was quiet, studying him, and felt the first trickle of uncertainty run down her back. “You know what I mean.” Pin-Yen softened her voice in the hopes of bringing Pong back on her side. “I was just kidding. Jing Tao was supposed to change his will so that Hsu-Ling is the only daughter to inherit, but I don’t know if he did. Every time I ask him, he changes the subject. That girl doesn’t deserve anything from the Chang family after what she did. I just thought it would make things easier if she’d . . .”

  “. . . if she’d die.” Pong completed her sentence for her. “She didn’t do anything. You were the one who set her up. Are you starting to believe your own lies?” His eyes bore into hers. “Are you really this cold-blooded? What happened to the courageous, dream-filled girl I knew from years ago, who cared about making a difference in the world?”

  Pin-Yen didn’t answer. She stared back at him, waiting to see what he’d do.

  “I’ve been so blinded by my feelings for you that I made excuses for your behavior and your lies. Even though I knew it was wrong, I did it for you. But to wish your husband’s flesh and blood to die in a terrorist attack . . . who are you?”

  “Pong.” She put a hand on his chest to placate him, but he grabbed her wrist and held her hand away from his body. She winced from his strong grip. They stared at each other, and she saw something shift in his eyes. “Don’t do anything stupid,” she said in a soft voice. “Don’t go telling Jing Tao the truth. You think he’ll thank you?” She shook her head, narrowing her eyes. “All you’ll do is lose face in front of the man you respect so much.” Her voice lowered even more. “Is that what you want?
For Jing Tao to know what a coward and traitor you are? In love with his wife all these years, lying to him, causing his daughter to go away? Because we all know the truth. He’d never have believed me if you hadn’t backed me up.”

  They stared at each other for what felt like hours, Pong’s breath a harsh rasp in the quiet night while Pin-Yen held hers. Finally, Pong flung her arm away from him, and she rubbed her wrist. He turned his back on her and brought a hand to his forehead. She knew she’d won.

  She raised her chin. “I knew you didn’t have it in you to lose face with your best friend.”

  He turned, and the look he shot her was filled with so much hatred it made her take a step back. Before she could react, he stalked to the gate and left, slamming it on his way out.

  She stood alone in the middle of the courtyard and knew the young boy who had fallen in love with her all those years earlier was no more. She gave a shake of her head and turned to return to her husband and daughter, safe inside their home. She may have lost Pong’s love and devotion, but she knew he’d never betray her. Because to do so, he’d lose the respect of the only person in the world he could call family.

  45

  Lexa and her sisters stood in the courtyard and stared at one another, not sure what to do after Pin-Yen’s dramatic departure.

  Hsu-Ling turned to Maddie. “Nice going. You just made my mother so mad she probably won’t let us into the apartment.”

  “It’s your apartment, yours and Lexa’s. Don’t you have the key?” Maddie crossed her arms over her chest, not looking sorry at all that she’d pissed off Pin-Yen.

  “I’m not sure if I want to go in now if she’s there. I knew things weren’t going to be easy, but I didn’t think they were going to be that bad. She hasn’t changed at all. I think she’s gotten worse.” Lexa stood rooted to the spot, unable to believe that woman still harbored so much hatred toward her.